“I’m sure you have a good command on exactly how they will feel, given that they have been sneakily planning things with you behind my back,” she said with a smirk.
“It’s because they love you. How can they not? How can anyone not?” I leaned over to plant a kiss on her lips. “You are so damn lovable.”
“So are you,” she said, kissing me back. “Thanks so much for arranging everything
with the move. And for Fiona, The Plaza and everything else. I can’t believe I get to marry you in three weeks.”
“You can have the rest of the day off,” I said, looking at the time. “I have some business to tend to and you have to go talk to your roommates and plan for your move. You can come in to work whenever you feel like it for the next three weeks or not at all if you don’t want to. You won’t be stationed at the teller’s booth—”
“No!” she gasped again. “No, Zayden. I haven’t earned a promotion. You know how I feel about making my own way to the top.”
“Well, that complicates matters. Considering you will soon be part owner of the company. I mean if you prefer to run half of this office while sitting where the tellers do, that’s up to you, but I would suggest that it’s not the best business move.”
“I didn’t earn this,” she whispered again.
“Yes, you did. I have seen your mind, Aria, and fallen in love with it. Remember when I asked you if you would work for me long before I even realized I was in love with you? Even when I had no plans but to seduce you, I was already blown away by your brilliance and your ideas. My company needs young, ambitious assets just like you, and this would be the fact of the matter regardless of whether or not we were getting married in three weeks.”
“But that’s not how everyone else will see it,” she protested. “They will all just think it’s some kind of nepotism or something.”
“Well, give me a list of everyone who thinks that way and I will fire every last one of them.”
She sighed. “That won’t be necessary. Fine, no more teller duties. Where do I sit then?”
“I am having them build you a new office right across from mine. So let me know what you want in that space. Meanwhile, you can just take that desk over there. I don’t think – well, I hope – that you won’t be engaging in much other work than planning your dream wedding for the next three weeks so that shouldn’t be a problem. By the time we are married, your office should also be ready, and you will have your own space to come up with brilliant ideas that I don’t doubt will bring my company heaps of money.”
“You give me too much credit, Zayden.”
It was my turn to sigh. “The fact that you think that is also one of your greatest qualities. God, if you could only see yourself the way I see you. We will talk again after you have assumed your new role in the company for a few months. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”
She shrugged. “If you say so. I’m going to head out now. I have a wedding to plan,” she said joyfully and almost hopped out of my office, leaving me grinning with admiration.
Chapter Five
Aria
By the time I got home, I still couldn’t process everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, starting all the way from when Zayden proposed to me in class. A wedding in three weeks! As much as that thought freaked me out, it also excited me. Three weeks from tomorrow, I was going to become Mrs. Sinclair after our wedding in the city of my dreams. It was as though someone had taken a chapter from one of my favorite romance novels and sprinkled it all over my life. Giddy from the marvel of it all, I headed straight to Nick and Stacey’s room. I leaned over to their closed door to make sure that I wasn’t interrupting an intimate moment, but when I heard them argue about video games, I knocked excitedly.
“Come on in, Aria. We already know you’re engaged. In case that’s what the excitement with your loud knocks indicated,” Nick said.
“I’m getting married,” I said, turning the doorknob.
“Didn’t I just say we know that?” Nick looked confusedly at Stacey. “Am I inaudible, Stace? Did I lose my power of speech?”
“In three weeks,” I added hastily. “I’m getting married in three weeks. In New York City. Code red.”
After a couple of gasps and hanging mouths, Stacey quickly assumed the role of my best friend. “I’ll get started on the cookies. You guys set up shop in the living room. Yes, this is code red.”
---
An hour later, the three of us were spiraled across the living room, stuffing our faces with Stacey’s amazing chocolate chip cookies.
“But, Fiona Davis!” Stacey exclaimed for the 15th time. “How did he? How is that even possible? I know he is some hotshot billionaire, but even then. Fiona is booked for years. Years! Not months, years. And from my understanding she doesn’t even adjust her schedule for A-list celebrities. I can’t believe Zayden pulled that off!”
“Well, I am not sure if I am supposed to tell you guys yet,” I said, beaming. “But he also booked her for your wedding next year.”
Stacey gasped the loudest I had ever heard her, as her eyes started to tear up. “What? How? Fiona Davis, for Nick and my wedding? That’s not…this is not real life. I’m going to go back to bed and be disappointed when I wake up to realize this was one awesome dream.”
“I’m serious, Stace,” I said, hugging her tight. “Fiona Davis will be planning your wedding.”