You'll Say Yes (44 page)

I chuckled nervously and took the bouquet from him. "It smells wonderful. What is it?"

"Hmmm..." He wrapped his arms on my waist and pursed his lips. "I've always wondered about your mysterious scent. I know it's like a flower, but I couldn't put my finger on it. And then, I wanted to give you something tonight. I stopped at a florist and then I saw these. The amazing thing was it smelled just like you."

I gave him a look.

"Its freesia, dear, and this is my favorite flowers now."

I smiled. "You're hopelessly romantic."

Joshua grinned. "Of course I am, dear. So, let's have our dinner outside tonight and please, wear a dress."

My smile disappeared. "Joshua!"

He seemed oblivious and un-wrapped his arms from my waist. "Go get change while I have my shower. I'll put these flowers in a vase."

I gaped at him while he raised his eyebrows; challenging me to have an argument with him.

I rolled my eyes. "All right."

He smiled victoriously and I handed him the bouquet. I walked back to my room and opened my closet. I sighed. I didn't have another dress, but I knew Joshua won't listen to me. I decided to wear the deep blue dress, the one which I wore when I had dinner with his parents for the first time. I changed my clothes, applied light make-up and curled my hair. An hour later I was ready and I guessed so did Joshua. He knocked on my bedroom door and I opened it. No need to tell how handsome he was tonight.

We walked to the apartment's garage with my hand linked on his arm. We drove from the apartment with his car, of course, and I almost raised my eyebrows when I saw the restaurant. It was the place when we had our lunch for the first time.

Joshua quickly got out from the car before I could say anything. He opened the passenger door for me and I got out, once again in his arm. We got in into the restaurant and I almost giggled when I saw the same waitress that gave my fiancé her number on the bill, but he returned the bill back to her. It was priceless to see her expression.

"Good evening. We have a reservation here," Joshua said to the waitress. I knew he tried to stay calm while actually he wanted to smile or laugh.

The waitress blinked several times. "Uh..yes...under which name, Sir?" She stuttered.

"Walsh," My fiancé answered shortly.

She looked over the list and her eyes widened. "Um...apparently you reserved a private lounge. Is that correct, Mr. Walsh?"

"Yes."

I fought not to smile.

She nodded dumbly. "Please, follow me, Sir."

She started to walk and we followed her inside. She guided us to a private lounge and Joshua said thank you to the waitress. A table was already been set up with food and drinks and my memory wandered when he did this to me in Florida. Joshua pulled a chair out for me while I smiled gratefully to him. He sat on his own chair after I settled on mine.

"When did you have time for all of this?" I asked him curiously.

He smiled while poured the wine to my glass. "I always have my own way, dear Abby."

I rolled my eyes.

"Come on. Let's have our dinner."

We ate our food with some soft music filling the room. After we were finished, Joshua extended his hand and held mine from across the table. I looked at him immediately. The soft light from the restaurant illuminated his handsome into more angelic and beautiful. My heart fluttered.

"Actually, I'm taking you to dinner outside tonight to congratulate you for your promotion and to tell you something."

I looked at him curiously.

He smiled timidly and gave me an envelope with his free hand. I took the envelope and almost gasped when I looked into the UNC logo. He encouraged me to open it with his eyes. I took a deep breath and pulled out a white paper from inside the envelope. My hand was shaking slightly when I unfolded the letter. I read the letter and almost squealed happily when the letter came to ‘UNC School of Medicine proudly accepts your application for your pediatric degree...’

I looked back to him and laughed breathlessly. "You made it. They contacted you back."

Joshua smiled widely. "Yes, dear. I want you to be the first to know about that. I even didn't tell my parents yet."

I smiled and looked back to the letter. The rest of the letter told me about the examination and the interview schedules. Joshua still had time for four months to prepare everything. I was so happy for him. I knew I was doing the right thing. I've never regretted my decision not to accept the offer in England. I wanted to stay here with him.

"And now...there is one more thing that I want to do properly this time," Joshua's voice brought me back to reality.

I raised my head to look at him. He took the letter from my hand and rose from his sitting position. I mimicked his move and now we were standing face to face.

He smiled tenderly and slowly slid down on one knee.

