Key To My Heart

17. Just Wait and Watch

(1131 words)

"Anastasia, we're all really glad that you're okay." Annie said to me as our group walked together to the Anatomy lab to perform a practical. I gave her a genuine smile. "Did you find out whom the kidnapper was?" Alyssa asked me and I fell into thought for a couple seconds.

None of my friends knew about Aaron.

"Nope." I lied and pressed my lips in a straight line.

"How's Ethan?" Elsa asked as we entered the laboratory.

A smile formed on my lips. "He's fine." I replied.

"He was your knight in shining armour, huh?" Sylvia asked teasingly. My smile widened and I felt my cheeks heating up.

"Do you love him?" Iris asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I definitely do." I replied.

"Then marry him." She said as if it was the most simple thing in the world. We all sat around a large table and Elsa went to get our required apparatus.

"How can I marry a billionaire?" I asked.

"Now what do you mean by that?" Alyssa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't fit in his world." I answered.

"That's ridiculous." Elsa commented, putting the apparatus on the table.

"No, it's not. He's an entrepreneur. He needs a girl according to his standards who can open new doors for him, not a girl like me who can barely make her own bed." I said. Yes, I had difficulty making my bed. Not only that, I couldn't cook except for a few basic things. I wasn't good at making my own hair. I didn't know how to apply make-up. I was a lost cause. I was 18, a Medical Student and still I couldn't do these things. I assure you, these weren't the only things I couldn't do. There were several more.

"Did Ethan say any of that to you?" Elsa asked.

I paused and after some thought, replied, "no."

"Then why are you thinking like that?" Annie asked in disbelief. I sighed and started performing the experiment. My friends joined me a few minutes later.

"He said he wants to marry me." I murmured after a while. I watched as all my friends went still, their eyes wide.

"Anastasia...." Annie began.

"Don't. I know what you're going to say. He can't be serious. He's probably playing with me." I said, though what I said was nothing but stupidity. Still, it was hard for me to believe that he wanted to marry me.

"You're saying that even after all that he's done for you?" Iris asked in disbelief, shaking her head. I fell silent. She was right. He was so affectionate, compassionate, generous, kind and thoughtful towards me. And I was constantly trying to find excuses for why he couldn't marry me despite him telling me that he wanted to marry me.

I guess my previous relationship had me scared. I was afraid of us ending up like me and Aaron. I was afraid of him turning out to be just like Aaron. What if he mis-treats me afterwards? What if his love for me fades away after some time? What if he finds someone according to his caliber? What if he leaves me eventually? What if I end up heart broken again?

Those questions were haunting me.

———

I opened the front door to my home and walked in, exhausted. To my surprise, I was attacked by a very excited girl who jumped on me and hugged me so tight, it was hard to breathe.

"Ari!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Hola Anastasia! I thought I'd surprise you." Ariana said with the biggest smile on her face.

"That's good. It's great to see you." I gave her a smile of my own.

"Anastasia, how was your day?" Mom said, coming out of the kitchen with dad on her side.

"It was good, mom. Dad, it's surprising to see you home so early today." I said.

"Yeah, we have important guests coming over today." Dad said.

"Which guests?" I asked him, furrowing my eyebrows as I saw Ariana's eyes glisten with excitement.

"Let me show you something first!" She said, taking my arm and dragging me upstairs to my room before pushing me on my bed. I glared at her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked her, shooting daggers at her with my eyes.

"Look what I bought!" She said excitedly like a child before pulling out a rollerball perfume from her purse. I gave her a 'really?' look. "That's what you wanted to show me?" I asked her in disbelief.

"It's from Victoria's Secret." She said and I rolled my eyes.

"Right. Great. I'm gonna go freshen up." I said and went to my bathroom.

———

I changed into some relaxing clothes. Ariana was still in my room, doing something on her phone. I laid on my bed and starting checking my phone for any new texts. There was one from Ethan.

Ethan: in less than 30 minutes, I will prove to you that I really want you.

My heart skipped reading his message. What did he mean by that? In less than 30 minutes? What was he going to do?

I showed the text to Ariana. "What do you think he means?" I asked her, my heart palpitating in my chest. She shrugged her shoulders casually and returned her attention to her phone. I narrowed my eyes at her extraterrestrial behaviour. Normal Ariana would scream her lungs out if she saw a text like this from Ethan. What the hell was going on?

I decided to not ask her and laid back on my bed. I sent Ethan a text.

Me: what do you mean? What are you going to do?

He replied instantly. How does he do that? I thought people like him are always busy.

Ethan: just wait and watch. ;)

What the heck did he mean by that? Why was he making me more and more confused and frustrated? I didn't get the chance to think as the doorbell rang and I rose from my bed to go open it.

"Sit down. Your parents will see who it is." Ariana said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back onto my bed. I frowned at her but didn't say anything.

Several minutes passed and Ariana suddenly spoke up, "I think it's time you see."

"What?" I asked her confusedly, scrunching my eyebrows together.

"Come on." She said, rising from my bed and coming over to my side before grasping my hand and pulling me towards the door.

"Ariana, what's going on?" I asked her in annoyance. Why was everyone playing mind games with me?

"You need to see this." She said, pulling me to the staircase.

"See what?" I asked before my gaze fell downstairs, making my heart stop in my chest.

Oh God.