Page 96 of Eternally Yours
Em sighs with a smile. “It’s been going well. I really like him, and my parents are ecstatic. I swear, since your wedding, they started planning ours! And the worst part is, Tommy doesn’t even mind. I don’t know how I feel about that.” She stares into space, eyes filled with horror. Emma Mackenzie isn’t one to settle down easily, so marriage is a huge step that I think she may not be ready for.
“I can imagine, maybe let them know you aren’t at that stage yet. I mean, you don’t even live together yet. Maybe start there.”
“Oh, Tommy has hinted that living together would make things easier with his schedule, but I’m gonna wait it out a bit longer, it’s still so new.”
Just then, a disturbance occurs in the hall with boisterous laughter that can be heard from the receptionist’s desk. Employees start emerging from their offices and cubicles, clapping and cheering.What the hell?
Emma puts on a megawatt smile, gleaming with excitement as she hurriedly jumps to her feet. Grabbing my hand, she pulls me with her to the door. “Oh! It’s starting, hurry!”
“What’s starting?... OH… GOD...”
The moment I see the spectacle before me, my eyes nearly pop out of my head. At the front of our office floor, four men dressed in huge red costumes stand in line, one behind the other, and behind them seems to be someone in a suit.
Oh, a poor fool is about to get the embarrassment of their life.
Then I hear it.That laugh, I know that laugh. Oh no... no, no, no... I’m the poor fool!
I turn quickly in search of an exit, but Emma is quicker. She spins me back, facing the front and grips onto my biceps. “Oh no, young lady. Don’t you even think about it. This is all for you.”
That’s what I’m afraid of!I look to my left and see Steve with his phone aimed my way, filming the whole charade.Oh, he’s going to pay for that later.I offer him a glare when the music begins.
An instrumental version of‘L-O-V-E’by Nat King Cole starts, and the men begin marching my way. A giant red‘L’shaped costume starts to dance as he sings the first sentence of the song that goes with his letter. It’s then I realize the person in the costume is Clay, and I burst into giggles. He must be dying of humiliation right now.
He steps aside to the right once he’s done with his number, and Greyson steps up dressed as an‘O’.Then he too begins to dance and sing the line belonging to‘O’.
At the end of his turn, Greyson goes to the left and Gabriel comes into view as‘V’.He chants the next line, then slides to the right, joining Clay.
Next comes Noah wearing‘E’,he shakes his head slightly while smiling but performs his duties anyway, then twirls off to the left with Greyson.
Finally, my husband comes into view in a crisp navy-blue suit, singing to me the rest of the verse. He takes my hand in his and brings me into a dance, placing his other hand on my lower back while I settle mine on his shoulder.
He continues to chant into my ear, then spins me out, twirls me back into his arms, and finishes by dipping me as he sings the last sentence.
Their voices are all a bit out of tune, which only makes it funnier. Clearly, none of them are singers. But I love all the effort Silas goes through simply to show the love he has for me.
I’m giggling as he kisses my lips and pulls me back up with him. Behind him, I see Clay passing him a bouquet of roses, which he then hands off to me. “Happy birthday, Minnie.”
This time I kiss him with all the passion in the world while cheers around us explode.This man really is something else.
“I can’t believe you did that! I swear, I feel like I’m red from head to toe.” I cover my face with one hand, the other holding my flowers while he palms my waist.
“You are,” he says with a chuckle, then rubs his nose against mine. “But you look adorable.”
“How did you even get the guys to agree to do this? I can imagine Gabe and Noahwere easy to convince, but Greyson? Clay!?” Laughter once again takes over as I look past my husband to his friends. Greyson looks bored, whereas Clay looks like he’s about ready to rip off the costume and burn it.
“Don’t worry about it.” Silas smiles, then turns his gaze to Steve. “Hey, Steve. You got all that?”
“Yup, already sent it to you.”
“You were in on this!?” I ask Steve in complete shock.
He lifts his hands in the air. “Hey! Don’t get mad at me, so was Emma.”
I turn to her as she shrugs. “Totally worth it.”
“You are all unbelievable.” I shake my head and lean it against Silas’s chest.
Amanda suddenly appears a couple of feet away and smiles with warmth in her eyes. “As much as I don’t want to break up the happy couple and all these festivities, I don’t pay you all to just stand around all day.” She claps her hands together. “Boys, I’ll have to ask you to leave so my employees can get back to their tasks. But thank you for the... delightful entertainment.” She eyes up the men in costumes, suppressing a giggle, and goes back to her office.
