Yeah yeah, I'm late. I broke my promise and I'm sorry! I won't make any promises anymore because life is hard and well . . . it's winning. So bare with me and just understand that you will have an update at some point. Also, I don't know if any of this makes sense. Enjoy x xD
"You might want to repeat that, I thought you said that he is married?"
"Yes and no. Only because he's my husband"
Stephanie sat on her bed waiting for Marissa's reaction. This wasn't how Stephanie imagined tell Marissa but because Marissa was so observant she figured it out. A couple of minutes later, Stephanie was getting a little anxious, Marissa hasn't said a word since Stephanie told her the truth.
"Rissa, can you please say something? You're making me nervous" Stephanie said. Marissa looked at Stephanie shocked and confused
"What? How? When?" Marissa stuttered out trying to make sense of what was going on
"Well . . ." Stephanie went to start explaining but Marissa cut her off
"I don't get it?! I'm confused, I thought you were still getting over Alex after the breakup"
"I was but . . ."
"Why? Steph, how did this happen?" Marissa asked as she stood up and started pacing around the room
"If you stop interrupting me, I can explain it all. When we went to Vegas for my birthday, I got a little too drunk and Paul was out for a bachelor party and we met and . . . well . . . we got married"
"Why are you still married though? You don't know him, this is such a big risk for you"
"It is for him as well. He has a lot to lose if we had a divorce, he's a great guy and I wouldn't have know that if we didn't give this marriage a chance"
"You got married Steph! You're 21 years old, can he provide for you two? If you want a family will he be there? You don't know him well enough to making a choice this big"
"Rissa, you are overreacting a little bit" Marissa went to say something but Stephanie put her hand up, "Let me put your mind at ease. Paul's a CEO, he is more than capable to provide for us. I'm 21 and I'm not looking to start a family yet, I'm just happy being with Paul, yes he lives in New York which is can be an inconvenience sometimes but he visits me whenever he thinks he can or I take his jet to New York if I don't have classes"
"I'm sorry, Steph. The whole Alex thing is making me a little overprotective and you just told me you married a stranger. You're right, Paul is a great guy and the way he is with the boys just shows that. I just want to know if you are sure this is what you want?"
"It wasn't at first because of Alex but now, I really don't want to let Paul go. He's becoming a huge part of my life and I lo . . ." Stephanie stopped talking realising what she was about to say
"You love him?"
"I don't know. I've been going through all the emotions, and I just can't open myself up"
"Is this about Alex?" Stephanie looked away and Marissa got her answer, "This needs to stop, Steph. He ruined your life and he was controlling you for a year. You can't let Alex continue to run your life when you aren't with him, you've moved on and yet I'm seeing you stop yourself from being with someone else"
"It's not that easy Rissa. I was with Alex for two years and I can't lose the feelings I had for him within a couple of months. Yes Paul's amazing but part of me is still in love with Alex, we broke up for a number of reasons one being that we didn't love each other like before but deep down I still do"
Marissa took a deep breath, she couldn't fight Stephanie on this and she had no idea what was going through Stephanie's mind, "But answer my one question. Do you love Paul?"
"Yes but I'm scared. I can't get hurt like I did with Alex, if it wasn't for Paul I would be broken and I don't want to go through that"
"Have you told Paul any of this?" Marissa asked, Stephanie shook her head quickly, "I think you need to let him know about your fears. As I said earlier, the guy out there is in love with you and he will get rid of those fears"
"I can't tell him. Paul hates Alex already and they had a fight and giving Paul more reason to punch him is the last thing I want"
"Then you need to find a way to stop Alex from running you life. Let yourself open up to Paul, there's no reason you can't continue being happy"
"Thank you, Rissa" Stephanie said hugging her sister-in-law, "Can you please not tell Shane about this? I want to tell him and my parents with Paul"
"Don't worry, I'll be on your side when you tell them as well" Stephanie smiled and they started to make their way back out to the living room.
