Thank you for all the lovely reviews, darlings! I can get over the comment about "little wooden devil feet." You are so clever and hilarious! This ship is fun to write so I hope you like where it goes. Enjoy, darlings!
"What the hell are you thinking?" Cruella De Vil asked her reflection in the mirror. She fastened her earring and then pulled on her fur coat. August had not talked of marriage since the day on the park bench, but her instinct told her that tonight he would propose. He had been working late hours but she had not seen one new accessory for his motorcycle. She suspected he saved his money for a ring.
With such knowledge Cruella should have refused to go to dinner with him, let alone deck herself out as if she were attending a fashion show. In spite of herself she felt a flutter of butterflies in her stomach. She came down the staircase he made for her and found him waiting near the front door. He looked up at her and she staggered forward. His handsome face and the suit and tie nearly knocked her off her feet.
The voice in her head again scolded her. Careful, Cruella, you are getting dangerously close to happiness. You know how it will end.
She ignored the voice of reason and reached the bottom of the stairs. August kissed her cheek.
"You look beautiful."
She felt a flush come to her face. Somehow he made her feel the way she did before the bad judgment and gin.
"You're not so bad yourself, darling."
August picked up the keys off the table.
"Are you going to let me drive your pride and joy?"
Cruella swiped the keys from his hand.
"Don't be a fool. No one drives her but me."
They walked to the garage and he opened the car door for her. Cruella turned the ignition and listened to the purr of the engine. August climbed in beside her.
"Where to, darling?"
He sighed and jutted his jaw forward.
"It was meant to be a surprise, but since you can't give up control…"
Cruella took her red gloves from the steering wheel.
"Do I ask to drive your motorcycle?"
She glared at him. He rolled his eyes.
"I got us a reservation at the Skyview Lounge."
Cruella felt her throat close up but she still managed to talk, only at a lower tone than usual.
"That must have cost you a fortune."
"It's your favorite place."
She turned off the engine.
August look at her with curiosity.
"You don't have to do that, darling. You can just ask me to marry you. I'm not big on sentiment, you know."
August averted his eyes. His mouth twisted up and he exhaled.
"Unbelievable," he muttered and then got out of the car.
She watched him round the side and lean against the hood. His eyes stared at the high wall of shrubbery that lined the driveway.
Cruella thought he was acting like a twelve-year-old. She unlatched her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. She shed her fur, as the weather was too warm to wear the coat for anything more than a status symbol. Since it appeared they were no longer going to the upscale restaurant Cruella felt she could be without it for a few minutes.
She stood next to him and reached out to touch his shoulder.
"I don't understand what this tantrum is about."
He pulled away from her.
"You wouldn't."
Cruella copied his posture. She leaned against the hood of her classic vehicle. Silence erupted between them for so long Cruella thought she might explode.
"I know you are just trying to do the conventional thing, but you know I loathe the conventional. Besides, I don't want you to waste your money on an evening out."
The more she talked, the more tension appeared in August's shoulders. His arms were folded tightly.
"I suspect you already spent too much on a ring. I can afford it, darling, you can't."
August's arms unfolded and he took a few steps forward. He turned with one hand on his hip. The anger on his face made Cruella swallow.
"Shut up, Dot, please. Why do you always belittle anything important I try to do?"
Cruella folded her arms.
"Why must you always brood over every little thing?"
He snapped his head up.
"I'm not brooding… I'm…" He looked back toward the driveway. "I hate mooching off you. I want to support our family. I don't want you to have to be responsible for everything. It makes me feel like you pull all the strings."
Cruella touched her gloved fingers to her neck. She lifted her chin and glanced at him down her nose.
"Darling, can I help it if you have no marketable skills?"
August took a few steps toward the driveway. He ran his hand over his scruff covered chin.
"Wow!" He chuckled bitterly. "Sometimes, I wonder why you are even with me?"
Cruella smiled.
"Only sometimes?"
He lifted his hands.
