Until You Met Me

Ninety Eight

“You do remember that we have an appointment with the caterer tonight, don’t you?”

Gerard, who was looking around Molly’s classroom, blinked a couple of times at the sound of her voice before he turned to look at her, an embarrassed smile on his face. “Was that tonight?” he asked.

“You confirmed the appointment with Darcy” Molly replied, looking at him over the top of her laptop “And you told me that it was tonight, so unless you got the date wrong...” she trailed off with a smirk.

Gerard tried not to smile back, but failed, something which made Molly’s smile soften before she glanced back at her laptop. “Does tonight work for you?” she asked “Because if it doesn’t, I can call Darcy at lunchtime and reschedule. We’re not in a rush” she added, her voice slightly tentative.

It was something she did a lot of. With Gerard having been slightly skittish about making their wedding plans initially, Molly made a point of reminding him from time to time that things weren’t moving too quickly, and she was hopeful that it would be enough to stop him from getting overwhelmed again. She didn’t think that he would. Since they had started making plans, Gerard had been a lot more eager and excited about it than Molly had been expecting, but she still remained cautious of putting too much on his plate. She wanted him to stay eager and excited, and she worried that if she pushed for things to move any quicker than they currently were, then he’d lose the excitement that she loved seeing.

Gerard’s lips quirked. “We’re supposed to be getting married in a couple of months” he quipped “I’d say we’re in a little bit of a rush” he added.

“You know what I mean” Molly countered with a roll of her eyes “It doesn’t have to be done tonight” she added.

Gerard looked at her for a long moment, his eyes searching hers, before he quirked another, slow smile. “I’m excited to meet with the caterers” he mused “I just forgot that I had made those arrangements with Darcy. You know what I am like” he added.

Molly ducked her head slightly, trying, and failing, to hide the soft pink tinge on her cheeks. The smile on his face told her that he knew what she was trying to do, and she was a little embarrassed that he’d caught on. “You do forget a lot of things” she agreed.

Gerard huffed out a soft laugh before he padded around her desk, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “Caterers” he quipped “Tonight. Should I pick you up?” he asked, stealing another kiss.

“Is that OK?” Molly asked.

Gerard offered her another grin. “More than OK” he said “I’ll see you later” he added.

“See you” Molly replied, smiling after him.

~#~
Slumping down into her chair, Molly buried her face in her hands, trying, and failing, to soothe the dull ache that had started to fill her head. It had been a rough day. The combination of a couple of tough classes and a long staff meeting that had caused her to skip over lunch had left her exhausted, and whilst she was excited for the visit that she and Gerard had planned to their caterers, she was more excited to get home and fall asleep. She had started to notice it more and more. Between work and planning the wedding, she barely had any time off, and it meant that she was often tired. She couldn’t quite remember the last time that she had taken a few hours to just relax.

“Are you alright?”

Molly’s head whipped up at the sound of Albert’s voice, something which caused him to hold his hand up, a lopsided grin appearing on his face. “I didn’t mean to scare you” he quipped “I just wanted to drop off a couple of your exercise books that got mixed in with mine” he added, lifting his other hand to show off the books he was carrying.

Molly’s answering smile was tired. “Sorry” she said “I was miles away” she added.

“Are you OK?” Albert asked, settling the books on her desk.

Molly didn’t hesitate to nod her head. “Just a little tired” she said “Wedding planning is a lot more complicated than I was led to believe” she added.

Albert chuckled as he took the seat on the opposite side of the desk. “How is it coming?” he prodded.

“Do you really want to know?” Molly prodded “Once I start talking about it, it’s pretty hard to convince me to stop” she added.

“I’ve got time” Albert answered.

Molly offered him a slightly questioning look, something Albert responded to with a playful roll of his eyes, wordlessly encouraging her to start talking. “It seems to be coming along really well” she mused “Our wedding planner is amazing, and Gerard’s been really good at helping with the big decisions. We’re still working on figuring out the finer details, but so far, it seems really good. Obviously, we won’t know how it’ll all work out until the big day, but it’s only a couple of months away, and I can’t wait” she added, not even trying to stifle the grin that itched to light up her face.

Albert couldn’t help but smile back at her. “You must be pretty crazy about him” he quipped.

Molly ducked her head, her expression growing shy. “Is it really that obvious?” she asked.

“Yeah, it is” Albert said “But that’s not a bad thing. You’re in love, Molly. That’s a good thing” he added warmly.

Molly laughed bashfully, something which caused Albert to lean over, gently patting her hand before he pushed himself out of his chair. “Have a good night, Molly” he chirped as he walked out of the classroom.

Molly smiled after him for a beat before she wrinkled her nose slightly at the lingering scent of his aftershave. Shaking her head dismissively, she ignored the strange sensation that passed over her and started to pack up her things, only stopping when she felt a soft touch against the side of her face. Quirking a gentle smile, she looked up at Gerard who smiled down at her gently. “Hey” he greeted “You ready to go?” he asked.

Molly nodded. “Yeah” she confirmed “But promise me, once we’re done with the caterers, I can go home and sleep” she added.

“If that’s what you want to do” Gerard mused “Rough day?” he asked.

Molly shrugged. “Just a little tired” she replied.

Gerard offered her a slightly concerned look, something which caused Molly to lean up, gently smoothing the crease between his eyebrows with her fingertips. “I’ll be fine” she quipped “Promise” she added.

Gerard smiled despite his concern. “If you say so” he quipped.