Secrets of the Past

Chapter 73

It was just before 10:00 when Brian pulled into Sal's driveway. A couple minutes later Sal came out, a Snapple bottle in one hand, his cell phone and keys in the other.

"Hey buddy," Brian said as Sal got in. "How ya doin'?"

"Good. Could do with another week off."

"Oooof, me, too. But I do feel rested."

"You got a lot of sun," Sal said, looking over at his friend.

"It was the beach, bro."

"You musta been out every day. Did you have a good time?"

"Had a GREAT time. The weather was perfect, the beers were cold and the sex was hot."

Sal rolled his eyes. "Spare me the details."

Brian laughed. "You know I don't kiss and tell. So what did you do? Did you go anywhere?"

"I did a couple stand up shows and took Rachel to New Hope for a few days."

"Did you stay at the Lambertville?"

"Yeah we did," Sal said. "Rachel loved it."

"Did you talk to Gatto or Murray at all?"

"No. But Gatto went away, too. Barbados I think?"

"Oh that's right. No telling what Murray did."

They talked the rest of the way to set, Sal never noticing the ring on Brian's left hand.

They parked in the designated area then headed in to the pet store where they were filming. They parted ways when Brian stopped to look at the cats that were up for adoption. It was nearly ten minutes before he showed up in the back of the store with the other guys.

"How many did you adopt?" Joe asked when he saw Brian.

"None but if I could I'd take them all home with me. Not sure Giovanna would be too happy about that, though."

They talked for a bit about their various activities on their week off and several minutes in to the conversation Murray noticed the ring.

"What is that?!" he asked, pointing Brian's hand.

Brian looked down and smiled.

"This?" he asked, holding his hand up. "Oh that's a wedding ring."

"Why are YOU wearing it?" Murray asked.

"Because I'm married."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Sal asked.

"I got married in the Bahamas."

"Are you serious right now?" Joe asked.

"Yes," Brian said.

Sal and Murray stood there with their mouths open as Brian smiled at them.

"Let me see that," Joe demanded. Brian held out his hand as if he were a woman showing off a diamond.

"Guys, it's not a big deal," Brian said.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Sal asked. "It's a huge deal because it's YOU. You said you would never get married."

"Eh, just needed to find the right person."

"Was this planned when you went down there?" Murray asked.

"No. Not at all. I HAD been thinking about it the last couple of months but..."

"You have?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, but she and I had never talked about marriage once."

"So what? You just sprung it on her?" Sal asked.

"Well, sort of, I guess. We were at dinner and I asked her to marry me. She said yes and three days later we got married on the beach."

"Why?" Murray asked.

"Why what?" Brian asked.

"Why the rush?"

"There was no rush. She doesn't have any family and I didn't want to make a big deal of it."

"So it was your idea?" Sal asked.

"Well, I suggested it, we talked about it and she agreed."

"I can't believe this," Sal said, shaking his head.

"Hey," Joe said, holding his arms open, "congratulations buddy. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, man," Brian said, hugging all of them in turn.

"We need to celebrate," Sal said. "As soon as filming is done let's go get a drink. Call up Giovanna and tell her to join us."

"Alright. Brooklyn Social?"

The other three agreed.

"Hey baby," Giovanna answered.

"Hey, the guys wanna go out for a drink after work but they want you to come, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want to intrude on your guy time."

"Don't even worry about that," he said. "They want you to come. And it's not like this is a guys night out."

"Ok. Where? And when?"

"Brooklyn Social on Smith St. Text me when you get off work and I should be able to tell you how much longer we'll be here."

"Sounds good. See you later. Love you."

"Love you, too, babe."

She got off work before they were done so she headed over to the bar to wait. When they got there all three of the guys rushed to hug and congratulate her at the bar.

"There she is, The Miracle Worker," Joe said.

She laughed. "What does that mean?"

"Well, we all thought Q would turn gay before he ever got married," Murray said.

"Fuck you," Brian said, moving him out of the way to kiss her.

"Drinks are on me," Sal said. They all ordered drinks then moved to a nearby table.

"To Q and Giovanna," Joe said, lifting his glass of soda. They all toasted then took a drink.

"So how did you convince this guy to get married?" Joe asked. "We never thought it would happen."

"I don't know. I'm wondering that myself. It was quite a surprise when he asked me."

"She didn't have to do anything," Brian said, smiling at her.

"When are you going to tie the knot?" Giovanna asked Sal.

He choked on his beer and everyone else laughed.

"So not any time soon," she said. "Got it!"

Sal, Joe and Murray stayed at the bar for about an hour, leaving Brian and Giovanna alone. They had a couple more drinks before deciding to head home.

"You ready to get out of here?" Brian asked her, finishing the last of his Jameson.

"Yeah."

They walked out to her car and as she reached for the driver's side door handle he backed her up against the car. She looked up at him.

"What?" she asked.

"I love you," he said, putting his hands on the roof of her car and kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him passionately.

"I love you, too," she said, when they pulled away. "Let's go home."

THE END