“Hello. How can I help you today?” the woman behind the counter asked us.
“We would like to get married,” Chase said as he pulled my hand up to his mouth and kissed it.
As he continued to talk to the woman, I couldn’t help but notice she had a black book that looked exactly like the one Chase had handed me to hold for him while I was in his saf
e room. I didn’t know why, but I really thought I should grab it. Having a duplicate black book could really come in handy if we needed it later on down the road.
I looked at the woman’s desk behind her and tried to figure out how I would be able to get back there without being noticed. Certainly, she wasn’t just going to let me behind the counter for no reason at all. Then, I remembered a scene I had watched in one of my cop television shows.
“Oh my gosh. Did you see that?” I exclaimed, as I took my shoe off and reached over the counter.
“No, what was it?” the woman asked.
“I don’t know what kind, but that was one of the biggest spiders I have ever seen.”
All the women who had been sitting at their desks got up and pulled their chairs out as everyone looked for the spider. Chase was the only man in the room, and he seemed utterly clueless as to what I was doing.
“Where did it go?” the woman asked again.
“I think it went over there. Chase, go kill it.” I said as I pointed toward the desk in the far corner.
He went behind the counter, and I followed him. As everyone followed Chase and looked for the giant spider, I grabbed the black book off of the elderly woman’s desk. It was surprisingly easy to distract everyone. I kind of felt like a character from a crime show.
I smiled as I put the black book into my back pocket and pulled my shirt down over it. No one even suspected a thing. Of course, I had to go along with the rouse for a few more minutes as we all looked for the spider, but it was well worth it.
About ten minutes went by before we gave up looking for it and succumbed to the idea that the spider had gotten away. We continued our process of applying for a marriage license.
In truth, if there had been a giant spider and it had gotten away in my office, there was no way I could have shown up to work for a month. I really hated spiders, and I felt bad for scaring all the women in the office.
“When would you like to get married?” the woman asked us.
“Right now, if that is possible,” Chase replied.
“Are you sure? No parents, no other family members?”
Chase and I looked at each other. I could tell that we were both thinking the same thing – our family wasn’t going to like us getting married so quickly. My mother would freak out if she knew I had flown over to America and gotten married all within the span of a week.
I really hoped our plan worked with Chase’s father. It did show that Chase was willing to commit to something, but I feared his father wasn’t going to like the idea of us getting married without him. Surely, Chase could lie and say we had been dating for a few months. That would hide how long we really had known each other. But there was no way to hide that we didn’t invite his father or the rest of his family to the ceremony.
“What about your mother? What will she think of all this?” I asked.
“She will be happy once she meets you, I just know it.”
“All right, then yes. Let’s get married now.”
“It will take me about fifteen minutes to get things in order. Why don’t you two take a walk and come back in a few minutes?”
“All right, thank you, ma’am.”
Chase grabbed my hand and we walked out to the front steps of the courthouse. It was a beautiful morning, and we sat down in the sunlight. I leaned my head against Chase’s shoulder and then quickly pulled away in fear that I was going to hurt him.
“I’m fine, it’s not nearly as sore as yesterday.”
“Your friend Carlos says he has a friend who works in the Special Crimes division. We could walk across the street and turn in the black book and everything we know. Maybe they could protect us?”
Chase seemed to ponder what I had suggested for a few minutes before he decided what would be best.
“Let’s go talk to my father first. I’d like to see how that goes.”