The Proposal

by R. R. Banks

  "I’ve been back about three years now," he said. "But I'll be sure to mention to my father that you didn't know. He seems to be convinced that the entire world is familiar with all my exploits. I think that he'll be glad to hear that I've managed to maintain some level of anonymity."

  "Exploits?"

  Gabriel looked vaguely uncomfortable and took a long sip of his water, ignoring my question. The waiter came to the rescue again, setting a plate of tiny appetizers in front of each of us. I wondered if he was conveniently positioned so that he could swoop in at Gabriel's signal.

  "So, how is Kathy?" he repeated.

  The conversation had been reset once again.

  "To be honest, Mom’s not doing very well," I said. "She's been sick for a while now and things were looking up for a little bit, but she's recently taken a turn for the worse."

  "I'm so sorry to hear that," he said. "Do the doctors know anything?"

  "She did some tests a few weeks back and we're still waiting to hear about those. Hopefully they'll be able to figure out what's been going on with her cancer and get her on some new therapies, but honestly, we're running out of options... and money. That's actually what brought me to work in your fine establishment. I really needed a job."

  "Not because you wanted to work for me?"

  He said it playfully, trying to put me more at ease.

  "As much as I would love to say that I was so overwhelmed by the impressive work your company has been doing that I couldn't bear the thought of spending another moment working for someone else… no. Sorry. I lost my job. And even before that, I wasn't making enough to take care of mom."

  "What happened to your job?"

  "Well, that particular point is a bit up for debate. We'll just settle on the fact that they no longer saw themselves as a good employment opportunity for me. It was kind of a culmination of a lot of bad things."

  "What happened?"

  I took a bite of one of the phyllo-enrobed morsels on my plate and nearly groaned at the delicious flavor that filled my mouth. I was so distracted by it that I temporarily lost control of the conversation.

  "A week before I lost my job, I also managed to lose my fiancé. I also lost my mind and might have thrown a peach or two at him, but I am fairly confident that my sanity has been somewhat restored."

  "What happened with you and your fiancé?" Gabriel asked.

  I wished I could shove all the elegant, bite-sized appetizers into my mouth so that I had an excuse to not answer him, but I got myself into this mess and knew that I couldn't stop now. I spilled the entire embarrassing story to Gabriel, finding it strangely cathartic even with the lingering sting of humiliation.

  "I was really thinking about just becoming a hermit and giving up on society for the rest of my life," I told him. "But Mom needs me, so I don’t really have a choice. And that was what brought me to your office, even though I didn't know it was your office at the time, for an interview."

  "Why didn't you tell me?".

  I looked at him strangely.

  “I told you. I didn't know it was your office," I said. "The name of the company didn't sound familiar to me at all. It was just an open position that I thought that I could make the most of, that is, if I could convince someone to hire me."

  "No," he said. "Why didn't you tell me before? Why didn't you let me know what was going on with your mom so that I could help you out or at least get you a job?"

  The humor drained from me and I shook my head, turning my attention to the next course that the waiter was bringing over. He really did have good timing.

  "I couldn't do that," I said.

  "Why not? I know you said that you didn't know I was back in town, but you could have found a way to get in touch with me. You could have reached out to my father. You should have known he would be able to find me."

  "No," I said. "I couldn't ask you for help."

  "Why?"

  "I would never be that presumptuous," I said. "At that point, we hadn’t talked in years, Gabriel. None of this is your problem anyways, so you shouldn't feel responsible to fix it."

  "I don't feel like I have to," he said. "But it wouldn't be presumptuous. Your family treated me like one of their own for most of my life. I would do anything to help you, Cherry... To help you and Kathy. You know I love her like she was my own mother. Just say the word."

  "I know she would appreciate that," I said. "But I need to do this on my own. It's just the two of us now, and she needs to know that she can rely on me."

  "Alright," he said.

  The evening didn't really have a chance to rebound after that. We fell into a conversation that was almost as generic as the one we had in the car earlier. We filled each other in on what we had been doing the last few years without getting too personal or detailed. Neither one of us brought up Brent again. I could tell that Gabriel was thinking about my brother, but I wasn't going to talk about it. Brent’s death must have been as hard on Gabriel as it was on me, but he didn’t have a chance to work through the grief with a support system like I did. He suffered with his own demons from that night and refused to talk about what happened with anyone. He completely closed himself off from the world. When Brent died, it was like a part of Gabriel did too. Even now, I could tell that Gabriel has never recovered, at least not fully. Although I could see that same, familiar look of mischief sparkling in Gabriel’s eyes, it was dull and muted compared to what I was used to.

  When we finished eating, he escorted me back down the stairs and into the waiting limo. I was glad that the evening was winding down, but at the same time, I didn't want it to be over. Not yet. It felt so good to be with Gabriel again, even if my stomach felt tight all evening and my heart had been pounding non-stop since I first opened my door and saw him there, waiting for me. I couldn’t help but think about the night he had turned me down. I felt like there was still a part of me that was that insecure, fragile girl. Part of me was still standing in that bedroom, in the lingerie that didn't feel like me, silently crying out to be comforted, to be reassured, to be loved. I was in so much pain and I was spiraling out of control. I thought that I would find what I needed to feel better in Gabriel's arms, but all he did was cause me even more pain that night. Even though years had passed, and the sting of his rejection had lessened, I often wondered what went through his mind when he saw me there, and what he was thinking when he walked away.

