by Molly Bryant
“Vanessa,” she stopped. I waited for her to continue. What was so damn difficult to say to me? I mean come on, like firing me wasn't the worst.
“I'm sorry,” she released a humungous breath then tapped her palms on her knees. “That was the hardest thing I have ever had to say,” she laughed. Ben's hand instantly stopped rubbing my back, and the grip I had on Ben's leg eased.
She is what? “Wait... you are what? S-sorry?” I stuttered. Come again? Ben and I stared at Ellen, I'm sure with our mouths open and our eyes wide with shock. In all the years I had worked for Ellen McGurthy had I never heard that woman say she was sorry, to anyone. She was a bitch. She had a black heart... so I thought.
She was starting to look uncomfortable again. I felt myself smiling inside at her becoming uneasy.
“I'm sorry,” she paused again.
And?
“Well, I am sorry for listening to Jackson last night before reading the article you sent me,” she made eye contact with me. “It was marvelous, Vanessa,” she smiled.
“It was?” my voice barely above a whisper.
“Quite frankly, it is one of the best that I have ever read,” she shrugged.
“Really?” I squealed making Ellen roll her eyes. She didn't like excitement.
“Yes. You took that piece and turned it into something amazing. Something I never thought in a million years would come from you. An article about love,” she looked over at her nephew. “An article about the love you never believe existed. It was an article about my nephew, Ben.” she winked at him. “This article will make the cover of our next issue, and you, Vanessa will be on the front cover.”
I didn't know what to say, I was at a loss for words. I felt my mouth open quickly then snap shut. I couldn't speak. She loved it! She wanted me on the cover?
“I want you back at Glow,” Ellen reached over and grabbed my hand. “Glow isn't... well, Glow without you, Miss. Montello.”
“You are giving me my job back?” I could hear my voice was shaky. I was starting to cry.
“No.” Ellen shook her head with a smile making my heart break a little more.
“I want you back at Glow as my Editor-in-Chief. I want you to start a column of your own, 'Ask Nessy'. I am sure after this article is released, readers all over the world would love to ask you your opinions on love.” she squeezed my hand.
“I would also like Ben...” Ellen leaned over then smiled at him. “to work for Glow as well. His ideas for articles I think would highly benefit the magazine,”
Oh my God, oh my God! I couldn't contain it, I couldn't. I jumped off of the couch making Ellen jump with fright as I shrilled from excitement.
“Yes!” I squealed. I took a deep breath as I stood in front of Ellen. She was actually laughing a little.
“Yes, I want this, I do. Ben?” I looked over at the still, wide-eyed sexy man on my couch.
“I-uh...” he was nervous, I could tell as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair. “What is it I would be doing exactly?” he looked at Ellen then winked at me.
How exciting is this? The love of my life going to work with me everyday... I carefully watched Ben. I could see the light in his eyes as he awaited Ellen's answer.
“You will be the lead of your own team overseeing ideas of the articles. Once a week you will have a meeting to brainstorm a bit, and oversee where the articles are going. If the idea would flow well once written, if you will.” she smiled.
Ben slightly shook his head making me frown. “I can't work with Jackson.” he stood up quickly. “With all do respect, Aunt Ellen, given he is your assistant and all; I would kick his ass,” he shrugged, placing his hands in the pocket of his jeans he was still wearing from last night.
“No worries, nephew.” she rose from her seat. “He no longer works for Glow. If he hadn't of called me last night, I would have read the article and loved it the same without the need to embarrass any of us.”
I looked over at Ben. He was thinking about it.
“I will pay you the same salary that Vanessa will make, which is far more than what I should, given your position. Thousands more. But you are my nephew and I love you.”
Is this woman for real? Am I dreaming? She is a completely different person than I thought she was. I was guessing at work, she had to be a cold person. I could see it in her eyes as she awaited Ben's answer that she truly loved her nephew.
“Yeah,” Ben smiled sheepishly. “Okay, I'll try it out,”
“That settles it then,” Ellen headed toward my front door. “I will be making a few calls to see to it that janitorial will move all of your things from your old office to your new one,”
“Thank you, Ellen. So much,” I was still trying to keep calm. The last thing I wanted to do was annoy her.
“Very well,” she placed her hand on the doorknob. “I will see the both of you on Monday morning?”
