Consequences

of leaving you.”
    His eyes still flashed, blackness intensified. “Do you have any idea of the consequences if you did decide to leave me?”
    Continued eye contact and composure, “I would rather think about the consequences of staying with you and learning what it is that makes you happy,” she smiled, “and learning what you want of me, and when you want it.” His eyes lightened and flickered brown. “Perhaps you could give me some hints?” He was calming. She watched the tension and fury leave his face. Continuing with the composed but now playful tone, she added, “As a matter of fact, I think you were promising me something this afternoon in the kitchen.”
    It worked. He mellowed. She didn’t make the first move, wanting him to believe he was in control. When he didn’t speak and stood, she thought perhaps he was leaving her suite and this conversation was done. But he didn’t. Instead, he scooped her out of the chair and carried her to the bed.
    He wasn’t his old self and he wasn’t his new gentle self. He was somewhere in between, but closer to gentle than the night before. She did it, she mellowed him. Her response resulted in the consequence she hoped. Claire would figure him out. In the meantime, this was a little thunder but no storm.

 
Without friends no one would choose to live,
though he had all other goods.
—Aristotle
     Chapter 29
    The next two and a half weeks flew by in a flash.
    Sometime during their first night home, Claire awoke and heard Tony’s breathing in her bed. The drapes were open, and the moonlight illuminated her suite. She looked around and snuggled into the soft covers. She was in her suite in her home, not in New York. In three weeks, it would actually be half hers. The monetary value wasn’t what enamored her. It was the fact that he wanted it to belong to her. She possessed memories that she refused to revisit. She also possessed a promise of a future. As she cuddled under the fluffy down comforter next to her warm sleeping fiancé, she knew she would hold tight to that promise.
    They met with Brad and Monica on the Monday following Thanksgiving. Claire knew they were definitely worth the expense, whatever that may be. Tony told Claire not to worry about it. Their ideas were amazing. The wedding would take place in the grand entry, with Claire descending the staircase, which would be decorated with lights and sheer tapestries. The reception would be in the backyard, in a large floored, heated tent accessible to guests from the sunporch. There would be many Christmas trees and millions of clear lights. There would be evergreens and red flowers. Emily would wear black and carry a red bouquet. There would be an open bar and hors d’oeuvres and then a full sit-down meal of multiple courses. The cake was chic and decorated with real flowers. The flavors would include white, chocolate, raspberry, and carrot. Claire was especially excited about the string quartet from the Quad City Symphony, the place of her and Tony’s first night out.
    Tony gave them the list of guests that Patricia had compiled. He asked Claire about guests over and over. She repeated that she only cared about Emily and John and Tony’s close friends. She saw the difficulty that Emily had with Claire’s new lifestyle. She feared that her old friends would not feel comfortable, and mentioned Meredith as an example of why her friends from before should not attend. Tony couldn’t argue that logic. The guest list consisted of the few people who called Tony Tony and 150 of his not so close business and political allies. People, he explained, should be invited whom he liked, needed, or who needed him.
    Brad and Monica had a draft of the wedding invitation:
     
    You are cordially invited to the private
wedding ceremony of:
Ms. Claire Nichols and Mr. Anthony Rawlings.
The ceremony will take place at
the Iowa City estate of
Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings on
December the eighteenth two thousand and ten,
at precisely five thirty in the evening.
A dinner and dance reception
will immediately follow at the estate.
     
    Patricia volunteered to receive and compile the RSVPs. It would all be handled at Tony’s Iowa City office.
    The string quartet would begin playing at five, with the ceremony at five thirty. There would be valet parking and a coat check since winter coats were predictable. The reception would include a live jazz band and dancing. There would not be a DJ, but there would be an MC to make