Maid For You 4

Chapter 86

It was September 1, the night before my birthday, and I had brought Coleman to the souvenir shop after closing. We'd wanted to revisit the place where we'd first met. I fiddled with the lock at the door until it opened with a jingle. We stepped inside and I turned on a couple of lights.

"Here it is," I said. "The place we met."

As he stood there, hands in pockets and a contented smile, I tried to imagine him as I did back then. Of course, he'd been gorgeous, but he'd been so cold and haughty—a sharp contrast to the features that painted his face now. He looked around, his eyes tracing every shelf and stand, before he caught me staring. "What?" he asked, a smile splitting his face. "You look so serious."

I let out a breathy laugh. "Sorry," I said. "Just...nostalgia, you know? I was thinking about when I first met you. What I thought."

He took his hands out of pockets and took both of mine in turn. "We've come a far way, haven't we?"

I squeezed his hands. "I don't think I ever would have really believed that we'd be here today."

"After your abominable customer service? Certainly not."

I lightly hit the side of his arm. "Please. You were so rude."

He laughed. "What? You didn't like being called a commoner?"

"Not particularly, no."

He narrowed his eyes. "Strange." He then walked over to a corner of the store and picked up a little snow globe and shook it. "Do you guys still have those teddy bears? With the little American flag?" He turned and wiggled a finger like it was a flag.

"We should still have them," I said, walking down one of the aisles and picking one up. It had very soft brown fur and two black beads for eyes staring back at me. "You got one of these for Calista, didn't you?" I said. I'd seen it in her room.

"I did." I could hear his footsteps approaching, and I turned to look at him. He stroked the top of the bear's head. "She said it was babyish, but I could tell she secretly was pleased. Goodness, she was particularly annoying a year ago."

I snorted thinking back to it. "I guess that ran in the family."

He grimaced. "Ha ha."

I smiled up at him smugly.

"But you're right," he sighed. "I was rather appalling. I was particularly cross that day, and thus my behavior was particularly ungentlemanly." He held my face and rubbed his thumb against my cheek. "But from the beginning, you called me out on such behavior."

Alright, good answer, I thought, melting into his hand before he planted a kiss on my lips. He pulled away, looking at me with gooey green eyes.

"I love you," I whispered, for no real reason at all other than I felt it so strongly in that moment.

"I love you too," he whispered back.

I tilted my head and smiled, biting my lip. "This is sappy."

His eyes shined. "Not a bad thing."

I shook my head.

We continued strolling through the aisles, and Coleman at some point pretended to ask me what souvenirs I'd recommend. Eventually I walked behind the counter and hopped up on the swivel chair.

"I read so much about Aregano in this chair," I said.

"I remember the book," Coleman said, approaching me from the customer side of the counter. He rested his elbows on the countertop and cocked his head. "It was actually quite amusing, as you can imagine, when you informed me of your upcoming trip."

I buried my face in my hands. "That's so awkward."

He burst out laughing. "Oh, it was the best part, darling."

"I'm sure," I sighed, leaning back into my tall swivel chair. Coleman came around the counter and stood behind my chair and wrapped his arms around me.

"It was," he said. "Because then you came to Aregano."

My hands clasped his arms. "That's true," I said, a smile in my tone. "You're awfully sweet today."

He unwrapped his arms from me and placed his hands on the back of the chair. "I can be." He turned my chair around so that I was facing him, and I figured he was going to kiss me, but he took my hands in his once more. "Cassie," he began. "I think about this day a lot. This day that we first met. I often wonder...I shudder to think of how different my life would be had I not entered this store. I do not believe we would have met."

"Probably not," I admitted.

"I've come to...I've come to a point, I realize, that I cannot imagine my life without you. Well, I suppose I can imagine it, but when I do, I realize that I do not want to live the rest of my life without you. In fact, I—I want to live the rest of my life with you."

The nervousness of his expression and the subject matter of his words quickly made me realize that this wasn't an ordinary compliment.

"I think...I think about the day we met quite often, because from that day on, my life would never be the same again." He chuckled. "As ridiculous as it might sound, I think a part of me fell in love with you the day we met, with the girl from the shop." A wry smile quirked on his face. "I should have known from that start that I would have no chance once I appointed you as my maid."

I laughed softly.

He cupped my face with his hand, and his voice began to warble. "You are beautiful, Cassandra, inside and out. You make me laugh and you make me think and you make me love and everything in between. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to make you my princess, and one day my queen." He drew his hand away, took a step back, and lowered himself onto one knee. Despite the feeling I'd had during the conversation that this was coming, my heart still suddenly leaped in my chest, and my hands automatically clapped themselves against my mouth.

Out of his pocket, Coleman drew a small black velvet box, and I didn't know how to get out of my stupid swivel chair without looking like an idiot, so I stayed seated. He opened the lid of the box to reveal a silver ring with a large, pear-shaped diamond crowning a diamond incrusted band. The ring was absolutely stunning.

"Cassandra Carmichael, will you marry me?"

Tears filled my eyes, there in the middle of a dingy souvenir shop in Washington DC. Of all the beautiful places Coleman and I had seen, we were having this life altering moment here of all places. Somehow, it was perfect.

"Yes." My voice was a half whisper, and I gained more vigor as I replied again, "Yes! Yes, I will marry you!"

His face split into a joyful grin, tears sparkling in his eyes. He stood up and I jumped off the chair and into his arms, and he swung me around before setting me down and placing the ring on my finger. 

***

Hey guys! Author's note here. There's still a couple of chapters left in the story, but I wanted to let you all know that I have started an instagram specifically for Maid For You. The handle is @ littlefriendstories. I know I've had accounts before (one that I sadly lost), but I'm really committed to updating this one and I have an exciting announcement regarding Maid For You coming up. If you would take the time to follow me, that would mean so much!

Thank you!