Epilogue
“I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
The crowd exploded in applause and cheers as the groom dipped his bride and gave her a kiss straight out of a romance movie. Esther looked toward the groomsmen and winked at the best man who smiled back at her. He was so handsome in his tux and his hair slicked back and he was all hers.
It had been a beautiful wedding and she was happy for Chris and Tiffany who had thrown a fairy tale wedding. Tiffany had come to the church in a carriage drawn by white horses. White flowers, ribbon, and lace decorated the botanical garden the ceremony was held in. Esther was happy for them. In the last year, she’d become good friends with the couple through Matthias who was Chris’s best man. She watched as the bridal party walked down the aisle to the greeting line. Matthias escorted the maid of honor but his gaze was fixed on Esther.
Once the guests congratulated the newly married couple and most of them had dispersed to have cocktails, Esther pulled out her kit to freshen the bride’s and her attendants’ makeup. Her business was doing amazing, especially with the launch of her product. Just as Jennifer had predicted, her lip gloss line was an instant hit and orders were coming in almost faster than she could fill them. Esther’s makeup line was doing so well she had to cut back on her freelance work. She wouldn’t give it up completely because she loved working with people. Besides as she gained popularity in the MUA world she could be more selective with what jobs to take and command a high price. To top it off she was invited to beauty events to do demonstrations and had worked with notable public figures and even a handful of celebrities.
“I can’t thank you enough for doing this for me today,” Tiffany as Esther touched up her foundation where there were visible tear streaks
“It was my pleasure. I’m happy to have donated my services today.”
“Not many women get to brag that their wedding makeup was done by an MUA to the stars.”
Esther chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“You’ve blown up this past year and I get to tell people that you’re my friend.”
Esther liked that word. Friend. Growing up she didn’t have any but in the past year she’s made a handful besides, Fiona. “You’re embarrassing me. You’re making me a bigger deal than I actually am. Anyway, the ceremony was lovely. I love that idea of throwing bird seed instead of rice. And the doves were a nice touch.”
“Well, I’m the only girl out of five kids and the youngest so my mother wanted to go all out for her daughter. Besides, I intend for this marriage to last forever so we might as well go big. How about you? Have you given thought on the kind of wedding you want?”
Esther felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she briefly glanced at the five karat, princess cut pink diamond engagement ring on her left index finger. Matthias had proposed weeks earlier. It was still hard to believe that it would be her turn next.
“Well, since we’ve both been married before, we want to do something small. We’re leaning toward a destination wedding with our closest friends. I’d like to go to Hawaii and Matthias wants to do the Bahamas but we’re both willing to compromise.”
“How?” Tiffany asked.
“Well, we’d take a two-week honeymoon. We’d spend one week on the island we get married on, and the second week, we’ll spend at the other location.”
“Aww, that sounds sweet. I wish I would have thought of something like that, but since I come from such a large family, it wouldn’t have been feasible to do a destination wedding. You two are living the dream. Even Matthias’s proposal was something out of a storybook.”
“It was. He’s very romantic.” Esther couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she thought of how he’d hired a plane to write his proposal in the sky on what she believed would just be a regular outing.
While her career was everything she could have hoped for, her time with Matthias was even better. From that time in her apartment when she decided to give their love a chance, she never regretted it. He’s spent every day showing her how much he loved her by writing love notes to her, purchasing little gifts, just calling to tell her he was thinking of her. He went to therapy with Esther and was her shoulder to cry on when she was overwhelmed. He had become her everything and she couldn’t wait to become his wife. Through therapy, she had learned coping mechanisms to deal with her past and she was taught how to love herself which only helped to strengthen her love for Matthias. Her past could no longer hold her hostage.
Another unexpected event happened in her life that Esther never expected. She’d heard from her brother Malachi. He’d found her to apologize for ignoring the abuse she’d suffered. Before therapy, Esther might have told him to go to hell, but being in therapy taught her that holding on to grudges made it difficult for her move on. Her parents and Mike were dead and she was happy, successful and in love. Esther didn’t know if she and Malachi would ever be close, but she was willing to give him a chance to see where the relationship went. He called her occasionally to check in, and that was fine by her.
“Well, I’d better hurry up and get outside. The photographer is probably waiting.”
“Okay. I just need to pack up my stuff. I’ll be around if you or any of the other girls need a touch-up.”
Tiffany left her alone in the powder room as Esther gathered her items. When the door opened, she thought it was Tiffany.
“Did you forget something?” Esther turned around and gasped. “Matthias! Don’t you have to be out there with the rest of the bridal party for photos?”
He walking into the room and closed the door behind them. “The photographer just needs the bride, groom and their families for now. She won’t need us for at least another twenty minutes to a half an hour. Besides, I wanted to see my beautiful bride to be.” He turned around and locked the door before stalking toward her.
There was a predatory gleam in his eyes as he got closer.
“What are you doing?”
“You didn’t think you could wear that dress that clings to your body in all the right places and not think I’d do something about it. Do you know how difficult it was for me to get through the ceremony in front of all those people as I fought a hard on? I can’t wait for after the reception. I need you now.” He hooked his arm around her waist and buried his face against her neck.
“We can’t do it here,” she moaned not offering a bit of resistance.
“Yes, here, yes now. I’ll be quick.” He cupped her bottom, pulling her pelvis against his erection and just like that Esther’s body went up in flames.
“Okay…maybe if we’re quick….” she moaned throwing her arms around him. It occurred to her that some of the bridesmaids might come looking for her to get a touch-up. But they would have to wait. She was handling a VIP.
The man of her dreams come true.