by Claire Angel
“Xavier?” I heard Erika say sleepily.
“I’m so sorry,” I said apologetically, “I was trying to sneak out to let you sleep for longer, but then I knocked over that bowl of potpourri. Here, I can at least clean it up.”
I bent down to start picking up the pieces of potpourri that had spilled, but she shooed me away from it. “No, no, don’t do that,” she ordered, still fighting against the sleep that was trying to overpower her.
“It’s really nothing, I’m almost done,” I responded.
“Xavier, stop doing that right now and come lie down in bed with me.” When I heard Erika say that, I knew that I had to stop.
I turned around and she had a very serious look on her face, so I decided to behave and obey her. I dropped the potpourri I had in my hands in a very dramatic manner, and then walked over to the other side of the bed and crawled under the covers with her.
At first I was very polite and just lay there beside her and didn’t touch her, because I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to do. But when she moved over beside me and curled right into me, I got the idea of what she wanted. I held out my arm as an offering for her to cuddle into me more and when she did, I pulled her in close.
For a moment, I wondered if this meant something. Was this Erika’s way of telling me that she felt something for me that went beyond the slow pace we were taking our relationship at? But I knew that I couldn’t focus on that for long because she was probably only doing this because she needed comfort right now. She probably would have asked anyone who had come by to visit her to crawl into bed with her like this... right?
“You smell good,” she whispered into my chest, and I could tell from her voice that she was starting to fall back asleep again.
“Oh yeah?” I asked encouragingly. “What do I smell like?”
I could hear Erika’s breathing becoming deeper as she crept nearer to sleep, but she still managed to answer me. “A nice... men’s cologne, new car and...” Erika’s voice was barely audible now, and I thought she might just drift off to sleep mid-sentence. But she surprised me by taking in a deep breath and finishing with, “and the love of my life.”
My heart jumped into my throat.
Did... did she just say... the love of her life?!
But before I could ask for any clarification, Erika had drifted back off to sleep. I could hear her now softly snoring in my arms, and so I pulled her in a little closer.
She was sleep talking, you idiot, I told myself. Don’t you dare ask her about this when she wakes up, because I bet she didn’t even mean to say it. She’s still feeling so sick, and she might be a little delirious still. Don’t read too much into this.
But of course, Xavier did. As he lay there with the gorgeous woman of his dreams in his arms, his mind encouraged him to think about the possibility that Erika really did love him. He wondered if they’d go ahead with their wedding... but for real this time. But then he thought that fantasizing about that was taking things way, way too far. Even if Erika did love him, the chances that she’d want to marry him so quickly were slim to none.
But what if she does? Do you want to marry her? Can you imagine that?
Xavier hadn’t even stopped to think if he felt the same way about Erika. He could have kicked his past self for telling her that he wanted to take things slowly, because now the opposite was true. Back then he hadn’t yet realized what a phenomenal woman Erika was, and now that he had, he couldn’t possibly imagine his life without her.
He thought back through all of the incredible moments they’d shared together: Erika rescuing him from the bottom of the glass at the bar, going around to all of the wedding planning places that one day, and then meeting her father at the retirement home. He looked down at Erika sleeping peacefully in his arms, and his heart absolutely broke for her. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have a father who doesn’t remember who you are or a brother who has abandoned the family. And yet Erika dealt with it all with grace, kindness and understanding.
As he lay there in bed with her, Xavier knew that he had his answer. He knew that he loved Erika with all his heart, and he couldn’t imagine going the rest of his life without her in it. Yes, he wanted to marry her for real, but was he going to be able to tell her all of this without frightening her?
No, He thought, because what if I do and ruin what we have right now? I can’t imagine doing that, or making Erika feel uncomfortable.
Xavier tried to think more on what to do about his feelings for Erika, but soon he found himself struggling against sleep. His eyes were at half mast, and he tried looking around the room to distract himself, but he knew he couldn’t right it for long. And then, before he knew it, he was out cold and couldn’t ponder whether or not his feelings for Erika would be reciprocated.
He woke up a few hours later when he felt Erika move from her spot in his arms. He opened his eyes and looked blearily at the clock beside the bed, which now read 2:05. Xavier was confused. He thought he had gotten here around eight pm, how could it now be two pm the next day?
But when he saw how dark it was outside the window, he knew that he had made a mistake. It wasn’t 2:05 pm, it was 2:05 am. They had slept through the evening and into the night.
“Woah,” he heard Erika say from beside him. She was now sitting up in bed, and he noticed that her cheeks were red from the heat of his body that she’d been pressed up against for the last six hours. “Did we really sleep that long?!”
Xavier chuckled. “Not as long as I’d thought. When I saw the time, my brain decided that it was tomorrow afternoon instead of the middle of the night.”
Erika looked over at him and sleepily laughed, and then yawned and stretched. While she was doing that, her stomach grumbled, and when it did she looked down at it in surprise.
