Out of the blue

 "Don't you dare say that," Ari let Jade's words practically swallow him. It was the last thing he thought he would hear. After all, he was doing his best to get the veggie tray in a neat order. These days they were always going over to friends, but they were coming here. Even Justin and Carmen might drop by.

But that felt like something so far away when Jade said, "Oh, you know I'm not pretty enough." That was her excuse about why they hadn't gotten married yet.

"It's not you, you know that," he practically pointed the knife at her while she was doing the real work, patting seasoned meat patties to grill. "You know, I want everything perfect."

"Well, not everything can be perfect," she yelped back. He nodded as a shock of dark hair fell in his eye. Maybe she was right. He pressed his lips tight. 

"Can't we just do something simple?"

"How simple?" He winced. He wanted the best and that meant spending money.

"Let's just get married right here, with our friends and family." She pressed him on this as if he would not give in, and she knew it. "We'll be engaged forever."

He sighed. "No, we won't." What was she trying to tell him?

OK, he knew he pursued her. He had to win her. It was his goal at the time. But now he felt he'd hit this wall, wondering what was he supposed to do now. It wasn't like it was a life sentence. And he thought the world of Jade. It was so tiring, though. Why hadn't he expected it?

"Sammie and Gabe got married in a backyard," Jade went on to say.

"I want it to be nice. You need something..something beautiful," Ari put down the knife and wrapped up the veggie tray. "We can't talk about this right now."

"Then when?" Her eyes were sad and she wasn't smiling. "I bet Pan and Wade will be married before we will."

He turned from her wishing he could afford all this. But he couldn't. Sometimes, he wished he was back in his mancave during the pandemic. Even then he kept planning and plotting his future. All he'd mastered was finally a fulltime job, a live-in girlfriend, and a new car. 

Ari pushed his hair away from his face. He didn't think he was that mean. He'd never hurt Jade and yet he could see the hurt in her eyes.

"OK, we'll do it." After all, they had a marriage license. He guessed it was still good. He reached in his back pocket for his cell. "But you better wear something nice. You need to look pretty."

She practically rolled her eyes. She'd found something this past winter that was on clearance. Evidently, it would suffice.