The One Left Behind (The One Series)

by Lena Nicole

  “So, spill. How’d it go? What was the big secret?”

  “He’s proposing to Addison.”

  “Oh, hell.” Both her eyebrows shoot up her forehead. I don’t think she was expecting that.

  “My thoughts exactly.” I lean back in my chair and stare blankly at the wall over Charlotte’s shoulder.

  “Well, what did you say? Are you happy for them or are you still not over her?”

  I’m definitely not over her, but for some reason I don’t tell Charlotte that. I think I’m afraid it’ll make me look weak. I look back to her before saying, “He said he wasn’t looking for my blessing, just giving me a heads up out of respect. What am I suppose to say to that? Congrats? Yeah, right.” I rub my head as I feel a headache coming on stemming from the pressure behind my eyes.

  “So you told him to fuck off?”

  “No, after my brain could form sentences again I told him that if he hurt her I’d break his legs and that he needs to treat her right because she deserves it.”

  “Sounds to me like you did give him your blessing,” she says matter of factly.

  I think on this for a second. Did I? I threatened him, yes, but by telling him to treat her well was I condoning his planned engagement? I rest my elbows on my desk and lean over. Fuck me. I did give him my blessing.

  “You just realized it, didn’t you?” Charlotte asks sympathetically. I’m trying to hide my inner turmoil from her, but she might be more perceptive than I give her credit for.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t intending to do that, but the words just came out. I just want her to be happy and Pierce better do that for her or we’ll have problems.”

  A small smile spreads across her face. “You’re a good friend, C. She’s lucky to have you in her life still. If you care about her, then keep doing what you’re doing. Be there and support her.”

  I repeat Charlotte’s last statement through the rest of my day and when I get home after work. I do still care about her, and if this makes her happy then what choice do I have? I’ll just have to find a way to move past this too and try not to be miserable about it.

  THE TRIP TO New York this time around is a lot colder now that it’s December, but I’m used to the cold since I grew up with it in New Jersey. Pierce mocks me while I am packing my suit case. I pack long sleeved shirts and sweats to layer over. I pack my Uggs and winter coat, hat, and gloves. Pierce is helping me close my suitcase while I sit on it so he can zipper it. He is joking that I packed too much and I tell him not to raid my stash of sweat shirts when he’s freezing his balls off.

  We are staying at the St. Regis again and I couldn’t be happier. The beauty of this place will never become boring to me. Pierce checks us in and my face grows a little red thinking of our little encounter in here our last visit.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and if you want I will be happy to relive that moment with you,” Pierce says breaking me out of my thoughts of that day.

  “Oh really?” I arch an eyebrow. “And what if we get caught again?”

  “Well let’s just hope they are as awesome about it as Harold and his wife were.” We both quietly giggle and I place a kiss on Pierce’s lips.

  As the elevator dings and the doors open, Pierce waves his hand for me to go first. We go to our suite and I slide the key card in the door. Before I can walk in, Pierce scoops me up and carries me into our suite. He kisses me just before he places me down on the couch.

  “What was that for?” I ask with my eyebrows scrunched.

  “Just practicing for the future.” Pierce says with a shrug.

  I like that he can talk about “our future” and not go running for the hills. We don’t discuss it often, but if anything does come up he doesn’t avoid the topic. He actually encourages us to talk about our future when it comes up. I love that about him. He’s not afraid of the unknown with me.

  Jokingly I say, “You know, normally you ask the girl to marry you and then you pray she says yes. And after sweating that out you have to make sure she makes it down the aisle before carrying her over the threshold.” Pierce just shakes his head at me before bringing our bags into the suite.

  “Trust me, when I ask the girl to marry me, there won’t be a doubt in my mind that she will say yes,” he says with some cockiness. For some reason hearing him say that sends butterflies to my stomach. Could I be that girl? Am I ready to be?

  “Why don’t you get settled in? I just have to run out and make sure some things are taken care of,” he says.

  “For your meeting?” I ask. Pierce tilts his head at me in confusion.

  “Huh?”

  “Your meeting. That’s what you have to get set up, right?”

  “Oh, yeah, the meeting. I’m sorry, babe. I must be more exhausted than I thought.”

  “It’s okay, why don’t you call me when you’re on your way back and I’ll order us room service and we can just relax tonight,” I say as I run my hands through his disheveled hair.

  Pierce places a kiss on my head. “That sounds perfect. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  Pierce isn’t gone too long. When he gets back we eat and soak in a bubble bath. We are both more exhausted than we thought because as soon as our heads hit the pillows we are out.

  The next morning I wake up to my alarm going off at six thirty. As I’m about to shut it off, Pierce hurries over from the bathroom and shuts it off for me. He kisses my head and tells me to go back to sleep. I am too tired to argue so I do. When I wake up a couple hours later, there’s a note on my nightstand.

  Hey beautiful,

  I’m assuming that alarm you set was for me. Thank you for caring enough to make sure I didn’t oversleep. I will be back shortly. If you get hungry go ahead and order breakfast.

  I love you,

  Charming.

  I stretch my body and get up to order breakfast. Just as I am about to pick up the phone, Pierce comes in the door all sweaty and in workout clothes.

