Chapter 1

"Caroline, we've been through a lot recently and I think it's time I give you this…"

this is it, she thought staring down at the blue velvet box in front of her. She had dreamt of this day. The day when Tyler proposed to her, she felt choked up.

Could she form a tear at her eye? – No, she wasn't that skillful – she smiled placing a hand at her chest as she gasped. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Here they were in a fancy restaurant, somewhere not so far from where she lived. A cozy corner table with a window view and a candle lit dinner. She was possibly the luckiest girl.

She knew having a rich boyfriend would come in handy one day.

She always knew this day would come. It didn't come to much of a surprise to her when he asked to talk and invited her to dinner especially for her. Well not exactly especially for her, it just so happened that her magically night coincided with a goodbye dinner. Her hubby to be –she liked the sound of that – had to fly across to Italy for something business event. She was sad to see him go but he was only away for two weeks, she would find some way of coping.

Maybe it would be a taste of her wifey chores or maybe she would even go as far as planning the wedding. Whatever it was, she could be assured that she would be busy.

How time flies she thought still playing with the velvet box in her hands, they had been dating for almost three years and finally they were going to DTR (Define the relationship).

Marriage was the way forward. She felt it in every beam of her body.

Tyler took her hand gently between his fingertips, smiling encouragingly at her to open it. She melted in his brown eyes trying to absorb the moment – after all she would have to remember every detail if she was to retell the story to her children – he was wearing a casual striped shirt with a dark blazer. She frowned as she thought about his attire, awfully business like and professional.

She would have hoped one would make more of an effort if one was purposing. Maybe getting down on one knee or serenading her with a Mexican band as she entered the restaurant. She sighed. What did she expect? It was Tyler, the simple no romantic Tyler. Her ring was practically given to her on a silver platter, no gimmicks and no movie effects.

He was still looking eagerly at her as she gave a sweet smile in response, what was the hurry? She finally began opening the box in her hand, slowly as she built up the tension, she could almost hear her own sound effects. She stopped half way looking at Tyler who nodded. She was ready. After all getting married was a piece of cake. The box opened, lid upright to reveal beautiful diamond…

"Earrings!" she gasped in shock – yeah wasn't expecting that one – she didn't have to fake this shocked expression because shocked was definitely what she was

"Do you like them? You don't know how long it took me to find the perfect one. Apparently these are their best sellers" He paused letting go of her hand "Aren't you going to try them on?"

"Oh, right now?" truth was, she didn't really want to put the earrings on, hell she didn't even want the earrings in the first place. She wanted to scream where's the bloody ring? But she knew that would just make a bigger fool out of herself than she already had. Well this sucks she thought, all those days, months hoping, just flushed down the toilet in seconds.

She felt like such an idiot, scratch that, she felt like a red nosed clown with pie all over her face. This was embarrassing.

She felt like crying – for real this time – she began carefully taking the earrings out of the box and slipping them into her earlobes, turning her head slowly making them sparkle

"They're stunning! Stick with me and you'll never go wrong, cus I'm always right" he beamed. Well I'm glad you're happy she scowled at him when he wasn't looking.

She took the earrings out now and placed them back perfectly in the box, just the way she found them. Closing the lid she sighed, that would probably be the last time she saw those earrings again. She wouldn't be able to wear them without reminding herself of the moment she got them. Caroline felt angry as she took deep breaths trying to calm down. She didn't need any more frown lines than she already had. She looked around spotting a man smiling at her – he knew – she knew it, or was it the paranoia speaking?

Forget the food, forget the drink, you know what forget the dinner, she wanted out of there. She definitely felt like the whole restaurant knew what happened and they were all staring at her – well in her mind they were – this was already past the line of disaster. Disaster wasn't even a line anymore. It was a stupid dot, that's how far they were.

She shook her head, three years they had been dating and still he didn't have the balls to purpose. COME ON! What was he waiting for?

"Sorry dear, I have to dash. Duty calls" he kissed her on the forehead "Please enjoy your dinner, don't leave on my account. See you when I get home" Perfect she thought. If the earrings weren't an embarrassment enough, here she sat all alone at dinner in a fancy restaurant. Like she would stay and continue the dinner without him, who was he kidding?

Thinking back now, she had wondered why he was business-like and it made sense now, it wasn't for her, when was it ever for her. It was for his ridiculous job. If he could marry jobs, she knew he wouldn't waste a day; they'd be married by tomorrow. She did love him, didn't she? Of course she did she was being silly.

They were going to buy a house together, move in. If he wasn't being serious about them he wouldn't even consider that. A marriage would be coming…someday.

She would just have to be patient.

Here we are, the first chapter of many! What did you think? Yes, it may seem very Forwood right now, but the next chapter is where all the action starts. It might have you crying, laughing, angry, I don't know, you'll just have to wait and see. As a thank you for all the support on "The Vampire and The Huntsman" I just HAD to hurry up and write this new Fic for you all! Hope you stay tune, if you do your in for a wild adventure! LOVE YOU ALL!

© Ms Zola, Oct 2012