Disclaimer: I do not own She's the Man... sob...
Hey! Thanks for the reviews. I'm excited about this chapter, I really am! Duke's gonna pop the question... yay!
GilbertDrone328: I wanted Duke's mom to be like Viola's. Crazy. But I decided to make her worse and not approve to much of Viola which is opposed to Viola's mom who approves of any guy who is hunky and handsome.
Mrs. Dom Masbolle: You'll just have to see for yourself if the way he does it 'romantic.' MLS soccer players only make like 200-300 thousand a year. It's the high profile players like Beckham and Ronaldino who make the big money. The girls also don't make as much as those high profile players, no way! I'm sure they'd like to though. Well, I don't know how much Mia Hamm made when she played, but don't worry, it's still a lot but not as much as the high profile players.
navy seaside anchor: It's great to hear you loved it, as usual.
Sophia-Chad: I knew one of my best readers/reviewers were missing! Well it's nice to hear from you again and hear you enjoyed the last 3 chapters.
Girlz-Rule: You didn't read to much! I will have fun describing everything...
ummmhilol: You could say the dinners went 'well' but sometimes they don't go as well as they seem. Don't worry, I've planned a way to embarrass Abigail.
Well, this chapter is going to be on of my faves, I'm sure of that. Well this chapter is going to have a lot of fast fowarding. BUT before I begin, I did some researching (weddings just fascinate me) I found that a guy usually spends 3 months worth of salary. If Duke is like the new David Beckham and is making like 33 million per year, his average monthly salary is like 2750000dollars. Times that by 3 and it's already like 8million dollars and 250 thousand dollars! OMG! That's a lot for a ring. But Duke's not an idiot. He's not gonna spend that much... but he will spend a lot. After all, Viola is like the only girl in his life... lol.
"Custom make?" Duke repeated.
"Yes, yes. It's quite simple really. All you need to do is choose what you would like, we make it and then you pay for it. But making rings takes quite some time."
"What do you think, guys?" Duke asked turning to Sebastian and Olivia.
"She's my sister, I don't take much interest," Sebastian said boredly.
Olivia rolled her eyes. "That's a great idea Duke! She'll love it, I just know it!"
So Duke decided he would get a ring made, after all there was no ring out there that seemed right. So with the help of Olivia and Sebastian (mostly Olivia), they made what would seem like the perfect ring. When the salesman brought out the ringmaker the ringmaker said, "Fine choices, fine indeed." He was an old man who seemed different and weird in a good way.
"The ring your heart desires will take many moons to make. Yes, long time." Sebastian, Duke and Olivia were a bit freaked out, but as long as he could do the job, it was fine.
"How long exactly?" Duke wondered.
"I would say 5 months. To make it reach perfection, I would need time."
"5 months?" Duke nearly croaked. He didn't know if he could wait that long. But he had to. "Fine then." So they made a deal with the strange ringmaker and in 5 months, it would be ready. Could Duke wait that long? How long could Olivia and Sebastian keep it a secret?
Duke tried as hard as he could to be normal around Viola, but it was getting hard as the months grew nearer. Sebastian and Olivia made a promise to keep it a secret, as well and so far they were going well. The ringmaker would report to him and tell him it was going great or how difficult the design was. But he always promised Duke that he wouldn't be disappointed.
One day, in late November, Duke got a very exciting call. The ring was finished. Duke was jumpy the whole time he drove to the shop. He entered and felt the warm rush of the heater which was on and tried to relax. The ringmaker saw Duke and greated him warmly. "Ahh. Young Mr Orsino. What a pleasant surprise to see you hear. How may I help you?"
"Uh, I'm just here to pick up the ring."
"Oh yes! I remember! It's just over here. Take a seat." He pointed to one of the chairs infront of one of the viewing cabinets. The man disappeared into what seemed a staff room or store room and came out with a little box. The display cabinets where Duke was waiting was formed as a circle. The ringmaker entered the circle and faced Duke. He put on these tiny spectacles and opened the box to show Duke. The ring lay there, looking beautiful and shiny.
The ringmaker pushed some stray strands of his frizzy white hair out of the way and wiped his hands on his apron. He took it out and inspected it close to his eyes, turning it over. "It's a beautiful ring," the old man said. He smiled and the his face became covered in even more wrinkles, if that was possible. "For a very special young lady, I suppose."
Duke smiled. "Yeah. She's something alright." The old man smiled fondly before holding it out to him. Duke took it carefully and looked at it too.
"It's a work of art, that one." The ringmaker said, pleased with his work.
"Yes it is. It's perfect."
"You chose well. It will last for many years after."
