by Laila Amber
"My name's Matteo." He said, not knowing how else to deal with the strange situation.
"I'm Mary." She said. The name fit her so well. She looked so innocent and sweet, like a lamb that had yet to meet the wolf. Her long brown hair was curly and her cheeks were plump and red. Her body was curvy and narrow at the same time, with flawless desired breasts and long, elegant legs. She had stopped crying, but her eyes still glistened.
"Can I walk you home?" Matteo asked, not wanting to leave her side in the vast dark city. Mary only nodded and continued on her way.
"I'm sorry about what happened between you and that woman." Mary said kindly.
"Actually, I should probably thank you for that. You kept me from making what I'm sure would have been the biggest mistake of my life." Matteo said.
"How’s that?" Mary asked.
"I didn't love her, and you gave me a reason to see her as she really was." Matteo said.
"That's unfortunate." Mary said. "Why would you be with someone for so long if you didn't love them?" Matteo was embarrassed that she had heard his proposal.
"I thought that it was the right thing to do. My parents went through so much. I grew up believing that you work through everything and no relationship is perfect." Matteo found it so easy to talk to her. It was astonishing and foreign to him. He had always been so closed off to the world, but opening up to Mary came like a second nature. Matteo couldn't help but spew everything that had been on his mind for the last year. Mary just smiled and nodded, thankful to have her mind off of everything that had happened that night. She had never had a man open up to her so easily before. Mostly, people just treated her like garbage. It was nice to have someone just treat her like a person. His voice was soft and just added to the night. A sweet smell of peony and honeysuckle hung in the warm dark air. It was cool but not cold and Mary filled her lungs with the soft and delicate night. She hadn't even noticed her apartment coming close. Matteo still spoke. She decided to pass her door, simply just to hear him continue speaking.
CHAPTER THREE: A MUCH NEEDED ADVENTURE
Matteo talked about everything that he had wanted to do. All the places that he wanted to go, and Mary listened.
They came upon a small park that only consisted of a pair of swings. Mary walked over and sat on them.
"What keeps you from doing all these things that you want to do?" She asked.
No one had ever asked Matteo that, and honestly, he didn't know. He had the money, he had the time, and also the desire.
"I'm not sure." He said, shrugging.
"It sounds to me that you're standing in the way of your own happiness." Mary said. Matteo sat there silently for a moment.
"Do you want to come with me?" He asked.
"Where?" Mary asked.
"Does it matter?" Matteo asked.
Mary knew that it hadn't. She had no job, surely her apartment’s power and water would surely be off by now, seeing as she had been delinquent in her payments for about two months. Mary stood and Matteo took her hand. They rushed to the street and Matteo hailed a cab. He opened Mary's door for her and she slid in, both of their hearts pounding, excited. Matteo asked the cabbie to drive to the nearest airport, which he complied to do.
Mary had never seen an airport so vacant. It had seemed like it was empty almost. Matteo walked to the front desk and asked for the next flight leaving New York.
"That would be to Colorado." The woman said.
Matteo nodded. He had always wanted to see the snowcapped mountains and the striking wide skies of Colorado.
"Do you want to go to Colorado?" Matteo asked Mary.
"I always have." She replied.
Mary and Matteo boarded the plane. Mary had never felt this close to anyone in her life. She had known almost everything about him, just from a few short passes around the block. Matteo looked at her. His face was nervous.
"What is it?" She asked kindly.
"I've never been on an airplane." Matteo admitted.
"Are you nervous?” Mary asked.
Matteo was too embarrassed to answer, but he had been. There wasn't anything that he understood about something as heavy as an aircraft taking flight into the sky, and being suspended there. The buzz of excitement and fear hung with in him, and he wasn't sure how to feel. The two strong emotions flashed, making him feel torn. He always thought that when he finally got around to traveling that he wouldn't feel so off.
Mary looked at Matteo and took his stumbled face into her hands and gently pressed her lips to his. As she took her face away, Matteo felt safe. He felt fulfilled. There was nothing in the world that could shake him now. He was so immersed in the feeling of true love, that he couldn't help but to feel his heart speed up. He looked at her beautiful face that made him feel so safe. It was like he was introduced to an entirely new world all at once. One that really existed, it didn't just float by. He wanted to live in this world forever. He wanted to breathe her in for as long as he could. It was like she was the only other person that lived besides him. As Matteo looked at Mary's face, he knew that the feeling was mutual.
Matteo reached and to Mary again. The feeling of her soft lips against his was indescribable. Everything had finally made sense to him. He understood now why life was worth living. He never felt this with Vanessa. He hadn't even wanted to think about her. She had left such a bad taste in his mouth. It was like the darkness of her heart somehow transmitted onto her lips. Mary kissed him back, making him forget about everything. There was nothing as intoxicating as her lips. Matteo pulled away as the plane began to land. He looked out the window to see all of the astonishing and beautiful mountains. He had never seen anything like it. They truly were majestic. Matteo held onto Mary's hand. She loved to see the excitement rise in him. There are not very many things in life that are as exciting as traveling to someplace new.
