“Well I don’t doubt it” Jessie said “but if you ever need more than he can offer I hope you’ll give me a call,” he teased
Carrie couldn’t help but laughing. It was obvious Jessie wasn’t serious but he was doing his very best to be convincing.
“I think I’m good in the help department,” she said taking a drink. “Plus I have no idea what you do so I’m not sure how much help you would be.”
“I’m refereeing to those things you really can’t pay for” Jessie joked “like someone to fix those leaking pipes or maybe even fire up the grill.”
Carrie couldn’t help it and burst out laughing much louder than she had planned.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on here?” Malachi asked turning away from the conversation he was having with Adam “I hope you’re not trying to hit on my future wife, Jessie! Watch it!”
Carrie stilled as those words left his mouth. She loved him and she had kept it hidden behind her walls waiting for the right time to reveal herself but now as he blurted it out in front of her and his friends she was shocked and beyond elated. By the look on his face she could tell that he was just as shocked as she was by the sudden declaration.
“Woa boy, I didn’t mean to hone in on your girl, sorry” Jessie said breaking the silence. “I’ll leave her alone.”
Carrie could tell by the look on Malachi’s face that something was wrong. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it but he was suddenly aloof and she wondered if it was because he was berating himself for revealing his hand too early or if he thought he had made a mistake. The rest of their lunch hour was spent chatting idly about a few business modifications.
Carrie was so keyed up that by time she got back to work she had no idea what she was going to do.
“I think we should talk about what happened today,” she said to Malachi. He hadn’t been his usual jovial self since lunch and she was on edge trying to figure out whether or not something was wrong.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” he said. “I think we should just forget it all happened.”
Carrie looked at him quizzically.
“You want me to be your wife?” she asked trying to veil her hopefulness.
“I don’t know why I said that” he said trying to joke.
“So you didn’t mean it?” she asked.
“I don’t know what I mean. I think we’re going too fast, maybe we need to be apart for a while”
“What’s going on Malachi?” she asked walking up to him and standing in front of him.
“What’s going on is that our relationship is going too fast for me” he lied.
“Too fast for you?” Carrie shouted. “You’re the one who said you wanted to marry me,” she said
“It was an accident, Carrie. Will you please relax?”
“Crashing your car is an accident, bumming your toe is an accident, you don’t accidentally say you want someone to be your wife,” Carrie almost screamed.
“See, this is what I wanted to avoid. I don’t want you to put your hope in me Carrie. I don’t want a wife and I don’t want a family.”
Carrie was so shocked at his words she had no choice but to let him walk out the door. She stood there looking at the closed door until Jilan walked in and gave her a skeptical look. She had no idea what had just happened.
“What’s wrong?” Jilan asked
“Everything” Carrie replied walking over to her desk and slumping down into her chair “Everything is wrong.”
***
Carrie paced her office nervously. She was on the verge of losing her mind. Malachi had been missing for over a week since he stormed out of her office. Since then she hadn’t been able to get a hold of him.
“Jilan!” she shouted, “where are the documents I asked for?”
“I’ll bring them in right away” Jilan said nervously.
“Hurry, we don’t have much time.”
She was always on edge these days, and the more she thought about him the more she wanted to off herself. She had been so blind and naïve to think he was interested in her. Everything they had done together, all those nights of passion had been for nothing. She somehow felt worse than when Alex had left her. At least he had found the courage to break up with her. She had watched her office door expectantly for the past week, every day waiting to see if he would walk through and tell her everything would be all right.
“Here you go” Carrie looked up to find Jilan standing at the door holding the files she had asked for.
“Thanks Jilan” she said taking the files. “You should take an early day today” she said.
“That’s alright” Jilan replied, “I also wanted to tell you that your father is in the lobby coming up”
“He’s here?” Carrie asked “why?”
“Umm, he called earlier and you wouldn’t pick up so I talked to him and he was on the first flight out” Jilan replied.
“You told my father about Malachi?” Carrie asked exasperated.
“He insisted” Jilan said “and you know I can’t say no”
“I am definitely going to have to fire you.” Jilan knew Carrie did not mean that.
“Good luck, you’ll have to physically remove me from this building. I’ll send him in when he gets here”
With that Jilan was retreating out the door. Carrie tried to compose herself before her father came in. She loved her dad but this was his first time visiting her since she had taken over the company.
“Princess!” her father exclaimed as he walked into the office.