"Well. Thank you very much. It certainly is worth it."
"Yes! We must discuss the expenses!" Duke handed him back the ring. The man got out a cloth and wiped it around once, before placing it back in the tiny cushioned box. "Well now. I did a calculation and took a mark of everything I used to create the little thing." The man got out a calculator and motioned for the same salesman who helped Duke months before. The salesman took a seat and punched some numbers in.
"Plus the finish which comes to a total of," He paused and pressed the equal sign on the calculator. "Yes, the ring is pricey, but that's what you wanted."
"No, it's fine." Duke fished out his wallet. He took out a card and handed it to the man. "Swipe away."
The ringmaker's face light up with glee. "Oh yes! This is my favorite part!" The salesman got out a credit card swiper and swiped the card across. He gave Duke the reciept and a pen and Duke signed. He was handed back his card and the little box which held the very expensive ring. Duke thanked the salesman and ringmaker and headed out.
"No, no. Thank you Mr Orsino. I hope she likes the ring!" The ringmaker called as Duke left. Duke couldn't believe it. He had to tell Sebastian and Olivia. They met up at a cafe and Duke slid the ringbox over. Olivia opened the tiny box and even Sebastian had to gasp.
"It's beautiful. It's perfect." Olivia breathed.
"Yeah." Sebastain agreed. Duke checked his watch. It was 3pm. He decided it was time to go. He called Viola and tried to be as calm as possible.
"Hey Vi."
"Hey Duke! What's up?"
"It's a bright, beautiful, sunny day."
"Just get to point," Viola laughed.
"How about a game of soccer?"
"Duke it's November and it's freezing."
"Exactly. It'll warm you up."
"I don't know... I was actually had plans."
"Please," Duke begged.
"Alright." They made a place to meet and Duke quickly went back to his apartment to get ready. Duke got changed into some soccer shorts and a jersey. He put his cleats and shin gaurds in his soccer bag. He put in his phone, bottle of water and most importantly, the tiny box which might determine his future.
He parked and saw Viola, sitting on a bench, waiting for him. He got out of the car. He walked over. He put his bag down on the side benches, along the sidelines. He got out his cleats and shin gaurds and walked over to the bench where she was sitting.
"Hey." Viola looked up. She smiled.
"I better have a good time, I'm freezing in these shorts!"
"Don't worry. Ready to go down?"
"You're on!" Duke grabbed her hand and they ran towards the field. Viola had her soccer ball and she placed it on the ground.
"Ready? GO!" Viola quicky stole the ball from the middle and ran towards Duke's goal with it. She avoided him, several times, but Duke got the ball. The played for quite a while with them both scoring a few times. When they were both out of breath, they decided to take a break.
"I think I won there, Orsino."
"You wish Hastings. Viola's bag was back on the bench where she was before, so she headed towards that bench. Duke's bag was along the sidelines. Duke took a long drink of water. He saw the box and thought quickly. Now or never, Duke. You can do it. He thought to himself. He opened it and took the ring. He slipped it into his pocket and jogged over to the bench where Viola was sitting. He took a seat next to her. He took a deep breath and he didn't know what happened, but the words just seemed to flow out.
"Hey Vi, have you ever wanted to change your name?"
Viola raised an eyebrow. "No, why?" She asked slowly.
"Oh just wondering. When I was younger I always wanted to change my name to Dexter Flinders. Weird, huh?"
"Well I'm glad you chose to keep Duke Orsino. It's a cute name. Wait, I have wanted to change my name!"
"To what?"
"Okay. When I was in what? Kindergarten? Yeah. Well, I was 5 years old and I had just become hooked onto this show called Pinkies. The main character was Keely Pinkies. She was the best. So, one day, I woke up and made a name tag saying Keely Pinkies. I wouldn't answer to anyone unless they called me by that name." She started to reach down to tie her shoe.
"I'll do it." Duke quickly got up. He got down on one knee to tie up her shoelace for her.
"Thank you."
"But have you ever wanted to change your name legally?"
"Well I was once Sebastian Hastings. Does that count?" Duke laughed. He reached into his pocket. He wrapped his fist around the ring.
"Well have you ever wanted to change your name to I don't know, Viola Orsino?" Viola tilted her head to one side, confused. He opened his fist and there lay the ring. Her eye's grew big. "Viola Hastings, will you marry me?" Viola just looked at the ring to him with her wide eyes.