“I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was!” she said in surprise.
“Then it’s a good thing I’ve got a midnight snack prepared for us already,” I informed her, pulling back the covers and crawling out of bed.
“You did?” she asked.
I nodded. “It was supposed to be your dinner, but then we just kind of...” I gestured to the bed and then finished, “passed out cold.”
“Well thank you for letting me do that,” Erika replied. “I needed that more than I realized.”
I shrugged happily. “Of course, you’re still recovering from your bout of the flu and your night at the hospital. If you slept for the next twenty four hours straight I wouldn’t have questioned it. Come on, I’ll heat up dinner for you.”
I beckoned her out into the living room and as I went out there, I could hear her slowly following behind me. When I got into the kitchen, I heard the footsteps stop. I turned around.
“This is what you call dinner?” Erika asked, looking stunned. I looked back at the meal I had prepared for her.
“I know it isn’t much, but”-
“Not much?!” she cried. “Are you kidding me, this could feed an entire football team! You’ve got lasagne, a whole rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, salad... whatever this is...”
Erika walked around the table where I had set the food and marvelled at it all. “That’s spaghetti squash,” I informed her, “but are you sure this is enough? I wanted to make sure that you were well fed to help you recover.”
Erika started laughing, and didn’t stop for a few minutes. I thought for a moment that she might be laughing at my food, but when she finally caught her breath, she said, “Xavier, you’re too much. Thank you.”
She walked over to me and hugged me, and I’m embarrassed to say that when she did, I reflexively bent my head forward and kissed the top of her head. We both froze for a moment, but then Erika went right back to hugging me even tighter. I was so relieved that she made no mention of it.
“Do you want to sit out on the patio?” she asked as she pulled away from me.
“The patio?” I asked skeptically. “Isn’t it a little t
oo dark to be on the patio?”
Erika gave me a doubting look and then walked over to the other end of the dining room. She flicked a switch, and suddenly her patio was illuminated by hundreds of fairy lights. I chuckled at my error and said, “Of course you have those. That’d be great.”
We warmed up the food (after Erika reassured me that neither of us were going to die because it had sat out for a few hours) and then collected everything up on trays and brought it out to her patio. While she was setting up all the dishes, I snuck back inside the condo and brought out the champagne that I had brought with me. I didn’t know if she felt up to drinking, but thought it might be a nice gesture either way.
When I came back outside, we each served ourselves and then sat back in her reclining deck chairs and looked out over the city. It was such a stunning view that I found myself dazing out as I looked at all of the gently twinkling lights of the office buildings and the stars. When I’d had a minute to enjoy everything, I looked over to Erika and said, “It’s remarkable how quiet the city can be in the middle of the night, isn’t it?”
Erika nodded, her mouth full of chicken. When she’d finished chewing, she replied, “Honestly, the middle of the night is my favourite time to be out here. It makes me feel like I’m the only person awake in the city... and I rather like that.”
She was looking at me in a way that made my heart skip a beat. Erika was so strikingly beautiful, and she looked even more so in the moonlight, that I found myself fighting back my urge to kiss her. I knew it had been a bold move in the parking lot at the hospital, but I wasn’t about to make the next move once again.
“I know exactly what you mean,” I replied, taking another bite of lasagne. “When I was a teenager I loved staying up until all hours of the night for that very reason. It was the only time I felt like I could really be alone, and I needed that.”
Erika cocked her head to the side. “Why did you need that?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I was kind of a lonely kid. I absolutely hated school, I only had a few friends, and my parents seemed to constantly be disappointed in me. The middle of the night became the only time I didn’t feel crushed by their expectations of me... but then of course because I stayed up so late so many nights, my schoolwork only got worse. I think my parents were convinced I was bound to become a homeless drunk until I left for university. It was there, when I was finally away from their judgement, that I was able to find out who I really was and what I wanted to be.”
When I finished talking, I was worried that I had rambled on for too long, but Erika looked quite engaged. She chuckled under her breath and then replied, “I can’t believe how similar our childhoods were, Xavier.”
I looked at her, confused, but didn’t respond as she looked like she was just about to explain herself more. “Part of the reason why my father is so fixated on my brother is because Oliver was always the perfect child. He got good grades, he played every sport our school offered, he dated all of the right girls, and he never disappointed our parents,” she illuminated as she ran a piece of lettuce around her plate with her fork. “I, on the other hand, was a misfit until I figured out that I could start my own company. I ran with the wrong crowd, I did horribly in school, and I never wanted to do anything that my parents asked me to. I was a terribly angsty teenager, and all of this made me miserable right up until I was finally able to move out of the house when I was eighteen.”
