a restless thought

Olivia did her best not to convey it, but she really did envy Amber.

"You two have to be the luckiest people, ever." Amber grinned all over when she and her new husband came to visit over the weekend. It was Olivia's first house guest at their new place. She'd made up the extra room as a cute guestroom, as if it would be a much better place to stay than any hotel room.

"But..but you two are married." Olivia was stressed around her friend. Why hadn't Amber leaned on her more. Told her everything about this Scott. It was so sudden. "You didn't even invite me to the wedding."

"It was on base. Very military, you know." Amber didn't sound too worried about it. After all, she brought a scrapbook of pictures. For a bit Olivia was afraid they might all have to watch the entire thing on DVD, but thankfully, Scott left that at home.

Olivia swayed back and forth on why the two married. Perhaps it were the benefits. Amber would be an officer's wife soon. Or, perhaps Amber was running from something. It just couldn't be for the right reasons.

"You don't need to integrate me." After all, the guys were having more fun, out playing golf..which Ravi didn't exactly play, but always wanted too. "Look, we met. I knew I wanted him. I know I said I wanted a degree, and be a lawyer and whatever, but I want this too. Some day, I'll have both. I just didn't want to waste away, wondering when or if we'd ever get married."

Of course, Amber's words put Olivia in a tailspin. Had she been putting off marrying Ravi? Olivia tried her best to take Amber to all her favorite places downtown that autumn weekend. There were still lots to see and buy at the farmer's market. They thrifted. They did many of the things they always enjoyed doing together, but it was still on her mind. Were she and Ravi missing out?

"What do you want me to do?" Ravi couldn't take anymore of Olivia's tossing and turning in bed. Things were back to normal. No house guests at the flat. The weekend was over. Back to work as usual.

Granted, Ravi felt she'd gone way above the call of duty. Making these amazing meals that neither of them had time nor the money for. Now he felt Olivia needed the vacation. But there was no time.

"We need to get this done." She laid there restless next to him. "The wedding. We need dates, a place. Everything."

"Okay." He mentioned her Dad then. The one who raised her. "Do you think he would marry us?" They needed a minister.

"No." She said quick enough as if she were avoiding her adoptive parents like the plague.

"I know you don't like conflict, but they need to know. Their daughter is getting married." Ravi rose up on his elbows.

She let out a deep sigh. He was beginning to think it wasn't really his fault that they hadn't married yet. It must be her parents. He saw the tears drip down her face.

"You can't let them ruin everything..when they don't even know they are ruining everything." He cuddled her ever so gently. "Maybe we could have like a destination wedding." He whispered in her ear.

"Like where?" She blurted.

"My parents motel?" He couldn't help but suggest. He knew they'd love it. All their friends could come and stay the night. He knew it was a far cry from Vegas or the Virgin Islands. But still, it would definitely be interesting.