Leila's POV
Eternal Happiness
4 years later
"Dear Ms. Hart, Big Drop Inc is pleased to offer you the position as web project manager—" the words were barely past my lips before a pair of arms slipped around my waist, hoisting me up from the computer chair and into the air as they crushed me in a tight gripped hug.
Blake's cheerful laughter enveloped my ears as he set me down onto my feet, his arms never breaking free from around me, "I'm so proud of you, Leila, you did it!" He exclaimed as he planted a kiss against my cheeks.
I actually did it.
After three years of being tormented in class to get my degree and an additional year working as an intern to get hands-on experience as a web designer I finally did it! "This is amazing, and this calls for an all-girls night out!" Midge slid towards me, Sam in tow behind her as they both tugged me into their arms.
As I was prepared to slip out of their grip, Peter joined in, enclosing us all in his ridiculously strong grip. "Guys! I can't breathe!" I wheezed through my clenched jaw. Blake appeared in my line of view and outstretched a hand towards us. I felt his fingers enclose around my wrist and in one swift motion, he tugged me out of their arms and into his.
"Sorry! We're so happy for you! and speaking of come on, we need to pop some champagne." Sam bellowed out as she clasped a hand around Midge and Peter's wrist, tugging them into the kitchen before beckoning me to follow them. As I took a step forward, I was halted in my footsteps when Blake's hand tugged me back, preventing me from leaving.
I narrowed my head up to gaze at him, he smiled softly, "you don't look as happy as I'd hoped you'd be." Of course, I'm not. I applied for a position in Los Angeles and got accepted, so that would mean I'm leaving him. Before we even started dating, I told Blake about my plans to move to LA one day, I don't want to stay in Boston.
But I don't want to leave him. I can't ask him to leave his job and uproot just for me, that would be selfish. It has to be his decision and whatever he chooses I'll accept it because I love him, and when you love someone you must be happy for them, whether or not that happiness includes you.
Web designing has always been Kyle's and I dream. During my first year in high school, I never really had any dreams nor aspirations. Kyle however loved Web Designing, it was all he ever talked about. So one day when he asked me to help him with a project for his class I did and I fell in love with it too. Ever since he died, my goal was to make his dream come true. . .our dream. And it finally did.
"We'll talk about this later, I'm gonna call your parents, we're celebrating tonight, I'll book a restaurant. Go drink some champagne," he said after my moment of silence. I nodded my head and retreated towards the kitchen to see Sam holding a bottle of champagne in hand, struggling to pop it open.
"Hey, Peter, be a good boy and open this," she shoved the bottle into his hand and flashed him a tight-lipped smile. Peter rolled his eyes in response and swiftly popped it open, his eyes narrowed as if saying 'seriously?'
"Oh my god, I just had a crazy thought, what if Blake proposes tonight?" Midge whisper yelled. I stared back at her incredulously. Blake? Propose to me? I mean sure we've been together for four going on five years but we have so many things we haven't done yet, is marriage really in our plan now?
"Well if he were you just ruined the surprise," Peter deadpanned as he slid a champagne glass towards me. "Would you say yes though? I mean you guys are practically already married, it'd be dumb to say no." I flickered my eyes towards Sam and rose the glass to my lips. In one full sweep, it was down my throat, "of course I'd say yes."
"Say yes to what?"
Blake sauntered into the kitchen, the house phone dangling at the ends of his fingertips as his eyes snapped around the room. I cleared my throat, eyeing my friends wide-eyed as if silently asking them to save me. Sam's mouth fell agape, Midge's lips were pursed in a thin line and Peter was downing a glass of champagne, his brows raised high.
I chuckled nervously, "anyways! Champagne huh!"
~~~
"Congratulations, Leila, your father and I always knew you could do it, it's in your blood, after all, to succeed in everything you do," Patricia exclaimed as she broke free from my grasp. "Yeah sis if they didn't hire you somehow I would have gone to LA and burnt the building to the ground," Brandon rose his head upwards and smiled.
I leaned down and ran my hands through his hair, ruffling it into a mess. He swatted my hand away and scowled, "don't touch the hair woman, I can't afford for the ladies to see it in a mess tonight. I mean just look at all the babe-"
"Brandon!" Patricia seethed.
"What!"
"I love this kid." Riley chuckled from beside Blake. I lowered myself down beside him, "yeah that's Brandon for you." Blake also invited his best friends Riley and Michael who I've grown to become good friends with as well. The first time I met them they freaked out for some reason. Riley proceeded to bow down and kiss my palm, not letting go until Michael and Blake had to pry him off of me.
Michael wasn't any better because he went in for a hug. And I don't mean a five-second hug and then break apart. I mean a bear hug where he refused to let me breathe to the point where Blake and now Riley were the ones who had to pry him off me. They're sweethearts, respectful, incredibly intelligent like Blake, loving. I don't regret having them as a part of my life and journey.
"Yeah well, he better watch that mouth of his before I confiscate his phone." Patricia scolded. My father placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze as an amused chuckle parted his lips. "He's a kid who's going through puberty and a spike in hormones, take it easy on him because it gets worse before it gets better."