Erika took a pause and sighed, but I remained silent in the hopes that she would keep talking, which thankfully, she did. “But even after I moved out, I had a pretty awful relationship with both of my parents. I never made up with my mom before she died, and so I think that’s a part of the reason why I torture myself by going to visit my father every week: I see it as a sort of penance for the way I was as a young person. And even though Oliver has now abandoned the family, in my dad’s mind, he’s still the perfect child because his only other option is me. And he’ll always choose Oliver over me.”
Tears were now streaming down Erika’s face, and I knew immediately what I had to do. I stood up, put my plate down on the table and then walked over to her and did the same with her plate. She started sobbing, and I scooped her up into my arms and carried her over to my chair. I sat down and held her as tightly as I could in my arms, rocking her gently back and forth as she wept.
“It’s alright, its okay Erika,” I whispered to her. I felt awful because I never really knew what to say when comforting someone, but I hoped that would suffice. “Our parents are often the ones who we think hate us the most, but that isn’t true. I could tell even just from the small interaction that I had with your father that he loves you more than anything in the world. You don’t have to believe me, but I know what I saw.”
Erika kept crying for a little longer, and then she hiccupped and tried to catch her breath. “That’s very sweet of you to say,” she said sadly, “but I don’t think that’s true. My father would be very contented if I was to just disappear off the face of this earth and he had his dear Oliver to come and visit him.”
I shook my head vigorously. “I think you’re wrong,” I replied gently. Erika raised her head and looked at me, still devastated. “Did you hear how the tone of your dad’s voice changed when he talked about you? He didn’t have that when he mentioned Oliver. He positively lit up when he mentioned you, and he wouldn’t do that if he didn’t love you.”
Erika rolled her eyes. “He was just teasing you, he wasn’t being serious about what he said.”
“Yes he was!” I said, possibly a little too forcefully. “Erika, you’ve been going to visit your father every week for how long?”
Her eyes started filling with tears again. “Two years, three months and two weeks,” she recited.
“You’ve been visiting him every week for two years, three months and two weeks,” I repeated, “and your father, even if his mind won’t let him at times, remembers that. He knows that you’ve been making an effort, and no effort to repair a relationship ever comes too late. Your father is wildly proud of you, Erika, and he has every right to be. You’re the most magnificent woman I’ve ever met.”
Those last few words slipped out before I could stop them. My eyes widened and I froze, but Erika was now looking at me like I had said exactly the right thing. “You... you think I’m magnificent? Really?” she asked quietly.
I knew that the sensible thing to do would have been to back off, but I just couldn’t anymore. My feelings for her were bubbling to the surface and they tumbled out of me. “Yes. I think you’re the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever known, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met you. You’re incredibly smart, you know exactly what you want and you go for it, you’re independent and headstrong and you’re absolutely breathtaking on top of all of this. Erika, I have to tell you that I... well, I...”
I looked deeply into Erika’s eyes and I knew that she knew what I was about to say. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking, but I knew I needed to say my piece. I opened my mouth to tell her that I loved her, and-
My cellphone rang in my pocket.
I looked at Erika in disbelief, but then she quickly shuffled off me so that I could answer it. “He...hello?” I answered uncertainly.
“Xav, sorry to bother you in the middle of the night like this,” my assistant, Greg said on the other end of the line, “but it’s important. You’re supposed to be marrying Erika Heatherington in a week, is that right?”
“Yes...” I said hesitantly.
“How do you feel about marrying her tomorrow?” he asked.
“What? Why?”
“Because Baron and Angela are trying to buy up the remainder of Accutek, and the only way to stop it is to marry Erika tomorrow,” Greg explained.
My brain was still in love land and was having a hard time catching up. “Wh...why?” was all I managed to spit out again.
“There’s a clause in your shareholding agreement that say
s if a merger happens with another company while you are in possession of your shares, another buyer can’t take the company out from under you. And because I’m not sure if you and Erika want to actually merge our companies, I thought that marrying her would be the easiest way to”-
“Let’s do that then,” I said hastily. “We’ll make the changes to our arrangements right now, and I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
Greg agreed with me, and then we hung up. Erika was still standing in front of the chair, staring at me with her hands on her hips. “So? Who was that? What’s going on?”
I sighed, slipped my phone back in my pocket and smiled at Erika. “You know how we’re supposed to be getting married in a week?” I asked her.
She nodded hesitantly. “Yes...”
“Well,” I replied, still in shock myself, “how do you feel about getting married tomorrow instead?”
Chapter 15
Erika
After Xavier said those words, the rest of the night was a flurry of activity. I called Natalie and she came over and helped us as best as she could, even though she was even more exhausted than we were. Xavier’s assistant Greg also showed up, and I met him for the first time. He was a great help because he had no prior understanding of the way we had planned our wedding to go down, and so he was just able to throw out ideas to us. At one point later on in the night/earlier on the next morning when we were calling guests to make sure they could attend, Greg said, “What if you just have the bare minimum of people? Parents, siblings, myself, Natalie and that’s it? Save yourself all this nonsense of calling hundreds of people?”
