Never have I been so excited to be returning home after a work trip. Florida is nice and all, but nothing beats returning home to the person you love.
Not to mention the "something special" that Garren told me that he had planned; that is what I am really excited about. I just wish that Kai was going to be back in time, but he isn't due back until tomorrow.
I could feel the plane moving as it descended lower and lower out of the sky. It was mid-afternoon and the sky was surprisingly clear for my flight back. It was raining yet again when I had departed Miami-Dade, and I thought the rains would have followed me back to Boston, but it cleared up not long after take off. While I looked forward to the next visit to Miami that was coming in a few weeks, I decided that I would need to bribe Garren into letting me borrow his financial advisor for at least part of the week if not the entire week.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have already begun our decent and plan on landing at Logan International in ten minutes. Flight Crew, please prepare for landing."
I folded my tray and laptop placing the latter in my bag and stretched a little before refastening my seatbelt. Through the window, I could see the ground moving ever closer and I could now began to make out the cars as they moved in lines that cut through the sereneness of the landscape. In the distance, I could make out the harbor and the open waterways beyond. For some reason, the view brought back memories of standing on a balcony feeling torn as I looked out into the darkness while the man I loved stood only inches away. I fought so hard to stay composed that night, to not be selfish and ruin a life just to find out that he was trying just as hard as me that night.
I walked through the sliding glass door thirty minutes later and onto the sidewalk. I see the taxi stand to my right and watch briefly as several people I recognize from my flight make their way over before I take my phone out of my pocket. Garren said there would be someone here to pick me up, but so far, nothing.
Before I could open the text screen and begin typing, a message pops up at the top of my screen.
"Sorry Baby Girl, there was some extra traffic that caused a slight delay. ETA, 3 minutes."
"I was just about to protest, I thought you were slippin'." I add a laughing emoji as I giggle to myself.
"Don't insult me, woman!" He responds seconds later making me laugh out loud.
"You are silly! I will see you soon." I grab my luggage handle dragging it behind me as I make my way to the taxi stand.
Just as I reached, a black stretched Hummer pulled up from behind and stopped just beyond the taxi stand. I squeaked, jumping up and down while my luggage toppled over onto the sidewalk. All of the people standing at the taxi stand gasped and fawned over it.
The driver climbed out, coming around to face me and opened the door. With a wave of his hand, he beckoned me to come fourth, but I was already running toward him. After three steps I stopped when I remembered my suitcase on the ground.
He smiled widely as he took the handle from my hand. "Good evening Miss Leighton."
I giggled again then ducked my head to get in. At first glance, it looked like the exact same hummer that picked me up the night I met Kai. I climb though the door making my way across the seat so that I could sit by the window. From the corner of my eye, I see a figure sitting at the opposite end along the side.
"Kai!" I scream as I scramble toward him. "I thought you were still in New Jersey!
He laughs at my enthusiasm as he catches me in his arms. Our Lips meet, and suddenly I am no longer tired from the long journey home.
"I was until this morning. I was able to wrap things up a little faster than originally planned. Also, I am partially the reason why your ride was late. I wanted to surprise you."
"You are wonderful, and I am so happy to see you." I pull him closer just as the driver pulls off, and the force of the sudden movement sends me flying over and the next thing I know, he is on top of me.
"I missed you a lot." He says alluringly as he stares into my eyes.
It still feels like a dream as he kisses me.
We pull up to the event location after a brief stop at my apt at Kai's insistence that I change into something fancier than what I was wearing for Garren's party.
From the outside, the night lounge didn't look like anything special, but on the inside, once again I was amazed at Garren's staff's ability to turn any place into a million dollar resort.
"All of this for me?" I say as we make our way toward the main room. I clap my hands excitedly.
I hear Kai chuckle then feel his arm encircle my waist. He pulled me close kissing the top of my head. "Well you are our favorite person. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you."
I look up at him and he is smiling at me, but I can tell that he is hiding something. We make our way up a set of stairs moving toward what looks to be a private lounge area. This place starts to look more familiar the further in I go.
"Is this the place that we met at all those months ago?" I ask suddenly and he nods. "Wow! It looks so different during the day." I laugh. "To be fair though, the only thing I remember about that night is meeting you. It didn't help that we took a helicopter here either. Interesting that he chose this particular place."
"We figured it would be a fitting place for your party."
"We?" I asked, but I didn't get the opportunity to hear his explanation as the doors opened up before me and everyone inside the room shouted in greeting. In spite of already knowing about the party, I still found myself squealing in surprise and when I looked around and really took a look at the people gathered in the room, I squealed even louder. There was Greg (of coarse) but Riyan was here also. I ran over and hugged them thanking them for coming. I see Janet next, and as I hug her she scolds me again for just running out like I did but she gives her approval with a side glance in Kai's direction.
The next person I see brings tears to my eyes. He stands alone seemingly among the crowd, and yet, he is in the middle of them.
"Daddy!" I rush over to him wrapping my arms around him practically knocking him over. He steadies us as he hugs me back. I feel a pang of regret that I let so many weeks go by without seeing him, but I am ecstatic that he is here with me now. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard there was going to be a big party for a very special woman that I know." He says as he looks over at Greg.
I laugh looking over at Greg as well. "I can't wait to meet her." Everyone laughs. I gasp as I realize that he has never met Kai, and has only seen him in the photos that I have sent over the past week. I look around for him, and then beckoned him over. "As you know, there is someone I have been wanting you to meet." Kai comes forward to stand beside me. "Dad, This is the guy I told you so much about.
