Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
It wasn’t what most folks expected, but a beautiful surprise all the same. It was overcast on this glorious Saturday, but some sun shone through the clustered clouds, breaking through the gloomy fortress. The Red Rooster restaurant land was owned by some real estate folks from Bakersfield, California, and the area had gone into a seemingly irreversible state of disrepair. Neither Nadia nor Lennox had fathomed purchasing the land or remnants. The idea of being restaurant owners and having to fix up the dilapidated place was definitely something neither were interested in, nor willing to do. However, the notion of prettying her up on the outside and having a ceremony there did.
Could they pull it off? The idea had arrived after Nadia quickly discovered that the places she was interested in having their wedding held were so far booked out, they’d be waiting for years, or the venue was way too expensive, and she didn’t wish to stress out their finances unnecessarily. Besides, weddings were just one day. A marriage was forever.
Sure, she’d imagined as a child that her wedding would be in a big church. She’d sport a large white dress that resembled a ballgown, and there would be at least twenty bridesmaids, five hundred guests, and it would be a page ripped out of a fairytale. Now, she wanted something far different. As an adult, she understood that love trumps all. As long as the vows were said, the rings exchanged, the day was special and unique for her and her love, and if it was all sealed with a kiss, she would be satisfied. They found a Christian minister to officiate, and that took some of her planning stress away. The reception was taking place at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and that was enough money being shelled out as is, but for their actual vows, they wanted something unique to both of them, and them alone. Why not have it where he’d asked for her hand in marriage? The place where they’d fallen in love, but neither would say it…
Nadia sat in the back of the black Lincoln limousine which was parked up the street from the Red Rooster, with the sounds of Buju Banton’s ‘Boom Bye Bye’ playing in the background. She lay back, half sitting up, and half slumping in the large, fancy vehicle with her bridesmaids who were chatting, laughing, and listening to the music, all of them dressed in light blue form-fitting dresses adorned with black and champagne sashes about the waist, champagne colored hand gloves, and blue and black heels with champagne bows on the back. Looking every bit of lovely. Three of the women were childhood friends she’d kept in contact with over the years, and she’d been in one of their weddings as well. Two were strippers she’d been fond of and gotten close to while living in Atlanta, and a couple of them were from Sweet Soiree: Danielle and Sunshine. Lydia came as a guest.
Her Matron of Honor was her cousin, Stella, who’d always been so kind and supportive. One of her few family members who either didn’t have their hand out to ask for financial help, or didn’t have something slick to say about her mother.
“Okay,” the driver said over the noise and rowdiness. “Ladies, we got the go ahead to drive on down the road now.”
The women started whistling and cheering, and Nadia’s cheeks burned with heat as she grinned from ear to ear. It was showtime.
I’m getting married today to a man I love with all of my mind, body, and soul…
“I can’t believe it! It’s really happening!” she shouted joyfully as her friends continued to whoop and holler in celebration. They moved around the limo, twerking, acting silly and gyrating to the music when the limo driver turned on the song she’d requested to be played as they approached the location: ‘Time of Your Life,’ by Kid Ink…
Lennox stood beside two tall silver pillars in front of a freshly painted ‘Red Rooster’ eatery. The inside was still in shambles undoubtedly, but he’d hired some competent workers to fix up the outside, making it look practically brand new—the way he recalled it when he and his bride had worked there so long ago. The sign was back up—glowing and bright, and the front of the restaurant was set up perfectly for a wedding.
Champagne fabric was draped over all of the chairs, cinched with black and blue striped ribbons. They were lined up in front of the place in rows of twelve, where the parked cars used to be. Each chair had a menu on it for when guests arrived, and inside those menus were short biographies of him and Nadia, how they met, and a condensed, sweet version of their love story.
Everyone in attendance had also been passed a napkin from a napkin dispenser in case they anticipated tears. The old Red Rooster logo was embossed on them. Lennox had one of those napkins tucked away in his pocket as he stood beside Pastor Johnson. His groomsmen, all dressed in black and champagne smoking jackets with black pants, talked amongst themselves in the back. The song ‘Little Red Rooster,’ by the Rolling Stones, commenced.