by Claire Adams
“Oh, so this was your grand plan the entire time?” He grinned. “That makes a whole lot of sense.”
“Mm-hmm,” I said, putting my hands over his head and pulling him towards me for a quick peck on the lips. “Now we should probably start putting some clothes on.”
I got up and started looking for my panties. But Zayden remained on the floor on his knees, looking intense.
“This is not a joke, Aria. I would actually like us to be married. Sooner rather than later, if that is okay with you.”
It took me quite a while to process the fact that Zayden was being completely serious. Suddenly, all humor disappeared from the room, and my giggles were replaced only by the thudding sound of my own heart, which was now pounding as though I had just gotten off the scariest roller coaster in existence.
I tried to open my mouth and speak a few times. A futile effort, since my tongue now pretended it was glued into my mouth, and words were alien concepts to which it had never been introduced. My mind, on the other hand, was working on extra-time, trying to understand the meaning behind Zayden’s request. Marry him? Perhaps he meant something else? Like, uh, like…
“Do you know what you are saying?” I finally summoned the ability to make some sounds and sounded idiotic.
“Not at all. I’m just blabbing on nonsensically.” He shook his head sarcastically. “Seriously Aria, yes or no? Will you marry me?”
“You know I once took an advanced level college Economics test while I was still a sophomore in high school. I have never in my life encountered anything as difficult as that test had been that afternoon. One particular question got me so stumped; I threw up and ran out of the exam hall.”
“What does that have to do with anything we are discussing?” Zayden asked impatiently.
“I thought that would be the hardest question I had ever been expected to answer in my whole life,” I said. I added softly, “Until now.”
Zayden’s face changed colors so fast, I felt that I must have been imagining it for a little bit. I had never seen him so red, and wasn’t sure it particularly worked towards adding charms to his handsome features. If someone had told me Zayden Sinclair was capable of blushing to begin with, I would have laughed in their face. But watching his perfect olive skin get patched with deep red, while his eyes focused firmly on the bathroom floor, made me feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
Was he nervous?
Embarrassed?
What had I said or done wrong?
Zayden was demonstrating a sign of weakness like he never had before, and I knew right that moment that I never wanted to see him that way again. Weakness did not suit this incredible man. He was better than that.
When he spoke next, his voice was shaky, to my surprise. “I get it. It’s okay.” He wasn’t looking at me still, but I finally understood. He thought I didn’t want to marry him. Ever.
“I haven’t said no,” I offered sweetly. “It’s just…it all seems so ridiculously sudden. You’ve never even told me you love me.”
“Well, isn’t it obvious that I do?” He finally looked at me, straight in the eyes, and the bright blue in them was so piercing, I could just about start crying at any moment.
“I don’t know, Zayden. How can I assume you love me without you saying it? I guessed that you must, don’t get me wrong. The things you do for me. You really do go out of your way and I have always appreciated that. I’ve kind of known that this relationship means more to you than you outwardly attempt. But you have to under—”
“I love you, goddammit!” he exclaimed with slight frustration. “There. I have said the words. I am guessing it makes a whole lot of difference. So, now will you marry me?”
“No,” I said carefully, as his eyes widened to the size of walnuts. “Not yet, I mean. I want to…eventually. Oh God, I want to. Because I love you, too.”
I walked towards him subtly and started ruffling his hair. He looked confused, as I had expected he would.
“What are you trying to say, Aria?” He sighed.
“You are still married,” I said, pulling him into a hug. “Don’t forget that.”
“Are we really on that again?” he snapped. “You know that I ended things with Gina and all the crap I pulled to that end.”
“No, I know she is out of your life. But she’s still your wife in theory. I can’t say yes until your divorce is finalized. I hope you understand that.”
“Well, we can’t get legally married until my divorce is finalized anyway. But I don’t see how that stops you from saying yes now.”
He pulled me off of him and frowned.
“It’s a matter of principle.” I shrugged. “I am not getting engaged to a married man.”
“Of course,” he said, shaking his head. “You and your great big principles. It should not be that much longer for the divorce to finalize. If I nudged my lawyer, it should only be a couple more days. I’ll show you the papers as evidence if you need, which wouldn’t surprise me,”
Offended, I opened my mouth to say something in return, but noticed the glint of humor in his eyes and started laughing. “Just let me know when it’s taken care of.”
“As long as you will say yes when it’s taken care of.”
“Depends.” I shrugged again.
“Seriously, Aria?” He looked up as though expecting some answer. “Depends on what?”
“On whether you propose half naked on a dirty bathroom floor or you do it properly with a ring and some romance.”
His face lit up in realization, and the blush from before was gone, to my relief. He didn’t say anything on the matter, however, and just leaned in to kiss me passionately. In the midst of it, my mind went completely haywire, unable to believe what had just transpired. Zayden broke the kiss with a loud shriek of pain.
