Trading Heartbeats
Chapter 9 - Promised
There she lay in a dark almost abysmal room. Her green eyes widened with panic as she searched around for some sort of light. She had been incapable of moving at all as she tried to grab onto whatever she had been laying on. It had almost been as though someone was on top of her. Suddenly, a pair of lips had crashed onto hers. As much as she had wanted to pull away in order to at least obtain a clue as to what was happening, every nerve in her body had told her to proceed with the passionate kiss. The kiss broke in an instant, and dim light had now seemed to shimmer in.
All she had seen, however, were a pair of hazel brown eyes staring back into hers.
It was 5:30pm as Justin pulled up to the hotel at which his date had been staying at. Tonight, Justin decided, since he wouldn't be on Smackdown, would be the perfect opportunity to just have a night together with her. Stepping out of his car wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and dark red v-neck accompanied by full black converse, he picked up the gift he'd especially chosen for her. As he made his way up on the elevator, he nervously rocked back and forth on his heels. Although he'd only just met this girl, he'd felt as if he knew her for a lifetime. This one's a keeper, he'd tell himself, you absolutely cannot mess this up.
As the elevator dinged arriving at the proper floor, Justin stepped off and proceeded down the hallway. Pausing before he knocked, he placed one hand (the one with the gift) behind his back as he used the other to knock. "Coming," a voice from inside called back. Justin's heart had leapt for a second at the sound of her voice. A few seconds after the voice had called out, the door had opened. Justin was in awe, for standing before him was his girlfriend dressed in a deep fuchsia strapless dress with a black bow tied around the waist with black heeled shoes.
"Beautiful," Justin had commented breathlessly. Brittany's cheeks flushed a vague shade of pink as she, in turn, marvelled at Justin's attire. He'd looked quite dashing himself, she thought. Snapping out of his daze, Justin promptly presented her with her gift - a beautiful red rose. "For you," he told her with a smile. Brittany grinned from ear to ear as she accepted it. After sniffing it, inhaling it's sweet fragrance, she'd flung her arms around him in gratitude for the marvellous gift. Justin hugged her back sweetly, and after a short while, the two had departed.
Once they'd seated themselves in Justin's car, they were off. "Where are we going again," Brittany asked as Justin reached over and took hold of her hand. She glanced over at Justin who now bore a slight smirk.
"You'll see in a moment, darling," Justin mysteriously lead on. Brittany rolled her eyes from him to the window and let out a slight 'humph'. Caressing the rose in her arms, she stared out the window at the many buildings they'd been passing. She'd never seen this part of Atlanta before, then again, she'd never been here before. The two covered several miles and several minutes passed before the car had slowly come to a stop right outside a mansion booming with music and laughter from inside. Stepping out of the car and leaving the rose behind, Brittany stood in awe at the beautifully kept mansion. Pulling herself back into reality, Justin had held her hand and walked her to the front door. He knocked once on the large and well-varnished mahogany doors.
"Just, where are we," she asked as she continued to look around at the mansion. Justin smiled.
"One of my, um, cousin's had a birthday not too long ago, and this is his party," he told her before knocking once more. Brittany nodded once clutching onto the purse she'd carried with her along the way. In about a minute's time, the door flew open only to reveal a rather short, rounded and balding man staggering to keep his balance. His eyes looked glossy and the red cup in his hand looked as if it were slipping out of his grasp. Shaking his head possibly trying to erase all essence of whatever was in his cup which seemed to be prominently working through his system, he smiled a wide smile.
"Justin," he greeted friendlily as he stuck out his hand to shake Justin's. Justin gave a nervous chuckle and shook the hand offered.
"Hey, Phil," Justin greeted in return as he released his hand. Phil merely stepped aside allowing both Justin and Brittany into the mansion.
"So, who's this lady here, cousin," Phil asked before taking another gulp of whatever was in his cup. Justin smiled and placed a hand on Brittany's back.
"This is my girlfriend, Brittany. Brittany, this is my cousin, Phil," he introduced. Brittany gave a polite smile and shook Phil's hand just as Justin had. Dismissing himself, Phil had staggered back towards some ladies over by the buffet table. Brittany chuckled quietly to herself as she watched Phil. Justin moved the hand up and down her back soothingly before whispering in her ear, "Would you like to drink or eat something?" Brittany glanced back over at Phil who had been sweet-talking a lady over at the buffet table.
"Maybe later," she answered as she looked back at Justin. Justin chuckled once realizing the reason for her answer. As the two strolled into the den of the mansion, they'd noticed it had in fact been the dancing room of the party.
