The little bell above the door rang as I entered the hole-in-the-wall boutique.
I planned to propose to Jane today and worked extra hard to finish my work early, but she was nowhere to be seen when I finally left my office.
But based on Joseph’s information, my mother had run off with Jane in the middle of the workday to come to Amanda’s boutique to try on her custom dress for the last time in preparation for tomorrow’s gala.
The moment I walked in, I was greeted with the familiar sight of gold detailing lining the shop’s walls with rolls of fabrics scattered all over the place and the usual musky scent that clung to every inch of the wall. It was something I had often seen as a child whenever my mother insisted on dragging me here to play dress up.
“Oh, hello, Rafael. I wasn’t expecting to see you today. Do you need to get something altered at the last minute?” pipped Amanda as she lifted her glasses off of her face and rounded the corner to greet me.
I shook my head and glanced around the seemingly empty shop. “I’m just looking for Danary. I heard that my mother dragged her here.”
A look of realization flashed across her face. “Ah, yes! They’re trying on the dress in the back right now. I’m sure you know where the changing room is, so feel free to go ahead of me. I still need to find a couple more lace options for them to pick from.”
I nodded stiffly, not sure of what they would need lace for, but continued on anyway. I walked over to the back of the boutique and parted the curtains at the doorway to enter the backroom. But before I could enter, I was suddenly shoved back out of the room with a pair of small hands pushing against my stomach, not even reaching my chest.
“What are you doing here, Rafael? You can’t see her in her dress yet.”
I raised an eyebrow at my mother as she stood in front of me with her arms held out in front of the doorway protectively. “It’s not a wedding dressing, though…”
She huffed, “It’s supposed to be a surprise for tomorrow, so no peeking!”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but I still need to talk to Jane about something.”
“No, we’re busy. Come back later.”
I pursued my lips as irritation started to settle in due to my stubborn mother. In a raised voice, “Mother, it’s wonderful that you like Jane as much as you do, but-”
“Achilles,” a familiar dulcet voice called out.
I looked up in recognition and immediately softened at the sight of Jane’s adorable little face poking out from between the curtains. I walked up to her, ignoring my mother’s mumbles as she scurried over to Amanda to give us some privacy.
I gently hooked my finger around one of her loose strands and pushed it back behind her ear. Her hair was pinned up, but there were a few strands falling out of place, perfectly framing her bright violet eyes. I mumbled softly to myself, “You’re not wearing your glasses…”
She flushed under my touch and lowered her eyes, making her long lashes flutter dangerously enticingly. “Mrs. Cordova is having me use c-contacts tomorrow, so she wanted to see me in the dress without them…”
“Hm… You know that I don’t mind your glasses, right? I think they are actually quite cute…”
She pouted, “But I wanted to look mature and elegant… not just cute…”
I chuckled at her adorable expression and leaned down to press a kiss on the corner of her eye, making her squeeze her eyes shut and a small smile appear on her lip. “I already think you’re beautiful, so please don’t feel inclined to change yourself.”
She hummed in contentment and nodded understandingly. Pushing herself away from me with her hands resting lightly on my chest, she looked up at me with her hypnotizingly bright eyes and asked innocently, “As much as I love seeing you, is there a reason why you are here today?”
I pouted at the increase in distance between us but replied, “I want to bring you out of the city tonight. There’s something I want to show you… ”
She chewed her lower lip in contemplation.
I quickly added, “Liam already said it’s okay and that he would stay with my guards until we get back… So what do you say?”
She sighed and nodded in acceptance, “I guess it would be alright then… Are you sure he’ll be alright?”
“I’ll assign my best guards, and I’m sure that Liam is more than mature enough to handle himself for one night. Plus… he’s actually, surprisingly, quite supportive of my plans for tonight.”
“Liam? Supportive?” She eyed me warily. “Since when did you two get so close to each other?”
I smirked and teased, “It’s a secret.”
She huffed with a slight pout. “Fine, be like that, child-stealer.”
I chuckled at her poor excuse of name-calling and pecked her forehead. “I’ll wait for you until you’re done here. An hour more would be enough to finish getting fitted, right?”
She nodded mutely.
“And don’t worry about dressing up. It’s just going to be the two of us.”
She glanced up at me curiously, to which I placed a finger to my lips and said that it was a secret. She huffed once again and closed the curtain with a childish pout. I chuckled at her adorable behavior. Everything about her just made me feel so light-hearted.
I called out, “I’ll see you later, darling~”
Then, I turned around and started to make my way back out to the front of the shop. Amanda, my mother, and some other lady were standing at the front desk, whispering and giggling to themselves. I wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about, but I heard the faint whispers of my and Jane’s names.
I shrugged it off, figuring that my mother must’ve been gossiping about my relationship again. I plopped down on one of the open seats along the window and scrolled on my phone, answering a few random emails here and there.