“Well, let’s put on some clothes and head back in. I bet your mom is already judging us – and don’t get me wrong, I’d be judging her if she wasn’t after what she just heard here – so let’s not give her more reasons to frown upon this.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I said, even though I felt awkward by the thought of seeing her shortly. “I will just tease her about our neighbor. That way, she will be embarrassed and we can escape from here quickly.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He grinned.
Chapter Two
Zayden
It had been two whole days since I had contacted my lawyer’s office about the finalization of the divorce and they had yet to get back to me. I was fucking annoyed. How hard could the process possibly be? Gina and I were both amicable on the terms of the divorce. All the drama had subsided. It was an open and shut case.
My impatience to get Aria to say yes was taking over me, and the stupid divorce proceedings were currently the bane of my existence. Even though I had been in my office all morning, I had been completely incapable of getting any work done whatsoever. The thought of how I was going to propose was occupying my mind.
I thought back to my original proposal in her mother’s bathroom and grinned to myself. What an idiotic thing to do. I had no idea what had gotten into me, but something about her mom hearing us fuck egged me on to do it on the spot. I had been planning to ask her to marry me ever since my conversation with Molly about how I loved her daughter. So when she heard us, I felt like I had to prove that we weren’t just screwing around, and I proposed hastily. In hindsight, that was not the best idea in the world, and I should hardly be surprised that Aria didn’t jump to say yes.
Any other girl in the world would have, I realized with an odd sort of a pride geared towards Aria. It was true. I was, by any definition of the word, quite a catch. I had no reason to be coy about the fact that my money and my good looks made me the ideal husband for any woman in the world. But somehow, I guess that neither of those things were good enough for Aria – at least not good enough to accept a shabby proposal on a bathroom floor – and that she loved me for reasons that had very little to do with my money. She was not going
to settle for anything less than an extraordinary proposal, and she deserved one. I was willing to do anything in the world to make her happy. I sighed deeply and covered my face in both my hands.
How had I come so far?
I had sworn off love a long time ago, after all. It was for lesser folk, for people who did not understand that feelings were at best, a show of weakness, at worst, a weapon of manipulation. With Aria, it was neither. Loving her did not make me feel weak, it made me feel stronger. The idea that I could feel this intensely about another human being and still keep my sanity and self intact made me feel oddly powerful. And perhaps this whole ordeal was a weapon of manipulation at first, while I played games and she responded with perfectly crafted plays herself. But no, neither of us was looking for anything from the other anymore. There was only one explanation for what was going on between Aria and I.
We were madly and unconditionally in love with each other.
And why wouldn’t I be?
I saw her walking through the front door and towards her desk and felt a kind of awe. My God, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. In a pretty blue blouse, black trousers and a cream-colored blazer, she looked like she popped straight out of a career woman magazine. No other 20-year-old I knew dressed as maturely and professionally as she did, and she pulled it off like nobody’s business. Her face was radiant, and even with very little makeup she outshone everybody else in the room. She outshone most people in most rooms. Usually, looks like hers were enough to get by in life. I had met many, many, women over the years who used their looks to get by. Not Aria, though.
More so than anything else about her, it was her brilliance and ambition that drew me towards her. A part of me realized that when we eventually got married, she would gladly handle half my business operations for me. Maybe I would make her the head of Credit Lending Analysts and eventually, if she was interested, the CFO. Knowing her though, if I tried to make her the CFO right away, she would protest, claiming she hadn’t earned the title yet. I grinned again picturing that argument and then made a split-second decision to go buy her the best ring I could find.
On my way out, I stopped by Aria’s desk as she was busy typing something on her computer and said, “Too busy to notice your boss now? Boyfriend. I meant boyfriend.” I smiled and noticed Mrs. Brian beside her try unsuccessfully to hide her gasp.
“Hi.” Aria looked up and smiled. I wanted to kiss her, but I would have to resist. I couldn’t quite do some things in the workplace just yet. “Sorry, my tyrannical boss gave me a lot of work, so I am a little busy.”
“What a douche,” I said with a straight face. “Warn him that if he overworks you, your boyfriend will make him pay for it.”
She giggled and said, “What do you need, Zayden?”
“I need you, Aria, to say yes to my proposition.” I smirked, and before she could open her mouth again, I added, “I know, I know. You made your points and they are completely valid, which is why I am off on a little mission right now that will hopefully satisfy you. But I just have one question. What do you prefer? Squares or circles?”
She looked at me like I had just asked her something insane, like whether two plus two equals seven.
“What now?” she asked.
“You heard me. Squares or circles?”
“Uhmm…” She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Squares, I suppose. I have never really thought about it, to be honest. I mean, who even thinks about it? And how is this at all relevant to anything?”
“You’ll see.” I winked. “For now, I have got to go.”
After turning around to head to the door and taking a few steps, I stopped and turned to look at her again. “I love you.” Ignoring the gasps from all over the place, I walked out casually as though I didn’t notice.
---
Just as I walked out of the building, a FedEx guy stopped me with some mail. It looked like it was paperwork. Ignoring the excitement bubbling up inside of me, I ripped the envelope open. The divorce was finalized! I couldn’t have chosen a better moment to go out to get the ring. I told Ned to take me to Dazzling Jewelers and Co., an exclusive jewelry store that only a few people within a 30-mile radius could afford.
