PAPER VOWS Novel Chapter 4

It is after nine pm. I am in my bed trying to sleep, but sleep won’t come. I am still thinking about the Dante proposal. A part of me wants to accept it. How bad would it be to be married to that man? He is hot and successful – a full package for me. But then there is a part of me that is scared. What if he is an abuser? What if accepting his proposal is the worst thing I ever do?

I push the blankets off me and go to the kitchen to get some water. I am alone at the apartment. Giselle and James went out – they had already made reservations for dinner a week before. Giselle wanted to cancel and be with me, but I assured her that I was fine. It’s not like I am dying, even though losing my job feels like the end of the world.

‘Are you sleeping?’ I send a text message to Dante via WhatsApp.

‘I am at the club. Is everything okay?’

I reply. ‘I can’t sleep. You really dropped a bomb on me today. I am very confused.’

‘I didn’t mean to confuse you. You don’t have to be shy to tell me no.’

‘Can you come to my apartment?’ I look at the message for a second, delete it, then type ‘Can you come over so we can talk?’ I delete that one too and type ‘I don’t want to say no.’ I hit send, quickly delete the message and type ‘Goodnight Dante.’

Let me go to bed and try to sleep. I put my phone on the bedside table and try to sleep. I quickly sit up when my phone vibrates and check it.

‘Then say yes.’ Dante highlighted the deleted message. What kind of witchcraft is this?

‘Hey, I deleted that.’

‘I can see deleted messages.’ – Dante.

‘Not fair. I am sleeping – for real this time.’

‘Goodnight Jade.’ – Dante.

I look at my phone for a moment, still on Dante’s chat. This man doesn’t even have a profile picture. I type ‘Court me, maybe I might fall for you and say yes to your proposal.’

I hit send, switch off my phone and try to sleep. The only thing I dream about is Dante’s handsome self and me living in that gorgeous mansion of his. My six am alarm wakes me up. This is the time I usually get ready for work – I still cannot believe those people fired me. How I wish I could get a good lawyer and sue them. Who am I kidding? I cannot afford a lawyer – I have no proof that the man tried to sleep with me. It’s his word against mine – no one will believe me.

I reach for my phone and switch it on. I watch as messages flood in, but I go to Dante’s chat. He replied ‘Okay’ to what I said. Okay what? I need more than just okay. I quickly get off WhatsApp when I see Dante typing. I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and shower. It’s too early to be showering for someone who is not going anywhere, but anything to be away from my phone right now. A part of me is not ready to see what Dante is typing.

As I am standing under the shower, with the hot water falling on my back, I realise how stupid I am acting. I am a thirty-six-year-old grown woman who is acting like a teenager. I shouldn’t be scared about what Dante wants to say. This man wants me to marry him– I am the prize here.

I get out of the shower, wrap a towel around my body and then go to check my phone. There is no new message from Dante. Then what was he typing? I wear shorts and an oversized t-shirt, fix the bed and then go to the kitchen and start looking into my emails. Nothing is interesting in here – most of them are just emails from my old job. I hope their company burns down for what they did to me. I also wonder how many women have slept with that old, wrinkled man just to keep their jobs.

‘Good morning, soon to be Mrs Lyon.’ A text message from Giselle.

‘Don’t make me regret telling you my business. How are you today?’

‘Well fucked and you?’ – Giselle.

‘You are so annoying.’

‘Did you think about what you are going to say to that man?’ – Giselle.

‘I am still thinking.’

There is a knock on the door. I get off the chair and go to attend to it. “Dante? What are you doing here?”

“Good morning! I brought you breakfast.”

“Please come in,” I step aside so he can come in.

I try to hide the smile on my face. He drove all this way just to bring me breakfast. Does this mean the courting stage has started? I watch him look around my apartment. I am sure he is thinking this is small. Even his bathroom is bigger than the lounge we have in this two-bedroom apartment.

Today he is wearing black long sleeved short with black trousers – no tie with formal shoes, and he smells as delicious as he did when he walked in on me bathing. So if I say yes, this man will be my husband? I won’t lie; I like the idea.

“Jade!” Dante’s voice snaps me out of my head.

I quickly close the door and walk to him. “What did you bring us?”

I don’t wait for his response. I reach for the picnic basket in his hands. I have a feeling this is from his kitchen. It’s coffee in travelling mug and a simple breakfast plate – toast, eggs and bacon. This seems like it’s enough for two, so I dish up for us.

“Are you going to work after this?” I ask Dante as we eat.

“Yes.”

“You are not going to ask me if I am also going to work?” I ask him. These eggs have to be the best eggs I have ever tasted – I know it’s just eggs, but they taste so good.

“At the club you were crying about losing your job. I know you don’t have a job.”

“That reminds me, you never told me how you knew where I stay,” I say to him.

“I did a little background check on you. If you are going to be my wife, then I need to know what I am getting myself into.”

“Background check? That sounds extreme. Did you like what you found out about me?” I ask him. It’s not even a joke – did he really like what he found?

“This conversation wouldn’t be happening if I didn’t.”

“Tell me a little bit about yourself. Who is Dante Lyon?” I did a Google search on him – there isn’t much information. Just that he is the owner of 4th Street club. It turns out he has brunches all over GoldenRock.

“I am just plain old me, nothing more.”

“Come on, we are going to be married. Tell me about yourself.” I say. He looks up, our eyes locking. He has gorgeous brown eyes.

“You said we are going to get married.”

That slipped out. “You are courting me, remember – maybe I might say yes. Now tell me about yourself.”

I watch him pick a piece of bacon, toss it in his mouth, then lick his fingers. Why does a simple thing like that look hot when he is doing it? “You already know about me. Maybe ask something, I will answer.”

“What do you look for in a woman?”

Without hesitating, he answers, “You.”

“Me, just as I am?”

“Yes. Your turn, what do you look for in a man?”

I want to say I want someone like Him but maybe this is the time to tell him what I want. “I want a man who will love me as I want to be loved.”

“How do you want to be loved?”

“Loudly. Genuinely. Respectful.” I tell him, getting off the chair. I think we are done eating. I quickly clean up the table and wash the mugs, then sit with Dante. “How do you want to be loved?”

“Love is not really my thing.”

“Why not?” I ask. He shrugs his shoulders. What does that mean? “If love is not your thing, then how are you going to love me?”

“How you want to be loved.”

“I don’t get it,” I say to him. If love is not his thing, then how are we going to do this?

“There is love, the feeling and the action. I can only give you the action.”

“You are a very complicated human being, Dante,” I say to him. I don’t understand what the difference is.

“I am many things, Jade, complicated is not one of them.”

“Aren’t you going to be late for work?” I change the subject.

“I am the boss. I can do whatever I want, but I have to be there within thirty minutes”

“It must be nice being the boss.”

He checks his wristwatch and says to me, “As lovely as this is, I have to go to work, but I want to ask you something. Are you submissive?”

“I believe in balance, I don’t submit blindly.”

He gets off his chair and walks towards me. Lord me smells so delicious. He stands in front of me, his gaze meeting mine and asks, “How does dinner tonight sound?”

“Dinner would be lovely.”

“I will pick you up at seven?” he leans towards me. I swear all the blood in my body rushes to between my legs when I feel his breath on my skin. He pecks me on the cheek and then tells me to enjoy the rest of my day.