"Aren't you ever serious?"
Cruella crossed the driveway and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Where's the fun in that?" She asked huskily in his ear.
August pulled her hands away from his body and put more distance between them by walking back toward the car.
"You know what I had in mind tonight, but I don't think I can go through with it. I know you will never want me as much as a car," he put his hand on the hood, "or a coat or a piece of jewelry. I bring nothing you want to this relationship."
He met her eyes with a piercing stare. Cruella studied him like a child might study a wild animal in a cage. She understood what he was, but to see it so plainly on display before her captivated her. She felt a breeze around her shoulders and wished she had her coat with her.
She sauntered to the car and stood across the hood from him.
"You're right. I will never want you like I want a car, or a coat or a piece of jewelry."
She watched his jaw clench and his eyes fill with disappointment. Cruella inhaled and felt her body tremble.
"But, the truth, darling, is that I need you. You don't need me, but I need you."
August pinned his eyes to her but she avoided his gaze. She had a hard enough time admitting the truth without staring into his lie detectors. He started to speak but she held up her hand to stop him.
"You are a strong person. We both know you could leave me at any moment and be no worse off, but I will never leave you."
August stood motionless. She took advantage of his silence by continuing.
"Usually people with a moral compass annoy me, but yours is slightly off kilter enough to be tolerable. In fact, it makes me want to be a better person, and believe me, darling, that's a thought that has never crossed my mind."
She finally turned her full attention to him. He used the sleeve of his coat to shine a part of the hood. Rather than ignoring her, she knew he was deep in thought. She spent enough time with him to know his mannerisms.
"As for not bringing anything to the relationship…"
He looked back up to her. She rounded the hood and put one hand on her hip. The other she lifted into the air.
"When we do have children, and by children I mean two is my absolute limit," she cut her hand through the air and gave him a look. "You will have to be both mother and father."
She saw a grin pull at August's mouth but he quickly smoothed it away.
"I don't change diapers, I don't sing lullabies and I certainly don't cook breakfast before school."
She straightened her back.
"I do, however, expect our children to be well-fed and trim. The best groomed, cleverest and most popular of all the brats at private school. You may also teach them to always let their conscience be a guide and other ridiculous things like that if you want."
Cruella rested her elbows on the hood of the car and leaned toward him.
"I'll provide the material wealth, darling, but you will be responsible for something far more important. Or at least, that's what they tell me."
She slid off the hood and tossed the keys to August. He caught them in mid-air. His eyes widened.
"If you can live with that arrangement then drive me to the Skyview Lounge."
Cruella left him standing on the other side of the car. She retrieved her coat from the driver side and rounded the back of the vehicle. She pulled on her coat. August reached for the passenger side door. She waited for him to open it, more than a little relieved he still wanted to go with her. She tried to calm her pounding heart.
August fell to one knee and her heart continued to thump loudly. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black box.
"Darling, you're kneeling in a puddle."
"I don't care." He did not break eye contact. "Dorothy Madden, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
She took off her red glove and swiped the box from his fingers. The diamond inside was not the largest or most impressive, but it would make a nice addition to her collection. She took it out to try it on for size, but August slapped her fingers away. They wrestled over the ring for a few seconds before he won the struggle.
"Let me." He glared at her and she smirked back. He slipped the ring on her finger and they admired it together.
"It will do." She said, rather unimpressed. "The commitment is worth more than the symbol anyway."
"Is that a yes?" August asked.
Cruella put one gloved hand and one ungloved hand on each side of his face. She kissed him with all the pent up passion she had stored at the thought of never getting a happy ending. Perhaps, being banished to this land without magic meant she could finally have the life she never knew she was missing.
When they parted August's heavy breathing echoed her own.
"That, darling, is a hell yes."
August smiled and opened the door for her.
"Mrs. Booth." He said with a bow.
She returned his grin with a sly one of her own as she slipped into the passenger seat. She liked the sound of Mrs. Booth.