Authors: Claire Adams
“No, I want to make it!” I said, thinking
of how he had grilled everything on the night that I had been to his house.
“But not after I get ready. I hardly want to smell like chicken and curry.” I
giggled.
“Okay then, if you wait for the oven to be
done you’ll only have about a half hour to get ready, so if you can manage—”
“Of course,” I cut her off, grinning once
more. “My boyfriend is coming. Part of the charm of that particular terminology
is that I get to spend less time getting all dolled up. He has seen me right
out of bed and right out of a shower so he knows what I really look like.”
“Shower?” Stacey looked at me with her
eyes wide open. “You guys have already managed to hit the shower?”
Nick, who had been sitting on the couch
and too busy munching on chips so far to speak, chose this moment to quietly
exit the living room.
Stacey and I both giggled for a second
because of Nick’s reaction. “I thought I told you. So much has happened these
last few days. The shower was fun…but Zayden will be here soon so we better get
all set up. Thanks so much for agreeing to hang out with us tonight.”
“Are you kidding?” She pointed her spatula
at me. “I’ve been dying to properly hang out with the dude since we first –
ahem – corresponded about you.”
“Yeah, I haven’t forgotten,” I said,
trying to be reproachful, but was glad that all those months ago Stacey had
tipped off Zayden, believing he would be the right guy for me.
---
“So where is your living room?” Zayden
looked at me expectantly as he sat on our couch sipping on the Margaritas that
I had freshly made.
I looked at him with my mouth open, unable
to answer, while Stacey and Nick burst into a chortle.
“Did I say something funny?” he asked.
Before Nick or Stacey could answer with
something sarcastic, I jumped in. “We only have one. Most people only have one,
Zayden.”
My face was getting scarlet red.
Zayden grinned softly. “I was only
joking.” He chuckled.
“So, uh, Zayden,” Nick said nervously.
“What do you do for fun?”
Zayden shrugged, non-committal. “Stuff.
Work mostly.”
“You do work for fun?” Nick was trying
hard not to laugh.
“No, I mean…I work a lot. Sometimes I go
golfing, but it’s mostly for networking purposes. Can’t say I particularly
enjoy the sport. I did play basketball in college, but no time for that sort of
a thing these days.”
“You watch T.V.!” I interjected. “Why else
would you have a 80-inch television in your room?”
“News mostly. Bloomberg is usually always
playing in the background wherever I go.”
Stacey, who had been quiet so far in a
respectful attempt not to laugh, spoke, “Bloomberg is not watching T.V. and you
sure don’t need eighty inches of television screen to analyze the stock market.
Wanna switch?” She pointed her head towards our regular thirty-two inch T.V.
“Sure, you can just have mine. I hope you
don’t feel offended if I pass on yours though,” Zayden said nonchalantly to
everyone’s surprise. We all sat quietly for a few minutes before we bursted out
laughing.
“We don’t actually want your T.V., Zayden.
Stacey was joking.”
He probably knew that, but with his kind
of money probably didn’t care.
“But why not?” He raised his eyebrows.
“You guys seem to have a real interest in it and sure look like you could use a
better set. A wedding present perhaps—”
Everything escalated after I gasped and
gave Zayden a look that meant to say I was ready to commit murder. Nick looked
like he would throw up and Stacey just sat there motionless in complete shock.
“He doesn’t mean you guys,” I said lamely,
trying to rectify the situation, while still glaring angrily at Zayden. “My
other friends are getting married. From my Stats class. You don’t know them.”
I was rambling nonsensically, making the
situation worse and worse. After a few minutes, things got increasingly
uncomfortable so I looked at Zayden and said, “Can you come with me to my room
real quick? We need to talk.”
He seemed to have gathered he had said
more than he was allowed to and looked guilty and nervous. If the situation
hadn’t been so bizarre and ridiculous, I would kiss him for how adorable he
looked.
Quietly, he followed me into my room,
leaving Nick and Stacey to themselves.
As soon as he shut the door behind him, I
snapped. “What the hell, Zayden? I told you it was supposed to be a secret! He
is not proposing to her until next week.”
Covering my face with my hands completely
horrified about having ruined Nick’s surprise, I threw myself on to my bed.
“You can sit, you know,” I said when he continued to stand awkwardly by the
door.
Carefully, he walked closer and closer to
me until he was right next to me. He ran his palms through my face and sighed
deeply. “I am sorry. I had completely forgotten you mentioned it was a
surprise. I didn’t mean to ruin it for your friends. You know I wouldn’t do
that.”
“I know,” I said, pulling him towards me
to cuddle. “But what are we going to do now?”
“We are going to sit here for a few more
minutes and let your friends figure things out. Then we are going to go out,
I’m going to apologize for my blunder and we are all going to have a nice
evening. How does that sound?” He stroked my hair, pulling me towards his
chest.
“It sounds like all we can do for now.”
“It will be okay. Don’t think about what’s
happening outside. Let’s talk about something else. Did you get your paper
back?”
I removed myself from his embrace and lying
by my elbow looked at him and said, “Yes, I got an A and the teacher said it
was one of the best papers he had encountered on the subject.”
“If only he knew how we got to the idea.”
Zayden snickered.
“I want to write all my papers with you
exactly like that from now on,” I said, getting slightly cheerful again.
“I don’t know how much writing will
actually get done, but I am not going to protest, baby.”
His use of endearment made me feel the
ground beneath me disappear.
“I love you,” I said, looking him straight
in the eyes this time. He didn’t say anything but I was sure I saw a twinkle in
his eyes. He leaned in and kissed me softly and passionately. Then I
understood. He was not able to say it just yet but he loved me too.
We just lay there holding each other for a
long time before going back out.