Ned tried hard to contain his excitement, as I could tell from the etches around his cheeks while he attempted to keep a straight face. “And why are we going to a jewelry store? I don’t remember you ever having the desire to purchase any bling before.”
“Shut up, Ned. You know why I want to go there,” I said, trying to sound stern, but it came out almost comical since I had been completely incapable of wiping the grin from my face.
“No, sir. I have a guess, but you know what they say, when you assume, you make an ass out of—”
“Fine, I want to buy an engagement ring for Aria,” I said. “Now can we hurry?”
“Of course!” Ned exclaimed with joy. “I am so happy for you, Zayden. She is exactly what you need in your life.”
“I’m glad to have your approval, Ned.” I smiled. “No, seriously, I meant that. It probably sounded like I was being sarcastic, but it was genuine. Your approval actually means a lot to me and if you don’t know that by now—”
“I know,” Ned said cheerfully. “Of course I know. Now, before we drive off to get that engagement ring, might I suggest a pit stop?”
“Where?” I raised my eyebrows.
“To Aria’s apartment.”
“Huh? What will that accomplish? Aria is at the office.”
“Exactly.” Ned looked back at me and winked.
Within the next hour, we had managed to pick up Aria’s best friend Stacey from her apartment and made it to the jewelry store, while she squealed and made amusing sounds throughout the way there.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” She had been muttering those words as though it was a spiritual incantation for a while.
“You already said that.” I looked at her with a fake frown.
“But you don’t understand!” Stacey exclaimed, almost jumping. “You don’t understand! You’re…you’re going to…ask Aria to marry you!”
“I understand what I am about to do, since I am the one doing it. Makes some kind of sense, doesn’t it?”
She laughed hysterically, to my surprise. It was kind of endearing just how excited Stacey was for Aria. It made me realize how close they were and how much her friends cared about her. It also made me feel a little bit of an irrational jealousy. No one was allowed to love Aria more than I did.
“Zayden, this jewelry store! Everything is shining to the point of freaking blinding me. It’s going to cost you a fortune.”
“Well, your best friend and roommate is worth two whole fortunes and more.”
Her face lit up and I could see tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you so much. Thank you for loving Aria like you do. God knows she deserves it.”
“Hey! She’s mine, so thank you for taking care of her for as long as you have. I am quite grateful. But don’t forget, she’s mine.”
“Ha!” she scoffed. “Since you’re about to, you know, marry her, I hope you know her well enough to realize she will not take well to be told who she belongs to.”
“I know.” I shook my head and sighed. “I will have to own her completely behind her back. Anyways, I am thinking of princess cuts, but I brought you here so you can help me decide what she would like. When I asked her if she prefers circles or squares, she said squares, which is why I think a princess cut would be the most—”
“You asked her what?” Stacey burst into another set of hysterical laughter.
“She reacted rather oddly to my question, too. But really, how was I to ask it without raising any suspicion?”
“Men are hilarious sometimes.” Stacey sighed and looked at the shopkeeper. “Lucky for you, she always did kind of envision a princess cut for her engagement ring. Can we look at a few?”
“Of course, madam. I take it you’re not the bride?” An old, balding man with a silv
er moustache looked curiously at Stacey.
“No, of course I am! What bride doesn’t come to select her own surprise engagement ring with her fiancé?”
“You made your point,” said the man with a frown, pulling out a couple of boxes. “How about this one? 8 carat, on pure platinum.”
“No. I don’t want to look at anything that is less than 15 carat.”
Stacey looked at me with her mouth hanging open, as though the idea of a 15-carat engagement ring was preposterous. “Are you sure?” She raised her eyebrows.
“Absolutely positive.”
“Hmm, I think I know exactly what you are looking for, sir,” the man said with a sudden glint in his eyes that hadn’t been present until then. “Just give me a moment.”
When he disappeared to look for the rings, Stacey looked at me and asked, “Exactly how much are you planning to pay for this ring?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. A lot? I haven’t really thought about it. It’s not really about the money or how much it costs; it’s about finding the perfect ring.”
Looking impressed, Stacey said, “It must feel awesome to have so much money lying around.”
“It’s alright.” I grinned at her. “It will ensure your best friend spends the rest of her life comfortably, though.”
“That makes me so hap—” she cut herself mid-sentence with a loud gasp.
The shopkeeper had returned with an enormous and beautiful princess cut diamond engagement ring in his hand. I had to open my eyes and close them again a few times before taking the image in. It was, to honor the name of the store, and Aria herself, dazzling. I chuckled to myself.
“That’s,” Stacey said, looking like she was trying to find the right words to describe it. “I have never seen anything like it.”
“I will take it,” I said in a single breath. “That’s the one.”
“You don’t want to know how much it costs?” The shopkeeper eyed me quizzically. “I get a lot of people with a lot of money here, but never has anyone agreed to make such a purchase without even asking about the price.”