by Claire Angel
“I’m sure he would like to give you a bursary or sponsor you to complete your studies.” She shook her head and we continued playing. Her situation made me wonder if he really would fork out money as I expected for someone else’s betterment, or if I was the odd case where he had been very generous.
As the playtime came to an end, Kayla was put to bed and I waited for the evening. I decided to take a walk around in the gardens, as I’d only seen the one. According to Becky, the third garden was her favorite. It was full of fountains and rose bushes, an authentic English garden. She also mentioned there was a garden covered with knee-high flowers on both sides of the path. They were probably tulips or some other type of bulbs. I took a bottle of water and started to walk at a slow pace, exploring and enjoying each beautiful flower. The garden was kept in an impeccable condition.
As I entered the third garden, I understood why it was Becky’s favorite. It was magnificent and almost made me think of a royal garden, where little princeS and princesses would run around, playing hide and seek. On the opposite corner, I noticed there was a gardener busy working. I decided to walk over and introduce myself. “Hi. Sorry to bother you.”
The gardener stood up and turned to face me, wiping her hands on her overalls. She stretched her dirty hand out to me. “Sorry for the dirt, but these are the only hands I have to offer.”
I laughed at the joke and took her hand in mine. “No worries, I don’t mind. I’m Diane.”
“I know. They told me about the beauty that has stolen the beast of the castle’s heart. Anyway, I’m Mia, the gardener. I’ve heard so many good things about you and about your gardens. It’s an honor to meet you finally.” She sat back down and continued with digging and placing hedge plants into the holes. “Hope you don’t mind, but the clock is ticking and these plants aren’t going to jump into the ground involuntarily. I have to help them.”
I bent down next to her and asked, “Do you have a spare shovel or fork? I would love to do something of worth for a while.” She handed me a fork and gave me concise instructions. Working in the soil felt lovely, relaxing and it helped me to get my thoughts in order.
“You know what? I have a friend who also recently got married to a billionaire. Their story isn’t the same as yours, but man it was the same struggle to get them to admit their true feelings, just like with the two of you. I’m guessing with the court case out of the way, you two can now start being honest with yourselves.”
I felt slightly offended by her frankness, but to think she has another friend also married to a billionaire made me rethink the idea of status and class in her presence. Maybe she didn’t find money intimidating. In any case, my curiosity about how much she knew overpowered the resentment to be addressed in that manner by a worker. “How do you know about the court case and my feelings?”
“Ah, so you admit you do have feelings for him.” She asked a leading question and I fell into the trap without any grace. “You are a sneaky one, aren’t you?”
She looked up at me and then smiled. “I might be sneaky, but the two of you are very much in love. I’ve seen the way he looks at you and the way you look at him. There is chemistry. That is one of the reasons why I stick with plants. They don’t hide their feelings or their needs; they show you immediately if they need water, sunlight, trimming or fertilizers. People, on the other hand, cover up and hide behind masks. I don’t think it’s healthy to act that way.”
The rest of the time, I milled over her words, but we finish planting the hedge without any other words spoken. Just as I stood up and dusted myself, one of the housemaids came to me, “Ma’am, there’s a package for you from Mr. Paul. I would recommend that you get back to the house and get yourself cleaned up, as we have strict instructions to have your hair done by seven and it is already half-past five.”
She sounded a bit nervous and I give her a nod. “I’ll be there shortly.”
Mia stood up. “They take the royalty act quite far sometimes, don’t they?”
I smiled at her and make a curtsy and looked back up at her, “At least they don’t address me with your royal highness, or your majesty.”
She laughed. “Ah, it’s good that the money hasn’t gone to your head yet. Keep it that way. These rich boys like the more simple things in life, especial down to earth type girls.”
“Mia, you are sincere and without being asked for advice you give it freely. I’ve appreciated the afternoon of enlightenment with you. I hope we can chat again soon and maybe you can introduce me to your friend.”
As I walked back to the mansion, I imagined if I was a princess walking back towards the castle, where the Beast had summoned me to appear in front of me. It sounded very much like what was happening in reality and it brought a smile to my face. At least that was one fairy tale that ended as happily-ever-after.
I got into my room and took a shower. As I stepped out of the bathtub, wrapping the large soft towel around my body, the housemaid walked in.
“Here is your dress, ma’am.” She pointed towards a dress bag on the bed.
“How did you know that I got out of the bath?”
She looked at me, slightly confused, “You pulled the plug, ma’am.” I did indeed and the simplicity of the answer made me feel foolish. I walked over to the bed and unzipped the bag. Once again, Xander’s choices took my breath away. It was a pastel blue, pink and purple dress, with rhinestones around the neck and down the bodice. I opened the bag further, I found beautiful silver slip-ons with slight heel also covered with rhinestones. I wore the dress and looked into the mirror. I looked at myself, I never thought even in my dreams that this can ever happen to me. I was an ordinary girl who was satisfied and happy with everything she had.
I was deep in thoughts and the hairdresser brought me back, “Mam, shall I start doing your hair?”