  “Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?” He leans over and gives me a kiss that tastes a little salty.

  “Yes, aren’t you supposed to be at work? Did something go wrong with the meeting?”

  Pierce starts to strip out of his wet clothes so he can shower. “No, the meeting got delayed. I was hoping if you didn’t have plans we could spend the day together and grab dinner later.”

  “Nope, no plans. I’m all yours.” I know he must have a lot of work to finish, but I’m kind of glad things got canceled today.

  Once we’re ready I ask, “Where do you want to go first.”

  “Do you ice skate? I figured we could go to Rockefeller Center and skate and see the tree.”

  “I never tried it before but it sounds like fun. Let’s do it,” I say and feel excited.

  “You’ve never ice skated before?” Pierce says in disbelief. “I mean, you’re from New Jersey. How have you not ice skated before?”

  “Nope, was too scared I was going to break my ankle. Remember, no broken bones here.” I say pointing to myself.

  “Well, you’re going to be with me and I will not let you fall or break your ankle. You will never get hurt on my watch.” He puts him arm over my shoulder and squeezes me to his side. I think about that for a second. How I’m always afraid of getting hurt, but with Pierce that fear is gone. I never really worry about it in his presence.

  I get my ice skates on and am not feeling very confident about this. I can barely walk on the ice let alone skate on it. Please God, don’t let me fall on my ass and embarrass myself.

  “Ready?” Pierce asks with his hand held out.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I say with less enthusiasm and grab his hand like my life depends on it as we step out onto the ice. I feel my blade slide a little bit and I grab onto his arm with my free hand. He quietly snickers as I glare at him. “You can laugh all you want, but if I go down you do too. Keep that in mind.”

  Pierce says through his snickering, “I already told you. I’m not going to let an
ything happen to you. You trust me don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, then just hold my hand and move your legs.” He makes it sound so simple.

  We start skating and it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Once I get used to the shoes, it gets a little easier. I’m still not ready to let go of Pierce’s hand and do it on my own though. We’re skating in a big circle, following the flow of traffic and I look at all the people surrounding us. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. I even see a couple figure skating. They look so graceful and elegant the way their bodies glide and move together effortlessly. Spectators are clapping and cheering them on as they spin in the air and skate in circles around each other. It really is a beautiful scene. I feel something land on my nose. I look up and see snow flurries. It’s snowing!

  “Pierce! It’s starting to snow!” I say as I tap his arm and point up to the sky. It’s a picturesque moment.

  “Yes, it is. Did you want to leave? Is it too cold for you?” He rubs his hands up and down my arm to transfer some heat.

  “Are you kidding? I haven’t seen snow since I was little! It’s just as beautiful as I remember.”

  He stops skating and pulls me into his arms and kisses me in the middle of the rink in the snow. His arms are wrapped around my waist and I raise my hands to cup his jaw, holding his face to mine. It’s like something you would see in a movie. It is magical and very romantic. During the moments our lips are connected, everything around us fades into the background. I don’t hear the kids laughing and playing, the chattering of the nearby people, or the sound of the blades skidding across the ice. It’s just me, Pierce, and the snow.

  We skate for a little while longer and leave to see the tree before returning to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Pierce turns in our skates and comes back with two cups of hot chocolate. He hands me my drink and I thank him as I get up. I put my arm around his as we walk down the street. As soon as we start walking past the huge Christmas tree, it lights up. We stop to take in the spectacular sight with the lights twinkling in every direction illuminating up toward the sky. Pierce asks a person walking by if she could take our picture. I stand in front of Pierce so that my back is against his chest. He wraps his arms around my waist and I rest my arms over his. I feel him lean forward and rest his chin on my shoulder. The lady takes the picture and says, “How about one more with a kiss?” Pierce and I are more than happy to comply. I turn around and kiss Pierce. We thank the woman as she gives us back the phone and take a look at the photos. They are perfect.

  “Those are good! I want them framed.” I tell Pierce.

  “Have you been a good girl this year?” He looks at my through squinted eyes as if he’s going to evaluate my answer for the truth.

  “Um, yeah?” I’m confused as to why Pierce asks me this.

  “Well, then I don’t see why Santa wouldn’t put them in your stocking,” he says with a wink. “Have you ever made the naughty list?” Pierce asks in a husky voice. I brush off his innuendo and tell him about a story from my childhood.

  “No, but one year Santa forgot to bring me my Easy Bake Oven. I cried and cried for hours telling my mom that I was a good girl all year and Santa still punished me,” I say with a pretend pout.

  Pierce grins at me before saying, “So what happened?”

  “My dad went out for hours looking for somewhere that sold cake mix. When he finally came home three hours later, he wrapped up the boxes and put them in the kitchen oven. My mom went to put the prime rib in and yelled for me. I went into the kitchen and my mom said, ‘Addison, I think you missed some presents.’ I looked in the oven and got so excited as I pulled them out. I opened each and every one of them and in the last one there was a note from Santa that read, ‘The Easy Bake Oven isn’t advanced enough for your baking talents. I got you tons of cakes and brownies to make in the professional oven.’”

  “Well, that was sweet of your dad.”

