A week had passed since Aria's return to Rosewood and it felt as though she had never been away. Hardly anything had changed in the time she was in New York and she forgot how much she appreciated the small town. She was going for her final fitting of her wedding gown today; she had visited 4 different boutiques with her mother during the week and found the dress she loved. Today she was taking the girls, as well as Ella, along so they could see the dress and get their opinion on it. Aria wanted the dress to be perfect; she had an image in her head of exacly how she wanted the dress to look and hoped the wedding dress shop could work their magic.
"Aria, are you dressed?" Ella called up the stairs. A week back with her mother and Aria felt sixteen again!
"Yeah mom, I'm coming already!" She yelled back.
"Can you be a sweetheart and pop to the shop honey? Mike finished all the milk this morning and you know I can't take my coffee black!"
Aria groaned.
"Please honey? I still need to jump in the shower!"
"Ok mom!" She cried. "Do you need anything else?"
"Um…" Ella racked her brains. "Maybe some bagels? We can have them for lunch, dad bought home fresh salmon slices so we could have that with cream cheese if you want?"
Aria nodded and grabbed her purse from the sofa. It was a warm June morning and already the sun was out warming up. Aria was wearing a peach coloured flowing maxi dress, pulled in at the waist with a thin gold belt. This also helped shorten the dress, as, at 5'1, Lucy didn't want it dragging along the floor. She hated being so short! Putting her sunglasses over her green eyes, she walked the 5 minute stroll to the nearest grocery store, where she made a bee line for the fridge and grabbed 2 pints of milk. But in the process, her purse slipped out of her hand and the contents split out onto the floor, her wallet, make up and various items of junk all over the dairy aisle.
"Damn it!" She cursed, quickly bending down and scooping the contents back into her oversized tote. She jumped up while closing her back and smashed straight into the person in front of her.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" She began. "I didn't see…"
Her blood ran hot and cold when she looked up and saw Ezra, right in front of her. Her mouth went dry and she felt as though she was going to pass right out.
"Ezra." She managed to whisper. He looked well, really well. He had slight stubble on his face, his thick chocolate hair was exactly the same and those eyes that Aria had spent many hours lost in were boring right into her soul.
"Hi Aria," he said after what felt like an eternity. "It's really great to see you." He smiled, and Aria felt her insides turn to mush.
"It's great to see you too, Ezra. How are you?"
"I'm good thanks, I'm head of the English department at Rosewood High, so it's keeping me busy but its what I love so it's all good I guess!"
"Oh wow that's great Ezra, congratulations!" Aria gushed at his achievement.
"Thank you, how about you? When did you get back from New York? What brings you back to Rosewood?"
"Well, New York is good, I'm working as a book review for magazines but I'm hoping to have my first book published by the end of the year, so I'm crossing my fingers for that!"
"That's great Aria, I'm happy for you." Ezra smiled again, weakening Aria further.
"I read your book, by the way," Aria added.
Ezra had finally had his dream come true and published a book. It was based on magic and the love affair between a young magician and his assistant who was forbidden to him. Ezra had published the book anonymously; the idea for the story was based on his relationship with Aria and after the heartbreak they both suffered he decided to publish under a pseudonym. Aria almost didn't realize it was his work, but the acknowledgement page gave it away. Aria knew it off my heart she'd read it so many times:
"For my magical muse,
Thank you for being the inspiration behind my story.
I hope this finds you somehow.
Your magician."
After reading that Aria knew who "Christopher Martin" was; it was Ezra Fitz. The theme of magic was also significant to their relationship. The song 'Magic' by Coldplay was their song while they were together: it was playing during their first kiss, they'd made love to it and the lyrics were emotional to both of them. Aria had often called Ezra her magician, as she'd tell him that what she felt was magic when she was with him.
"You…you knew that was me?" Ezra asked, genuinely surprised.