I looked up at Ben and he smiled at me so I quickly nodded at Ellen. “Yes, absolutely. Monday,”
~
“Lunch today, princess?” Ben peeked his head through my office door looking sexy as hell in his Armani suit and tie; his blonde hair a perfectly crazed mess.
I smiled. “Of course,” I glanced down at the stack of emails I was reading through then back up at Ben with a frown. “Right after I finish going over the few emails I have left,”
It had been a few months since we started working together at Glow. After the excitement had worn off, I was a little skeptical worrying about if we would eventually get sick of each other. But, so far so good as I wouldn't trade this for the world and neither would Benjamin. I always anticipated my lunches with Ben all morning long, and could never wait to meet him at his office at the end of the day. After getting used to the fact that I was in love, I never thought it was humanly possible for that love to grow even more. But it has. I love Ben more now than I ever thought was possible.
“No rush,” he smiled back. “I'll be at my desk whenever your ready,”
“Okay, I love you,” I blew him a kiss.
“I love you, too.” he blew me a kiss back, winked then closed my office door.
I sighed as I continued with the emails; Does he really love me? How do I handle my wife and her shoe fetish? Is he cheating on me?
Blah... I kept flipping the sheets of paper until a certain email caught my attention. It was from an anonymous male here in New York who's in love with a woman and went on to explain exactly why he loved her and just how much. It brought tears to my eyes as I read;
The love I feel for this woman is far greater than I could have ever imagined love to be. The way my heart beats so crazily when she just smiles at me, the way my body burns each time she touches me, and the way her eyes sparkle every time I tell her that I love her; it tells me she loves me too. I want to ask her to marry me as I could never live through life without this wonderful, smart, beautiful, witty woman in my life. So I ask you this, Nessy...
Will you marry me?
I let my tear filled eyes scan the end of the email, it was signed: Ben
My hand instantly went to my mouth as a loud sob escaped my lips. My tears soaked the marriage proposal lying on my desk below my tear stained face. My heart was pounding in my chest making my legs weak as I stood from my chair. I wanted to run to Ben, I wanted his arms around me. I needed him at this emotional moment in my life. No one had ever made me feel this way inside before. Love was so much more intense than I had ever imagined it to be. How could I have ever been so dense to this wonderful, miraculous sensation?
Another sob escaped as I grabbed the knob to my office door. My shaking hand opened it quickly to see half of the staff standing there around my office. Most of the woman started to cry when they had seen I too was crying. Maria and Ellen being two of them, had a huge grin upon their faces; the tears slowly rolled down their cheeks. I took my eyes off of my colleagues to see a huge exquisite banner in different hues of pinks and purples hanging from the ceiling that read: Will You Ma
rry Me?
Ben stepped into the middle of everyone with the sexiest smile on his face. I couldn't help myself, I ran right into Ben's arms as I cried.
“I love you,” I squeezed him tighter. “So much,”
“I love you too, Nessy,” he whispered into my ear before pulling away to get down onto one knee. I pulled in a deep breath trying to stop the tears. This was it... the next thirty seconds that will change my life forever.
“Miss. Vanessa Montello...” he smiled up at me as he took my incredibly shaky hand in his. “Would you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Vanessa McGurthy?”
I nodded quickly. “Yes,” I cried. “Yes, I will,” I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I couldn't believe that this perfect, handsome man kneeling in front of me was mine and would be for the rest of my life.
He then placed the platinum, princess cut diamond ring on my finger. “A princess diamond for my princess,” he said as he stood to his feet wrapping his arms around me as everyone clapped. I could hear the distant sighs, laughter, and the sobs escaping from the emotional woman.
“You just made me the happiest guy in the world, Vanessa, and I love you,” Ben kissed my lips softly as his fingertips gently wiped the tears of happiness from my flushed cheeks.
“I love you, too.” I whispered against his lips before kissing him passionately. I was in love and I didn't care who saw.
The End...
Jar of Hearts (Glow sequel) is now for purchase on Amazon.com!
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I want to say thank you to everyone for your everlasting support! The sequel to Glow I am writing like crazy and am hoping to have it available on Kindle and Nook very soon! Follow me on my Twitter and/or Facebook for updates! THANK YOU!