Chapter 23 Trouble shooting
Grayson was not one to do something spontaneous. Everything he did was planned out, he was practical about things, but this time he did something that shocked his system to the point where he didn't want to do it again. He was thankful that he did what he did the night before which was getting married to Cassie. They were both drunk when it happened, and together with the marriage certificate that was sent, they received the link to their wedding video. The stuff that he said to her was very heartwarming and the things that Cassie said to Grayson were nothing short of amazing. He kept pinching himself, debating whether or not it was real.
When Cassie walked into the hotel room there were many gift bags and things that she got from all the weddings that she and Grayson crashed. Everybody had a gift at the weddings that she went to, and she thought that she saw someone from home middle school but thought nothing of it. She attended most of the weddings and there was proof because she started receiving message after message after message of people thanking her for attending their weddings, and she also received messages of the couple that was present during her marriage with Grayson. This was all too much for her, but it wasn't too much for Grayson because he had been married before. To Cassie, she wanted her first wedding to be a family affair.
Truth be told, she didn't know that Grayson was going to be the best thing she ever knew she needed, up until she took stock of what happened last night. She knew it in her heart that she was in love and she could feel it in her bones and her soul that the person she was with was right for her. If only there were no strings attached or rules that were preventing her from telling the whole world that she was married to the person that she truly loved, she would do it. But she couldn't do it because she wanted to protect what she had for that moment, and whatever happened in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas in this case, but she was glad that what happened yesterday happened. She had a little bit of time to kill after getting ready for breakfast because it took her 30 minutes to get ready and 30 minutes more to reply to all of the messages and field a couple of calls, including the one from her father that she didn't want to take.
When she sent her father's calls to voicemail and she told herself that she would deal with her father when she got back home, everything was taken care of with regards to her work and things were bound to run smoothly because she had put in a request for vacation with HR a couple of months ago with regards to the wedding that she was attending, so everything was okay.
Cassie stepped out of her hotel room only to see Grayson waiting outside for her. He looked calm and he looked genuinely happy, which was a good thing because she didn't want him to be sad. They were both wearing cartoon character themed t-shirts, jeans and canvas sneakers. The both of them didn't discuss what they were going to wear but they looked like a couple.
The rehearsal dinner was at 7 pm so they had more than enough time to go back to where they were the night before and ask if they could either get a divorce or stay married. Cassie had always believed that she would only get married once and that was to Jake who promised to wait for her but he didn't. Grayson had been to Las Vegas before the wedding, he just knew the right store to go to with regards to getting the correct attire for what they had to attend. They had to not only get clothes for the rehearsal dinner, but they also had to get outfits for the wedding, but Cassie had already steamed the dress and hung it in her closet for the main event.
As predicted, a lot of people who are going to be at the wedding were also going out for lunch or they had to do some last-minute shopping, and throughout the day they saw Cassie and Grayson. But most of the people that knew Cassie were asking about Jake. Most of the people knew Cassie acknowledged her, but they pretended as if Grayson wasn't around which hurt him, but he said nothing about it. When lunch came around he was very quiet, and Cassie knew that there was something wrong because his behavior had changed from warm to cold.
Cassie knew of a restaurant that wasn't far from the hotel where they could sit and have lunch privately without any disturbance. Once they were done ordering their food, Cassie spoke.
"Grayson, are you going to tell me what's wrong, or do I have to play guessing games with you because I know that something is wrong? You've been quiet for the past hour, and it's unlike you to keep quiet and not speak out. You don't strike me as the type of person that keeps quiet when something is bothering you. You normally speak out and you normally say what's on your mind but right now you are running hot and cold. I just don't know what to think and I know that I haven't known you that long and I know that this whole marriage thing is new but you've got to level with me."
Grayson reached across the table and gently took her hand in his, his thumb stroking over her knuckles in a soothing rhythm. When he looked up at her, his eyes were soft with understanding rather than the frustration she'd expected to see.
"Almost everyone who has been invited to the wedding that we met speaks about you and Jake. They don't speak about me and you as if we are a couple. I know that you were planning a life with Jake but you're married to me, and you belong with me. You don't belong to another man." His voice was gentle but firm, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It hurts when they don't acknowledge that you're my girlfriend or wife. I have to say that you're my girlfriend because I can't show everybody that we're married or it's going to be tabloid news and everybody will know by the end of the day because I just don't trust some of the people that claim to be friends with you."
His voice softened even more as he continued, "I shouldn't have let that affect how I treated you. You're not responsible for their behavior, and I'm sorry if I made you feel like you had to walk on eggshells around me."