Chapter 62: Engagement
At two, like promised, Alexander was back, and ready to drag me along to wherever the hell he needed me to go. Around three thirty, we ended up at an expensive restaurant in the middle of Miami, and of course, being the procrastinator he was, Alexander finally told me what I had to do. As I was getting out of the car.
"Okay. Here we are. Now, we're meeting up with two people. And old couple. And I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend. Got it?" I nodded. "And no smart ass comments or sarcasm or even a bit of disrespect, got it? These people are very important. Please. Just be on your best behavior."
I hated the way that Alexander was speaking to me, like a child at the least. But I was partially afraid to do anything about it. I mean, he had more power than my father. And my father had a lot of power.
We were seated in no time with the "old couple" Alexander had talked about. But they didn't look old at all. The woman looked not a day older than forty, and the man looked barely fifty.
"I'm Sofija, and this is my husband, Anton. You must be..." She stopped, waiting for my name. What the hell was I supposed to tell her? Was I Sarah or was I just some bitch that Alexander was supposed to be in love with and sleeping with. Well, I guess I had one thing right for me...
"Charlize." Alexander said before I could even think of answering. He had this all planned out, and all I had to do was watch and slightly participate. But mainly watch.
"What a beautiful name..." She said, her accent finally catching my attention. If the names weren't enough, her accent gave everything away. She obviously wasn't American. And she wasn't Russian. She was Ukrainian.
"Thank you." I said, feeling already out of place in account of my own accent.
"So, tell me, how did you guys meet?" The man - or Anton - asked with the same Ukrainian accent Sofija had. I swallowed. How the hell was I supposed to answer that? And why the hell was I supposed to answer that?
"Uh, work. She's an accountant on the floor below me. Met on the elevator."
"Oh, really? How interesting. I met you're mother at work too. It was a different kind of work, though, if you know what I mean..." Anton said. My heart basically dropped. Mother? Oh, shit. I was talking to Alexander's parents. And I was pretending to be his fiancé.
"Anyway, what do you like to do, dear? Alex, here, says that you like sports... Do you like tennis?" I swallowed in response to Sofija's question, but made myself spit out my fake, made-up answer.
"Uh, yeah. It's my favorite sport. I used to play it all the time, until I got my accountant job." As much as I wanted to punch Alexander and run out of the restaurant, I knew that in the end, it wouldn't save anyone. Me. Patrick. Roy. Dinah. Oliver. Anyone. So I sucked it up and went with it. Which was harder than you could imagine.
"Oh my God. I just had a brilliant idea. We could all go play tennis later today." Oh, shit. "Are you free later today?"
"She is. I have work. But I bet you two could play together, right?" I could barely believe Alexander's words when he said them. What the hell was he doing?
"Of course! I know this great country club. You'll love it." Sofija said. There was an awkward silence as Sofija looked back and forth between Alexander and I, a smile plastered to her face like she could barely take the silence much longer. Anton had the same smile, and it was bothering me. Alexander sighed and cleared his voice.
"Charlize, you're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. We've been through so much, and I can't live without you. Our relationship has had its rocky parts, but I can't bare the thought of not having you with me for the rest of my life. So..." Alexander stood up, and kneeled down, pulling out a black box. My heart raced. What the hell?
"Charlize Rae Monroe. Will you marry me?"
I swear my heart literally stopped at that moment. What the hell was he doing? Seriously.
At first, I wanted my answer to be no. Hell, no. But just thinking about him being, well, who he was and how he could destroy everyone I knew with one signal, I refrained from my shouts and screams and yells. I swallowed. I had to say yes.
"Yes...?" My voice was weak and before I could even finish my word Sofija screamed for joy. To make things worse than they already were, Alexander practically forced me to stand up, immediately kissing me as soon as I was on my heels.
"What the fuck?" I whispered harshly as soon as his lips were off mine. I could tell from the look on his face that he was enjoying this even more than his parents.
"I'll explain later..." And with that, I sat back down, where Sofija continued to scream and yell and suddenly I became glad that she was on the opposite side of the table or she'd have her hands all over me.
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Forget tennis. We're going shopping!" As Sofija pulled out her phone and began calling probably everyone in Miami, I looked down at my finger, twisting the extravagant and obviously expensive diamond ring that was displayed on my hand. I wanted to cry. Not for job, but because it was too much. Too much was going on, and I was confused as hell. But nothing, not even this, could beat the next two months. And beyond.