Authors: Claire Adams
As she walked towards me, I tried to take
a mental picture of the scene so I could keep this perfect moment savored in my
memory forever.
She sat next to me and put her head on my
chest, looking tired but content.
“How was your last evening with your
friends?” I asked gently. “Were they upset? Are you?”
“It was bittersweet,” she said without
removing her head from my chest to look at me. “We were happy together. And
drunk at some point. They sent you a little present. It’s over at the kitchen
counter. How do you feel about chocolate chip cookies?”
“I don’t feel strongly about them.” I
shrugged.
“Well, that is about to change then.
Stacey makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. And she sent you an
enormous batch to thank you for everything.”
“I take it you told her about my plans
with Fiona for their wedding?” I said amusedly.
“Was I not supposed to?” She looked up at
me. “I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no! Don’t apologize. I am glad
you told them. I was merely amused that you guys seem to have a system of
sharing news as fast as possible. Which is why I am quite surprised your friend
Stacey didn’t tell you about the ring.”
She giggled. “We know to keep it tight
when it really matters. They were so thrilled, Zayden. Stacey couldn’t stop
crying. She can’t believe you’re real sometimes.”
“Is that so? If I weren’t real,” I said
and moved my hand across her body to slide a few fingers underneath her
panties, making her shudder. “How come I just made you do that?”
Aria moved away. “As much as I would like
that train of thought to continue,” she said and grinned. “I have a lot of
unpacking to do so no room for distractions.”
“That game huh? Whatever, I have some
important matters to discuss with you anyway.”
“Is everything alright?” She looked
immediately alarmed and for some unknown reason, it made her appear more
adorable. She was such an insanely genuine person.
“Yes, everything is alright. Pretty
fucking perfect, actually. I just wanted to talk to you about your mother’s
hospital bills—”
“Oh right. I suppose since we are getting
married, the contract is no longer valid. Don’t worry about paying for the last
two months; I don’t want it to be a conflict of interest. With my new
promotion, I am sure I could handle those payments myself. And since we have
been paying all the other amounts on time, the hospital should allow me some
extra time. I will probably incur some interest but that hardly matters in the
grander scheme of things.”
“Aria,” I said with an urge to laugh.
“What on earth do you think you are talking about?”
She raised her eyebrows. “My mother’s
hospital bills. I am guessing that’s where you were going with bringing up that
subject?”
“Quite on the contrary. Have you not
realized by now that I will gladly turn over my entire fortune for you? My
money is your money. What I wanted to discuss,” I said, planting a kiss on her
mouth, unable to help it. “Is that I paid off the rest of her bill. Since I am
marrying her daughter, it’s the least I could do. She is giving me far more
than I have given her. You were right on one account of course; the contract is
no longer valid. You are going to be my wife now. We don’t need some stupid
contract.”
“Well, I have actually been thinking about
that,” Aria said softly and slowly, as though weighing her words in her mind.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Zayden. You know I love you a lot, more
than words can ever describe. If you don’t then you’re just stupid and shouldn’t
be allowed to run such a huge empire.” She giggled. “I love you with all my
heart and want us to be together forever. But life is strange and sometimes
things happen. In the case that we ever find ourselves in a situation that is
unpleasant as far as our union goes—”
“What are you trying to say, Aria?” I felt
myself stiffen. I didn’t like hearing those words.
“Well, I guess what I am really trying to
say is that the last thing in the world that I want is to feel like I am in
some way taking advantage of you. As you know, I have nothing but some annoying
amounts of debt. You have quite a lot. In the case that we were to,” she choked
up trying to formulate that idea. “In the case that we ever, you know, split up
for any reason, I want you to feel like your assets and everything you own are
secure and yours. Which is why I think a prenuptial contract is important. To
protect you.”
“Are you joking?” I stared at her closely
to make sure that she was being serious.
Her words at once annoyed me greatly but
also made me admire her even more. Any other woman would be thrilled that I
hadn’t brought up a prenup or tried to convince me to ignore it if I had
brought it up. Aria would be the only person to care so much about protecting
me because she didn’t want me for my money. She wanted me for me.
The part that annoyed me was that she
thought that such an arrangement would even be necessary. That was absolutely
preposterous. I saw no situation in any part of our future where divorce would
ever even cross my mind and I highly doubted that she did too. So she must
think somehow that I might change my mind about how much I loved her down the
line…she simply did not get that what I felt for her was beyond everyday
romance, beyond my concern for my own life…
“I am not joking, Zayden. I want you to
feel secure. It is important to me that you know that I am marrying you for the
right reasons. I appreciate the promotion I got at work and it will certainly
help me grow into my own going forward. As such, even though we are nullifying
our contract, I am going to pay you back for the money you paid towards my
mother’s hospital bills, just like we had planned. I want us to be equals in
this relationship, I couldn’t stress that more. In fact, down the line I expect
to pay for half the costs we incur during this wedding. I know you don’t need
the money, but it’s really a matter of principal at the end of the day. Do you
understand what I am getting at?”
“I do,” I said and pulled her back towards
me. “I know exactly what you are getting at and this is precisely why I am in
love with you. We are getting married which means there is really no
distinction between my money and your money, my home and your home. Everything
is ours from now on, together. That is what family is all about. We will be
sharing our lives with each other, every bit of it. But okay, if it makes you
feel better you can slowly pay me back for whatever you wish, so you feel like
we are equals. If the scales are tipped at all, they are in that you are
cleverer and far more intelligent than I will ever be, so you have the upper
hand in a sense.”
She giggled and let out an adorable little
snort. “You guys must all stop this ridiculous praise of my intelligence. It’s
starting to get way too funny. I am twenty years old and I don’t even have an
undergraduate degree yet.”
