September
Harry
Three years ago today was when I met Amelia. Three years ago today was when I was walking through the streets of New York City and got blinded by an angel. Three years ago today was when I bumped into said angel and somehow found her phone like some bloody miracle. I then planted all those pictures with a suggestive note asking her to meet me at my hotel. What was once a wild fascination with just an end goal of a fun night turned into so much more - it turned into my future and my life, taking me over completely.
To celebrate the anniversary of when we met, we had a rather - uh - eventful morning. Not only did we fuck three whole times before 11am but we also found out that Justin has been convicted to two years in jail, will be fined $50,000, and will be issued a restraining order protecting us from him. Therefore, he'll be forced to move which I am absolutely thrilled about. He hasn't been staying the apartment building to begin with for legal reasons but it's official that he'll never be allowed back.
Safe to say Amelia and I went for a fourth round after getting the along awaited phone call from Isaiah.
I think my dick might fall off. It's a bit numb, currently.
After hearing the good news, and fucking our brains out, I took Amelia out for lunch. I was going to take her out for dinner but we decided to have a night in instead with Melanie and Christian, whom I haven't seen in forever. They wanted to celebrate the incarceration of Justin with us so we thought tonight would be perfect considering it's the first night in a while all of our schedules line up.
I hear Amelia and her friends laughing in the living room while I get a couple bottles of wine from the kitchen. I also grab four wine glasses before walking back to join them, precariously holding the bottles and glasses in my hands.
"I could have helped," Amelia says when she notices my presence enter the room. She stands up from the couch and rushes over to me, immediately taking the glasses out of my hands.
"No worries, babe. I got it," I reassure her, leaving out my own fear for almost dropping everything. Two bottles were tucked under my arms while my hands were preoccupied with the wine glasses. One wrong move and it all would have went to shit .
While Amelia and I prepare the glasses of wine - Chardonnay for Amelia and Melanie, and Masseto for Christian and myself - the conversation turns back to the dirty details of Isaiah's phone call.
"Took long enough," Melanie huffs. She then thanks me when I hand her the glass, the wine nearly touching the brim. I figured a heavy hand wouldn't hurt. Melanie and Christian are spending the night in our guest rooms so we can splurge a little.
"I'm not surprised it took this long," Christian says. "Isaiah works with cases all the time that take upwards of six months to a year to make any progress. I'd say this was pretty good time."
"Ugh it's still annoying. He should have been locked up ages ago. But I'm not complaining. I'm just glad it's over and done with. Any news on Shannon?"
Christian and Amelia visibly shudder.
"She came forward to the police about her involvement so she was fined. Not entirely sure how much. I think $10,000?" Amelia says. She looks at me, causing me to nod. I think that's what Isaiah said. "But she wasn't convicted or anything. I think she just got an infraction."
After filling up my glass, I take a seat next to Amelia on the couch and swing my free arm over her shoulders while pulling her close to my body. She immediately melts into my touch, causing my heart to flutter from the small movement. I don't even think anyone would have noticed but I like it better like that. It's a moment just between the two of us.
"She should have been jailed, too," Christian mutters, not even bothering to hide his distaste for the girl.
"I think she spent a night in jail when Justin was originally arrested but only recently were they actually convicted," Amelia says.
"I'll never understand the legal system..." Melanie comments. She holds a hand to her forehead, looking distressed.
"Neither will I," Christian tells her. "Isaiah tries to educate me on it all the time but I still don't understand a word of it. All I know is that it's fucked up, as well as racist and sexist..."
To that we all take a large sip of our drinks in silent agreement.
It's the ringing of a phone that catches us all off guard. Looking down at the coffee table in front of us, I see that it's Amelia's.
"For fucks sake," she mutters, leaning forward to grab it with her free hand. She glances at the caller ID, her eyes going wide in the process. "Shit, I need to take this."
Before any of us can ask questions, Amelia places her glass of wine on the table and hurriedly exits the room before answering the phone.
