STAY THE NIGHT (The Phillips Family Book 1) (26 page)

             
“
Beats me,
”
Stanley said,
“
I'm happy with lust.
”

             
“
Oh, God,
”
Shirley said, her tone emphasizing her disgust.

             
“
All right class,
”
Angelica said,
“
Each of you take one of these papers as they come to you.  It's a list of thirty philosophical expressions about love, some cynical, some romantic.  Your task is to study the list and pick a total of ten examples, five positive and five cynical.  Expound and expand on each one you choose, explaining what the author of the quotation meant and why you believe he or she said what they did at that particular time.  You have two weeks to complete the assignment.  Twelve pages.
”
  The crowd groaned. 
“
Double spaced.  Make it good.  This will count for thirty percent of your grade for the semester.
”

             
The students filed out and Cray began to make his way down the stairs to the front.  Anthony hung back and said to Angelica. 
“
Miss Andersson, you may have gathered that this assignment is coming at a really bad time for me.  I'm having a hard time getting through a day and the thought of writing about love might kill me.  I'm trying to put it behind me, not think about it and write it.
”

             
Cray stood back and let Anthony talk to Angelica.  She said,
“
I agree the timing is poor, but it might be cathartic for you.  I'm sorry, I can't excuse you from the assignment.
”

             
Anthony slumped away and out the door.

             
Cray smiled at her, taking her hands and brushed his lips across hers. 
“
Hi.
”
             
“
Hi,
”
she said,
“
this is a nice surprise.
”

             
“
I wanted to see my bride-to-be in her element and I enjoyed the topic.
”

             
“
They're so young, freshmen and sophomores.
”

             
“
Yes, the boys hormones are raging,
”
he said.

             
“
And the girls are in love with the idea of love.
”

             
“
That one kid is suffering.
”

             
“
He's a sophomore.  I had him in class last semester.  He's bright.  He and his girl will reconcile or he'll move on to someone else.  It's a learning experience we go through so we're ready to recognize and accept the real thing.
”

             
“
Is that what happened to us?
”

             
“
Yes.  We've experienced our ups and downs with the opposite sex, we're not novices at life.  In an instant we recognized our mate and didn't run away.  We embraced our meeting.  Cray, we were both so ready when we met, but willing to wait for the right one at the right time.  That's us together.  It's in here and in here,
”
she said, placing her hand over her heart and touching her head.

             
“
I adore you.  When's your next class?
”

             
She checked her wristwatch. 
“
Another hour.  Do you have time for a cup of coffee?  Or a quickie?
”
  She grinned at him.

             
“
Yes.  Can you find us a secure, private place where we can forgo the coffee?
”

             
“
No.
”

             
“
Oh, well, it's the thought that counts.  Lead me to the coffee.
”

             
They sat at a coffee shop near the campus where she taught and sipped the hot brew. 
“
Cray, are you going to object if I continue to teach after we're married?
”

             
He looked at her in surprise. 
“
No, honey, why would I object?
”

             
“
I realize I don't need to work for financial reasons, but I do enjoy it.
”

             
“
Honey, you have your doctorate and are good at it.  I wouldn't dream of asking you to stop doing what you love.
”

             
“
You keep mentioning traveling together.
”

             
“
Yes, and I want to do that with you.  You're free from mid May until late August.  I'll arrange my schedule around yours.  We have three months each year to roam the world if that's what we want to do.
”

             
“
Can you be away for long stretches?
”

             
“
Mona is more than capable of making decisions and there's a good management team assembled.  I worked because there was nothing better to do.  Now there is.  I love being with you and I won't be a slave to the job and sacrifice you for work.  I want us to live life to the fullest.  We're lucky enough to be able to afford it.
”

             
Cray didn't consider the date of their meeting the most important, he concentrated on the day, a Friday.  On the fourth Friday when they met, he arrived home with a gold bangle bracelet inscribe: I love you and Fridays.  It became a ritual and every Friday brought another trinket, some expensive and some not, but all romantic and sentimental.  He gave her a Lucite paperweight that said,
“
Every day is Friday when I'm with you
”
.  Another time he handed her a daisy with the petals removed except for one and said to her,
“
I started with she loves me and ended with she loves me not.  Guess what's left.
”

             
She had the daisy preserved and encased in a rectangle of glass.  He presented her with a four-leaf clover, a horseshoe and a rabbit's foot, telling he she was his lucky charm.  A shiny penny minted the year they met joined her growing collection.  When they were apart during the day, they sent short silly texts back and forth when time permitted.  Their reunion at the end of a day apart resulted in warm embraces, conversations about the day's events and each night before they slept their bodies joined in joyous consummation of their love.

