As I wait for the Beckett family to get to the hospital, the nurse tells me that Leopold is already in his room and that he is conscious. I walk as fast as I can without running towards his room. Leopold is lying on the hospital bed looking out the window with a scowl on his face. He looks more pail and has bags under his eyes, but he still looks astonishingly handsome. I freeze at the door as I contemplate him, I can’t believe I almost lost him. “Hi,” I say in a soft

As I go in the apartment, I intend to go straight to my room to pick up my things before I  leave for good, but Clara is here and she is worried sick because she heard Leopold was wounded by a firearm. The elderly woman seems too fragile for me to just leave her with no answers, she has worked for Leopold for years and she genuinely cares for her boss’s well-being. I sit on the bed with her and I tell her what happened, that the surgery was successful and that Leopold will recover fully. She is very relieved to hear the news and goes to bed with a big smile. The moment Clara goes back to her room, I take out my suitcase and I start to pack all of my belongings. I have no idea where I will go, I just know that

I stand a few yards away from the party as I look at our few guests  having a great time on the dance floor. Even Mary Alice seems to be having fun, although this wasn’t the wedding she planned for us. This isn’t happening in a castle in Europe, or at an elegant salon with crystal walls by an artificial lake. I know at first she was disappointed that I wanted to go in a different direction, but she eventually accepted that the wedding should reflect my taste, not hers. Constance Cassel was a different story, she resigned in the middle of the planning because she considered my ideas to be too “plain for her to work with”, and maybe they were, but this is what I wanted: A small intimate ceremo