“Exactly my point,” I said cheerfully.
“But anyways, moving on. You can go over checks and balances and ‘pay back’
whatever you think you need to. We have a whole lifetime for you to do this as
it happens. I am firmly intent upon this so if you put up further arguments, we
will just be wasting precious time that could be spent fucking. I will not ever
agree to a prenup. The whole idea behind it suggests that there is even the
slightest bit of possibility that you and I might not be together forever. I
would rather die the most painful death than allow myself to even entertain
such an idea. I have been married before and it was a complete disaster, as you
know very well. Given that I had made up my mind that nothing would convince me
to partake in a union again. Then you came along. Believe me when I say this,
Aria, I would never have proposed to you if I had even for a second thought
that there was a possibility that we wouldn’t last forever.”
She hugged me tighter, kissing my chest.
“How did you get to become such a sweet and loving person? God I am so lucky.”
I shrugged. “It’s the effect you have on
me. Most people – my own mother included – would laugh at the idea that someone
used those words to describe me.”
“Well your mother sounds kind of awful
anyway,” she said.
“Yeah, you will have the opportunity to
experience it firsthand soon enough. Apparently it is the norm to invite your
parents to your wedding or something.” I rolled my eyes.
She laughed. “I am sure she isn’t so
terrible. She did give birth to the most amazing man in the world after all.”
“You are too sweet,” I said and kissed her
forehead. “But seriously, my mother can be a nightmare, so if I were you I
would be careful. She is going to try and make you feel as though you aren’t
good enough for me. She obviously won’t have any idea what the fuck she is
talking about, so if I were you I would ignore everything she says.”
“I’m sure I could get her to like me,” she
said confidently.
“You know what?” I thought about that for
a second. “You actually might just accomplish that, Aria. It is rather
difficult not to fall in love with you, as I speak from very personal
experience.”
The doorbell rang. “Were we expecting
company?” Aria asked.
“Oh yeah, that’s kind of a surprise. I’ll
be right back,” I said and walked to the door to welcome Fiona Davis.
“Sorry our house is a bit of a mess, my
fiancée just moved in today and we are still figuring out where to put
everything.”
“No worries at all, Zayden,” Fiona said,
kissing me on the cheek. “Now where is the lovely bride?”
“Right in the living room, come on in.”
I escorted her to where Aria was, who
looked rather alarmed at the sight of a beautiful blonde woman standing in
front of her.
“Your sister. Please tell me she is your
sister,” Aria said with her eyebrows raised. “I mean hello, sorry I didn’t mean
to be rude.”
Fiona giggled as I looked at them in
amusement. “Oh darling, aren’t you absolutely adorable?” She looked at Zayden.
“Wow, well done Sinclair. I can’t wait to work with her.”
“What is going on?” Aria asked
suspiciously and then her face lit up in realization. “You’re Fiona.”
She got up nervously and then sat back
down, apparently unsure how to react to a celebrity wedding planner standing in
her living room.
“That is what they call me.” Fiona
giggled. “But you can call me anything you like. From this moment on, I’m here
to do your bidding.”
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Aria
was hyperventilating and it was entertaining to watch. I felt a sense of pride
at being able to do this for her. “Is it okay if – can I – may I call my best
friend and maid-of-honor to come here? It will make her day. I can’t believe
this.”
“Of course, dear,” Fiona said, pulling out
a binder from her pocketbook. “I hear I will be assisting this lady’s wedding
too later in the year. So it only seems logical that we spend as much time
together as possible.”
“You haven’t changed one bit since
college.” I rolled my eyes. The woman was so good at her job and so
enthusiastic about everything to do with it.
“You guys went to college together?” Aria
gasped. “What other celebrities did you go to college with?”
“A
couple here and there. Now let’s get down to business. We have a rather
extravagant wedding to plan here.”
“First things first,” Fiona said, pursuing
her binder. “Do you have a theme in mind, Aria? It’s a specialty of the Plaza;
they can transform the venue to look like your wildest imagination.”
“A Hogwarts themed wedding would be rather
nice,” Aria said after pondering for a few moments. “But I suppose that isn’t
the most romantic. Hmm…”
Fiona, who was giving Aria a very
understanding look, gleamed with pleasure. “You know, you would be surprised. I
have actually planned two Hogwarts themed weddings so far and the clients were extremely
satisfied. Technology is so advanced these days we were able to make the venue
appear enchanted.”
“I don’t actually want a Hogwarts themed
wedding.” Aria giggled. “Although I sure did when I was fourteen. I suspect I
might have grown out of it somewhat.”
“Thank god.” Fiona sighed in relief. “I
have to admit, I always found the concept rather amateurish. But if you’re into
books and reading, I am sure we can find something you would relate to.”
“How about a regular wedding, but since
you said you can make venues seem enchanted, we have a bit of an enchanted
forest thing going on with a décor? I don’t want to say princess-themed,
because that also sounds rather amateur. It would be nice to have the look of a
fairy-tale decoration wise though.”
“That is actually a very good idea,” Fiona
said, unclipping some papers from her binders. “Here are some pictures of
similar things I have done, we can pick one of those or we can create a whole
new concept from scratch. Now we don’t have a whole lot of time, so I hope you
can take some time off work. Since we have a lot to do and the venue is in New
York, it’s not going to be very easy to coordinate if you’re working all the
time.”
“She has the next three weeks off,” I said
cheerfully. “I am her boss and I say so. No Aria,” I said when she looked like
she was about to protest. “You can make up the days later if you must, I don’t
really care either way, but knowing you, you would probably want that. But for
now, just focus on making this thing as perfect as you can.”