"Who do you think that was?" Christian asks.
Part of me regrets not being nosey and peering over Amelia's shoulder to see who was calling her but I trust she'll tell me later. I can wait.
"Not sure but it seemed urgent," I say. I'm assuming it was her parents but honestly who knows?
I take another sip of my wine before placing the glass besides Amelia's on the coffee table. Then I wipe my increasingly sweaty palms on my pant legs before turning to Amelia's friends. I'm actually glad Amelia stepped out of the room for a second because it gives me an opportunity to talk to Christian and Melanie alone.
"While Amelia is out, I wanted to tell you both something," I say. Melanie furrows her eyebrows while Christian leans forward in his seat. I glance over to my side just to make sure Amelia is not coming back and when the coast is clear I quietly spit out, "I'm asking Amelia to marry me soon."
Melanie nearly chokes on her wine while Christian raises his eyebrows, his jaw dropping open the tiniest amount.
"What?" he asks.
I bite the inside of my cheek out of sudden nerves. Is he angry? Or upset?
"I'm - uh - I'm asking Amelia to marry me...soon..." I nervously stammer out.
Christian and Melanie both stare at me with wide eyes and a shocked expression. I find myself extremely anxious with anticipation for them to yell or tell me I'm not a good fit for Amelia long term but then, all of a sudden, Melanie reaches over and smacks Christian on his arm.
"Pay up!" she abruptly yells. "You owe me $20!"
My forehead creases in confusion.
"Wh- " I go to say, but I'm immediately cut off.
"He didn't say when," Christian retaliates with wild hand gestures. "He just said soon."
Melanie rolls her eyes.
"Yeah? And?" she asks.
"Soon doesn't mean this year. He could have just been giving us a general warning - "
"What are you guys talking about?" I ask, to which Melanie smirks at me.
"Christian and I were placing bets on when you'd pop the question," she tells me. "I guessed sometime this year but Christian thought next year, specifically in February."
"February could be soon..." Christian argues.
I can't help but snicker at the playful banter. Well shit, I'm glad they're not angry.
"I'm going to ask this year," I clarify.
Melanie leans over and whacks Christian's arm again.
"I fucking told you," she says to him.
"How long has this bet been going on?" I can't help but ask.
Melanie shrugs and looks at me.
"I dunno," she says. She glances at Christian. "Probably since we found out about the ring so last November? Or was it December? I can't remember."
I look at them with a blank expression. How'd they know about the engagement ring? I don't recall ever telling them. Maybe I forgot but I really don't think I ever mentioned it.
"How'd you know about the ring?" I ask.
Christian gives me a sheepish look.
"Uh, Mitch told me," he says. "It was after your fight with Amelia...the really bad one. We were talking about you two and he mentioned the ring. He just wanted me to see things from your perspective since I was ready to put you in a chokehold..."
Understandable.
"Well...thank you for not saying anything...at least I don't think you said anything..." I awkwardly stammer causing Christian to smile.
"I didn't say a word. None of us have," he tells me, much to my relief. "She should be completely in the dark."
"Oh she definitely is," Melanie pipes up. "We've talked about it before at work."
My heart skips a beat.
"What?" I nervously ask.
Melanie nods and takes a large sip of her wine.
"Yeah, d'you think we don't gossip about you?" she asks me with a grin. She takes another sip. "Nothing bad, believe me. She just worries that you won't want to marry her one day."
I frown.
"She does?" I ask.
Melanie shrugs.
"Yeah but it's not a real worry. She just nervously babbles sometimes. She knows you two are for life. I think she just gets...overwhelmed with love and then word vomit comes out," she says. "Honestly, I wouldn't worry. I do it too about my boyfriend."
I sigh and avert my eyes briefly. I guess I've also done that...
"Of course I'm going to worry...It's nerve-wracking..." I mumble.
Both Melanie and Christian give me sympathetic smiles.