  Gabriel walked me up to the door when we got back to my apartment. I felt breathless when I turned around after unlocking the door. He was standing so close that I could feel the heat of his body. I had been wondering about this moment from the second he picked me up. This moment would define the evening, and I still wasn’t sure what would happen here. He stared down at me for several long seconds and the unfathomable expression in his eyes made me feel like he was searching to find the right words to say to me, but failing. Finally, he reached up and ran his fingertips along the curve of my cheek and my jaw. He tucked his fingers beneath my chin and tilted my face up as if he was trying to burn it into his memory. Then he smiled at me softly, bid me goodnight, and walked away into the night.

  Chapter Five

  Gabriel

  I laid on my back and stared at the ceiling. I hadn't been able to fall asleep since I got in bed that night. I had no idea how long I had been laying there, or how many hours were left until I needed to get up and get ready for work. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get my brain to quiet down enough to go to sleep. Cherry filled my head. Her sweet voice reverberated in my ears. Her beautiful face, gorgeous green eyes, and sexy body were all that I could see.

  I thought that having dinner would be a fun way to reconnect with her, and maybe even give me an opportunity to see that she had done well for herself. Maybe if I knew that life had worked out for Cherry, it would give me some sort of reassurance – a sense of repentance. It hadn't done that. At all.

  Although she had gone to college, just like she had always planned, which undoubtedl
y would have made her father and brother very proud, it seemed like Cherry had experienced some stumbles in her adult life. Things hadn't worked out for her how she must have envisioned. From what she told me about her ex-fiancé, it was obvious that she thought she would live out a fairy tale. That was typical Cherry. I could still remember her dressed up in princess gowns as a little girl, a plastic tiara settled in her nest of dark hair while she teetered precariously on toy high heels. The age difference between us seemed more exaggerated to me then and I looked at her as a cute child, completely lost in her imagination, telling herself the story of her future happily ever after. For her sixteenth birthday, I gave Cherry a silver tiara encrusted with crystals. That was the summer that I really began to notice her, and the last summer that I would spend with her.

  She wasn't that little girl anymore. Now, the three years between us didn't matter. Cherry had grown up to be beautiful and sultry. I couldn’t imagine her wearing blue or pink fake satin with plastic embellishments now. She deserved to be wrapped in velvet and lace. My mouth watered as my mind filled with images of what she might have had on under that little black dress tonight.

  An acute, painful feeling of guilt suddenly gripped my chest. So many lives were changed the night that Brent died. Cherry was only eighteen when it happened. Shit. We were only twenty-one. Babies. Nothing would ever be the same for any of us. But that didn't stop me from remembering the promise that I had made to him. I didn't know if he could see that I was beginning to notice his sister, or if he was just being an overprotective big brother, but Brent had been deadly serious when he insisted I kept my hands off her. He had made me promise that I would protect her, but also that I would know and respect my boundaries. I had already failed my promise to protect her. I had walked away from Cherry and forced myself to never look back. Now that I knew how much she had struggled and the difficulties her mother had faced, a woman I love and think of as my own mother, I felt like I had let Brent down even more. I should have been there for both of them. I should have been able to help.

  Suddenly, I sat up straight in bed. My brain felt like it was exploding with the brilliance of the thought I just had. Cherry. She would be perfect. She was the best possible choice to give me the heir and family that I needed for my father’s approval. She possessed every quality I desired in the mother of my child. I was obviously attracted to her, but it went beyond that. I knew her and her family. They were people who meant a lot to me and who I knew I could trust. Any child would be lucky to grow up like Cherry and Brent did. But having a baby with Cherry wouldn't just benefit me. Sure, it would mean that I’d inherit the company from my father, but it would also give me a way to help her and her mother. Tit for tat. Just as she would give me what I needed, I would make sure that she was taken care of as well.

  I rested my head back on my pillows, finally feeling as though I might be able to fall asleep. All I had to do now was convince Cherry that this was the best solution for both of us.

  The next day I went straight to her desk before stepping into my office.

  "Good morning, Mr. Reed," she said.

  "You don't need to call me Mr. Reed," I said.

  Cherry shrugged.

  "I don't know," she said. "I kind of like it."

  She looked down at the papers in front of her and then back up at me.

  "I wanted to say thank you again for last night, and that I'm sorry about the whole ‘Lifestyle of the Bitching Shameless’ rant that happened. That was kind of a downer."

  I shook my head.

  "Don't be so hard on yourself," I replied. "I actually wanted to ask if you had any plans for tonight. There's something that I need to talk to you about."

  Cherry looked even more startled at this request than when I had asked her yesterday. She blinked a few times and made a few stuttering noises before finally nodding in agreement.

  "Sure," she said, repeating her response from the day before.

  "Good," I said. "I'll meet you here after work."