"I know; we've met." He says as he smiles at me, knowingly.
"What? You did?" I look at him a bit surprised. I turn to look at Kai, and what I see takes my breath away and I am at a loss for words.
I see Kai standing before me, and in his hand there is a ring, in a small blue velvet box with a tiny bow on top of it. I notice that the room has gone quiet in anticipation.
"I met with your father while you were in Florida." He says as he takes the ring out of the box just before grabbing my hand.
I turn to look at the other people around me and Greg of all people is bawling. I want to laugh but I knew it would turn into an ugly cry and I wanted desperately to not ugly cry right now.
"Kai, are you serious right now?" I ask as I turn back to him, my eyes moving back and forth from the ring to his face.
"I almost lost you once and it just about ruined me. I can't lose you again." He says as I watch him slip the ring onto my hand. I see that he has tears of his own running down his face and it was like a green light for me to start gushing. "So what do you say? Will you stay with me forever?"
"I believe that I want to keep you." I say through several sniffs and everyone laughs while simultaneously "awing".
"So is that a "Yes"?" He asks raising a brow at me, letting out a high-pitched laugh that attempted to hide the fact that he was both desperate and full of anxiety.
"Well..." I say playfully and I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. "Oh yes, of coarse I want to marry you." Everyone shouts as he scoops me up into his arms and whirls me round and around.
Those standing closest to us quickly rush over, but a loud and familiar voice causes some of them to stop in their tracks.
"Now I am gonna need you all to just hold off for a moment. I will be the first person to congratulate the happy couple."
I laugh as Garren makes his way over to us, the people in his path slowly backing away to let him pass. He was dressed in the most casual clothing that I had ever seen him in, a white button up shirt and jeans. I don't think I would have recognized him out in public. He wraps his arms around me almost squeezing me in a bear hug that stretched on for many seconds.
"That's long enough." Kai mutters but it was loud enough for those closest to hear and pretty soon the entire room was laughing.
Garren rolls his eyes as he waves off Kai's statement. "I am proud of you girl, real proud. Originally this party was supposed to be about you and you only, but someone, and I won't say any names, had to turn this into something that included him also, so selfish." He said in a reprimanding tone making everyone laugh again and this time it was Kai who did the eye rolling. "So what do you say Miss Gabriel? Shall we get this party started?"
As if on cue, the lights in the room dimmed and the stage lit up. When the curtain opened, I could see a band on stage and to my delight, it was the same band from Garren's birthday celebration. I practically screamed as they started to play one of my favorite songs from that night.
"Come on, let's dance!" Kai said as he took ahold of my hand.
"I believe that I am allowed to have the first dance with the young lady." My father said suddenly."
Kai looked from me to my father and back to me. A slow grin lights his face. "Of coarse sir." He said with a slight bob of his head.
I take his arm and he leads me to the floor. "Some awesome friends you have. He says as we start to dance.
"They aren't a bad bunch." I say.
"He really cares for you. I was a bit, no, a lot skeptical of him when he showed up with Greg the other day. But I can see it in the way he looks at you. Even now he is watching you with so much emotion. I would look at your mother the same way. He is a lucky man."
I smile at my dad knowing that he truly means it. He spins me around into a dip making me laugh through the tears that are escaping my eyes. "I am so happy that you like him, he really is the greatest person." I glance over at Kai and we smile at each other. The look in his eyes sent shivers through out my body.
The song ended several minutes later and I see Kai out the corner of my eye approaching me in an almost urgent air about him. He takes my hand leading me toward the back of the room. We exit into a hallway different than the one we passed through to enter the dance hall. The door was barely closed behind us when he whipped around suddenly pulling me into him. He grabs my face, his lips finding mine without effort.
When we parted, he looked calmer, than before. I smiled up at him as he closed his eyes and sighed happily. "Feel better?" I ask with a slight giggle.
"You have no idea." He said laughing a little himself. "I couldn't very well do that in there, you have no idea how hard it was to me not to. You made me the happiest person ever today."
"You sound like you weren't sure if I would say yes."
"I didn't. You had gone through a lot over me. Greg kinda told me everything while we were on the way to meet your father." He kisses me again.
I reach up to touch his face. It still amazes me a little that I get to do this. "It wasn't fun, no, but I can't say it was entirely your fault. You can't help that you are so handsome and awesome."
He reaches up to take my hand in his and he kisses my fingers. "I have been waiting to do this for so long, it still feels like a dream kind of."
"I was just thinking the same thing." I said as I leaned in to kiss him again.
We were interrupted moments later when someone came bursting through the doors out into the hallway and suddenly Kai was five feet away from me and I watched him wide eyed as he tried to act as if nothing had happened.
It was Janet who had also had jumped slightly not expecting to find us there. "Sorry you two! I was asked to find you because photographer wants to take some pictures before everyone gets too wild and crazy. I think he was referring to David."
"Oh, well alright." I bit puzzled. I hadn't remembered seeing him out there.
"He just arrived, but he is already a little turnt up." She revealed answering my unspoken question. I hold my hand out to Kai and he takes it happily. "Let's go, and whatever he asks just nod. Those people I work with no nothing."
He looks slightly puzzled, but he nods. "Whatever you say love."