"I know, Harry," Christian says. "That's to be expected but...I have a good feeling. You and Amelia just make sense together. We know it, you know it, she knows it. Don't stress too much, okay?" I weakly nod, trying to take in his words. "Now do you have a plan in place for how to ask her?"
I sigh.
"Yeah, actually. It's probably going to be an exhausting day for her emotionally but I'm going to take her to the - " I cut myself off when I hear a door open from down the hall, followed by Amelia's footsteps. Immediately leaning back on the sofa, I try to act natural and like I wasn't just discussing my imminent proposal.
God I hope she didn't hear.
I turn to my side to greet Amelia but furrow my eyebrows when I take in her appearance. Her eyebrows are furrowed and her lips slightly parted as she slowly sits down beside me. Christian and Melanie give me concerned looks because clearly Amelia was told something over the phone that caused her distress or shock.
"Lovebug?" I quietly ask her. I scoot closer and place a hand gingerly on her back. She doesn't flinch away, which is a good thing, but she also doesn't melt into my touch like normal. "Baby - "
"My boss called," she says, cutting me off.
My heart drops and the room grows thick with tension and anticipation. It's palpable in the air - so much so I could probably cut through it with a knife.
"Was it about yours and Robin's book?" I hesitantly ask.
She nods.
"He - he - " she gets cut off by her own tears abruptly flowing down her face, her sobs clogging her throat.
Christian bows his head while Melanie places a hand over her heart out of sympathy. Fuck, it must not have been good news. I move over and wrap my arms around Amelia's shoulder, pulling her shaky figure to mine.
"It's okay, love," I whisper to her, trying to console my crying girl. My heart breaks for her, knowing how much time and effort she put into this book for Robin. "They're fucking idiots for rejecting it."
Amelia shakes her head.
"They didn't reject it," she tells me. I freeze and pull away from her just a small amount so I can look at her properly.
Did I hear her correctly?
"Wha-"
"I got a deal," she says. She sniffles and uses her hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. "HarperCollins wants to sign me. They're offering half a million dollars for 150,000 copies of Robin's book."
Suddenly, the world stops turning. Time freezes and life outside of this apartment halts.
Amelia got a book deal.
HarperCollins wants to offer her half a millions dollars for 150,000 copies of the book.
Of hers and Robin's book.
Their book is getting published.
"Amelia!" I yell, snapping out of my trance.
It's only now when I realize her tears are happy tears. She smiles through them, even though they flow relentlessly down her face.
Melanie and Christian scream as I pull Amelia to me, tackling her in a suffocating hug that causes her to giggle.
"I fucking knew it!" Melanie yells.
I vaguely hear her and Christian stand up and jump around but I'm too focused on my love crying against my chest.
"I can't believe it," Amelia cries.
I lean my head down and kiss the top of her head. Tears of my own prick my eyes but I try to suppress them.
"I can," I tell her. "It's well deserved, baby. I'm so so happy for you."
I can't even articulate how happy I am for her right now. Words just won't do it justice. I'm so overwhelmed with joy that my mind is clouded with a thousand and one different things I want to tell her.
Amelia continues to cry out of happiness and relief. I know how stressed she's been recently so this must be a huge weight taken off her shoulders.
I rub her back and kiss her head repeatedly while whispering how proud I am in her ear. Today really was the perfect day, wasn't it? From start to finish it was absolutely amazing and not to mention all of these things happened on the anniversary of when Amelia and I met.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts.
Amelia's going to be a published author.
HarperCollins is anticipating her book to sell at least 150,000 copies.
There's a good chance this book will be a best selling book considering the amount of copies it's predicted to sell.
But perhaps the most important thing to come out of this isn't success related, per say. It has nothing to do with money or - dare I even say - Amelia's career. Maybe that's awful but Amelia would agree with me.
The most important thing to come out of this is that Robin's final dying wish has finally come true.
...
AHHHH
ahh
ah