I gasped.

"Abigail Annabel Bennett, I've been in love with you since my childhood and I love you more every single day. I know you are my soul mate, I know you are my best friend and I know you are my everything."

I gulped and trembled slightly.

He gingerly took my left hand where I still wore my engagement ring. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you and always make you happy. With this ring, I want to ask you one question."

My eyes brimmed with tears this time.

"Will you marry me?"

I laughed breathlessly while fighting not to cry. I nodded furiously. "Yes, Joshua Walsh. I will marry you."

He smiled widely and rose from his kneeling position. He laughed too and kissed me deeply. My heart drummed loudly and almost busted with happiness. Joshua broke the kiss and leaned his forehead to mine. "Finally!" He said to himself.

I chuckled. "What took you so long to propose to me? I will say yes, though."

He grimaced. "I'm just looking for the right time after all the tension in our relationship and I couldn't be happier to do it now."

I laughed lightly and so did he.

"So, have you thought about the date?" He asked me.

I pursed my lips. "Well...I must do one thing first."

He raised his eyebrows. "And what could that be?"

I smiled. "I have to tell everyone one big news."

He chuckled. "What? That we are engaged?"

I grinned. "Nope."

Joshua was getting confused. "What is it?"

I smiled coyly. "I want to tell them that my fiancé is Joshua Walsh."

He laughed happily and kissed my forehead. “I know you’ll say yes.”

Yes, he did.

Everyone seemed happy to hear about our 'real' engagement this time. My parents were happy, Joshua's parents were happy, even Stella and my best friend, Ethan, were also happy for us. Stella started to contact my mom and Farah to discuss the details for the wedding. I told Stella that I wanted to get married before Joshua started his preparation for exam in UNC. I still didn't comfortable about living away from Joshua, but I also couldn't just follow him around while he finished his master degree. This was the first thing that we discussed seriously. Joshua will stay at an apartment near his college and of course he asked me to accompany him for the search. I've done some research about the flight fees from Seattle to North Carolina and it was not a cheap one. There was no way I could visit him every week. My mood turned gloomy when I knew about this. With some calculations from my part, I could only manage to visit him twice a month. But, Joshua told me to not to be sad. We could contact each other through Skype and he will spend his holiday with me in Seattle.

We started to prepare for our wedding more seriously this time. Joshua started to talk more often with his family and his aunt and I was so happy for them to be reunited again. He also discussed some wedding details with them too. Joshua and I decided to wed in Seattle, because we could invite everyone that we know and of course there were venues which were representable for the reception. Stella also started to discuss about the wedding dress with me. She sent some of designs to my e-mail and I tried very hard to keep it from my fiancé. My best friend also insisted to have a bridal shower for me few days before my wedding. As hard as I fought not to have that kind of event, but I couldn't win against Stella.

Joshua and I also started to complete our papers for our wedding. We contacted a clerk and discussed for some identification that we need to make our matrimony officially legal. This thing was the easiest one apart from other preparations from a wedding.

As for our work, the news for Joshua's acceptance in UNC already spread in the hospital. A lot of his colleagues congratulated him for his pediatric degree and also for his engagement. He asked Dr. Keller to be his best man and the elderly man gladly accept Joshua's request. As for me, my work turned to normal. Some of my colleagues already knew about my engagement and congratulated me. I contacted some of my previous authors and asked them to come to the wedding. Kelly was the first person who said yes while the others happily said they will come to my wedding. I reluctantly invited Helena too and silently prayed her cousin didn't have to come.

It was Thursday morning when Marianne, Mr. Smith's secretary, suddenly appeared in my booth and told me that my boss was expecting me.

"Please, have a seat, Ms. Bennett," Mr. Smith told me when I arrived in his office.

I sat on a chair across from him.

"First, I want to say congratulations for your engagement, Ms. Bennett. I'm sorry if it's a little bit late for that."

I blushed slightly. "Um...thank you, Sir."

My boss smiled. "I hope you will have a lovely wedding and a wonderful marriage. I can tell that this man really makes you happy."

I chuckled nervously. "Yes, Sir. Thank you."