Mary based most of her life off of small feeling. She did what she could to get herself out there and enjoy life. In her eyes, there was nothing more wonderful and beautiful than expanding your horizons. The pivotal moment in Mary's life that made her feel that way was certainly when her and her mother were enjoying a walk here in the park when Mary pointed at a group of birds. The birds are surrounded by garbage that had overflown from a trash can, and things that had been tossed out of cars and passing trailers. Her mother simply looked at her and asked her a simple question that would one day become something that stuck in Mary’s mind.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Why don't those birds fly away?” Mary replied.
“Why don't people leave? When people find themselves in bad situations, they never leave either. People stick around because they think that they don’t deserve any better, just like those birds.” Her mother said.
"If I ever feel that way, I'm going to fly away.” Mary said. Mary had intended to keep that promise. Even though, the truth was that she was in a situation now that was like being surrounded by trash. She made minimum wage and barley had money to eat. Sometimes ‘flying away’ means making the best out of a bad situation.
As the plane landed, Matteo took Mary's hand into his. The air was as clean as it filled their lungs. It was almost addictive the way that it smelled so clean. Matteo had spent his entire life breathing in and exhaling the tainted toxic air that was New York City. Mary grabbed onto Matteo and began to walk to the airports taxi pick up. Telluride, Colorado was so stunning. The beautiful homes sat on the hill. They were uniform and all equally striking. Most of them were stucco, or adobe. They all stood, most of them with beautiful white pillars supporting the roof. The large windows that decorated the walls were much more expensive than what most people would pay for their entire house. The hills were huge and covered in vibrant green bushes and trees. The entire sight was stunning. It was like nothing Matteo had ever seen before.
Mary kissed his hand and excused herself as she walked into a small antique shop.
As Mary walked into the antique shop, Matteo took out the ring that
took up space in his pocket. He looked at it before walking into a nearby pawn shop. He held the ring up the owner.
"Wow. This lady must have really not wanted to be with you to deny this." The older scraggly man said as he took the ring from Matteo's hands and examined it.
"She didn't have time." Matteo said.
"Oh, I see." The man said.
"I just need to know what I can get for it." Matteo said.
"Oh, I'd say about thousand dollars." The man said.
"I paid over a million dollars for that ring." Matteo said.
"Look man, there's no one coming in here that has one million dollars for a used ring. The best I can do as one thousand."
“Can I exchange it for one of these?" Matteo asked as he looked at the other rings that the man had.
“Whatever you want." The man said.
Matteo looked through the old vintage rings. So many of them had obviously been fake, even though their price tag would led you to assume that they were worn by royalty. Matteo looked, and looked, until he found the perfect one. It was a small ruby and a breathtaking gold setting. Matteo knew by the way that it had been worn away around the bottom of the ring, that it had been worn for many years. Matteo saw that as a good sign. He pointed out to it.
“I want this one." The man looked at him with a confused face. He shrugged and got the ring out for Matteo. He handed it to him along with a small blue velvet box, and Matteo was on his way.
Matteo met Mary at the perfect moment. The two of them almost ran into each other on the way out of the store.
"What were you doing in there?” Mary asked with a laugh.
“Just using the bathroom." Matteo answered.
The two of them walked hand-in-hand down the beautiful street. They were surrounded by old buildings that have been beautifully converted into things like coffee shops and bakeries. There was something so warm and intimate about the small town. Matteo couldn't help but think that a lot of it came from Mary. As they continued down the street, Matteo couldn’t help but notice how unbelievably stunning and beautiful that she was. As they came upon a tiny park, Matteo looked at Mary, and she returned it with a wide smile. Matteo watched as the moon light illuminated her stunning face. The way that the night air felt against Matteo’s skin gave him goose bumps all the way up his arms. It was the same way that he felt when Mary looked at him. It was like the rest of the world just simply stopped.
That’s when he knew. He knew that he wanted to spend every second of his life feeling that. He only ever wanted to look at her. She was a certain type of Nirvana. Matteo got down on his knee and held Mary’s delicate hand in his large one and kissed it. Her sapphire eyes grew wide as she held her other hand up to her soft lips and smiled so angelically that Matteo almost lost his breath. Matteo almost lost his words.
“I’ve lived my entire life, and in one day with you, I’ve felt more than in all my years together. Now that I’ve tasted life, I can’t stop. Please, Mary, please say yes to becoming my wife.” Matteo pulled out the ring.
“Yes Matteo, I’ll marry you.” Mary said as Matteo took her up into his arms and swung her around, kissing her sweetly.
Every person that walked around the park clapped in unison as Mary and Matteo promised their futures to each other.
OTHER BOOKS BY LAILA AMBER
HAUNTED BY THE PAST - A STEPBROTHER MILITARY ROMANCE
CAN I ASK A FAVOR?
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Table of Contents
Description
Chapter One: Ups and Downs.
Chapter Two: An Interrupted Proposal.
Chapter Three: A Much Needed Adventure