This chapter has not been revised by any beta readers. Please help me improve my English by contacting me if you find any grammar mistakes.
I let a nervous grin out, and couldn't take my eyes away from Joey. My brain worked furiously to decide if he was serious or joking. Obviously, he was joking.
"You funny, funny boy." I shook my head at him.
He ignored my dumb reaction and remained staid. "I'm serious, Bella."
I opened my mouth, but closed it hereupon. He took advantage of my silence and astonishment to go on:
"Do you want to live with me, to spend your days in my companion, to sleep every night by my side? In other words-" his stare got even more intense and I struggled not to avert his eyes "do you want to be my wife?"
I wanted to tell him I didn't know if I wanted to be married. Better, I didn't know if I was ready to be married. I wanted to request for some time to think about it, because getting married with Joey, specifically, meant my whole life would change. I'd have to leave my country, to find a new job, to part from my family and friends. Also, I'd have to deal with the fact he was somehow famous, and I didn't know how I'd react if I witnessed him being besieged by his fans. I was jealous and huffy. It was Joey's luck he hasn't seen me in this kind of mood yet.
All those thoughts invaded my mind in the half of a second, but the feeling inside my heart couldn't let me give him any different answer.
"I do." I mumbled.
He smiled widely.
"Really? Say it again."
"I do. I do want to marry you." my voice was stiffer now, but I couldn't help to think "oh my, what am I doing?"
Joey pushed his hand inside his pocket and took a small velvety dark blue box out of it. He opened the box and revealed a plain, but extremely beautiful ring. It was burnished silver, with a single tiny heart shaped sapphire on its center.
"I know you don't like huge jewelry, so I tried to pick the plainest engagement ring I could." he said as he took my right hand and placed that silvery piece on my ring finger.
"It's beautiful." I stared at it, beholding the shine of the tiny gem. "I just... love it."
He stroked my face and placed my hair behind my ear. When he approached his face to mine, I stared at his lips until they touched mine. Then, I closed my eyes and savored the mint taste in his mouth.
I didn't notice the sun had set, and was surprised to see it was mainly dark when I opened my eyes. Joey touched my forehead with his.
"Now, I can take you with me when I come back home, can't I?"
"Silly." I wrapped my arms around him.
"Let's have dinner to celebrate our engagement?" he suggested.
I kneeled on the sand, my arms still around his neck. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"
He wrapped his arms around my waist and raised his face to me. "I don't know, you're the tourist guide here. What restaurant can you suggest?"
He pulled me so strongly that I collapsed on his lap, throwing sand around.
"Hmmm... there's this Italian food restaurant called La Mole. The food is pretty good and it's not so expensive."
"Good, so that's where we're going tonight."
We went back to my place and got ready for dinner. We left in about one hour - I hurried because I was specially starving after the marriage proposal.
Once we reached the restaurant and chose a table, I asked Joey to give me some minutes.
"Do you mind to wait alone a little bit? I'm going to the restroom."
"No problem."
I entered the restroom to check my makeup and my hair. Have I heard someone screaming outside or was it just my imagination? I sharpened my hearing and wondered if I was really hearing a female voice talking in English in a very fangirly tone.
Hurrying to wash my hands, I begun to huff; I couldn't believe in what was probably happening outside.
When I left the restroom and went back to our table, I saw it. A girl around her twenties was standing beside Joey. She looked really pretty with her long shiny blond hair, green eyes and perfect slim body. My eyes took an x-ray of her within seconds: sleeveless shirt, pink heels and small jeans shorts. Heels and small shorts. Ugh!
Looking very self-confident, she stared intensely at him while he autographed a piece of paper. It seemed she was about to lunge against him in any moment.
A burning sensation made the hair in the back of my neck bristle. I approached two steps, silently. The girl didn't seem to notice me, which was good. Joey returned her the paper and she asked to take a picture with him. He was too friendly to refuse. As soon as he got up, the girl passed an arm around his shoulders and took the picture herself.
I wanted to rip her head off when I she kind of forced Joey and her to be cheek-to-cheek in front of the camera. I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath to calm down my rage. My troubles had begun sooner than I could have foreseen.
Eventually, she had to go - a woman who seemed to be her mother called her and she left the restaurant - I sat back on my chair in front of Joey. The remainder of Joey's smile slowly faded away when I gave him a furious stare and placed my bag over the table with a loud thud.