He folded his arms on the desk and looked at me seriously. "As you know, Miss Bennett, Miss Stevenson already told me about her resignation early this morning and I also want to talk about your promotion."

Huh? Camila resigned?

"You mean Camila Stevenson, Sir?" I asked him in surprise. I've heard she was bubbling about that before, but I never knew she was serious about that.

He nodded. "Yes. And we need two new employees for junior editor position. I know you are working with Kelly Stevens again and it will not affect your new position. I will promote you to senior editor position."

I blinked. Seriously?

Mr. Smith smiled and extended his hand. "Congratulations, Ms. Bennett."

I chuckled nervously and gingerly shook his hand. "Thank you again, Sir."

My boss laughed lightly. "I will tell Marianne to set the new office for you and place a new job advertisement for new employees."

I bit my lip.

I know someone who could possibly fill the position and I know she will do great in this job. "Um...Sir, I have a suggestion."

Mr. Smith looked at me curiously. "Please, continue."

I took a deep breath. "I have a suitable candidate for the position, Sir."

My boss raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

I nodded. "Her name is Josia and she just graduated from English Literature. I will give you her number if you want to have an interview with her."

He smiled widely. "That would be lovely. You can give her number to my secretary, Ms. Bennett. Thank you."

I smiled back. "You're welcome, Sir."

~O~

I told Joshua about my promotion when he got home in the evening. His tired eyes suddenly lit up when he heard my story. He gave me a deep kiss and offered to cook dinner for me. I had no choice but to accept his offer. At exactly in the moment, Stella texted me and informed me about the design for my wedding invitation. She also reminded me to start making the guest list so she could calculated the catering for the guests. I grimaced mentally. I almost forgot about that.

Joshua started to make dinner for me when I had my shower. After changing my clothes, I decided to start listing the guests while waiting my fiancé to finish cooking. I sat on the living room floor, in front of the coffee table with some blank papers and a pen in my hand. I scrawled some names; Thomas, Jennifer, Ethan, Samantha, Melinda, Brian, Kevin and his plus one (I positively grimaced to that part), John, my authors, some of my colleagues, my bosses and some of my high school friends. I pursed my lips and realized I must call my parents to discuss which friends of theirs that they wanted to invite. And then I felt two strong arms wrapped my waist and I could feel Joshua sitting behind me. His chin rested in my shoulder.

"Dinner is ready," He whispered and kissed my neck briefly.

I shuddered slightly and he chuckled. He was such a cheater.

"Thank you. I just check this list and then I'll have my dinner," I answered him.

I could feel him nod. I turned my head slightly and showed him the paper. "Do you want to invite more people? I've just wrote my guests and I think it's fair if you do that too."

He smiled and took the paper from my hand. He looked over the list and nodded slightly. "I think it's good. I should call my parents and asked for their guest list."

I smiled grimly. "I've been thinking about that too."

Joshua kissed my temple. "Thank you for wanting to do this for me. I know you don't like festive and extravagant events, but with you willingly have this kind of wedding means so much to me."

I chuckled lightly and turned my body to face him. "Just promise me you won't leave me alone with all the guests."

He scoffed. "I wouldn't dream of it. I will bring the shackles if I had to."

I made a face. "That's rude."

He grinned. "Well, you should know that I won't let you stay away from me in our wedding day."

I sighed, pretending to give up. "I can't believe I'm going to marry a madman."

Joshua chuckled and wrapped his arms again on my waist. "True, but you love me nonetheless."

I giggled and he kissed my forehead briefly.

"Come on. Your dinner is getting cold."

~O~

Everything seemed to pass in a blur. Even though Stella, my mom and Farah helped me with the preparation, still I felt the tension from it. It seemed so many things that Joshua and I had to deal with. His preparations for UNC, my new office and position, my plan to move back to my old apartment when Joshua moved to stay in North Carolina and every single details like wedding cake, the papers, the guests, the venue, the caterings and mostly the dress. Stella already told me she will have long vacation from her work to have dress fitting with me and Joshua. She assured me that everything was fine because she told her boss that my wedding was going to appear for the newest edition. I didn't have much choice but to trust her.