"There you guys are. Where did you disappear to?" Shane asked seeing his wife and sister
"My room, we wanted to have a proper talk without you joining in all the time"
"Have a more interesting life and I wouldn't be interrupting" Stephanie stuck her middle finger up at Shane
"Okay then, let's end this before fight club starts up" Marissa said. "How about we order food? I'm getting hungry"
"I like that idea" Shane said, "It's on me, what does everyone want?"
For the next couple of minutes there was a lot of arguing, disagreeing and fighting over where they were going to order and what they were actually ordering. By the end they decided on Chinese from Stephanie's favorite restaurant.
"Bye guys, get home safe" Stephanie said hugging Shane and then hugged Marissa
"Talk to Paul later" Marissa whispered still hugging Stephanie
"I'll think about it, it'll have to be at the right time" Marissa gave Stephanie a knowing look, "Okay, I'll actually talk to him"
"Thank you. Call me tomorrow and you can tell me what happened" Stephanie just nodded.
"It was nice to meet you Paul, take care of Kels I know she can be a handful sometimes"
"I can hear you Shane, I'm standing right here" Kelsey said hitting Shane in the shoulder
"He's not lying" Paul joked, Kelsey hit Paul in the chest and laughed before hugging Shane
"It was good seeing you again"
"You too, and can you keep an eye on Steph. After this break up with Alex, I'm a little worried"
"I'm definitely going to. She'll doing well though, there's no reason for you to worry"
As Stephanie was watching Paul and Shane talk she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and saw that it was Alex, she opened the text and read it.
Hey babe. Don't know if you heard, your boy toy got a little violent with me last night and all I was trying to do was help you. It seems he has a bit of an anger problem. Just want you to know that you can continue having your fun but we will be together again! A xx
Stephanie locked her phone and put it in her pocket. She couldn't believe this, Alex was delusional he couldn't believe that they were getting back together. Plus he broke up with her why was he so determined to get her back.
It was coming up to 3 in the morning and Stephanie was still awake. Why? Well she couldn't sleep. After talking with Marissa and admitting her feelings for Paul, Stephanie has never been more confused. Should she tell Paul what's going on? She couldn't tell Paul that she still loves Alex, she couldn't do that to him, but then again she's in love with Paul.
"You need to sleep" Paul whispered as he rolled over to face Stephanie
"How did you know I was awake?"
"I can hear you thinking" Paul pulled Stephanie closer to him and wrapped his arm around her waist, "What are you thinking about?"
"Rissa knows about us and that we are married, she got me thinking and now I'm a little scared" Stephanie said, she sat up and turned on her bedside lamp
"Scared of what?"
"I'm falling in love with you Paul and it's scaring me how fast we are moving" Stephanie said taking hold of Paul's hand and started playing with his fingers, "But I still have feels for Alex and it kills me inside knowing that I still love the person that broke me, especially now that I'm with you"
Paul sat there quietly for a few seconds trying to process what Stephanie was telling him. It was difficult to be angry at the fact that Stephanie was still in love with Alex because they never knew each other when Alex and Stephanie were together, "It's okay Steph. Sure, you still loving that bastard is a little hard but you're not with him. We can deal with everything one day at a time, I'm not going anywhere"
Paul brought Stephanie's hand up to his lips and softly kissed it. Stephanie looked into his eyes and knew he was telling her the truth. There was no need for her to worry, the only thing she needed to worry about was Alex and after that text she got from him, he wasn't about to leave her alone.
"I love you, Steph. Nothing is going to change that and nothing is going to stop me from being with you" Stephanie nodded, and turned the light off and rested her head on Paul's chest. Paul wrapped his arm around her and slowly started to stroke her back, he knew it worked to get her to go to sleep. Minutes later, Stephanie's breathing leveled out and Paul knew that she was sleeping so decided to go sleep as well.
The next day, Stephanie woke up hearing Paul argue with someone on the phone. She opened her eyes and saw Paul standing by the window, she could tell by the way he was standing that he was pissed off.
