Chapter 15
I was totally taken aback by his proposal. I had never even thought of marrying him at age 18. I had never thought of marrying anyone at age 18. I had thought that maybe it would come later in our relationship, so as he waited patiently for a response, I quietly and regretfully removed the ring and closed it in his hands.
“I....I don’t know,” I whispered. Usually, this would be where I would make my dramatic exit, running away from the problem as I always did, but the doors to the monorail were closed tightly as we rocketed around 20 feet in the air.
“What do you mean?” he asked, a wave of what looked like total disbelief washed over his face. “I thought this is what you wanted...”
“Isaac, it is, but maybe not right now. I mean, I just turned 18 and you’ve only been 18 for a few months. We’ve both just come into adulthood and I’m not sure if this proposal is more inspired by proving that adulthood or if it really is by love,” I looked at the door and wished we would arrive more quickly at the hotel. I avoided Isaac’s shocked stare because I was afraid to look. I was afraid to know that I was telling the truth and I was afraid to see that in his face.
“Melody?” Isaac whispered. His tone was like that of a small child, frightened and alone. I looked at him and saw something I’d never seen before. I watched as Isaac began to cry. “Melody, I love you with all my heart and soul. How could you even think that…”
“Isaac, are-are you crying?” I got closer to him and put a hand on his face, letting the first tear fall onto my fingers.
“What did I do wrong?” he asked quietly, looking away and wiping the tears from his face.
“Nothing, Isaac! You didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Then why won’t you marry me?”
“I didn’t know you loved me so much to give up the rest of your life to be with me. To give up dating other girls and meeting different kinds of women just to be with me? I never knew you would give up so much for me, Isaac. And....and I’m not sure if.... if I can. I mean, I love you so much. I love you more than anything, but to give up the rest of my years to you at such a young age? I don’t know. I don’t know if-if I...”
My thoughts raced as the tears started streaming down my own face.
“Melody, I would give up the world for you,” Isaac whispered as he got close to me again, putting a hand under my chin and directing my tear-filled gaze to his. “If only you’d accept. I know marriage is a lifetime commitment, but I’m ready. I’m ready to give it all up for you. I don’t care if I lose all my fans or get discarded from my family and friends. You are the only one I need.”
“Isaac, are you sure this isn’t a dumb decision? Are you sure that we’re not making the biggest mistakes of our lives?” I looked in his eyes, hoping to see the reassurance I needed.
He smiled at me and a few more tears fell from his eyes. “No,” he shrugged, “but I know that we can make it work. It might be a mistake and it might be dumb according to some standards, but it’s more right than acting as if we didn’t love each other enough to get married. Why wait to start our lives together until we are complying with society’s acceptable marriage age? Why not start it now so that we’ll be stronger when most people are just getting started?”
I searched inside for all those reasons it was shunned to get married so young and none of the thousands of things I had heard over my years would surface. I smiled again and let the last few tears fall as I said, “Give me my ring back.”
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Neither Isaac nor I had ever dreamt of a huge wedding because we both thought they seemed too elaborate and expensive and worrisome. That very night, we decided to elope. Isaac called up some friends he knew in Florida with a license to perform a marriage ceremony and we drove to their house. On the way, Isaac stopped at a fancy clothing store and proceeded to drag me inside.
“Isaac, what are we doing?” I asked. The store sign said it would close at 10 and it was 9:55.
“Getting you a wedding dress. You said before you’ve always wanted to be the one wearing white and saying ‘I do.’ That’s what you’re going to do,” he raised his eyebrows and pulled me to the formal evening gowns. After talking to the saleslady, she agreed to leave the store open until we had found what we were looking for. We searched through the dozens of dresses until we found a sleek, long, white satin dress. It was elegant and flowing. Not exactly what I’d expected but it was more than enough. I found a white scarf, pearl earrings and necklace, and a white hair clip with a tiny blue flower. Isaac bought the whole ensemble, including a black sport jacket, white shirt and black pants for himself. We borrowed their dressing rooms and changed into our outfits before we left and then proceeded to the house.
When we were in the car we kept saying how we couldn’t believe what we were doing. It then occurred to me to ask how long Isaac had known he was going to do this.
“Well, actually, I bought the ring the day after I spent that first night at your house. I knew then that you were the girl for me. The feeling of holding you in my arms was so right that I knew I would have to spend the rest of my life with you. I had no clue when I would propose, but I knew one day the opportunity would come up. I’ve carried the ring around with me ever since then,” Isaac smiled and then laughed a little. “Anyway, when I was in your bathroom, I saw a ring you usually wear on your ring finger and stole it so I could get the right size.”
“So that’s where my ring went that day!”
“Yep,” Isaac took my hand and laced our fingers together. “I actually had this wonderful proposal planned when we got here. I was going to ask you at the entrance to Cinderella’s castle. I would have gotten down on one knee and the whole bit, but....”
“Life never works the way you plan, huh?” I added.
“Nope.”
“I promised my mother I wouldn’t do anything drastic while I was away,” I chuckled. “I think she was referring to piercings and tattoos, but I’m pretty sure this will probably qualify as drastic when we get back.” Looking at myself, I realized I had only fulfilled part of the bridal superstition. “Okay Isaac, I have something blue, and something new, so all I need is something borrowed and something old.”
“Well, since we didn’t get shoes, wear your sandals for something old and then....” Isaac glanced around the car. “Here,” he reached into the compartment between our seats and pulled out a silver ID bracelet that had been there since the first time I had gotten into Isaac's car at the beginnning of their time in the studio. “You can borrow this from Taylor.”
We pulled up to the house and got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Isaac knocked and a moment later, a man in his 30s opened the door.
“Hey Isaac,” he smiled and shook Isaac’s hand.
“Hey Bud,” Isaac greeted. “This is Melody.”
“Hey Melody. You’re getting a heck of a guy here. He’s a real class act,” Bud told me. “Well, shall we get started?”
“The sooner the better,” I smiled at Isaac. “Oh, by the way, Bud. Secrecy is of the essence. We don’t want anyone hearing about this until absolutely necessary.”
“Sure thing, Isaac. Let’s go,” Bud led us into his living room and stood us together while his wife looked on.
I didn’t even listen to much of what he said. I already had it all memorized. For better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as we both shall live. The sacred words meant more to me right then than any other words in the world. I looked lovingly at Isaac and saw my future in his eyes. There would be good times and bad times and sometimes when I would be so mad I would wonder why I had married him, but through it all our love would prevail. Everything I had done before that moment seemed trivial and childish. I had finally come into my own and found someone to be there with. I had learned hard lessons and hurtful lessons and lessons that had forever changed me in the short time I had known him, so already my life was being reshaped by merely being with him. Now we were making a commitment to be together forever. As I was being asked if I would take Isaac for as long as I lived, I saw everything that I was committing to. I was saying that I would have his children, please him in every way I could, listen to him and honor him, and be forever not only his wife and lover but his friend and confidant. Even with knowing that I would have to do this until I died, I wasn’t a bit scared. I felt like I had finally found something that would make me feel like I truly belonged.
At age 18 with no job, no college education, little common sense and only about 1000 dollars to my name I said, “I do,” and my life finally began.
the end.
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that's all she wrote
Chapter Index