The tension was getting thicker when the date was closer and my head almost exploded from all the excitement and the preparations. It was four weeks before my wedding and Stella already arrived in Seattle. Although she insisted she could afford the fees in the hotel, my fiancé insisted back that he will pay for her stay in Seattle. That was the first time I saw Stella couldn't win against Joshua. I think I need to learn how to beat her someday.

And don't forget my mom. She always found the way to get me embarrassed with her childish mind.

"I know about your plan to wait from having children. I think it's good, honey. Did you ever think about how to be safe?" She asked me from the phone in one afternoon.

I could feel my cheeks flushed. "Um...actually I want to talk about that with Joshua, Mom."

"Hmmm...well, you could try the birth control or reminding Joshua to wear something safe before you guys-"

"Look, Mom," I interjected. I couldn't believe my own mother was giving me this kind of advice. "I will talk to Joshua, alright? Don't worry. He's a doctor. I'm sure he knows...stuff like that," I stuttered.

"Okay," My mom said again, seemed oblivious with my discomfort. "I think it's the best way to talk with Joshua, though. It's a good start to have a very-"

"Bye, Mom."

Well, that's my mom.

Today I went home from work feeling exhausted. Joshua was already home and I walked straight to my room to grab fresh clothes and my toiletries bag. I took my shower and after changed my clothes, I collapsed in my bed. My fiancé lay next to me and stroked my hair.

"Hard day, dear?"

I sighed and lifted my face from the pillow to look at him. "All of these preparations are killing me. I just wish everything will be over soon."

Joshua smiled coyly and scooted closer to my body. "If everything is over, you already become Mrs. Walsh and we definitely won't spend our honeymoon in this bed," He said to me with husky voice.

I shivered and my heart turned erratic.

His eyes already darken with passion and I knew him well enough to feel his desire to get close to me. My stomach knotted and I couldn't fight the desire in my body too. His head dipped down and kissed me softly.

Once.

Twice.

And then his hand knotted in my hair and kissed me passionately. My brain hazed and clouded. I moaned lightly when I felt his other hand touched my bare skin from under my T-shirt.

I couldn't think.

I tightened my hold on his body and pulled him even closer. Our kisses began frantic and our breathing turned shallow. It seemed we couldn't hold back all the sexual tension from the past few months. He took off my T -shirt and I did the same to him. And now we were on the bed with him shirtless and me only with my bra and yoga pants. He leaned his forehead to mine.

"Abby...love...you don't know how much I want you right now...but, I think we can't do this now...is that alright with you?" He asked me in rough voice and looked at me with dark eyes.

I took deep breaths and smiled slightly. "Of course, Joshua. Like I said I wanted our first time to be special."

He smiled tenderly and kissed me briefly. I grabbed my T-shirt from the floor and he did the same. We lay back on the bed with my head on his chest. He gently stroked my back and hummed my lullaby. His heartbeat drummed softly in my ear. I slowly traced random patterns on his T-shirt while thinking about what my mom said. I wasn't afraid to ask him. I was just afraid if he felt uncomfortable. Besides this was the first time for me discussing a very private subject. Well, at least I could try.

"Joshua?"

"Yes, love?"

"You remember when I said that I wanted to wait for us to have children, right?"

"Of course."

"Well...I...uh...want to say...something about that."

I could feel he shifted slightly and I raised my head to look at him.

"Go on," He encouraged me.

I swallowed hard. "Uh...you know that I'm still a...virgin, right? And I've never had those kinds like birth control or stuff like that. I..uh...just want to ask you about that. I mean...you're a doctor and you probably know about-"

I stopped my rambling when I saw the corner of his lips turned into a coy smile. I blushed immediately.

"Oh, God!"

I quickly hid my face on his chest while he burst out laughing.

"This is embarrassing," I muffled on his T-shirt.

His laughter subsided and then he stroked my hair. "Abby, look at me, please."

I took a deep breath and peeked to him with one eye. He smiled. "Actually I want to talk with you about that too, love. It's a good thing you talk about that first. Well, it's safe to have a birth control and I will make an appointment for you with one of my colleagues in the hospital. As for myself, I could use something for that."

I scoffed and leaned back to his chest. "Yeah."

He chuckled.