The Secret Trinity Unearth (13 page)

“I might need some help up those stairs.” I said pointing at my high heels. Without a word Liam picked me up like a bride crossing the threshold and began climbing the steps to the capitol’s entrance.

“Liam, you’re crazy. I did not mean you had to carry me,” the words came out in a squeal.

He ignored me and continued up the steps. We made it to the entrance and he set me down gently. I straightened out my short dress as he held the door open. A security guard greeted us with a reminder that they were closing in ten minutes.

We walked down the gold inlaid tile corridor to the center of the building, where the rotunda opened up to a domed ceiling ten stories high. A huge Christmas tree was standing directly in the center. The evergreen tree was so tall I had to crane my head back to see the top. When I looked up to the top of the dome I saw that it had a circular mural adorning the ceiling.

“That is some Christmas tree,” Liam said as he followed my gaze to the ceiling.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “this place is amazing. This has been the most incredible night Liam, thank you.”

I heard my voice echo through the dome. The building was almost completely empty. The evening had been like a dream come true, and I had admitted to myself that I was in love.

I wanted to tell him how I felt but I was too afraid to say it out loud. I could feel the tears building in my eyes. I couldn’t believe I had met the man of my dreams, and soon I would lose him. I felt a single tear roll down my cheek and Liam put his hands on my waist forcing me to face him. My body was facing toward him but I could not look him in the eyes.

“Ari,” he said softly, “look at me. Tell me what’s wrong?”

I could not look at him. The first man I ever loved was going to be an ocean away soon, and the pain of that emotion overwhelmed me.

“This is exactly what I was afraid of. I didn’t want to get close enough to miss you when you leave, but it’s too late. You’re right in front of me and it already hurts. I cannot imagine the pain once you have gone.” I could barely choke the words out. Liam wiped my tear away with his thumb and cupped my face in his hands gently kissing me. He pulled away from my lips.

“I have something for you, an early Christmas gift.” His words were so gentle. He dropped his hands from my face and pulled open his leather jacket unzipping a hidden pocket inside. He reached in the pocket and retrieved a black velvet jewelry box.

“Liam,” I breathed out his name. “You are too much. This amazing night was enough.”

He smiled, “Don’t worry. It didn’t cost me anything. This has been in my family for generations and I want you to have it.” He opened the box and the hinge squeaked as if it had not been touched in years. I gasped when I saw its contents.

Resting in the box was a pendant necklace. The platinum woven rope chain was thick but still feminine and delicate. At the bottom of the chain was an Irish trinity knot, the size of a silver dollar. Most trinity symbols I had seen were plain, but this one had a beautiful emerald gemstone in the center of the triangle where the three points intersected.

“Liam,” I began, “I…I can’t accept this.” He creased his forehead, “You don’t like it? I’m sorry. You are always wearing vintage jewelry and this pendant is over two hundred years old. I really thought you would like to have it.”

I quickly corrected him, “No, it’s the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen. It’s just… I can’t take a family heirloom. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Ari, I want you to have it. The moment I saw you, I thought of this necklace. It was meant for you to wear it.” His smile warmed me from the inside out.

“I don’t know; are you sure? I don’t want you to go back to Ireland and in a couple of months regret giving up something so valuable.” I really was concerned he would regret this.

He laughed, “Ari, haven’t you figured it out yet? You are the one who is valuable to me. I am in love with you.”

His words made my throat tight and I looked up at him, blinking rapidly, making sure I heard him right. I had been thinking the same thing about him all night, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would hear him say he loved me.

I parted my lips, “I…I love you too,” it came out as a whisper, and he kissed me.

He lifted the necklace from the box and clasped it around my neck. He looked at the trinity knot that lay flat just below my collar bone. He grabbed the sides of my arms and bent down to my level so we were eye to eye. He looked at me deeply with such ferociousness I thought he might wrap me up and try to have me right here in the capitol.

I stared, wondering what he was thinking, when I felt a surge pulse through my body that was so powerful my knees buckled beneath me. I would have collapsed to the ground if Liam hadn’t been holding my arms. The energy swirled behind my eyes momentarily blinding me. I thought this was what the ecstasy of love does to me.