“Yes, please.”I sat d own the two ladies started doing my hair. I felt and looked like a princess. When I was ready, I asked them to click a picture of me, “This might sound silly, but please take a picture of me. I want to send it to my mother. I’ve never felt this beautiful in my life. Thank you, ladies. You have both done an amazing job of making me look gorgeous.”
They smiled and both gave curtsies. I started laughing and they joined me with a giggle. There was a knock on the door and the housemaid opened it while I attempted to put earrings in my ears. She came closer with a jewelry box in her hands that she placed on the dressing table. I opened it up and inside there were matching earrings, necklace and a bracelet. A little note was pinned to the lid, “To Diane, to have and to hold forever.”
Both girls started to giggle behind me. “That is so romantic.” I couldn’t help but laugh with them; it all felt just like a fairy tale. They helped me put the jewelry on and then I was ready to go.
As I walked down the steps, I felt like I was on a movie set and my handsome prince was all dressed in a tuxedo standing at the foot of the staircase, looking up at me in awe. I saw his mouth shaping the word, “Wow.” He gave a slight bow as I took the last three steps and took my hand in his and kissed it. “You look amazing, like a real princess.”
The only answer I had was to blush and a smile. “Your carriage awaits. Let’s go.” He placed my hand in the crook of his arm and led me towards the car. Inside there were two glasses of champagne, just like the first time he came to pick me up in the limo. This time it was different because he didn’t have to impress me. But even now I was still star-struck and slightly freaked out at the glamour and the glitz of it all.
The driver took us to a restaurant in the city and when we arrived at the restaurant was, it was all empty, “Where is everyone? Why is this place so empty? Are you hiding away from paparazzi?”
Xander laughed and looked at me. “I have booked the entire restaurant for us. I have a few surprises lined up for you and I want you to feel like the only woman in the world tonight.”
My stomach started having knots; this was too much. I didn’t deserve all of this.
But I was determined to enjoy every moment. I didn’t want to rain on Xander’s parade; he had put in a lot of effort organizing it. With wide eyes, I took my seat and looked around. This place was classy, the decorations were shiny and the upholstery was luxuriously soft. The soft sound of a piano started to fill the air and the waitress brought starters.
“I want to properly thank you. I want to spoil you and treat you like a princess because you deserve this. I’ve always dreamt of meeting someone like you, but I could never have hoped that one day it would become true.”
As he spoke, my heart started to race. I didn’t know if I could live up to his expectations. All of this was very overwhelming. I wanted to make him happy, but I felt unsure if I was good enough. I was just Diane, nothing special, just me.
Chapter 24
Xander
Maybe I’d gone overboard, but I wanted to make her feel special. I would give her the world. if she wanted. I knew she wasn’t like that, but I was hoping this could at least make her feel important to me. I noticed she looked overwhelmed, slightly apprehensive and not sure of herself. Maybe she didn’t want to marry me for real and she didn’t know how to get out of this trap that I’d made for her. I could feel my heart was starting to race and the doubts were creeping back into my head.
As they placed the main course on the table, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Diane.” She startled because I spoke so abruptly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you, I’m just nervous and all of this is making me even worse instead of making me feel more confident. Before I surrender to my doubts and issues, I have to tell you this.” I cleared my throat and took a sip of water, as I could feel my voice failing me. This time she sat there, patiently smiling at me.
“I know we started as just friends in a legal document we have been in a fake marriage for a few months now. I got the full custody of Kayla and you upheld your end of the deal till the end, I have to admit, I cannot continue with the last clause in our contract.”
She tilted her head slightly and frowned. “What I mean to say is, I don’t want us to get divorced, not on papers and not in real life. I have never met anyone like you. I don’t know how I lived without you before and I don’t want to spend even a single day without you. You make me complete.”
I stood up, took the ring box from my pocket and walked over to her side of the table, I bent down on my knee and took her hand. “Diane, will you give me the honor of being your husband and will you be my real and truthful wife?”
“Yes.” A tear rolled down her cheek. I couldn’t believe she said yes! I stood up and kissed her.
The violinist started playing and I escorted Diane towards the open space that they had made a temporary dancefloor for us. She was smiling in my arms and we danced to the slow and classic melodies. She was looking into my eyes and it felt like she could see my most personal thoughts and knew the secrets of my heart. I bent my head down and kissed her once more. “Miss Diane, are you sure you are up to becoming Mrs. Paul?”
She stopped and looked at me with suspicion. “Are you getting cold feet again?”
I quickly apologized. “No, not at all. In my head, it sounded so nice to say it.”
She laughed at my discomfort and I realized that she was teasing me. “You sly little fox.” I dipped her and she started laughing out loud.
The rest of the evening, we talked about the future, deciding if we were going to have a massive public wedding or if it would only be a small family gathering. The food was delicious and the fact that we didn’t have to share the place with anyone gave us the freedom to talk and kiss as much as we wanted to.
As we sat in the limo on our way back home, Diane asked, “Can we go to see Mom, I want to share my happiness with her first.”
