PAPER VOWS Novel Chapter 3

“Am I allowed to turn down your proposal?” I ask Dante. It has been an awkward couple of minutes, trying to process everything he just said. All this feels surreal to me. I feel like someone is messing with me and a cameraman is going to pop up under this table and tell me this is all a joke. Why would this man, who seems like he can get any woman he wants, choose me? Why me if he says he barely knows me and that last night was his first time seeing me?

Dante answers, “You are allowed to reject my proposal. I am not going to force you to marry me.”

“I am very confused right now.”

He leans over, balancing on the table with his arm. “Which part is confusing you. I will gladly clarify.”

“Why me? You don’t love me, you don’t know me. Why choose me?”

“I just chose you. I don’t have any other reason other than that,” he answers, nonchalantly.

“I don’t know, Dante. I don’t even know what to say right now.”

“Do you want to go home and think about it? You can take all the time you need to think about everything I just said and then get back at me,” he says. How is he so calm about all this? He is asking me to marry him – that is a big thing. At least to me, it is a big thing.

“I would like to think about everything.” I know I could have just said no, but a part of me wants to think about it. He doesn’t look bad, if being honest, he is the type of man I would go for. He also said that he can court me if I want, which I wouldn’t mind. My mind is just all over the place at the moment.

Dante nods, “You can take all the time you need. Do you want to go home?”

“Yes, I am sure my family is worried. They last heard from me last night.”

“Okay then, you can eat, when done, ask Anne to get someone to drive you home,” he pushes the chair back and stands.

“Wait…how do I reach you when I have an answer?”

“I put my number on your phone after charging it. You should consider putting a passcode on your phone,” he gets his phone on the table, ready to walk away, but I stop him.

“Don’t you want to get to know me or something? I mean, you want to marry me, don’t you have questions?”

“We will get to that when we are sure we are on the same page. I will hear from you, Jade.” He leaves the room.

After he leaves the room, Anne walks in and asks if she can help me with anything. I ask her to bring my phone for me while I try to eat something. My appetite is gone. It’s not every day something like this happens in my life.

“Thanks Anne,” I say, accepting my phone.

“Do you need anything else?” she asks. I tell her that I will be ready to leave as soon as I finish eating. I watch as Anne walks away. I won’t lie, it feels a little good to have this kind of life. Being taken care of like this.

When I check my phone, I have a lot of messages and calls from my family. Most of the calls are from my sister Giselle – she is three years older than me. I live with her – she had told me to tell her when I get home. I am sure she is very worried about me. She is spending the week at her boyfriend’s place. Last night, I sent her a lot of messages, crying about losing my job – that’s why she is like this.

‘Hey, big sister. I am fine, I’m about to get back to the apartment. I will tell you everything about last night when I get to the house.’ I shoot a message to Giselle.

‘Where the hell are you? Your location has been off since last night and answer your goddamn phone!!’

I decline her call – she is calling me again. ‘I will call you when I get home.’

‘ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!!!!’

I put my phone away and tell Anne that I am ready to leave. She asks if she can pack something for me for the road. What does she mean? Are we no longer in GoldenRock? I quietly follow Anne as she leads me out. This house is bigger than I imagined – the outside is just as beautiful. A car is already waiting for me as soon as we step outside.

“Good day, my name is Ellis, and I will be driving you home.”

I nod at Ellis, then say goodbye to Anne. I get in the car and sit back. How am I going to explain all this to my sister? I wonder if she will even believe me. My phone vibrates. I check it, expecting another message from my sister, but it’s a number saved as Dante Lyon.

‘Get home safe, I will be looking forward to your response – soon, I hope.’

I sigh, looking at the message. How does one even respond to that? ‘I will tell you when I think about everything. Take care, your house is lovely.’

‘It could be our house if you accept my proposal.’

I put my phone away and lay back, resting my mind a little. Ellis and I are on the road for about an hour and forty minutes. It seems Dante’s house is on the South of GoldenRock, whereas I am on the West side – the 4th Street Club is about fifteen minutes away from my house by car.

The car door opening snaps me out of my thoughts. The only thing on my mind has been what Dante said. All this is a little confusing to me. It’s like someone is messing with my head. When I get out of the car, that’s when I notice I am in front of my apartment building.

I look at Ellis and ask. “How did you know where I stay?”

“Mr Lyon told me to bring you here.”

“Okay, thanks.” I make my way to the front door, take the elevator to the eighth floor, where my apartment is. When in the elevator, I send Dante a text message asking how he knew where I stay – he doesn’t respond.

“Hey Jade! Where are you coming from? You look good.” Mr Meyers asks when I bump into him. His apartment is opposite mine. His words remind me that I am wearing the expensive dress, shoes and jewellery and everything that just took place today.

“Hey, Mr Meyers. I was out with a friend. How are you today?”

Wearing a wide smile, he answers, “I am good. Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“It’s my day off, see you around.”

I reach into my bag, taking out my keys to unlock the door, but the door is unlocked. When I walk in, I am welcomed by Giselle and James’s worried faces. James is my sister’s boyfriend of fifteen years. I don’t know why they are still not married. As for me, I long ago gave up on men. I have been abstaining for a solid six years – since I turned thirty.

“Where have you been? Do you know how worried I was?” says Giselle, walking towards me. “And why do you look like you walked out of a Fashion show?”

“Hey James,” I first greet James, then we sit down. I explain to them everything that happened with Dante from when I was at the club until Ellis dropped me off at home.

“Wow,” That’s the first thing Giselle says after I tell them everything.

“Wow indeed.” James also joins in, “It sounds like a scene from a movie.”

“It does.”

“Are you going to take his deal?” Giselle asks. I can tell James wanted to ask the same question.

I shake my head, lying back on the couch. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“You not saying no means a part of you wants this,” says James. Shouldn’t he be giving my sister and me some space or something? He doesn’t need to know my business.

“This man just wants a wife for display and he said he doesn’t love me. I want a man who loves me.”

Giselle answers, “But you said he said he can love you if you want. You said he said he can court if that’s what you want.”

“But couldn’t he do that without me having to ask? He could have just asked me out at the club.”

“Maybe he wanted to be upfront with you,” says James.

“I don’t know. Something about all this feels off.”

“Well, it’s all up to you, little sister and whatever decision you will make, we will support you,” my sister takes my hand and gently squeezes it.

“On the bright side, this guy could be loaded. You could live like a princess for the rest of your life,” says James.

“I don’t care about the money, James.” That’s a lie, I do care about money. Just last night, I was crying my eyes out over losing my job.

“I need to make a phone call,” James gets off the couch, kisses his woman and leaves the room.

When James is out of sight, Giselle looks at me and asks, “Is he at least hot?”

“He is a fine dark chocolate king.”

“You have been abstaining for a while now. Is this dark chocolate king worth putting yourself out there again and getting ready to be intimate with a man?” she asks.

“I don’t know – I will think about it all.”