  Before she could say anything else or question what I needed to talk to her about, I turned and walked into my office. I felt more productive and driven than I had in weeks and by the time the day had ended, I had burned through a huge amount of the work that had piled up. I hoped that was a good sign and that I would be able to keep the positivity of the day rolling. I grabbed my things and made my way towards Cherry's desk. Some of my good mood faded slightly when I noticed Blake standing beside her. The two of them were laughing and they didn't notice me at all until I cleared my throat.

  "I guess this means that both of you had a productive day," I finally said.

  Cherry and Blake looked at me, their laughs trickling off.

  "It wasn't bad," she replied.

  "Good to hear. Are you ready to go?"

  "Um, yeah. Just let me get my purse and everything together."

  "You can meet me at the private elevator," I said.

  I was pleased when it only took her a few minutes to catch up with me.

  "Is something wrong?" she asked.

  "Did you have lunch with him again?" I asked.

  She narrowed her eyes at me.

  "No," she said. "Not that I can imagine what that has to do with you."

  I could tell that she was getting defensive and I shook it off.

  "I was curious," I said.

  "Okay. Where are we going?"

  "I thought we could grab some take-out and bring it back to my house."

  "Your house?" she asked.

  "Yes," I said. "What I need to talk to you about is confidential. I don't want to risk anyone overhearing us."

  Cherry looked suspicious and I avoided making eye contact with her. I needed to wait until we were completely alone to talk about the baby.

  Almost an hour later I was carrying a large bag of Chinese food into my apartment. I noticed that she was looking around as I set it on the table.

  "This is where you live?" she asked.

  "Not exactly," I said. "Well, not all the time."

  She looked at me.

  "What does that mean?" she asked. "You're not living all the time that you're here?"

  "No," I said with a smile. "This is my apartment. My house is further out in the suburbs and sometimes I don't want to leave the city. So, I maintain this apartment."

  "That explains it," she said.

  "Explains what?" I asked.

  "It doesn't feel real. It’s too sterile. It doesn't feel like someone actually lives here. Like it's a set."

  "Um...Thank you?" I replied.

  "You're welcome."

  I shook my head slightly as I walked over to the couch and sat down. This girl knew how to keep me on my toes. I had never met anyone else quite like Cherry. I was intrigued by her. It seemed like that attraction would make the arrangement even better. I couldn't imagine having a baby or raising a child with a woman I couldn’t stand for more than a few hours at a time. I enjoyed being around Cherry. Hopefully, this worked out and I could enjoy being around her while fulfilling a need for both of us.

  "I appreciate you coming over tonight," I said.

  "What did you want to talk about?"

  "I've been thinking a lot about what you told me last night," I said.

  "About Anthony?" she asked.

  She sounded uncomfortable with the prospect and even though I could assure her that wasn't the case, I’m pretty sure being uncomfortable was in the cards for the next few minutes.

  "No," I said. "About your mom and you needing money."

  "But I got a job," she said, twisting her chopsticks in the container of lo mein in front of her.

  "I know," I said. "But I have a proposal for you."

  She paused, then slowly withdrew the sticks from between her lips.

  "A proposal?"

  I drew in a breath. There was no sugarcoating this. There was no way that I was going to be able to sneak my way around this one. I needed to forge ahead. So that's what I did. I don't think that I bre
athed from the moment that I opened my mouth until I finished explaining the situation. When I was finished, I inhaled deeply, let out a long sigh and hesitantly looked over at Cherry.

  She stared back at me.

  A mushroom fell from the ends of her chopsticks.

  "What?"

  I got up from the couch where I sat and walked over to sit beside her.

  "I know, it sounds like a lot, but think about it. I can offer you an extremely lucrative contract. I'll make sure that your mother has the very best care for the rest of her life, including equipment, medication, 24-hour care from nurses, anything that she needs. I'll move the two of you into a larger, newer house and ensure that you will be more than comfortable. For the rest of your life. All you have to do is have a baby with me."

  Pause.

  "What?"

  "Let's be honest here. I don't have any prospects for having a family on my own. And to be honest, the more I think about it, the more what my father said makes sense. There has always been another generation to prepare as the future successor, and the more that we grow, the more important it will be to look into the future and know who is going to lead next. I want to be able to inherit the company and keep it in my family, but I don't want to leave it up to the chance of finding some random woman, getting married, and having a child. You want to make sure that Kathy has the care she needs and not have to worry about money as much. It works out perfectly for both of us, really."

  "And all I have to do is…have a baby?" she asked.

  Her voice was dry and cutting, but I ignored it.

  "Yes. We will establish a very clear-cut contract from the beginning so there aren't any questions, and everyone will know the expectations and requirements of the agreement."

  "What happens after the baby is born?" she asked. "Would I be involved with it?"

  "If you want to be," I said. "That's up to you. We can include things like visitation or co-parenting in the contract." I eased closer to her on the couch and reached out for her hand, taking it in both of mine. "We've been friends for a long time, Cherry. I'd like it to stay that way. If you agree, I think that having two involved parents is what would be best for a baby."