Page 48 of The Facilitator: Part 2
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Gabriellaand I were getting ready in her apartment. The nerves were starting to show, she was clumsy and tearful. Alex still had no idea he was about to get married, and I think Gabriella was having second thoughts at the surprise. I had constantly reassured her. Having had a conversation with him, we all knew he wasn’t keen on the garish wedding her mother wanted. As far as Alex was concerned, he was to attend a meeting with Mackenzie, and I’d received a text from him to say they were nipping into the pub next to the registryoffice.
“You look stunning,” I said, as Gabriella finally declared she wasdone.
“So do you,” she replied. We admired ourselves in the mirror before her mobilevibrated.
“I guess it’s time,” she said, collecting her clutch. She took a deep breath and we took the lift down to the foyer where a car waited forus.
Gabriella held my hand all the way to the registry office. She constantly asked me if what she was doing was the rightthing.
“Do you love Alex?” I asked; she turned sharply tome.
“Of course, I do,” shereplied.
“Then marrying him, whichever way you want to, isn’t wrong. He doesn’t want the big wedding. I think he’s going to be so thrilled you’ve done this for him,” Isaid.
We walked in and she texted Mackenzie we had arrived. We met with the registrar and then hid in an anteroom. We chuckled as we heard Mackenzie and Alex enter. Alex was asking why Mackenzie needed to divert to a registry office; did he have something to confess tohim.
“It’s time,” Gabriellasaid.
We left the room at the same time as the registrar came to collectus.
“Surprise, darling,” she said, as she took Alex’sarm.
It took a moment for Alex to cotton on, and then he laughed. We followed them into the office and theceremonybegan. A half hour later they were married. I had tears and no tissues and Alex was beaming. We walked to the pub and celebrated with beers. I suspect, by the range of bottles of champagne the pub had on offer, wedding parties spent time there. We opened one and toasted the newly-weds.
From there we headed to the Michelin starred Le Gavroche in Knightsbridge. We had a wonderful dinner and to see Gabriella and Alex together renewed my faith in marriage. There didn’t need to be hundreds of guests, the opulent dress, and months, or years, even, of planning. We’d had the best day, just a group of four friends who would soon be onlytwo.
We left them to spend their first night as a married couple at The Dorchester, while we headed in the opposite direction and home. In three days, they would be leaving the UK. I recalled Gabriella telling me they would be staying with her mother for a week before heading up to Boston, where they would make use of a company apartment before searching for their own home. Boston was where Alex was to be based; it was where the American headquarters of Trymast was. As he was doing in the UK, Mackenzie was in the middle of amalgamation, bringing all his businesses under one roof. It would make Alex’s life much easier; he’d have less travelling to do, other than to initially check out the manufacturingplants.
“You’re quiet,” Mackenzie said, his words breaking through mythoughts.
“I’m sorry, I’m just thinking about how wonderful today was,” Isaid.
“It was perfect. Alex didn’t have a clue, not even when we walked into the registryoffice.”
“What did you tellhim?”
“Just that we had an appointment. I don’t think he took too much notice of where we were, to be honest. His head has been in a whirl with the move and secondthoughts.”
“Has he spoken to you aboutit?”
“At length. I’ve told him, give it six months, and then if he’s really not settled, he comes home. I have a feeling he’s going to love it, though. It’s not like he hasn’t been there before, he’s travelled with me many times over theyears.”
“How did you meet him?” Iasked.
“Haven’t I told you?” he asked, and I shook myhead.
“His father, Lord Duchoveny, was the brother of Veronica’s father, they’recousins.”
“You neversaid.”
“I thought I had, but anyway, he was a big shot at Lloyd’s of London, one of their CEOs. He was renowned for being a brutal businessman and when Lloyd’s had some problems, I headhunted him for Trymast. He’s been with me for yearsnow.”
“Was he involved in thefraud?”
“No, he was one who discovered it had been covered up since the late 1980’s. He was effectively a whistle-blower. It wouldn’t have come out to the public had he not namednames.”
