Chapter 122
I was practically woken up by Levi. He never disturbs my sleep - this was the first time he'd ever woken me up.
Everyone had such a great time at last night's annual party. I was moved to tears several times during Nola's speech on stage. Heartstrings Jewelry is getting better and better, and I feel such a strong sense of accomplishment.
"What's wrong? Why haven't you left for the office yet?"
I sat up, and Levi held his phone in front of me. "See for yourself."
"A marriage certificate?"
"Yeah."
Waking me up early in the morning to look at a picture of a marriage certificate - what kind of leisure activity is this? I didn't get it.
"I'm going back to sleep."
I lay back down. I rarely sleep in, but I really did want to sleep a bit more.
Levi placed my phone next to my pillow. "Check your phone - it's probably blown up."
"Huh?"
I opened it and saw what was basically Nola's relentless barrage of calls.
Just as I was about to open my messages, she called again.
"Hello?"
"Blair, are you wasting this beautiful day in bed? On such a wonderful day like today, you need to stop sleeping."
"I..."
"I already saw your sleeping photo - you look like you're in a coma. Hurry up and get ready. See you at noon, no excuses."
Before I could say anything, she hung up. I felt like this was the most energetic Nola I'd ever heard - her voice was so powerful it could reach through the phone and drag me out of bed.
I was completely confused, and now I wasn't sleepy anymore.
Levi was laughing quietly beside me, which I caught out of the corner of my eye.
Nola said she saw a photo of me sleeping. Besides Levi, there was no one else here.
"You sent it?"
I looked at him seriously.
"Yeah."
I felt like I'd been caught off guard. I never would have imagined Levi would send Nola a photo of me sleeping.
"You sent it to her?"
The corner of Levi's mouth curved up. "Not exactly."
I thought this was so weird - opening my eyes to see a marriage certificate, then sending photos of me sleeping...
I opened my phone and looked carefully, clicking on my chat with Nola. I covered my mouth in shock...
She and John got married!
This was absolutely wonderful news, and combined with yesterday's good news at the company, this was double the joy.
"Oh my..."
I couldn't help but exclaim. This was so unexpected. I thought Nola wouldn't get married so soon. I never imagined they would decide to spend their lives together in such a short time - what incredible courage.
"I'm not busy today, get up and get ready."
I looked at him, unable to hide my joy.
Did Levi mean he was coming with me at noon?
I carefully pieced it together - most likely John couldn't contain his joy and shared this happy news with Levi, then when Nola couldn't reach me by phone, Levi sent her my photo to prove I wasn't up yet.
That made sense.
"Did they send you the address?"
"Yeah."
I was secretly pleased with how smart I was. By asking that question, I confirmed my theory. Nola wouldn't contact Levi directly, so it must have been John.
The gloom of the past days instantly disappeared. This was good news that could offset Chase's death. Life rushes by, a concrete mix of joy and sorrow.
As we were getting ready to leave, Celestia said she wanted to come with us. It would have been fine to bring her, but Cleo called, saying she hoped Celestia would go to Levi's mother's place to play with Hayden.
So we dropped the kids off first.
...
John chose the most luxurious hotel his family owned and booked the most extravagant private room.
It's no exaggeration to say that in all these years Levi and I have been together, he's never taken me to a place of this caliber. Of course, our relationship was never meant to be public.
Nola was dressed beautifully. She wasn't wearing her usual flashy clothes, but had completely changed her style to something elegant and dignified.
For a moment, I couldn't help but smile.
"Welcome, you two! Don't worry, I cleared the place out. Today it's just the four of us here."
John was beaming - marrying Nola, he really should be happy.
"That's a bit much. Actually, this place is already pretty private, and now we're affecting your business revenue too."
I joked as the four of us entered the private room.
"We're just happy you came to celebrate with us. Of course, the treatment is different - you're our good friends." John always knew the right thing to say, making everyone feel good.
Levi pulled out a chair for me.
John stood there motionless, staring straight at Nola.
"What, are you being punished to stand?"
"I'm just so happy. You know, when we were taking our vows, my heart was about to jump out of my chest. Nothing in my life has ever made me this excited."
Nola rolled her eyes at him. "Look at you."
John nodded enthusiastically. "My wife is always right."
"Ugh, stop performing and sit down to eat."
Those two were so entertaining. I sincerely wished they could stay this fresh forever.
John stood up again, very solemnly raising his glass. "Today we became a legal married couple. On this beautiful day, thank you for being here, and thank you to my wife for choosing me. Bottoms up!"
We all raised our glasses, but before we could toast, he downed his in one gulp.
"What's the rush? Unbelievable."
Nola smiled awkwardly and clinked glasses with us. "Thanks for coming."
"Congratulations on your marriage!"
"Congratulations on your marriage!"
Levi and I said it in unison. We smiled at each other, and this joy made us both less serious.
"Thanks, and we wish you a lifetime of happiness too. I hope we're all happy."
John picked up his glass again and downed it in one gulp.
"Take it easy. At this rate, no matter how well you hold your liquor, you won't last." I reminded him not to drink so fast - health comes first.
Nola smiled. "He hasn't had a drink in days. He said he was waiting for today to have a drinking contest with your Levi."
Levi was called out. He smiled mischievously. "I'm okay with that, but she can't drink too much."
"We know what your wife can handle. Don't worry, you can take her share."
John and Nola seemed to have planned this in advance. They kept drinking glass after glass with Levi while I sat there helplessly.
If I said to drink less, it would spoil the mood. Such happy days were too rare. I was already prepared to take care of Levi if he couldn't handle his liquor and needed my help.
"Blair, you didn't tell me the truth. I saw how tired you were, and I always thought marriage was terrible. But now I think it's great."
Nola was getting a bit tipsy. She usually could drink a lot, but today she was drunk after just a little?
"Honey, she never said marriage was bad - you were just imagining things. I think they're very loving."
"Levi!"
Nola raised her glass. "Let's have a drink. You absolutely must take good care of Blair, you absolutely must treat her well, because in this world, she only has you."