"Would you care to dance with me," Justin asked politely. Brittany blushed and nodded. Justin, taking her hand, led her out onto the dance floor. The two swayed to the rhythm of the music dancing very close face-to-face. Occasionally, Justin spun her inducing both of them to chuckle and blush. After a few minutes of dancing, tiredness had seemed to settle into the two. "Food sounds really good right about now," Justin told her as the music boomed with couples continuing to dance on and around each other. Brittany giggled and nodded. As they'd both made their way over to the buffet table, a thought had hit Brittany. She hadn't told Amelia that she wouldn't be coming.
She quickly rummaged through her purse and finally scooped up her phone. Justin looked at her before asking, "What's wrong?" Brittany shook her head while dialling Amelia's number. Justin smiled to himself while he loaded a plastic plate with food for two. "Amelia," Justin heard Brittany call out trying to overcome the booming music. He had heard her tell Amelia that she wouldn't make it to Smackdown; however, he was unable to hear the bit that she managed to mutter afterwards. After hanging up, Brittany turned to Justin and smiled. "Would you like to go for a walk," he asked her while offering her a cup of punch. Brittany accepted it and smiled before nodding.
They'd walked over to another room; it was painted a beautiful dark green and had three perfectly sculpted French doors lining off the left of the wall. Justin, holding Brittany's free hand, opened one of them and escorted her out into a garden-like backyard. Its pathway was lined with cobblestones and its hedges were nicely cut. Walking along the little trail, they'd both come to stop at a bench. Seating themselves down and placing both the food and beverage on the side, Justin had extended an arm around her. Brittany smiled as she drew closer to him.
Brittany watched as Justin looked up at the night sky which had seemed to be lacking stars. Only two or three had shone in its black blanket-like background. After taking this all in, he'd looked back at Brittany pulling her closer to him. Locking eyes as they usually do, Brittany noticed Justin's lips part as if he were about to say something, but they joined together once more.
"Yes," she asked in a whisper. Justin smirked and shook his head.
"I just," he began talking in a hushed tone, "I wanted to tell you that you mean the world to me, and that," he paused. She glanced down at his lips noticing that his bottom lip had slipped under his teeth.
"Yes," she asked once more in a whisper. His lower lip had once again disappeared under his teeth only to be released a second later. She watched as his lips neared hers slowly.
"I love you," he whispered a second before their lips had crashed onto one another's. His hands had placed themselves on her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. With their lips moving slowly yet passionately against one another's, they each felt a chill run through them, but this chill wasn't ordinary. It was electric like a spark. Once the kiss had slowly come to a stop, their eyes lazily opened only to stare into each other's. With a smirk on each their faces, they continued to hold each other.
"I love you too," Brittany whispered. And so, the couple sat on a stone bench in the middle of a magnificent garden, beneath a starless, but blanketing night sky, holding each other in their arms - holding each other … in their love.
"On this day, I see clearly; everything has come to light," rang out the lyrics to her ring tone. Sonelle jumped up out of her nap and into consciousness … well, sort of … as she seized her phone from her bedside table. Picking it up, she checked the time on the nearby clock. It read 8:21pm. So much for napping, she thought to herself. "Hello," she stated while rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Hello there," a familiar voice greeted warmly and vibrantly. Each corner of her mouth had pulled itself upward making her smile a grand one.
"Hi," she once again. She heard Kofi chuckle on the other end of the line.
"Do you mind if I come over," he asked once more. Sonelle immediately jumped out of bed and looked at her attire. All she had been wearing was a tank top and a pair of extremely short shorts or as the girls called them 'Kelly Kelly' shorts.
"Um, sure," she stated a bit hesitant. Holding through phone between her ear and shoulder, she rummaged through her suitcase in search of decent clothes. Finally, she'd pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans, a flattering blue blouse (_.) and a pair of black ballet flats.
Kofi smiled on the other end, "Okay. Well, I'll be there in half an hour." Sonelle smiled while already beginning to change into the clothes she'd pulled out and kicking the old attire off to a corner.
"Okay, I'll see you soon," she noted. Both had bed goodbye and hung up. Setting her phone down on the counter, Sonelle glanced at herself in the mirror as she finished combing her hair. She sprayed a bit of perfume on herself before her phone up off the counter and stepping into the bedroom once more. Packing away all the clothes that'd spilled onto the floor and relocking her suitcase again, her phone rang just as loudly and musically as it had before. In about 2 rings she'd answered once more, "Hello?"
"I'm just about there," Kofi notified her as he swerved his car onto the street where the hotel had been located.