It was honestly pretty boring to just sit around waiting, and it didn’t help that my nerves were already all other the place in anticipation of proposing to Jane tonight. I already knew that she cared for me just as much as I did for her. And she was comfortable enough with me to joke around and seek physical affection from me. Even if that wasn’t enough, the ring that she gave me held more weight than anything else.
But I still couldn’t help feeling nervous and thinking about the what-ifs.
What if she thought we were going too fast? What if she said no? Would she stay with me until she was ready? Or would she leave immediately, saying that I was just too much to handle?
I quickly shook my head of such intrusive thoughts. I shouldn’t think like that. Jane had never given me any reason to think like that. Just a moment ago, she was talking happily to me and showed no signs of pulling away from me.
I took a deep breath as I tried to calm my nerves. I just needed to-
“Mr. Cordova? What are you doing here? I thought Amanda mostly only made women’s clothes.”
I opened my eyes and leaned back in my seat to look up at the owner of the voice. Oddly enough, I found Cassy leaning over me curiously. She seemed to be in the middle of getting her dress altered with all the pins and loose fabrics attached to the dark red, off-the-shoulder dress that she was currently wearing.
Snapping me out of my confusion, I pulled back when a loose strand of her hair brushed against my cheek. I quickly diverted my eyes away from her, slightly embarrassed from seeing so much of collarbones and bare shoulders, and quietly replied, “I’m waiting for Jane to finish getting fitted.”
“Oh… I see…” The soft rustling of fabric sounded as she straightened back out. “Um… can I ask you something?”
I nodded mutely.
“If you never… I mean… would you ever…” She released a heavy sigh in frustration before continuing, “She’s the one that you couldn’t stop thinking about, right?”
I nodded quietly, remembering how infatuated I was and still am with Jane. Just the mere thought of her brought a smile to my lips.
Cassy paused for a moment before adding, “That’s good… You seem happier than before…”
I looked up at her and wholeheartedly replied, “She brings light to my life, and I’m really lucky to have her by my side.”
She nodded quietly but didn’t say anything else. Her grip tightened on her arm as her eyes drifted down to the ground. She seemed a bit down, but I couldn’t figure out why.
Before I could ask, the sound of opening curtains echoed loudly through the little shop, instantly drawing my attention. My question immediately flew out of my head the moment my eyes landed on Jane’s timid little figure. She was back in her office outfit, a simple black A-line skirt paired with a cream-colored knitted long sleeve.
Adoration bloomed in my chest when I caught sight of her adorable thick-rimmed glasses resting back where they belonged. Although I did like how brightly her eyes shone when they weren’t blocked by thick lenses, I loved the way she looked with her glasses much more. Everything about it just reminded me of her, how she must’ve read one too many books to end up with such thick lenses, or how she must’ve studied really hard to get where she was now.
I instinctively stood up from my spot and made my way over to her like a moth drawn to a flame. I slipped my arms around her little waist and pulled her closer to me until our bodies were glued. I greeted her with a kiss on the forehead. “Ready?”
She blushed under my touch and nodded silently.
I loved how her body reacted to me. How she seemed to melt so naturally in my arms and accept my affections so innocently.
To think that I wasn’t even able to get within an arm’s length of her just a little over a month ago. And now, it felt like I wouldn’t be able to continue living if I could never feel this feeling again.
Keeping one of my arms securely wrapped around her, I walked over to Amanda with Jane by my side and held my card out to the tailor. “Please charge it to my-”
The card was suddenly pulled out of my grasp and stuffed back into my pocket about a familiarly stubborn little woman. My mother threw her card, or at least my father’s card, at Amanda and shouted at me, “I already called dibs on paying for Danary’s dress! It’s supposed to be a present from me to my new daughter.”
My eye twitched at my mother’s antics. I was glad that she had taken quite a liking to Jane, but sometimes I really wondered how she married a husband and produced two sons who were the exact opposite of her, a bunch of quiet and recluse men in comparison to her boisterous, extroverted personality.
Jane tried to argue, “M-Maybe it w-would b-be better if I-”
I sighed and adjusted my hold around Jane’s waist, eliciting a soft yelp from her but effectively stopping her mid-sentence. “Fine… You can pay this time, but I get to spoil her next time.”
My mother grinned and happily signed her name on the receipt. “Sure, sure, whatever you say. But I’m still picking Jane up tomorrow morning to get her make-up, hair, and nails done with the rest of us girls before the event.”
I grimaced at all the things she listed off and mumbled, “But I already like the way she looks…”
My mother waved me off. “Yes, yes, I know you do. It’s just going to be a bunch of small touch-ups to make her pop out even more.”
Jane tensed up in my arms, but I only lit up at the thought of having Jane standing way above others. I knew that she didn’t necessarily like being the center of attention, but I wanted to show her off to the world and show them that she was mine.
She was the only one that I would allow to stand by my side, the only one I would ever have eyes for.
And, after tonight, hopefully, she would stand by my side forever.