"Okay?"
So it was asking, not confessing. Okay, it was a good thing he wasn't dying. A really good thing. A bad thing that none of our parents was dying. Adrian was alive and I assume Rose was also, so no funerals. That's always a plus.
And if it wasn't about James, so why the hell was he looking so, so, non-Darius?
"Is this about that folder? What's in the folder?"
He held up the folder. "Work?"
I rolled my eyes. Does he ever walk around with something else other than work? "That's what you went to pick up, work?"
And, for the first time, I watched as Darius stuttered. "No! It's… Well, I…"
"Darius, just as –"
"Marry me."
What?
If my whole body, minus my hands, weren’t cold already, what Darius said pretty much frozen my whole body as I stared at him. Did I just hear what he said? And it seemed so as his green eyes just stared at me, a stare that made me feel violated, not that I minded being violated by someone –
Snap out of it. He asked me a question and it seemed like I took an awful long time to reply since he cleared his throat again. Oh right, I need to speak, not think. He can't read my thought. Or can he? ‘Cause some peop –
No answer.
"Aren't we already married?" Great, just ruin the mood, Ivory. You do that. But it was cold, my brain wasn't working, and Darius should know this.
"Well...yes," said Darius, knotting up his eyebrows. Wait, did he just ask me to marry him?
Was this meant to be a proposal?
This meant Darius asking me to marry him even though we were already married, and that brought an amused smile on my face.
He opened his mouth and closed it again, resembling too much an adorable goldfish. My, my, was this the great businessman looking unraveled?
"Yes, Darius?" I asked, feeling joyful that he ran out of words. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair before reaching to grab mine again. Man, I should record this.
"I want you to marry me because you want to, not because we were forced to, so marry me."
What happened to being able to choose? Because the way he said it sounded like a judge giving out orders. I knew the answer, and I was sure he knew what I should say after I told him I loved him earlier, so it was fun to mess around with him. Have the upper hand and watch him squirm.
I tugged on his hands, pulling him closer and looking up. “Are you going to ask me?”
It was a question, not a demand.
“Marry me?” he said, still sounding commanding, but with a hint of doubt.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a question, Dairy. You’re meant to proclaim your love to me, get on one knee, and then ask me,” …And then pop out a ring. But I left that part out. I couldn’t possibly ask him to whip a ring out of thin air and I would let him go even if he didn’t proclaim his love for me. I did. One confession was enough for tonight.
“One knee?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I nodded.
“A question?”
If I hadn’t known the look on his face better, I would have thought he was being serious. But the guy knew what he was playing at. With that amused crinkle at the side of his mouth, I knew he was playing me.
I narrowed my eyes. “Yes.” That’s what I wanted. Can’t a girl get a proper proposal? Not one where he demanded her to get married, just like what the contract stated. No, if he wanted me to marry him on my own will, he had to ask me properly, even without the ring.
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“Oh gosh, don’t you watch movies? Oh wait, you’re a hermit here,” I said, looking around. Was the ground wet?
In my attempt to show him how it’s done, I got down on one knee, suddenly feeling even shorter than I usually was. I looked around and grabbed a fully blossomed orchid that would do for the ring.
“Okay, this is how you are supposed to ask a person to marry you. Pay attention. Do you want a pen to take notes?”
Darius had his arms crossed, and waved one, gesturing for me to continue. Alright then, he doesn’t need notes.
I cleared my throat. “’Oh Ivory, oh Ivory’… You need to use proper names for a proposal, no stupid nickname. ‘You’re like the rose to my thorns, pen to my paper, ink to my sharpie, glue to my glitter, burning gas to my photons, and I proclaim my everlasting love to you, as I cannot breathe the air without you as it is toxic. Will you marry me?’” I asked, holding out the flower which I pretended was a massive blue ring.
“Yes, I think I will.” Darius bent down and plucked the flower from between my fingers and twirled it around his hand.
“What?”
“Nice flower,” he said and turned around and I just stared at his retreating figure before jumping up. What just happened?
He turned around as I followed him. “What?” I asked.