When we
finally made it back to the living room, Nick and Stacey seemed engaged. They
were beaming with joy. It wasn’t so bad after all.
Chapter
9
Zayden
Aria had somehow convinced me to redo the
dinner with her mother, but go about things a little differently this time. For
one, she had picked me up in her car, a blue Ford Taurus that she managed to
drive pretty well but kept me on my toes the whole time nonetheless. I wasn’t
sure I had sat in a car quite like it before. It was incredibly small, the
seats felt like they were made of plastic, and my legs were hurting from the
little room in her front seat.
“You okay there?” she asked, eyeing me
quizzically.
“Yeah.” I smiled, trying hard to ignore
the discomfort. “I’m great. I’m with you.”
That had the desired effect of making her
blush, to my relief, and she didn’t ask me any more questions regarding my
comfort for the rest of the ride.
We pulled into her mom’s driveway and I
was met once more with the foreclosure notice.
“How long does your mom have the house?” I
asked Aria as we walked in.
She shrugged nervously. “I am not sure.
She’s had the notice for a while, but my mom doesn’t like to discuss it with me
very much. She feels guilty, so I don’t ask her questions.”
“Hmm,” I said, thinking I would figure out
how to help them out of this situation soon.
Molly received us with a huge smile
despite the way I had walked out of here the last time.
“Thank you so much for coming over again,”
she said joyfully.
“Of course! I am sorry I had to run out
the other night. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. It was just…” I looked at
the floor, afraid to accidentally catch Aria’s eyes. “Stuff came up at work,
you know how it goes.”
“Absolutely!” Molly exclaimed. “Don’t worry
about it. You must be busy running the bank. I am grateful that you could make
some time to come over again. Aria, why don’t you take Zayden into the living
room and you guys hang out while I prepare dinner?”
“I…let me help,” I said uncertainly. “I am
not too bad of a chef myself.”
“Oh he’s brilliant,” Aria chimed in.
Molly looked uncomfortably from me to Aria
and back. “That’s quite wonderful of you to offer but I can’t possibly…you’re a
guest here.”
I waved my hand nonchalantly. “Please. I
insist.”
“If you want.” She shrugged.
“I’ll set up the table and the living room
and you can help him mom,” Aria said brightly and walked away, leaving me to
join her mother in the kitchen.
“So what are we in the mood for?” I asked,
surveying the kitchen. It was small, but very well structured. I quite admired
the simplicity.
“I was going to make some steaks.” Molly
still looked nervous.
“That happens to be my specialty! I can
throw in some sautéed vegetables as well. You can chop them off for me if you
feel like it. But really, feel free to just go hang out with Aria in the living
room. You made us a delightful dinner the other night as it is.”
“Don’t be silly, I want to help,” she
said, pulling out the chopping board and some mushrooms and zucchini.
As we worked on the dinner, Molly began
opening up somewhat. To an uncomfortable degree almost. Her questions were
getting a little intense.
“So Aria was telling me you have been
married before. Your ex-wife, where is she now?” she asked casually while
chopping onions, like she might as well have been asking about the weather.
“Uh.” I was completely stumped, unsure how
to take that question or answer it. “She’s around. I’m not sure where, we don’t
exactly keep in touch.”
“That’s not what I heard,” she said,
looking up at me for a brief moment and then changed the topic like that hadn’t
just happened. “So how long have you been seeing Aria?”
“I’m sure she has told you, Molly.” I was
trying hard not to be frustrated but I knew where she was going with this and
didn’t feel like I deserved an interrogation after all that I had been doing
for her family.
“Yes, but I was hoping to hear your side
of the story. It’s quite alright if you’re not up to telling me much.”
“Fine,” I snapped in spite of myself. “I
have known her for a few months now and have been fond of her since the very
first time I laid my eyes on her.”
“That’s a rather odd way to put it, don’t
you think?” she asked, giggling as though ensuring that the tone of the
conversation remained outwardly light. “You couldn’t very well be fond of
somebody just by looking at them. If you hadn’t spoken to her yet then surely
you mean you just thought she was attractive?”
I tried hard not to grunt. I cared about
Aria a lot and I was here in her mother’s house for the second time in the past
week because she was important to Aria. Therefore, the fact that she approved
of me for Aria had become very important to me. I didn’t want to ruin that just
because Molly was asking too many questions I didn’t feel like answering.
Deciding to do my best to keep my cool and
humor her, I said, “Sure, I pursued her at first because I thought she was
attractive. Let’s be honest, isn’t that why anyone pursues anyone? All these
talks people have about superficiality is such complete bull, because physical
appearance is the first thing anyone can see and that’s always what draws
people in. But that said, after the initial attraction passed, it became so
much more. Every time I spoke with her she sounded brighter and more
intelligent than half the staff in my bank put together. Her wits, her charms,
her sheer confidence, all those things blew me away. I wasn’t exactly expecting
or preparing to fall for your daughter, Molly. We have quite a large age gap
and I assure you, I am aware of it. I’m not simply exploiting a young woman.
She is so mature for her age! I am sure you know! You raised her to be this
way. Most women my age wouldn’t be able to live up to half of what Aria has in
terms of personality and brilliance. You should be proud of your daughter. You
have created quite an extraordinarily exquisite human being.”
“Wow,” she said, stopping her chopping and
looking like she had just escaped from underneath a train track. “I don’t know
what to say…You’re right, she is quite extraordinary and obviously, I am proud
of her. I just wasn’t sure what you were…I mean, someone of your stature and
prominence, I just wondered how someone like you would take interest in my
little Aria…And then you have been paying all this money for my hospital
bills…don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it. But as a mother, you can’t exactly
blame me for thinking it all seems a little too good to be true?”