When my focus returned, I saw Liam’s eyes sparkle with wonder as he pulled me in for a kiss. His lips had a new hunger and I sank into that passion easily as he pulled me in even tighter. We remained lip to lip until someone coughed a few feet away; reminding us we were not completely alone.

“Closing time; could you do that elsewhere?” The security guard grumbled from down the hall. I pinched my lips to suppress a smile and Liam took my hand as we walked down the hall and out through the entrance. He picked me up to carry me back down the stairs and we walked the several blocks back to my dorm.

Chapter 18: Grand Finale

I was wrapped up in the euphoria of the evening as we approached my building. I was basking in the new vigor zinging through my body, which could only be caused by declaring yourself to the one you love, the one you are meant to be with forever. My heart was still pounding with new found vitality and I did not want the night to end just yet.

“It’s not that late. Do you want to watch a movie? I’m sure Morgan and Kayla are still out.”

He grinned, “I would love to, besides, I have one more surprise.”

“Liam, now you are just showing off.” I shook my head and he laughed. I realized this was the first time Liam and I had been in my dorm room alone and a wave of nervousness punched around in my stomach as we walked in. I tried to ignore them, kicking off my high heels and coat.

“What do you want to watch?” I asked him as I looked over the choices.

“Anything will do. I’m not picky,” he said as he took off his leather jacket and got comfortable on the loveseat.

I grabbed a slapstick comedy and put it in the DVD player before turning off the lights and joining him on loveseat. We cuddled up and the movie started. It was only five minutes in when Liam sat up to face me.

“So love, are you ready for the grand finale?” He smiled.

I had forgotten he had another surprise, “Okay...I’m ready,” I tried to sound nonchalant, but the excitement in my voice crept in. I couldn’t imagine what could possibly top the most romantic, magical night of my life.

He took his coat off the floor and opened the same hidden pocket the necklace had come from, handing me a white envelope. I lifted the flap to peer inside. I think my heart stopped. It was a one-way first class plane ticket -- to Ireland.

“Oh my god Liam, what is this?!” My voice was an octave higher than usual.

He took my hand, “The application deadline for second semester abroad is next week, and I was hoping I could persuade you to the Emerald Isle. I can’t stand the thought of parting from my love. Galway has a great school and you could learn all about Irish dance.”

I was too stunned to speak, so he continued. “It would be an adventure, and we would be together. What do you think?” I couldn’t answer. All I could do was stare at him with a shocked expression. He sighed, “Ari, I love you,” he cupped my face, “Please say yes.” I thought carefully about how to answer.

“Liam…this is like a fairytale and I love you,” I paused. “But…” he pressed. I took a deep breath.

“But I can’t just leave Morgan and Kayla. They are my best friends and we are supposed to be sharing our college experience together. I can’t just ditch them to go to Ireland.” His expression looked cocky which was not the reaction I was expecting.

“I thought you might say that,” he said as he leaned over and pulled out a second white envelope, “I got tickets for them too.” He grinned wickedly and my mouth fell to the floor.

I could not find the words. Liam was the sweetest, most romantic man I had ever met, and he was all mine. I pushed his coat to the floor letting the envelopes fall with it and straddled my legs over his lap to face him. I kissed him deeply, rolling my tongue in his mouth as the complete and utter warmth of our energy coursed through me.

He pulled away, “Should I take this as a yes?” I gave him my answer with actions, kissing him passionately.

He responded by grabbing my waist, pulling me closer to him. My whole body tingled. I shucked off his suit coat, and dropped it to the floor by his jacket. His hands left my waist gliding slowly over my legs as we kissed. I pulled away and loosened the tie from his neck as his lips roamed to my shoulders. I was just about to start on his shirt buttons when the door opened and the lights clicked on.

“Oops, sorry, we’ll leave you alone,” I heard Kayla say from the door.

“No no, come in you guys. It’s fine,” I said quickly and climbed off of Liam’s lap to stand.

I fidgeted to fix my dress, and Liam stood up too grabbing his suit coat and jacket from the floor. A part of me was relieved. I did not know how far we would have gone if the girls had not interrupted us. I love Liam, but I didn’t think I was ready for that.