"Can't I push it back?" Paul asked, Stephanie could hear that he was stressed about something, "No, I get it. . . yes, I'll be there. Get Lily to do it because I'm done talking to you"
Paul hung up his phone and threw it on bed. He looked at Stephanie sitting on the bed and smiled, "Did I wake you?"
"Yes, but it's okay. Are you okay?"
"I will be, I have an interview with Forbes tomorrow and I want to move it to next week but I hired a group of idiots that want it done this week" Paul said picking up his shirt from the chair and put it on.
"Why do you want to do it next week?"
"I don't want to leave you, I'm really happy being with you and we had such a good week I just don't want to leave again especially after Friday night" Stephanie sat at the edge of the bed and started to think. With Alex trying to get back in her life maybe Paul leaving wasn't the best idea but she couldn't tell him that.
"Maybe I can come to New York with you this week?" Stephanie suggested
"Really? I don't want you missing a week of lectures"
"I see no problem with it. Missing one week won't hurt my grades and it's friends and family weekend this week so Kelsey is going home on Wednesday. I don't see a point being here if I won't be doing anything"
"I would love for you to come New York with me" Paul said
"Great, I'm going to tell Kelsey then" Stephanie said standing up and as she walked past Paul gave him a peck on the lips before heading into Kelsey's room
When Paul left he picked up his phone and called his sister, "Paul! What do you want?"
"Hi Lynn, nice to speak to you too. I'm doing well thanks, how's the kids?"
"Yeah all that. They are fine, missing their Uncle, when are you coming back? There's only so much time I can spend with our parents"
"I know, I miss the kids too. I'm back tonight, plus I'm being Steph"
"Well fuck! Why would you do that?" Lynn asked taking Paul off guard. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting
"What? I thought you liked her?"
"I do but you're still hiding her from mom and dad so I'm going to have to spend another week with them. That's my worst fear right now"
"Well I'm not this week" Paul turned around to make sure that Stephanie wasn't about to walk in and closed the door, "I'm going to ask her when we get back if she's ready to meet them. We could have a family dinner at my penthouse"
"Yes! I will be there, you and Dad haven't locked horns in a while. I want a front row seat to this!"
"Lynn! Focus! I need you to play the buffer! I don't need Steph knowing the relationship we have just yet . . . there's time for that in the future"
"Run out this contract of yours and then tell her. It will be too late and she'll be stuck with you and our dysfunctional family"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence in our family Lynn! I'll text you when we land"
"Yeah yeah whatever. Get back safely baby brother"
"We will, speak later" Paul said hanging up the phone.
In Kelsey's room
Stephanie knocked on the door before walking in and sat down on the bed. Kelsey was still half asleep so she rolled over and looked up at Stephanie.
"Steph, it's early. Why are you in here?"
"I'm going to New York with Paul tonight"
"Okay, I figured you would. When are you going?"
"Late afternoon I think" Stephanie said. Silence set over them and Stephanie started thinking about the text message and needed to tell Kelsey, "I need to show you something but you can't react"
"Not promising anything" Kelsey said knowing she was most definitely going to react. Stephanie handed Kelsey her phone with Alex's message open. Kelsey read through it and took a deep breath before looking up at Stephanie, "I'm going to kill him"
"Please don't"
"Why is he doing this to you? He broke up with you and saw what that did but now that you are with someone. No, that's not right. He needs to accept that you aren't going back to him like last time because he said some of the right words"
"I can't tell Paul can I?"
"You should but you can't. He will kill Alex, if you saw how angry Paul was at the party you definitely wouldn't tell him"
"What should I do then?"
"Ignore him. Go to New York, be with Paul and ignore any messages that come from Alex. He isn't worth ruining your relationship with Paul"
"I know. It's just that I know he won't drop this"
"Then we will deal with it then. If it gets too serious you tell Paul and he will finish it" Stephanie nodded and was a little skeptical about this plan but she didn't know what else to do.
A couple hours later, the plane landed and they arrived in New York. For the whole flight Paul was on his laptop doing work, Stephanie knew this was going to happen since he was going back to his head offices. They got off the plane and got into the awaiting car and started their way back to Paul's place.
