Chapter 14: Something Brilliant

Mark's POV

Roger stared at me, his eyes wide and his jaw slightly dropped. "What?" He asked.

I repeated myself, still whispering. "Roger, I want to marry her."

He set his guitar down and then sat on the coffee table in front of me. "Well, umm, wow. You really love her don't you?"

I nodded, I had never thought I could feel this way about someone. It was something about her, I couldn't place it. All I knew was that I never wanted to let go of her.

"Then I guess, what the hell, just go for it. I'd be surprised if she said no, I mean she was ready to have kids with you." He said, his arm was resting on his knee and his chin in his hand.

I looked back down at her and stroked her hair. "Do you think you would have gotten married?" I asked my voice still quiet knowing how sensitive the subject was for him.

"I doubt it, Mimi was a wild child." He smiled grimly. "Maybe though, if we were older she would've been ready to settle."

The door opened and Collins walked in, he took one look at our faces, his eyes dancing with his most recent high. "What's up bitches?"

I opened my mouth but Roger spoke first with a smirk, "Mark wants to get married."

Collins' eyebrows rose, "Good for you man, a big step though."

I nodded, looking back down at her again. Her face was serene as she slept, always beautiful. "I'm ready for it."

He half shrugged and sat down next to Roger, "So…."

"So...what?"

"So what's the plan? How are you going to ask her?" He asked, rubbing his hands together.

"I don't know! I just decided that I'm going to." I asked, straightening my glasses, my pulse quickening. How should I do this? What if she says no?

"Woah I know that face, you are not changing your mind." Roger said, his stern glance fixed on me, all knowing as usual.

"But-" He cut me off though, "No buts. She's not going to say no. I've known her for a long time and I'm sure she loves you too. The only thing I would say though is maybe wait to ask her until you're sure she's feeling better. After all that's happened lately she might need sometime before something like this."

I nodded, that made sense, I didn't want to overwhelm her, if I do that I higher the chances of her saying no.

Collins turned to Roger excitedly, "Man we are going to have so much fun preparing him for this."

"Hello, I'm still here you know!" I said, grabbing their attention. They both turned to me, but only for a second.

"I'm doing his hair." "I'm fixing his outfit" "He should give her a song" "You're the one who sings, he should give her a poem." "A film!" On and on they argued. I just shook my head, laughing at how excited they seemed.

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I shook my head, "No, you guys, I don't feel like doing this right now. And we just left Rachael alone, we should go back." I tried to turn away from the ring shop they had kidnapped me to, but they grabbed my arms and pulled me inside.

"Come on Marky, just get it all out of the way, done."

I just glared as they took me up to the counter. The lady behind the counter came over, her red hair bright read and very mussed, a frown on her face. She looked pretty overwhelmed, "How may I help you gentlemen?"

Collins pointed at me, "He needs a ring for his girlfriend."

She nodded and looked at me, taking out a little pad of paper and pen, "Anything specific?"

"Nothing extravagant, she likes simple things."

She bit her lip and scribbled on her paper, "Colored diamond?"

I shook my head adamantly at which she smiled. "I know exactly what direction to lead you in."

She walked around the counter a bit and pointed inside the case.

"Its nice when I have customers who know what they want." She said looking disdainfully at the other customers.

There were many different rings inside, but compared to all the other cases, these had sophistication about them. All of them were beautiful, but one seemed to just stare at me, calling out to me.

It had a medium sized silver band, the sides curved smoothly, and the round diamond was small but it was set in such a way that made it seem like something brilliant from the ocean.

She seemed to understand as I continued to stare at it. She took it out of the case and put it in front of us. Roger and Collins leaned in to look at it.

"Man, that's it." Collins whispered.

I nodded, "How much is it?" I asked the helper lady.

She showed me the price tag and I grimaced. "Well thanks anyways." I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

She tilted her head, "Come back anytime. It'll be here waiting." I thought about the ring as we walked out, disappointed. The ring was perfect, I sighed, maybe only rich people were supposed to get married.

When we got outside, Roger punched my shoulder. "Ow"

"What were you thinking? You could have bought that!"

I shook my head, loving that Roger thought he knew my financial situation, "No, not without help from my parents – and I refuse to do that."

"You could have asked us you know." Collins said with his hand on my shoulder.

"I couldn't do that to you guys. I'll just have to get work soon." I said.

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I stepped into the office of Martin Film Agency, holding my camera and film. The man behind the desk smiled and gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. His brown hair seemed artificially stuck to his head, but there was nothing else fake about him. His old face was careworn, his twinkling brown eyes seemed to hold a wisdom in them that I found soothing.

"Welcome Mark, we're glad you decided to come."

"Thank you for seeing me." I said, sitting down.

"No problem, I understand you have some new film for us." He said, smiling as he looked at the film in my hand.

"Yeah, I've been working on these for maybe 7 months now…so here." I handed it to him, standing as I did so.

"If its what we're looking for, then we'll call you and you can come work here at the agency with a segment to segment pay."

"Sounds good. Thanks for the consideration." I said, knowing how big this agency was and the possibilities that came with it.

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Rachael's POV

I opened my eyes to see no Mark. There was now a cold all around me, chilling me down the bone. I had fallen asleep on him so I hadn't had a blanket and without one the winter cold caused goose bumps. Why did he leave? I looked around and there wasn't any note. He normally left a note.

I wiped my eyes and tucked the hair behind my ears. Suddenly I heard footsteps and the door opened. Mark rushed in with his camera in hand and he was panting. When he saw me he winced. The wince made my heart fall. What was going on?

"Where did you go?" I asked, my arms crossed, hugging myself to keep myself warm.

He set his camera down, the awkward silence made the air stagnant. "I-um had to go out." His voice was hurried and nervous.

"Okay" I said, not understanding why he was being so dodgy.

I sat back down on the couch, shivering against the pillows, and looked out the window. The felt the pillow indent as he sat next to me and scooted closer. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" I asked not looking at him.

He put his arms around my waist, "I didn't leave a note, I'm sorry. Roger and Collins, they convinced me to go somewhere and I didn't have time to leave a note. You know how they are sometimes…" He laughed lightly.

I turned to him, "Its ok, I understand."

He kissed my forehead, then my nose, then pressed his lips to mine lightly. I smiled when he pulled away. I could see in his eyes, he really was sorry.

I kissed him back which caught him by surprise, but he responded quickly and kissed me back. I leaned back, resting on the arm of the couch as he slowly moved on top of me. Slowly undressing we moved to our room and made love.

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"I love you."

"I love you too." I replied between kisses and smiled.

Authors Note: More information on the film will be revealed – don't worry, it'll be very important youll see. Happy Turkeys Day and enjoy the weekend!