Carrie had no idea what happened to her. Maybe it was the week of pent up expectations and disappointment but the moment she saw her dad she walked right into his arms and began weeping.
“Oh, it’s alright my dear” he said running his hand through her hair.
Carrie had no idea when she stopped crying but she released her father and walked over to her desk and sat down in one of her chairs. Her father followed and sat beside her.
“I have no idea what happened dad. I thought he was the one. I fell in love with him”
“And then?” her father asked
“And then, he just left” Carrie said with the same confusion she had been feeling for the past days.
“Have you tried talking to him?” her father asked
“I have tried but I can’t get through to him. I thought he loved me. He even told his friends I was his future wife but then nothing. I’ve called, texted, emailed. I’ve done everything to make him tell me what went wrong.”
“Men sometimes have no clue what they want” her father told her “did I tell you the story of how your mother and I got married?” he asked.
“Yeah, she walked up to you and asked you to marry her” Carrie replied reciting the story she had heard a million times.
“Well, what she doesn’t tell you is that I proposed to her first” her father said.
“You did?” Carrie asked surprised at the new twist.
“Yes I did” her father replied, “and then one day I got cold feet, told her I wanted to break off the engagement and travel the world.”
“That’s a horrible thing to do” Carrie said.
“I knew it was when I did it but I didn’t think I could do that to your mother. I wasn’t ready and I knew I would make her miserable so I left that very night.”
“What happened then?” she asked.
“She waited on me. She waited 3 months for me to return”
“She waited on you?” Carrie asked surprised
“Yes, and the minute I returned she met me and told me that she would marry me the very next Sunday.”
“Were you ready?” Carrie asked.
“I was so miserable without her. When she told me she was going to marry I cried with joy. I thought for sure I had lost her”
“But dad, I don’t think he’ll be back.”
“That might be so” her father said “but if it was true love then nothing will keep him away from you. Put your faith in tha
t and you never know what might happen.”
Carrie dried her face and hugged her father.
“How do you always know when I need you dad?”
“You have a special noise you make. It’s called not picking up the phone”
Carrie laughed.
“Come on dad, let me show you around.”
They made their way through the different floors of the building where Carrie introduced her father to everyone. They all waved and smiled and some thanked him for sending her to their rescue. By the time the tour was over it was about time to close up. Jilan rushed her home promising to take care of the end of day reports and Carrie drove her dad to her home. When she got there she went to her room and called Malachi. If her father was right and what they had felt had been true love, then Malachi would return. She just wanted to give him a little boost. She picked up her phone and dialed his number. It rang until she got his voicemail.
“I know we haven’t talked for a while,” she said looking out the window at the trees in the backyard “but I know I love you. I knew the minute you said you wanted me to be your future wife that there was nothing I wanted more than to be by your side. I don’t know what happened for things to be the way they are but I hope you can see past it. I love you.”
By the end of the message she was once again in tears. She hung up and curled up in bed before drifting off into a fitful sleep.
***
Malachi drove into his apartment building and parked. He was out of his element. Since walking out of Carrie’s office he had returned home and he hadn’t been out until today. He remembered the day as if it was only moments ago, he had looked at Jessie talking to her and something inside him had gone primal. When he had said she would be his future wife he had meant it. Not only was she the most beautiful woman he had ever met, she was also kind, smart and most of all she had loved him. She had never told him but he had seen it on her face, and he had seen it in her eyes the next morning after the first time they had made love.
He took the elevator to his apartment.
“What the hell is this?” his sister shouted as he walked in.
He was surprised to see her, but after a moment he remembered he had given her a key.
“What are you doing here?” he asked “don’t you have twins to babysit?”
“I brought them,” she said motioning to his spare bedroom where he assumed the babies were asleep.
“Still doesn’t answer my question, why are you here?” he asked.
“I came to check on you” she said “I haven’t heard from you in over a week and you know we don’t live like that Malachi.”
“Oh, I must have misplaced my phone,” he lied.
He had intentionally hidden his phone in his drawer so he wouldn’t have to see it ringing and be tempted to pick up the phone when Carrie called.
“I found your phone,” she said holding it up “who is this Carrie girl?”
“You went through my phone?” he asked.
“No, she’s called twice since I’ve been here. Malachi what’s going on, are you in some sort of trouble?”
“No Marsha” he said taking his phone and walking into the kitchen.
