Day 13

Start writing a story that...

Step 1: begins with this sentence: He's afraid to admit...

Step 2: Add a scene that takes place in a chapel

Step 3: Add this word: together
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He's afraid to admit that he feels no guilt or hesitation when he meets Noreen at the 67th Street bar in the dank back booth beside the fire exit. When he spots her across the room, she appears relieved. He walks over, slipping quickly into the seat beside her.

"No, sit across from me, " she says, inching him toward the edge with her outstretched hand.

"I don't think anyone knows us here, " he says, but obliges her by switching to the seat opposite her.

"That's not the point," she says.

"What is the point?"

"I'm not yours yet."

Two months later they stand across from each other at a little white chapel in Nevada, both wearing shorts and flip-flops. He wears a t-shirt that looks like a tuxedo shirt, and she wears a gauzy white blouse that shows a lacy black bra underneath. His brother acts as a witness and her best friend holds the bouquet and rings. No one else is invited, mostly because no one else is expected to approve.

It is an hour later when, standing together and holding hands, they jump into the motel pool still in their wedding clothes. The rusted sign outside demands proper swimwear, but it is sweltering and they did not pack bathing suits. Noreen takes off the gauzy shirt, now stuck tightly against her breasts and belly. Next she tugs off the shorts and floats in her underwear and bra.

"It sort of looks like a bikini," he says. "I think we're okay."

"We are okay," she says. "Stop thinking about it."

He nods and turns to float on his back beside her.