I was conflicted. For so long I wanted to get revenge on him and his other allies yet all he did was prove to me that he wasn't the bad guy. He wasn't the awful guy I had painted him to be in my mind. He had been loyal, helpful, and caring towards me in all his actions whilst I was focused on one thing. It had clouded my mind and had a huge influence on my decisions. Revenge. Reds Revenge he'd call it.
I looked at him and saw that his beautiful green eyes were shimmering as he waited for my response. He wasn't blushing, or relatively out of breath as I was.
"Arianna?" He asked softly.
"Yes." I whispered, "Yes, I will marry you."
Vinchenzo smiled in a way I had never seen before. He stood up and slid the diamond ring onto my finger, admired it for a few seconds, before his eyes met mine and he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you, too."
The moment was beautiful. I stared into his eyes, they were filled with an intense emotion. Love. When he pulled away, I saw my dad, Claire and Tristiaan standing in the corner cheering and clapping for us. A couple of seconds later, Trevor, Sienna and Dante joined the crowd.
"Congratulations!" They all chorused as they came forward and started hugging me and Vinchenzo.
"When did you even get here?" I laughed as I pulled Sienna into a hug.
"About thirty minutes ago. We saw the whole thing and the whole proposal speech was wholesome to say the least." She smiled.
"He only practiced it a billion times!" Dante exclaimed and I laughed.
"You rehearsed it?" I laughed, turning to Vinchenzo who started scratching the back of his head.
"I needed it to be perfect, just like you." He said and I grinned.
When everyone was done congratulating us, we all hiked down and decided to go back to my dad's house where Claire had prepared a huge dinner. Vinchenzo and I sat near the top of the table near my father who was preparing to say a small toast.
"Today I would like to raise a toast to one beautiful couple, who I believe will be able to go through all the ups and downs that life will throw at them. Just a warning kiddo's marriage isn't easy in the slightest." My dad said raising his champagne glass before he then gulped it all down.
When everyone was done drinking, we sat down and began to eat. Claire really had outdone herself for us. She had prepared steaks, roasted potatoes and vegetables. There was also some fried chips in the centre, I knew my dad must have mentioned my unconditional love for fries to her. We mostly ate in silence, whilst our friends shared a few remarks here and there.
Sienna seemed to be rather reserved but when I looked at her, she would force out a smile. I honestly would not have been upset if she had shown her true emotions. Losing someone you love, especially someone close, is difficult and I knew what it was like. It took me a long time to be able to overcome and accept my mother's death and then a couple of months later I had to go through my sister's one. I truly appreciated what she was doing, and I recognised how much she was sacrificing for me.
"So, when is the wedding?" Claire asked as she tapped her mouth gently with a napkin.
I looked at Vinchenzo who was already looking at me.
"I am not too sure, yet. I was hoping it would be around August."
"Closer to the winter." Claire said nodding her head.
"Yeah, that way the weather won't be too bad."
"I agree with you on hundred percent." She said and I smiled.
"It is not confirmed yet!" I said looking around and everyone just chuckled.
The evening continued in a really wholesome manner. We all set up the living room to have a nice movie night. We dragged every mattress, pillow and blanket we could find and placed them in a way so that everyone had a comfortable place to reside. Claire, Sienna and I decided to take on the snack's duty, whilst Vinchenzo and the Borgati twins went out to collect firewood and Dante was in charge of getting the movie to work. We had agreed to watch Home Alone as it was an iconic Christmas movie.
"Definitely skittles!" Claire grinned as she cut open the bag and spilled it into the popcorn bucket.
"I heard almonds are good with popcorn too," Sienna said as she set out all the chocolate bars onto a silver tray.
"You can check if we have."
"I'll look!" I volunteered.
I checked several cabinets but found nothing. They had some of the most random things ever.
"I only found pistachios." I said grabbing the large bag, "Do we have mince samosas by any chance?"
I was seriously craving them for some reason.
Claire chuckled, "An odd request. I think we have some in the freezer."
I opened the freezer and sure enough, there was a pack of frozen samosas. I ripped open the packaging and poured some into the air fryer and sat on the counter as I waited for it to cook them properly. Sienna grabbed a bucket and began putting all the ice in it.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her once Claire left.
"Better. Dante has been very supportive. I am not over it fully, but I am appreciating the fact that my baby went to heaven, and up there... it is was better than here. He is in a better place where no harm can come to him."
"Him?"
I had noticed that this was not the only time that Sienna referred to her baby in the masculine manner.
"I believe that he was a beautiful baby boy."
"I think he would have your beautiful hair." I said.
Sienna laughed, "Maybe. Or my eyes and Dante's hair."
"That would be a cute baby for sure." I grinned.
Sienna genuinely smiled, "I am sorry if I bothered you by my mood today. I have tried my best to be more positive but it's a little difficult."
I pulled her into a hug, "Sienna you being here is more than enough. I mean you came out all this way and I appreciate way more than you will ever know."
"Thank you." She said as I pulled away and flashed her smile.
"Are the snacks ready because the movie is." Dante said as he walked into the kitchen with the TV remote.
"We're ready. Just waiting for the samosas." Sienna answered as I hopped off the counter to check on them.
"Why are you making those so late?"
"Arianna was craving them."
"Oh. I see." Sienna grinned just as the doorbell rang.
"I shall get it!" Vinchenzo called as he jogged past the kitchen to the front door.
"He was here?" I said gesturing to where Vinchenzo had jogged past.
Dante nodded, "He has been here for the past five minutes."
"I didn't see him. That's strange."
"He used the back door. It's closer to where the firewood was stacked anyways."
I nodded my head. When Dante left, the air fryer beeped letting me know that it was finished cooking. I grabbed a plate and spilled its contents onto it before carrying the bowls of chips and my plate to the living room where everyone was waiting except Vinchenzo. I sat down on the couch for a few minutes before I started feeling very uneasy.
The feeling was unexplainable. It's that feeling when you know something bad is going to happen, yet you can't quite place your finger on it.
"I am going to check on Vinchenzo. He has been gone for too long." I said and walked to the front door.
When I got there, I gasped loudly.
"Diego?"
Hey Reddies!
I hope you have been having a fabulous day.
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Next Update: 11 December 2022
XOXO
Perla