Surprisingly she laughed. Yep, she laughed. Is it really that ridiculous? I knew it was a bad a idea. Duke thought. But then Viola stopped laughing. "What type of question is that? Of course I will!"Viola jumped foward and wrapped her arms around Duke and gave him a big, big hug. Duke fell back and they were lying on the grass with Duke on the bottom. He felt so much better that the laughing was a good thing. The way she said, "What type of question is that? Of course I will!" made it sound like she'd been wantind it for a long time. Viola bent down to kiss him. She was so happy. It was a total shock, but it was a good shock. When he asked, Viola just knew it was what she wanted. She never thought about it before, but when he asked, it came to her and she thought 'of I do!' When they broke apart with silly grins on their faces, Duke said, "Well then. I guess you get to have this." Viola slid off of him and sat up. Duke did as well. Duke, who still had the ring in his hand after all the excitement, slid it onto her fourth finger on her left hand.
Viola looked at it, admiring it. "It's gorgeous," Viola said softly. She looked up at Duke and smiled. "Thank you," she said cheekily. The ring was beautiful, indeed. "What is it?" Viola asked after a few moments of admiring the ring.
Duke thought for a moment. The ring was made from platinum with a big, colorless, brilliant cut diamond in the middle with two slightly smaller bright blue diamonds on the side. Blue diamonds are rare. Bright blue diamonds are even rarer. "Platinum with the diamonds."
Viola looked up at him in shock. "The end ones are diamonds?"
Duke smiled. "Yep. Blue diamonds."
"Wow. It must've costed a fortune."
Duke nodded. "Oh it did." He grinned down at her. "But don't worry. You're worth every penny."
Viola turned a light shade of pink; blushing was something she rarely did. "Thank you. It's beautiful and perfect."
"Your welcome. I know an engagement ring was just the thing you needed."
Viola laughed. "Yep, I was missing one from my large jewellery collection." They got up and grabbed their stuff. They walked hand in hand with Viola's new ring glittering. They had bits of grass in their hair and Viola stopped. "I need to tell Sebastian and Liv!" She whipped out her phone. Duke chuckled.
"Hey Sebastian, Liv!"
"Hey!" Viola heard to voices called. She figured she was on speaker phone.
"Guess what!"
"Hmm. I don't know. I just got this crazy idea of well maybe Duke proposed to you and you said yes?" Sebastian said.
"Yeah..." Viola said. She wondered how they knew. "How do you guys know?"
"Vi, Duke came to us to ask if we could help him find the 'perfect' ring," Olivia said. Viola heard Evie in the backround saying, "Can I hab a coohi peaz?"
Viola's jaw dropped. She held the phone away from her ear and just stared up at Duke who was shrugging and had the look 'I didn't know what to do!' in his eyes. Viola put the phone back to her ear. "Anyways. Isn't that so amazingly great?"
"Yeah." The two sounded happy for them. Viola and Olivia continued talking about the wedding when Viola realized she needed to tell her parents. She grabbed Duke's hand. "Come on!" So Viola and Duke called them and they met at a coffee shop. Viola told them and they didn't seem to shocked. Later, Duke confessed he told them and his parents and Sebastian and Olivia.
"Is there anyone who you haven't told?"
"Well I didn't tell you. We kept it a pretty good secret for like 5 months."
"How did you? You told everyone we were dating again in two seconds flat." They grabbed a bite to eat. They took Rusty out on a walk together and Viola said, "Duke we need to talk."
"About what?"
"About us." The sun was almost down and they were heading back before it got too dark. "What about us?"
"Well. It's more about me... but it includes you to."
"Go on."
Viola stopped. She looked up at Duke and took a deep breath. "Well, it's about us... you know... sleeping together."
"Oh." Duke wondered what she had to say.
"Well. I always said to myself, I'm gonna wait until I'm absolutely positive I've found the right guy. Don't worry that's obviously you. But then I also said I'd do it when I'm 100 percent, sure, ready and... married. Is that okay? Just wait. I would never think of loosing my viriginity to anyone but you, it's just I'm just not ready." Viola looked up at Duke.
Duke shook his head. "It's alright. If that's what you want, it's fine. I respect you... and your body."
"Aww. Thanks." Viola leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Is that all I get?" Duke asked, pretending to be shocked.
"Don't push your luck," Viola replied. She leaned up to give in a better kiss, this time on the lips. And they stayed there, like that. It was the most perfect, softest kiss ever and nothing or no one could stop them from loving each and every moment and more importantly, each other.
There's a good ending. I liked that ending. Nice and peaceful. Next chapter, the wedding business starts to happen and Viola's mom and Duke's mom will meet... Dun Dun DUN! Don't worry. They'll like each other... eventually... and you know how they are. They'll want to do everything! EVERYTHING! Well, soon Justin and them will find out. How will they react? And more importantly, how will Abigail act? THANKS! PEACE OUT!