Single But Engaged ✔️

14: Hey, that's my bae right there

‘I’m beyond pleased to announce my grandson’s engagement to his beautiful girlfriend, Aria.’

Have you ever had one of those moments when you knew what was said, yet you were almost certain that you must have heard it wrong? Well, that was precisely the situation I found myself in after hearing those words from Aiden’s grandma. 

Engaged? Engaged as in engaged to be married? Engaged as in between two people?

Ok, I was beginning to sound like a crazy person. But to be fair, my brain wasn’t at its clearest state right now.

Still, I knew when I stopped coughing, and assured a visibly worried Mark that I was fine. I knew when Aiden’s grandma pulled a still unmoving Aiden into a hug. And I knew how her smiley-faced expression faltered after he whispered something to her – although, she was quick to return to smiling after he pulled away, with her hand moving to pat his arm ‘fondly.’ But no sooner had she touched him than he was turning away and leaving.

However, he’d barely made it off the stage before he was being surrounded by a number of eager-eyed guests, with a beaming Aunt Tilly at the forefront, enthusiastically grabbing him in a hug. To be honest, given how tightly she seemed to hold on, I doubted he could break away even if he tried.

Talking about being surrounded by people, my insides twisted in panic at the grinning guests that were now approaching me, all of them voicing their congratulations. They’d even somehow managed to sideline Mark, with Anika now at the forefront.

Of course, what followed were her questions. I must be crazy excited, right? I’d been hiding the news of the engagement from them all night, right? When did Aiden propose? Were we already making plans for the wedding?

If I was panicked before, then that last one made me even more so. Wedding? What wedding? How did one just get a wedding without even knowing about it? How did I end up in this situation? How do I get out of it? And most importantly, what were those delicious looking things that the waiter over there was holding? Because I sure wanted some.

Hey, I just landed myself in an engagement; I was allowed to crave something tasty.

But of course, what I craved the most was still a breather. Everyone and everything suddenly seemed to be closing in on me. For a split second, I spotted Aiden who for the record, looked like he’d rather be anywhere else but stuck in the middle of the ever-growing guests around him. 

Well, there goes my last ray of hope. 

So, I could only watch helplessly as Anika continued her questioning spree. Oh god, Samara had now also joined in the engagement questioning – with her primary interest being Aiden’s grandma of course.

If only this was one of those things you could close your eyes and wish away. But although I couldn’t wish my current situation away, to my surprise, I found myself being pulled away from it – literally. 

I traced the source to Emma, who was still holding on to my hand as she said something to the others about how my attention was needed somewhere else. Of course, their disappointment was obvious – especially Anika’s. But I could care less. I was basically half-running as I left with Emma. 

It was only after we’d made it outside the party that I stopped to catch my breath, my back resting on the wall, with Emma doing the same from beside me.

“They can be pretty hyper, right?” 

“More like ‘unrelenting,’” I mused, to which she chuckled.

When she spoke again, it was: “so, engaged, huh?” 

“Yeah, apparently so,” was all I could offer in reply.