             
Mona gave Cray and Angelica the barest information regarding the engagement party she planned as it neared.  She told them the date, the time, the place and the dress code and that's the extent of the information she imparted.  Cray and Angel spent a couple of weekends in White Plains, staying with his parents, but they kept mum.  They met with the pastor for counseling on those weekends and cemented the dates and plans for the wedding in May.

             
Gwen and Angelica met with a wedding planner and poured over menus and possible color combinations complete with flower choices for the wedding ceremony. The elder Phillips, along with Angelica and Cray compiled a guest list, comprising no more than one hundred guests and ordered the engraved invitations from the printer.  Cray looked to Angel for her approval and she consented.  They decided an early evening ceremony suited them in the house and afterward the guests would proceed to the grounds behind the house where a huge tent could accommodate everyone for a sit-down dinner in the event of inclement weather.  Otherwise, the flagstone terraces would serve as the setting for the reception.

             
On the evening of the engagement party Angelica dressed in a bright red, lace, knee-length gown with a scoop neck and full skirt.  She wore red satin sling-back, open-toed high heels and carried a matching bag.  Cray dressed in a new midnight blue Armani suit with a white shirt, a red tie and a matching red square in his breast pocket.  Before they left the bedroom, Cray handed her a blue velvet box from Tiffany's.  She opened it and found an exquisite diamond bracelet that matched her diamond drop earrings.

             
Mona and Freddie arrived in a stretch limo and escorted the couple of honor to the Plaza Hotel where the partition of two ballrooms were open to accommodate the more than six hundred guests there to celebrate Cray and Angelica's engagement.

             
Angel gasped in awe as she entered the double ballroom.  Red floor-length tablecloths graced the round tables that seated ten and white porcelain cupids adorned the center of each table surrounded by red and white roses and a multitude of lit candles.  Luxurious fabric festooned the walls and ceiling to create a warm ambiance for such a large crowd.  Large mirrors, placed at angles hung from strategic places, reflecting the candle glow, the sparkling diamonds worn by the women and the crystal prisms from the multitude of small chandeliers that hung over each table.

             
Angelica embraced Mona and with a catch in her voice said,
“
It's like a kaleidoscope.  Mona, I've never seen anything so gorgeous, so fantastic, so marvelous.  Words cannot express my gratitude.
”

             
Cray hugged Mona and said,
“
I love you so much and I'm so glad you're my sister and partner in business.
”
  Gwen approached them and Cray embraced her, Mona and Angelica. 
“
I'm a lucky man to have three such magnificent women in my life.  Thank you for making my life so much better than I deserve.
”

             
Mona led Angelica and Cray to the front of the room.  She took the microphone from the orchestra leader in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other and said,
“
Ladies and gentlemen before the festivities begin I want to propose a toast to two of my favorite people in the world.  Cray, you've been more than a brother to me.  You've been my boss, a bully and an all around pain in the ass at times,
”
  Laughter echoed throughout the room,
“
until you fell in love with Angie who has changed you to a pussy cat and I intend to take full advantage of the metamorphosis.  Angie, you are the sister I always longed for and we are kindred spirits because you have a penchant for dirty jokes, the raunchier the better.
”

             
Angelica threw her head back and her husky, bawdy, lyrical laugh rolled out of her throat and caused the guests to join her.  When at last it quieted, Mona raised her glass and said,
“
Best wishes for a long, happy, healthy and loving life together.
”

             
Everyone raised their glass and drank the toast.  Mona said,
“
There's one more item of business.
”
  She turned to face Cray and Angie, still speaking into the microphone. 
“
Since the invitations went out to your guests, I've fielded hundreds of calls asking me about gifts.  We purposely put a notation of no gifts on the invitations, but as the calls came in and the protests got louder I remembered your dream and related it to the callers.
”

             
She reached in her clutch purse and retrieved a check. 
“
This is a check for twenty-five thousand dollars as seed money for the Angel Foundation to begin helping children and young people in need to be used in any way you see fit.
”

             
Angelica's hands flew to her mouth and she burst into tears.  Cray embraced her with one arm as she buried her face in his shoulder and he took the microphone from Mona.  His voice husky and his words hesitant, he said,
“
Thank you.  We're overwhelmed with your kindness and generosity.
”

             
Mona turned to the bandleader, gave a downbeat and said,
“
Let's party.
”

             
The Phillips family gathered around Cray and Angelica.  Angel said,
“
I need to repair my makeup.
”

             
“
We came prepared,
”
Gwen said as she and Mona accompanied Angel to the restroom. 
“
Mona predicted you might cry.  We left the necessary makeup in the restroom.
”

             
The rest of the evening they spent dining on sumptuous food, circulating among the guests, dancing and most of all laughing as the guests, both men and women, became bolder telling Angelica dirty jokes.  Angel laughed until her sides hurt. The Norwegian contingent mingled with Cray's friends and associates and the party lasted until almost dawn.