My dad treated Brandon as if he were his own son and would spoil him beyond words could explain. Patricia would scold him but he didn't care, I didn't blame him. No one did, we all knew he was trying to fill in the void of his dead son. . .of my brother and it always made my dad happy to see Brandon smile. So if he was happy we all were.
"Are we celebrating or what? Waiter! Hey, waiter come here!" Michael shouted, his hands flailing over his head. We all stared at him incredulously and Sam leaned into him and slapped a hand over his mouth, her eyes wide. "Sorry, babe." His voice was muffled beneath her tight grip. She narrowed her eyes to slits before releasing her grip.
After I confronted Drake about cheating on Sam, he broke it off with her. Though I was in a coma during that period, she reassured me that it never did take a toll on her as I expected it would. This was then revealed to be a lie by Midge who said her breakup along with me being hospitalized was one of the most devasting periods in Sam's life.
But with a combination of Netflix, the five stages of grief and ice- cream and obviously me waking up, she got over it. When Sam and Michael announced to us that they were dating we were the least surprised. One night Blake had a small get together for his twenty-third birthday and Michael and Sam hit it off immediately.
They began dating three weeks later and have been together ever since. I'm happy for her, Micahel is an amazing guy.
The night went by quickly. We all enjoyed our meal, toasts, the whole gits of it. I can't lie and say for half of it I wasn't distracted. After today I'll be packing up for LA and Blake might or might not come with me. Am I ready for this? Am I suited for a long-distance relationship? I think not.
"Everyone, I'd like to make a toast." Blake's voice broke me out of my trance and I peered up at him as he suddenly rose up from his chair, his wine glass perched up in the palm of his hands.
"Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight to celebrate this milestone in Leila's life. For someone who has been through so much torment in her life, this is just the beginning of eternal happiness. I'm so proud of you, Leila, you are not only beautiful but strong, courageous, intelligent to the point where sometimes I think you're smarter than me. . .I just-I just want to say congratulations."
A chorus of congratulations erupted around the table as everyone grabbed their wine glasses, the clings of the glasses knocking against one another rang through my ears and with a tight-lipped smile I thanked everyone for the thousandth time today.
"Before I sit down there's one more thing," Blake said, his eyes flickering down towards me. I snapped my eyes towards Midge, Sam and Peter who were already staring at me, their brows raised suggestively. There's no way Blake would propose to me tonight, they were just looking too deep into things.
"As you may all know, Leila's job is all the way in Los Angeles. Meaning she'll no longer be living uhm here." He cleared his throat and momentarily broke eye contact. "Uhm Leila does this thing where she overthinks things even if I reassure her about said. . .thing. And in this case, she's been worrying about moving to LA and whether or not I'll come with her."
His eyes flickered to mine once again. I held my breath, unsure of what he was going to say. The table fell into a crippling silence and I looked around, watching the anticipation and confusion on everyone's faces. "About a month ago, I contacted a realtor in Los Angeles. I found this building on the market for sale and somehow with my incredible charm I convinced the realtor to keep it available for me until I'm ready to purchase it so she agreed and this morning I called her up and I put a downpayment on it."
What?
What the hell is he talking about?
"I know it's not easy, and I know I'm going to have to invest a lot of money into this and I know I can have the rug be pulled underneath me but I'm doing this anyway because come on, I'm Blake freaking Kingston, what can't I do? So everyone I'm starting a business in LA and I'm leaving. . .with Leila."
His words barely registered in my mind before I sprung up from the chair, eyes wide, threatening to well with tears as I peered up at him. He nodded his head, answering my unasked question. He set the wine glass down onto the table and took my hands in his grasp, "I promised you four years ago that I'd do anything for you. I go wherever you go, I don't care about the risks, I don't care if I have to start from scratch as long as I'm with you. I love you, Leila, we're in this together or not at all."
The table erupted in cheers, drowning out the sob of relief that escaped my lips as I crashed into his arms, hugging him tightly. I no longer had control over the tears that pricked at my eyes moments ago because at this moment they weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of happiness.
In the past years Blake has become the other half of my heart, without him I don't know how I'd be able to function fully. If that were taken away from me who knows what I would become. The fact that he sought out a realtor a month before means he always knew deep down I would have gotten the job.
And that's all the motivation I needed.
At this moment, happiness could barely describe what I was feeling.
They were all here, my family, sitting with me and celebrating our success. It will surely hurt to move away from them and start a new life, but they'll always be there in my heart. The people that helped me get back onto my feet, helped me see the world how I did years ago until it was tarnished. They all made me a better version of myself and I'd forever be thankful for it.
"There's just one more thing," he whispered into my ear. I frowned deeply as he pulled away from the hug. Then he took in a sharp intake of breath and retrieved something from his back pocket. Then I watched, my heart dropping to the soles of my feet as Blake lowered himself down onto one knee, a diamond ring shining across my eyes.
"Will you marry me?"
THE END
Thank you guys so much for giving this book a chance when I once thought no one did. You guys are the most AMAZING readers someone could ask for (including you silent readers) and I just wanna thank you all for the support and positive and lovely comments that I get on my chapters daily. I never realized what I great impact this book had on you all and I didn't expect it to at all, I just expected it to be a cliché Wattpad book but along the way, you guys have made me turn it into something better. Once again thank you! And I'll surely be seeing you guys once again in my new books! Love you all😘 XFiction_GoddessX❤️