  “Yeah, Mom wasn’t too happy about it because I made her bake all nine boxes of desserts that night. I told her I was a professional and had orders to fill.”

  Pierce chuckles, “So what did you do with all the baked goods?”

  “My dad got stuck eating most of them, but me and my mom helped some too.”

  We arrive at a French restaurant we have reservations at a little later that evening after we get ready and take a cab down there. The restaurant is beautiful and very romantic with dim lighting and soft music. Pierce seems a little nervous during dinner but as soon as I ask him if everything is alright he seems to calm down and brushes off my concern. This New York expansion is kicking his ass and I can’t wait for it to be done.

  The food is delicious and we split a piece of chocolate melting cake for dessert. Once we finish up with dinner, we bundle back up to face the cold snow.

  “I have a horse and carriage ride waiting for us again, but if it’s too cold we can just catch a cab back to the hotel.” He pushes a lock of hair behind my ear. There’s an expression on his face that I can’t quite place. He looks anxious for my decision.

  “No, we will be fine. It’ll just give me an excuse to cuddle up against you.” This causes Pierce to give me a small grin as he leans his face in and kisses my nose.

  “Good. I thought we could go to Central Park this time. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds perfect.” We get into the carriage and head that way. Once we pull up to it I’m a little awe struck by its splendor. I’ve been to Central Park during the day, but never at night. There are lights strung up some of the trees giving the snow beneath it a yellow hue. The lamp posts lining the pathway aren’t overly bright and give off just enough light to show the way.

  Pierce stands up, steps down out of the carriage and turns around to help me out. Once both my feet are placed on the ground, he drops to one knee. I put my hand over my mouth out of shock as I realize what’s going on.

  “Addison, the first time I saw you on the beach I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. You had something that drew me to you. I didn’t know what it was then, but I do now. As I got to know you more and more every day, you occupied a bigger space in my heart. Your compassion is admirable. You show patience and kindness when you should be angry. You help me laugh off the things that would normally stress me out. I respect your self-confidence and the passion you have while living your life. You let me push you to try things that are out of your comfort zone because you trust me.

  “I can honestly say I fell in love with you the day I taught you how to surf. Seeing the smile that was on your face when you were riding that wave was all it took. In that single moment I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life making you that happy.

  “Those are just a few of the reasons I’m hoping you will spend the rest of your life with me. I can go on but I don’t want us to freeze out here. Just know that I want to have children with you and grow old with you. I love you Addison, always only you, so will you marry me?”

  Pierce pulls a square box out of his jacket and opens it. The ring is an antique diamond set. It looks older but it is stunning. I hold my hand out for Pierce to place the ring on my finger and say, “Yes,” as my voice is choked up with unshed tears.

  I didn’t even have to think about it and I wanted to cry the moment he got down on his knee. I know Pierce is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Everything just feels right when I’m with him. He places the ring on my finger and gets up off his knee. He picks me up and spins me around while kissing me over and over again. I hear onlookers start to clap and whistle. As we pull apart Pierce says, “How about that walk through the park?”

  We walk hand in hand through the snow-covered park for a while. I can’t stop grinning and looking up at Pierce. I feel slightly less cheesy when each time I look at him and he has the same grin on his face. We take a cab back to the hotel and spend the rest of the night making love.

  I’M HANGING OUT at Jeremy’s apartment watching
some TV. My mind has been spinning over my meeting with Pierce last week. Charlotte kind of made me feel better, but it still sucks. I’m lost in my own world when I hear Jeremy snickering. I turn and look at him, “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing, I was just thinking about you and Brooklyn.” I roll my eyes. Really, we’re on this again? I wish he’d just drop it. I wish desperately I could have those few nights back. Unfortunately, you don’t get a redo on stuff like that.

  I let out an exaggerated sigh, “God, you’re on this again? Why can’t you just forget I ever told you that?”

  “Because you still haven’t told me if you liked it or not. Did she rock your world?” I can hear the amusement in his voice so I turn my head to glare at him and say, “You ever wake up in the morning and you know you did something raunchy with your penis?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’ve had that feeling a few times.” He nods for added emphasis.

  “Yeah, well that was a first for me. I still can’t believe I banged her more than once. Either way I will never do that again. I’m lucky my dick didn’t rot off.”

  Jeremy laughs again. “I don’t think Brooklyn has diseases.” I give him a blank stare that says ‘Are you sure about that?’ “Okay, maybe I don’t know for sure, but I would assume a girl like that is at least cautious.”

  “Thank fuck I was. I might have been drunk and not thinking with the big head up top, but at least I had enough sense to wrap it. Although now I kind of wish I would have double wrapped it just to be on the safe side.”

  Jeremy starts snickering again. I’m glad he thinks this is all so funny.

  Suddenly, Jeremy’s door swings open and in walks Morgan. She strolls in like she owns the place which causes me to look at Jeremy with raised eyebrows.

  “What’s up, guys?” she says as she plops down on the couch.

  “Not much. You don’t knock anymore?” I say to her, but I’m looking at Jeremy. I’ve been meaning to ask him if anything is going on between them but haven’t had the chance. This only heightens my suspicions.