Gilding the Lilly

The room went absolutely silent. Simon is gorgeous. Simon is gorgeous. Did you get THAT part? Wow. Yep, he is 'black'. More like Cafe' au Lait. Dark golden brown. Short dark hair and dark eyes that I kept falling into. Oh My. Taller than I am (topping my 5'8” by 3 or 4 inches; yes, he CAN top me anytime he wants...if Lilly says OK). Oh mah, I think ah maht hahve the Vahpohrs. Channeling Scarlett O'Hara. My knees were weak. Lilly had been blessed with such a MAN. Men don't usually do that to me, I am REALLY into Girls. Really. I swear. It took Lilly introducing Simon to snap everyone out of the stupor. She said, “Officially, this is Simon. We will be getting married at Christmastime. Simon, this is everyone, everyone, this is Simon.”

Our crazy bunch crowded around them, introducing themselves and offering hearty congratulations. I had set out bottles of champagne and flutes around the room and suddenly there were corks popping and flying all over the room and wine being poured and I had to offer the first toast ('had to', hell I WANTED to be the first). “To Lilly and Simon, may their LIFE be long and blessed and may Happiness ALWAYS overcome any troubles.” the cheers lasted 5 minutes or more. They were a HIT, and Simon was one of us. Hugs all around, everybody got to hug both Lilly and Simon and when he got to me, I nearly swooned. Again. That hug wiped the thought of any other hug out of my mind. Lilly had said he was a Gym Rat. I thought that just meant he was in good shape, going to the gym regularly. (I knew he spent his workdays in an office so that made sense.) THAT didn't half cover it. Through his sport shirt and slacks, I could feel that he is RIPPED. Solid. Built. My knees threatened to give out, again.

Trying to regain some semblance of normality, I tried to get everyone around the dining table. I knew this bunch LOVED to eat. In more ways than one, actually.