Sometimes I wish... That I could wish it away...
(Wreaked- Imagine Dragons)
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Everything around them stopped. Everyone paused or was she just hallucinating all those things? Briana was shocked to the core. She treated him like a good friend but never knew he saw her for someone much more than just a friend.
People around them were staring. Briana and Ricky now had everyone's attention, practically possible. Ricky was still on his knees, waiting for her answer. On the other hand, Briana wanted to say a lot more than just a yes or no, but how was she supposed to get the words out of her mouth? What was she supposed to say?
She didn't want to break his heart, but at the same time, she didn't want to break her own heart.
'Oh Ricky, you have no clue what dilemma you've put me in!', she thought.
Just as she was about to say something, her eyes landed on a particular person, actually two people, along with rest of the guests, staring at them.
She looked at him and he was looking back at her. There were looks being exchanged between Briana and the person sitting right at the other end of the restaurant.
Jake, along with that girl, Mia had occupied one of the private cabanas as they stared down at his employees. It was at that moment that something in Briana broke. She saw the love of her life having the time of his life with someone else, and how much it hurt her to see them together, he had no clue.
But was it Jake's fault?
He didn't even know that she had feelings for him!
Moreover, she was the dumb one to fall in love with her Casanova boss who's not a one woman man.
Yes, that's right!
Briana was very well aware of the kind of image he possessed but that never bothered her, until now!
When she actually saw him occupied with someone else.
Her heart broke every time she thought about the two of them together and how she'll never be able to have him for herself.
"Hello? I'm still down here!", Ricky interrupted her trail of thoughts.
Briana instantly looked down at him. She saw the determination and insecurity in his eyes. No wonder she was the reason behind them. Her one 'yes' could lighten up those blue orbs staring expectantly at her, On the other hand, a 'no' would just make water pool around them.
She tore her gaze away from him, shifting it to the person she loved.
'I know how it feels to be rejected by the person you love, to have the feeling that you'll never be good enough for them, no matter what you do! So it's better if some of us could get the one we love'
With that though in her mind and a forced smile on her face, she looked back at the person bent on his knees.
"Yes!"
"What??????", Ricky couldn't believe his ears.
"YES! I will be your girlfriend!", she reiterated, accepting the blue sucker.
"Oh my god!!!", Ricky got up on his feet. He wrapped his arms around her waist as he hauled her up in the air earning a squeak from her abruptly, when he swirled around. "I cannot believe my ears!!!", he gasped, putting her down on the ground. Briana smiled at him as he hugged her over and over again.
"Relax..", she patted his arms and gestured him to sit.
"You have no clue how happy you've made me today!!!", he said trying to calm his erratic heart beats. "Honestly, I thought you'd deny by the amount of time you took to answer me!", he said, resting his hands on hers on the table.
Briana didn't say anything as she kept quiet, giving him the time to calm down and pour his heart out. However, at the same time, she saw people applauding for the two of them, but Jake and Mia. They got busy with their own thing as they weren't looking in her direction anymore.
To say that she was devastated would be the understatement of the year!
She thought that if there was a chance for anything to happen between her and Jake, the confirmation for the same would come now. And that could only happen if he were still looking at her.
But he wasn't.
"Briana, where are you lost?", Ricky asked as he snapped his fingers in her direction.
"Oh! Nowhere. Just listening to you", she hesitated, fearing that she might have been caught looking at anyone but her new boyfriend.
She heard him sigh as he squeezed her hands.
"Are you happy?", was what he asked instantly.
Briana turned her head in his direction abruptly, hearing him say so. "Why-Why do you think I won't be?"
"I don't know. You just look.. distant", his face fell as the excitement in his eyes threatened to fade away.
"Oh Ricky, it's nothing like that!", she lied. "I wasn't prepared for all of this!", she said gesturing to their interlocked hands. "I mean, I had no clue you were planning the proposal all this while!", she said, covering his hands with hers.
"I know, I'm sorry!", he said holding tightly onto her hands. "I shouldn't have done this so soon! I mean a hint or something would have been better to know about your feelings, right?", he asked.
"Kind of, but at the end of the day, I'm happy to be with you!", she said.
"Oh really?"
Ricky and Briana turned around, only to find Jake standing right beside their table. He looked at Ricky and then at Briana. They were shocked to see their boss standing right next to them, making them rise to their feet unconsciously.
"Sit sit!", Jake said, as he went around to Briana's side.
They didn't dare to sit as Jake's calmness in situations like these meant the beginning of a huge storm. Jake went around the table, crossing Briana, over to Ricky. He held out his hand to congratulate them.
"Congratulations to the both of you!", he said.
Ricky shifted his gaze between Jake's hand and his face. Having no other option, he hesitantly accepted it.
"Th-thank you, sir..", Ricky stammered unaware that his boss was here all the while.
"I'm happy for the two of you as I already sensed something going on", he said, which sounded more like a taunt to Briana but Ricky..
he didn't seem to have noticed that as he smiled from ear to ear.
Jake shifted his attention towards Briana who was sat on the chair, looking as baffled as someone could be. She wanted to ask Jake so many questions about what not, but she wasn't in the position to do so.
Somewhere down the line, the only thing she wanted to ask him was, 'Did it hurt you the way it did to me?'
But she couldn't.
She just couldn't, because she had no place to say that!
She loved him and not the other way round.
On the other hand, Jake gave her a quick nod as he headed back to his table.
Meanwhile, Mia was waiting for him at the restaurant exit. As soon as he arrived, she smiled seductively while latching herself onto his arm. With one last look at Ricky and Briana, they exited.
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The next morning, just like the previous day, Ricky was at Briana's house, waiting for her to come down. Briana was making breakfast in the kitchen when her phone binged. She wiped her hands clean and unlocked her phone, only to find a message from Ricky.
'Waiting for my girl at the porch..'
Briana smiled at the message as she was the person who hardly received sweet messages. She went over to the window and saw him leaning against his car as he waited patiently for her. She smiled at his figure for he didn't know she was watching him.
'Be there in a minute!'
She looked back at him and saw him typing something. Soon enough she received a reply from him.
'Don't make it long. I can't wait to start my day with you'
That got another smile making its way onto her face. She took one last look of him and then hurried back to get through the breakfast. At first she thought of inviting him inside but then she pushed it at the back of her head as calling him in would just make them late for work.
Soon enough, she walked out of her house and over to him. He embraced her as soon as she walked over to him. They greeted each other and sat inside the car. With one small peck on her forehead, Ricky started the engine and drove out.
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Jake was sitting on his chair, his mind going through the events of the previous night.
No! He was not thinking about the proposal between Ricky and Briana but about him and Mia. Last night, he planned to take her in his arms and fuck her, just to confirm if she was the same girl that night. But to his astonishment, Mia didn't even think twice before going to the bed with him.
That was the first thing that turned him off. If she was the girl, which he thought she was, Mia would have stopped him, or at least resisted the sex that he had planned for them but she happily obliged.
Jake decided not to pay much attention to it because the final confirmation would come from the passionate night together where their bodies would collide with each other as they fight for dominance.
However, nothing like that happened.
Jake wasn't in the mood, for the first time in his life. This girl that he was with did nothing that could turn him on. Moreover, she used a different fragrance. It wasn't the one that he remembered.
At the end, he wasn't able to climax but made sure she did!
After all, it was also about his reputation.
On the other hand, Jake wanted to give himself another chance with her as he wasn't himself the previous night. Mia could possibly be the one that he was looking for. And in order to find that out, he had to be patient.
Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door, breaking his reverie of thoughts.
"May I come in?"
***