Before it could get awkward, Liam kissed my forehead and walked to the door. He stopped and turned to me before leaving. “Let me know how it goes,” he said with a wink, and then he was gone.

“So I’m guessing the evening went well,” Morgan said sarcastically as she took the spot on the loveseat where Liam had just been.

“It looked like things were heating up pretty fast. Are you sure you want to lose your virginity to a guy who’s about to move across the world Ari?” I collapsed on the loveseat next to her. The gravity of this intense evening was sinking in.

“I was not going to take it that far,” I think. I quickly shrugged the thought off. “Besides, he wants me to go back with him to Ireland.”

“What?!” They both shrieked in unison. “I know, this is huge,” I said as I took the white envelopes from the floor and handed them to Morgan.

“Is this a joke? He did not seriously buy us all plane tickets to Ireland?” “What?!” Kayla shrieked again and snatched the envelopes from Morgan’s hand to look inside for confirmation.

She looked at me wide eyed, “These tickets are one-way Ari. What exactly happened tonight?”

I took a deep breath and relived the whole evening with them. I told them about the dinner, the ballet, and the necklace, but I hesitated to say the most important part.

“I…I care about him. Think about it. He is offering us the chance of a lifetime here, and…he told me that he is in love with me.” The last part came out as a whisper and Kayla sat down on the floor right where she stood. “Wow, and what did you say?” I breathed slowly.

“I told him... I loved him too,” I finally answered settling my eyes on the floor.

Saying it to Liam was one thing, but confessing my feelings to them somehow felt strange considering my track record. I had never come close to falling in love before. It all felt so new and unfamiliar, I was not sure how to handle my words.

“I want to go to Ireland. It will be an adventure, a chance to see the world, but I can’t do it without my best friends,” I said, and began chewing my lip.

Kayla shrugged, “Okay, I’m in. Let’s do it.” Morgan crossed her arms.

“Really, Kayla, that’s it? Just like that you are going to let her uproot your life for some guy?” she said sounding annoyed.

“Look, Ari is happy, and we have free first class tickets to Ireland. We wanted to study abroad eventually, so why not now? The way I see it, we never get to hang out because we are always too busy with our own stuff here. Going to Ireland will slow things down and we can be together in a foreign country for a while. How awesome is that? I am totally into meeting sexy Irish guys too. I’m in.” Kayla raised her eyebrows waiting for Morgan to respond.

“Alright, but once we get there do me a favor and don’t set me up with any more losers, like tonight,” Morgan said with a huff.

I chimed in, “So the double date didn’t go so well?”

Morgan rolled her eyes, “Please, he stuck fries up his nose pretending he was a walrus and thought it was hilarious when one fell in my burger basket. Gross. No thank you!” Kayla laughed recalling the memory and I laughed with her just picturing it.

“Ok,” Kayla said after composing herself, “no set ups!” She crawled over to the couch and leaned on Morgan’s shins.

“So we’re really doing this? You guys are coming to Ireland with me?” I asked. The excitement in my voice was palpable.

Without a word Morgan stuck out her arm. It was déjà vu of the pact we had made months earlier, only this time the turn of events was astonishing. I was running toward a man not from him. I ignored Morgan’s hand and lunged at her with a tight hug.

I felt Kayla join in the group hug, “You guys are the best,” I said gleefully. I couldn’t wait to call Liam and tell him the good news.

Chapter 19: Stand up

Over the next week the application process ensued for our study-abroad transfer and it had gone shockingly well. We even had an apartment lined up there to stay in the downtown area close to the school. The only part left for me was the most difficult. I had to convince my parents. Our plane was leaving two days after Christmas and I was the only one who had not received the go ahead from my parents. Liam insisted on helping me talk to them, so I again brought him home for Christmas break.

“Galway, Ireland? For the entire semester? You cannot be serious Aria.” My Mom huffed.

Our flight was in the morning and this was our sixth conversation about the trip. My Mom still had not yet warmed to the idea. It was a done deal but she kept fighting it. Liam was holding my hand under our kitchen table and gave it a reassuring squeeze to continue.