It was Aria's turn to smile. "Of course. It was beautifully written. I've still got my copy, it's rather battered now but it was such a good read."
What she didn't admit was that she had read it at least 15 times, an attempt to get inside his mind.
"Thank you, that mean's a lot." Ezra answered. "So, you still haven't told me, how come you're back? Surely Rosewood doesn't outside New York?!"
"Well, there's no place like home!" She paused momentarily. "Actually, I'm getting married."
As soon as the words left her mouth she could almost feel Ezra's heart break again. She suddenly felt almost ashamed at the fact she was marrying someone else.
"Well, congratulations Aria," he finally said. "I hope you're happy?"
"I am," she replied, but couldn't look him in the eye.
"Good. That's all I ever wanted you to be. I've er, I've gotta run but it was really nice seeing you, good luck with the wedding and stuff."
And with that, he was gone. Aria stood stuck to the floor, lost for words.
The dress fitting was not as enjoyable as she first thought. This was mostly due to the fact that running into her ex-boyfriend had stirred up some weird feelings inside her. She couldn't focus on what was being said to her as his dark brown eyes were staring at her from her mind and his voice was playing over and over in her head. She knew it would be weird seeing him again but she didn't think it would evoke this much of a reaction. And then he had just taken off and left. She didn't even get a chance to ask about Malcolm, or anything else going on in his life.
"Did you want the neckline fairly plunging or a bit more demure?" Sally-Anne asked, the dress fitter.
"Huh? Sorry what was that?" Aria missed what was said to her. Her head was filled with the thoughts of her and Ezra lying in bed during a bad thunderstorm, talking about the future.
"I've always wanted a dream fairytale wedding, without the fairytale," Aria said, her head resting on Ezra's chest.
"And what may a fairytale wedding without the fairytale be Ari?!" Ezra laughed. He loved the things that came out of Aria's mouth, she was unlike anyone he'd ever met.
"Well, it's my idea of a fairytale, not the huge frilly dress and magic castle crap that every girls wants."
"And what do you want?" He kissed her forehead tenderly, his heart swelling at the sight of his beautiful girl. She'd make a beautiful bride Ezra thought, hopefully his.
"I want a dress that's elegant but different, something that will take people's breath away. And I want Chipotle and pizza for the food, who doesn't love food like that!" Aria giggled and reached up with her head until her lips met Ezra's.
"Do you think we'll get married?"
"I'll marry you in a heartbeat baby, as soon as college is done and dusted I will put a ring on your finger if you still want me too!" He smoothed the hair out of her face and gently pressed his lips back on hers.
Aria snapped back to reality, the scene playing out in her head embarrassing her slightly. She managed to convince herself that the only reason that memory popped into her head was that she was trying on dresses right now.
"Aria what is wrong with you?" Spencer began. "It's like your body is here but your head isn't!"
"Are you stressing about the dress when it's finished?" Hanna added. "I know I would be, that's probably what you're stressing about!"
"Er, yeah it is, I just want it to be perfect." Which she did. But at this moment, honestly, she couldn't care less about the dress.
"Well my darling," Sally-Anne continued. "I think you should have a slight plunge in the neck line but keep it classy, just a small amount of cleavage. Does that sound good to you?"
"Yeah, that sounds great, thanks," Aria said, just about registering what was said to her.
"Ok then, that's sorted. Do you want to fit the bridesmaids today too?"
"Actually, can we do that another date? Perhaps later in the week?" Aria did not want to spend another half day here fitting the girls' dresses.
"Oh Ar!" Hanna sulked. "I put on my cream Manolos specially!"
"Hanna you can bring them next time, I promise. I just wanna get back home, I think I'm coming down with something." She lied. She just wanted to spend some time alone with her thoughts.
"Fine," Hanna sulked. "But that means I get first trial of the dresses!"
What do you think of Ezra's introduction? Will it spell trouble for Aria or can she resist? Please review! Thanks! xoxo