“I screwed up,” he said trying to get her to stop talking “I fell in love with an amazing woman and I let the past screw everything up”
“What are you talking about?” his sister asked.
“The new company I was working for” he said “the boss, Carrie, I fell in love with her and I chickened out and walked away.”
“What does that have to do with eh past?” she asked.
“Do you remember when I was younger and I had a crush on the most popular girl in school and then she broke my heart?” he asked.
“Yeah, the pretty red head. She didn’t even acknowledge you existed.”
His sister said this with more excitement than he liked.
“Well it turns out, she’s my boss” he said “I fell in love with the girl who rejected me in middle school.”
His sister’s laughter was a surprise. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you anything,” he said walking towards the fridge to get a bottle of water.
“No” his sister said between bouts of laughter “you have to believe I’m very concerned about you. But you would have to be the stupidest man on earth, to let something that happened when you were a kid keep you away from the woman you love.”
“She broke my heart, though.”
“And so what?” his sister asked. “You decided to break hers?”
Malachi was silent.
“Maybe you should take a look in the mirror, because the only heartbreak I see is standing right in front of me. Now get your shit together and call the poor girl. If she loves you back, you’ve just put someone who is brave enough to love you through a lot of pain”
Malachi suddenly realized that his sister was right. He took his phone from her and went into his room. He was about to call Carrie when he realized she had left him a voicemail. He played it and heard the anguish in her voice. He decided he wasn’t going to wait another day. It was just after lunchtime, which meant she would still be in office.
Malachi walked into Carrie’s building as if it was his very first time. Coupled with being nervous he was afraid that she would reject him and that he would have to spend the rest of his life alone.
“Malachi” Jilan said surprised when he stepped off the elevator “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see Carrie,” he said.
“She’s at a production staff meeting in the main cafeteria,” Jilan told him
“I need to see her now, Jilan,” he said.
“Alright” Jilan said skeptically.
They made their way back down to the first floor where the employees had gathered in the main cafeteria. Malachi could see Carrie smiling as she addressed her employees. He decided to be brave and make his way straight up through the middle. Once she saw him she stopped. He could see the fear and indecision on her face as he approached her and he was mentally cursing himself for causing her so much pain. Once she stopped speaking everyone else turned and watched him as he made his way up to the stage area.
“What are you doing here?” she asked when he was on stage in front of her.
“I have something to say,” he said.
“I hurt you” he began “the only woman I’ve every loved. You told me you grew up on Oberlin Ohio but I lied when I said I didn’t know the place; that’s where I grew up also. And I remember you as the beautiful girl I had fallen in love with from the sidelines. I know you won’t remember me but even then I had loved you but you had rejected my proposal to be your date to the dance and ever since then I’ve been living with the heartbreak”
He watched as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he said trying not to choke on his tears “I didn’t even know how much I loved you until I saw another man making you laugh.”
“I loved you all along” she said, “I didn’t want you to leave.”
“I know,” he said as he got down on one knee and reached for the box he had picked up on his way there. He wasn’t sure if it had been the ring she had envisioned but he had walked into the jewelry store and bought the biggest diamond he could find.
“I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy so that I can make up for every second you were sad because of me” he said “Carrie, will you be my wife?”
He watched as hesitation and disbelief flashed across her face.
“Do you promise to never leave on me again, Malachi?” she asked with tears in her eyes, but with strong resolve.
“ Yes, Carrie, never again”
“Do you promise to never hide anything from me? Even small things like we went to middle school together in Ohio” she questioned him further.
“Yes, absolutely, Carrie, never again will I hide anything from you.”
“ Do you promise to take me out for fried chicken at least once a week, Mala
chi?” she asked as the hall erupted in a giggle.
“ Fried chicken? Carrie?”
“ Yes or no, Malachi”
“ Yes, Yes! I absolutely will,” said an elated Malachi as he saw the smile on Carrie’s face.
“Then it’s a, Yes,” she whispered in his ear after what seemed like an eternity.
As he slipped the ring unto her finger, the crowd behind him erupted in cheers. He blocked it all out as he stood and wrapped her in his arms and kissed her for what seemed like the first time in an eternity.
“I will never leave you, again” he said.
They both laughed and turned to face the crowd of friends and colleagues. Carrie knew in that moment that she had gained much more than he had ever lost and by the look on his face she knew that no one could love her more than Malachi.
*****
THE END
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