"Okay, I'll look out for you," Sonelle assured him with a smile spread far and wide across her face as she entered into the living room and sat herself on the couch. The two had once again hung up the phone as Sonelle now waited patiently for Kofi to arrive. She glanced over at the clock which now read 8:55pm. What could Kofi possibly want to come over for at nearly 9:00 in the night, she asked herself subconsciously. Suddenly, there came a knock at the door that'd disrupted her thoughts. Getting to her feet, she walked herself to the door and opened. She immediately smiled as a handsome, jeans and black v-neck t-shirt wearing Kofi stood there with his hands in his pockets. "I'm here," Kofi pointed out as he wrapped his arms around her. Sonelle's cheeks blushed a vague shade of red as she too hugged back before inviting him in. They'd now been standing in front of each other, face-to-face … without speaking.
"Um, are we going somewhere," Sonelle inquired disallowing the moment to fill itself with awkward silence. Kofi smiled.
"Remember when I'd told you that I'd had plans for us," Kofi checked as inched forward. Sonelle nodded once only just remembering. "Well," he started as he withdrew two pieces of paper, "I figured I'd take you to an art museum." Sonelle's face had lit up. He couldn't possibly be talking about Atlanta's High Museum of Art, she thought, could he? As Kofi inched forward once more, the pieces of paper in his hand had turned out to be tickets. "They're for an exhibition," he stated with a smile as he watched Sonelle's excitement become apparent on her face.
Sonelle's heart raced as she was handed her ticket to the exhibition. She smiled up at Kofi and wrapped her arms around his neck. He, in turn, placed his hands on her waist. "Thank you," she expressed as she looked up into his eyes. Kofi smirked.
He merely shrugged, "It was nothing." Sonelle couldn't help but giggle at his modesty. Once Sonelle had made sure, she'd gathered up everything she needed to. The two had departed the hotel and were now on their way to the art museum. After presenting their tickets to the man whose plain black shirt had said Security, both of them hurried off to the exhibition entitled Modern By Design . Both had wandered past many of the sculptures in awe of the way past, present and future had been combined into one sculpture and the way classic sculptures had been recreated with a modern twist. This had been their sort of art.
Although they may not have talked much over the course of viewing the art, there was an attraction felt by both of them. It was as if the silence was all they'd needed. It was understood almost as if that just by them dwelling in something they'd both enjoyed - art - it had brought them even closer without any words.
Finally, the art-viewers were ushered out at a quarter to 10. Kofi seized Sonelle's hand and they'd both walked back towards the car. In a few minutes, they were back at Sonelle's suite lounged on the bed sharing a plate of cheesecake that they'd ordered from room service. "So, how did you get those tickets anyways," Sonelle asked as she set down her fork. Kofi smiled.
"I just got them," he stated as he took another bite out of the cheesecake. Sonelle chuckled a bit. "I just had to," he said with a slight smirk.
"Well," Sonelle began, "I'm very grateful that you did." He smiled once more as they'd both taken their last two bites of the cheesecake. "Thank you, Kofi … for everything," Sonelle said a bit seriously now as she set down her fork once more. Kofi shook his head and smiled slightly at her.
"You shouldn't be thanking me," he said in a hushed tone as he pushed the empty plate away with their forks. "I should be thanking you," he concluded. Sonelle scoffed.
"For what," she asked drawing nearer to Kofi as he placed his arm around her. He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"You put love back into my life," he whispered. "You have no idea how much you truly mean to me - how much I value just being able to wrap you up in my arms and call you mine." Sonelle's cheeks reddened a bit as a smile had begun to crawl across her face slowly. Kofi took one of her hands in his. Sonelle saw him reach into his pocket once more. Her mind soared as to what else this man could've given her. Suddenly, everything had seemed to be set on pause. From his pocket, he'd withdrawn a small box. Opening it, a small ring had been there. As he took it from the box, he looked into Sonelle's eyes and spoke to her, "Like I said … you mean everything to me, and I don't ever want to lose that." Sonelle's eyes were swimming with tears at every word he said. "Sonelle, this is a promise ring - from me to you. This ring," he continued as he turned it around in his fingers, "is my promise that I'll always be faithful to you." A tear had finally crawled down Sonelle's cheek as Kofi placed it on one of her fingers.
Sonelle looked down at the ring then back up at Kofi. Kofi smirked as he glanced at her lips once. Reaching up, Sonelle had kissed Kofi gently on his lips. Kofi smiled as did Sonelle. With her head resting on his chest while he slept and both under the covers, Sonelle looked at the promise ring once more with a smile. Looking back up at Kofi, she whispered, "And this heart is my promise that I'll always love you."