“Yes, sounds good.” I agreed and now I thought, why not ask her mother to come and stay at my place? There were so many people to take care for her and I could hire a nurse for taking care of her. For now, I kept the idea to myself and first tested the water.
When we got to her mother’s house, the lights in the living room were still on. Diane rang the doorbell and a minute later, her mother opened the door. “Oh, darling. I saw the photo and you look amazing.” She hugged her daughter and over her shoulder, she said, “Xander you have changed this adorable duckling into a beautiful swan. Thank you.”
She pulled away from Diane and stepped back. “Please, come in. And tell me for what reason you two have given me the pleasure to see you guys? You two didn’t dress up to come and visit me.” With a twinkle in her eye, she gestured towards the living room.
“Mom let’s sit first.” As we sat Diane stretched out her hand toward her mother. “This is a real engagement ring, Mom. Xander asked me to marry him, for real this time and I said yes.”
Her mother smiled and said, “I know, dear.”
“You know? How Mom?”
“He was brave enough to come over this afternoon to ask for my blessings. And after I schooled him a bit, I gave him my blessing.”
Diane turned to look at me. “I thought you had business matters to attend to?”
I winked at her. “This was business, until you just said yes an hour ago, now it is full-time employment.” I couldn’t help laughing at her shocked expression.
She quickly realized that I was teasing her and she smacked my shoulder. “You are such a bully.”
I placed my arm around her shoulder and leaned down to kiss her neck. “A bully very much in love with you.”
“Well, I must say, I’m delighted that all this has worked out in the end, as I had my concerns the first time I learned of your contract. But now, let’s quickly discuss the final part of your original contract, Xander. I want to repay you for every cent that you have to lend me.”
That was entirely unexpected. “No, please. On the contrary, I was thinking of asking you to come and live with us. That way, there would always be someone to assist you and take care of you. If you need anything else, I can arrange it for you. Please don’t pay me back, it was part of a business contract, I received my share from the agreement, the money is a small price to pay.”
“But what will we to to my house?”
“That is up to you, my new mother-in-law. You can put it on rent and take the money to invest in the café. If I understand it correctly, your daughter has some wonderful ideas and plans for the place and all those things cost money. I would rather let Diane and Karen have the same legacy as I had received from my father when I inherited the bar.”
“Family is very important to me and remembering those that have gone before us is just as important.” I saw Diane’s face drop and I realized what I had insinuated. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like it came out.”
Diane’s mom interrupted me. “Don’t apologize. You meant well, but sometimes reality hits you when you least expect it. The more we face reality, the less painful it is at the end.” She turned to face Diane, “Diane, remember what he is saying is true and logical. I do want to leave a small legacy behind and if you have ideas of improving the café, then let’s do it. The shop is as much yours as it is mine.”
I could see Diane was getting emotional and a tear was forming on her cheek. “It’s not that I’m sad, Mom, it’s because he has just shown me he cares about you as much as I do. It’s that I realize why I fell in love with him in the first place, because he cares for the people around him, even strangers and I love that about him.” She looked back at me with tears freely running down her face. “Are you sure my mom can come and stay with us?”
If I had known this was what she wanted, I would have suggested it long ago, “Of course. I wish I knew that’s what you wanted all along. Whatever you desire or need, please ask me and I will provide for you to the best of my abilities. If I cannot get it for you, I will get someone who can give it to you.”
She leaned into my chest and I held her sobbing shoulders. How fragile and innocent was she? Being able to make her this happy by just helping her made me
feel powerful and the feeling was truly significant. Who would have thought that by helping someone else, it could make your own heart feel complete?
“Give me five minutes and I will pack and be ready to go before you can wink an eye.” Diane’s mom got up from the couch and Diane followed her into the bedroom. True to her promise, just over five minutes later, they came out of the room with a bag of clothes and a toiletry cabinet. “Living in and out of a hospital makes one used to packing quickly, or even just keeping everything in the toiletry cabinet. It makes life easy.”
As we walked to the limo, Diane’s mom stopped. “Wait. Is this the car you came in? Has this poor driver been waiting here all the time? I’ve never been inside a limo. Oh, what a treat!”
“Wait until you see what it looks like on the inside, Mom.” Diane smiled at me and whispered, “Wait until she sees the mansion and all the servants.”
Epilogue
Diane
It was almost a year later and Mom had been in remission from cancer for nearly nine months now. Her hair had started growing back and she was stronger than she had been in a very long time. As I sat on the bench on the porch of Xander’s new beach house, I could see Mom and Kayla sitting under the umbrella, building a sandcastle. Kayla had grown up so quickly; she had turned into a real little chatterbox. I was still amazed at her incredible imagination and I loved to listen to her stories.
In past months, I worked hard on my café, implementing new ideas. And already paid almost half of the money back to Xander. I knew he had asked not to pay his money back. But I had to do that ,especially for my Mom. She always had been an independent woman and she had a lot of self-respect. She could never relax until she paid the money back. On the other side, I didn’t want to get paid for helping in getting my own daughter’s custody.
Xander took a seat next to me and handed me a colorful cocktail, “To our first beach house and to many more to come.”