"I need to go to work quickly. Do you want to come with or go straight to the penthouse?" Paul asked
"I'll come with you. I don't mind" Paul nodded and told the driver to go to his building. Since it was a Sunday, no one was in only a couple of weekend employees and the security guards
"I just need to grab a file and then we can head off" Paul said opening his office door and let Stephanie walk through. He walked over to his desk and turned on his computer, "Hey, I was talking to Lynn earlier and . . . well I was wondering if you wanted to meet my parents this week?"
Stephanie turned around and looked at Paul in shock, she wasn't expecting that from him. She didn't know what to say about it, she knew that it was going to happen at some point in the near future but this wasn't the near future that she thinking of. Stephanie knew that when she met Paul's parents, she was closer for her parents and Shane meeting Paul and finding out the truth.
"Yes, okay. I can do that" Stephanie said after taking a deep breath. Paul nodded and smiled, "When is this going to happen?"
"Thursday" Paul said, as he started typing. He looked up at Stephanie and saw how nervous she was, "Steph, sit down. This isn't going to be bad, Lynn is going to be there as well and my parents will love you"
"But what if they don't?"
"Then nothing, they will deal with it. I love you and there's nothing going to stop me from being with you"
"See, you're saying all the right things but I just can't help but overthink now"
"What are you thinking? You didn't think any of this with Lynn?"
"It's you parents. Plus, this means that we are getting closer to meeting my family. Sure, you met Shane but as Kelsey's boyfriend which isn't what we want"
"I know" Paul stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of Stephanie, "We can sort it out with later on but for now just focus on my parents"
Stephanie nodded and hugged Paul before letting go of him so that he could go back to work. She sat down on the couch and waited patiently. About an hour later, they arrived back at Paul's penthouse. They decided to have a quiet night in and just watch movies, Stephanie saw this as a chance to forget the whole meeting Paul's parents that was going to come round very quickly.
It was Thursday! Stephanie was stress shopping, she was trying to buy the right dress that would be appropriate for a family dinner with Paul's parents. As she walked into another shop her phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID and smiled seeing that it was Paul calling her.
"Hey, baby" Stephanie said as she walked into her next shop.
"Hi, I was just calling to check up on you"
"To be completely honest, I'm stressing. What should I wear?" Stephanie asked as she started looking around the shop
"Just be yourself. My parents don't want to see someone in expensive clothing or anything, they are simple people from Boston"
"You say this but I don't believe you. They are going to judge me, I'm a college student dating a CEO that is just screaming gold digger" As she said that two of the shop workers looked over at her and then turned away and started laughing. Stupid bitches, Stephanie thought and went back to her conversation.
"I know you Steph and you aren't, stop overthinking this and believe me when I say that everything is going to be fine" Stephanie took a deep breath and sighed
"Fine, I believe you. I'll see you when you get home"
"Yeah, please don't overthink anything. Just be yourself babe, oh yeah, the chef is going to be at the house around 4 plus be at the apartment then so you can let him in"
"Okay, bye"
A couple hours later, Paul was just getting in from work and walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He said hi to the chef and then went up to his room, he smiled seeing Stephanie in a black mid-thigh dress doing her makeup.
"Hey, see you found a dress" Paul said as he walked over to her and kissed her cheek
"Took me all day to find it. Do you like it?"
"Love it" Paul said taking his suit jacket off followed by his shirt, "I spoke to Lynn and my Mom and they will be here in about 30 minutes. How you feeling?"
"Better, I'm calm and I trust you and I know this is going to be completely fine" Paul nodded as he walked over to his closet and got a black button down shirt and put it on.
"Good, I know this is going to be hard but I promise you that I love you and you are my wife no matter what anyone says or thinks"
30 minutes later, Stephanie and Paul were sitting in the den watching tv when the doorbell rang, there was no turning back now. As Paul stood up and open the door, Stephanie could feel her heart rate increase. Paul opened the door and smiled widely seeing his sister standing on the other side.
