Three months — that wasn’t so long, she thought to herself. It will be hard, but I will survive three months without Gene…and without sex. Ann looked out the window and onto Interstate 83. Her eyes fluttered and shut. Despite Gene’s rager of a party the previous night, she had excused herself at a normal hour and had slept pleasantly through the night. She longed to be home in her childhood bed, staring up at the white canopy and lavender walls, the lavender ceiling, lavender area rug.
Ann and Gene had come to Baltimore for her cousin’s wedding. Ann was the blushing bridesmaid. Gene had bonded well with Ann’s family over the last four years and didn’t mind their large family events. He enjoyed her many relatives because he had grown fond of Jews, ever since he went to college at NYU. Jews were his favorite people.
In the morning Ann fretted over Gene’s wardrobe. She insisted he wear his grey suit with a dark blue button down shirt and no tie. It made him look sexy and sophisticated, which was an unusual look for her typically goofy man. Gene didn’t want Ann’s family to think he was some sort of slick New York City type of guy — he wanted them to see him as a family man; family was important to the Hirsches — so he wore a grey button down and a green tie to her great dismay.
During the ceremony, Ann stood below the beemah with the other bridesmaids and watched her beautiful young cousin give her life to another. A constant stream of thoughts flowed through Ann’s mind as she considered her own wedding the following year. When Gene had proposed six months ago she was not ready to get married and had asked for a long engagement but now Ann was ready to get married and wanted their union in love and life more than anything.