Chapter 5
"He said WHAT?!"
Ami looked down in her lap as embarrassment flushed on her pale skin. "That's not all he told me."
"No way," gasped Usagi.
"You're kidding me," dead panned Rei.
"There's more?" asked Makoto pulling her eyes away from her laptop computer looking for online recipes.
"What did he say?" questioned Minako with wide eyes.
Ami's face became a bright crimson. "He told me that he loved me."
Squeals and scream alike shot the apartment building they were in. A random old lady from downstairs began hitting the ceiling with the stick of the broom yelling for quiet.
The women immediately burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh, this is classic! Only once have I seen this in my life!" Minako nodded, " It was one of my distant cousins. He fell in love with this girl at first sight and they married three months later. They have two kids with one on the way. Happily married. They are very much the definition of love birds."
"But why me?" groaned Ami.
"It seems love strikes anyone anywhere," shrugged Minako, "and in your case a handsome, rich photographer who has decided that you will be his wife."
"Don't say that! I don't love this guy... I...I don't even know who he is! For all I know, he may be a creepy stalker!"
" Zachariah Pemmington, also known as Zoisite in the modeling and nature industry for photography," read Makoto from her computer screen. " Birthday, May 1, been in photography for ten years, it shows his schooling, his family who live out of the county, and he's single!"
"Let me see that!"
Ami quickly skimmed the information with her eyes widening every few seconds. She looked at the lightning senshi. "And you found this all on the internet?"
" Yep. See? There's his picture."
"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle..." she muttered.
"Looks like you can get all your information from online. Problem solved."
"He seems decent enough... at least I know he's not a crazy person..." sighed Ami, " but that name Zoisite sounds really, really familiar. Can't place my finger on it."
"I know what you mean," nodded Rei. "Why is that so familiar?"
Zachariah quickly downed his wine before sighing. He told her that he wanted to marry her and that he loved her. And what did she do?
She thanked him for the compliment and began making her way to the door! He asked if she could speak with him in the office for a moment. She quickly declined slipping away to her group of friends.
He groaned. He should have not been so direct with her. Only one time did they actually sit and talk to get to know each other and it went well. He should have asked her out setting a date rather than being foolish the way he had been.
His phone rang.
Not now... he silently thought ready to reach for another glass of wine.
He glanced down at the screen seeing a number he did not recognize. He ignored it and poured another glass to take the edge off his embarrassment. The ringing stopped.
He switched on the tv and began flipping channels taking another sip.
His phone dinged indicating a voice mail. He sighed flipping the phone open, clicked on the missed message and turned on the speaker. He gulped the drink this time.
"Good Afternoon Mr. Pemmington, this is Ami who was just with the group you took the photo shoot with-"
Zachariah began to choke as he set down the glass pounding a fist on his chest.
" I wanted to thank you for allowing us to make an appointment so quickly. We look forward to seeing the finished project soon. This is my personal number so you are welcome to call me at any time. Thanks again."
He looked at the number he just missed. This was HER phone number! The biggest grin crossed his lips as he immediately saved it on his phone and wrote it on a piece of paper for safe measure.
Ami looked at the phone with her friends patting her back. She was really nervous. "He didn't answer."
"He might be busy," spoke Makoto, "being that famous with very well known work."
"I think I'm going to be sick..." moaned Ami holding her phone to her belly.
Usagi hugged her long time friend. "Oh Ami... it's okay. You'll be okay."
The phone began to vibrate then ring loudly. Ami froze when she saw the number. It was he!
"Answer it! Speaker phone it so we can help you on what to say!" encouraged Minako.
Ami felt the butterflies fill her belly as she hit the button for the speaker. "Hello? This is Ami."
"Ami, good to hear from you." All the women in the room either covered their mouth with their hands or with a pillow. "It's Zachariah."
"I-I see you got my message."
"Yes, and I do apologize for not picking it up the first time you reached out."
"It's not a problem," she replied rather shyly seeing her friends either getting a dry erase board or a piece of paper to write her messages of what to ask our say to him.
She saw Makoto's notes and spoke it, " When will the pictures be ready?"
"By the end of next week-" Rei held up another question that was rather safe for her to ask and Ami nodded her head as the man finished his statement, "-all edits should be complete."
"Would we receive these proofs electronically or will we need to come in person?" Ami was so glad her friends were helping her think. This conversation was definitely going to be smoother than she thought.
"It's usually better to come and see the proofs in person, especially if you would like something else changed or done to the pictures."
Ami began to speak Minako's message she just finished writing, "So after we see the proofs, would you like to meet somewhere-?" She cut off the words she said not wanting to add 'and get to know each other better' part.
She gave a dirty glare at Minako's smirk.
Usagi's comment of 'I'll marry you!' made Ami's face burn even more.
"What about tomorrow evening?" he asked.
All the women furiously began writing and showed 'YES' in big letters with underlines, stars, just kissy faces, squiggles, etc.
"I have plans tomorrow evening already," Ami replied with her friends jaw dropping to the floor. She looked away from them. "What about this coming Thursday?"
"That will work for me. Let's meet for dinner."
Huge smiles and silent rejoicing was displayed from all women.
"I will put that on my calendar," confirmed Ami her blush evident. "I've got to go and take care of a few things. Have a good evening Mr. Pemmington-"
"Call me Zach."
"Goodbye Zach."
"Goodnight Ami."
The phone clicked off.
All the girls squealed and screamed again congratulating Ami. The angry neighbor made her noises with the broom stick again.
Zachariah leaned back in his chair sighing in relief. A HUGE smile crossed his lips. It seemed Ami wasn't completely turned off by his antics. "Thank you," he whispered. Just a few more days till he would get to visit his future bride.
He did have a previously scheduled engagement with an old business partner, but figured this man would understand the change in schedule. Now to reschedule that meeting he had with the business tycoon Jay Jefferson also known as Jadeite. This man had constantly encouraged Zachariah to begin dating women instead of focusing solely on work. "Wouldn't he be surprised," smirked Zachariah. Yes, things were looking up.