"Hey Lynn"
"Baby brother. Am I the first one?"
"Yeah" Paul nodded, "can you talk with Steph? She's a little nervous about this whole thing"
"Of course" Lynn said and walked into the den and started talking to Stephanie. Paul closed the door and started to walk back into the den but there was a knock at the door. Paul turned around and opened the door and saw his parents standing there.
"Hi Ma" Paul said kissing his Mom's cheek, "Hi Dad"
"Paul, it's nice to see you are taking care of yourself" Pat said pulling her son into a hug
"I have no reason not to be." Paul smiled, he lead them both further into the apartment and took them to the den where Lynn and Stephanie were sitting, "Mom, Dad, this is my . . ." Paul stopped himself from talking not sure if he should say it, "Stephanie. Steph, this is my Mom, Pat and my Dad, Paul Sr."
"Hi, it's great to meet you" Stephanie said holding out her hand shaking both their hands.
"Hi, sweetie. How did you two meet?" Pat asked pulling Stephanie down to sit next to her on the couch
"Mom! Cool it with the questions. Let's sit for dinner first" Lynn said seeing the panic in Stephanie's face. Paul looked at Lynn and mouthed 'thank you', Lynn nodded and got everyone to sit at the table. As everyone sat down, they started on dinner. Paul, Stephanie and Lynn were deflecting any questions about Paul and Stephanie's relationship. It was dessert and Paul knew that it was time to finally tell his parents why they were here.
"There is a reason that I wanted to have this family dinner" Paul started, he saw his parents look up at him, now or never, "Steph and I met during Shawn's bachelor party and we were both drunk and well, we got married"
Paul Sr. choked on his drink and started to cough, Pat looked at her son confused, unsure what he just said. Lynn was smiling pleased that she already knew everything.
"Paul, are you being serious?" Senior asked
"Yes I am" Paul said. Senior looked at his son with no expression, they were having a silent conversation and seconds later they both stood up and walked outside. Stephanie looked on as Paul and his Dad was arguing on the balcony.
"You don't need to worry Steph. He's fine" Lynn said seeing the worried look on her face
"I know, it's just that I know he's been nervous for days even though he didn't show it" Pat looked between Stephanie and Lynn and saw that they were quite close.
"How long have you known Lynn?" Pat asked looking at her daughter. Lynn looked away quickly not, "Lynn Levesque-Ouelette answer me"
"Probably about 3 weeks. It wasn't my business to tell and Paul said he was going to tell you guys . . . which he did"
"Do your parents know?" Pat asked looking at Stephanie
"No only my sister-in-law" Stephanie said softly looking back at Paul and Senior.
"What are your parents going to think about it?"
"They're not going to take it well, but I'm happy and that's what they care about" Stephanie stopped talking as the doors opened and Senior walked through, Lynn looked over at her and signalled for her to talk to Paul.
Lynn and Pat were sitting in the den looking over at Paul and Stephanie as they were having a conversation. Everything has calm down since Paul and Senior had their little spat, so now Stephanie was just checking on Paul.
"What do you think about her Lynn?"
"Honestly, I think she's perfect. I've never seen him this happy, she is literally the other half to him" Lynn said as they watched Stephanie talking to Paul who was clearly pissed off. Lynn looked over at her Mother who was biting her lip, "What do you think about her?"
"I'm not so sure" Pat said, "The last time I saw him this crazy for someone was with . . ."
"Don't bring that up Mom. Just focus on now, don't look just at him but look at both of them" Lynn said pointing over to them, "Paul is a grown man, he does make bad decisions at times but he takes responsibility for them and fixes them. When he told me, he didn't think of this as a mistake, he saw it as an opportunity to be with an amazing girl who doesn't see his money or his position in a company but is with him because of the way he was raised and turned out. I couldn't pick anyone better for him and you can agree that's why you are unsure. Sure the way they got married is unconventional but for Paul love is love. Stephanie's it for him"