Chapter 49 Affianced?
ALICE
Mom stepped away from my embrace after what felt like an eternity and dried her tears. Her mascara was judged and her eyes were swollen from crying for so many hours. I turned my attention to Rory and pulled him close. He wrapped an arm around me for a handful of seconds before dropping it.
"How is he?" I managed to ask. "Please don't tell me..."
"The doctor came to see us not too long ago," she claimed, straightening her blue and white checkered shirt. "I tried to call you, but I guess you were on the plane because you didn't pick up. He's fine. He's out of danger. The doctor described the attack as...too much stress. He's fine."
I breathed a lot easier and rubbed my chest with one hand while wiping my tears with the other. "He's okay, then?"
"Yeah," she assured me. "They ran all sorts of tests on him. He's as healthy as the day is long. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. It's just...it's so good to see you, my baby. You have no idea what this feels like to me. Having the whole family here again."
I felt emotional at her words, but I felt a lot better. "Can I see him?"
"Sure. He's been asking about you."
We headed toward his door and Mom opened it carefully. Dad turned his head, and when he saw me, his eyes lit up. "Alice! Alice, is that you I must be dreaming!"
I became emotional all over again and tears welled in my eyes. I ran to his side and threw my arms around him as best as I could. I sobbed while he stroked my hair. God, I was so scared. Throughout the flight, all I could think about was how I was so terrified of losing him.
I'd never experienced loss before, not the way other people had.
I didn't think I was prepared to lose someone so close to me. It would break my heart and I would never recover. Hell, it had always been just the four of us before I left for the big city, chasing a dream that might still not come true. We'd spend every waking moment together.
"Don't cry," Dad told me calmly as he stroked my hair. I felt like a little girl all over again. "It's alright. I'm fine. I'm just an old fool, stressing about things that are best forgotten."
"Oh, Dad," I cried drawing back so I could look into his eyes. I was glad to see that he didn't look sickly at all. In fact, he looked like he always did. "I was so worried!"
"I know, Alice," he said as he caressed my cheek. "I told your mother not to tell you, but she got ahead of herself and decided to call you anyway. I knew it wouldn't be anything serious. She was the one who overreacted."
"Oh, hush!" Mom said from the doorway. Rory was standing beside her. "What if it was serious? Do you think Alice would've forgiven herself if something happened to you and she couldn't make it here on time to say goodbye?"
I shuddered and Dad raised a hand. "Let's not talk about this. Please. The worst is behind us and what matters now is that we're all together. But...how did you get here so quickly? I thought you'd only be here tomorrow, at the earliest!"
My cheeks reddened a little just at the thought of the explanation I would have to give. What kind of boss lets you use his private jet to make it home for an emergency? "Oh, I..."
That was when I remembered him. Hell, I left him downstairs when I jumped out of the car. I wasn't even sure where he was.
"I came here with—"
I heard his voice behind me mingling with Mom's and my heart threatened to jump right out of my mouth. I whirled around and saw him talking to my mother in a low voice. We made eye contact over her shoulder and I felt dizzy all of a sudden.
Seeing him here, next to my family...it's the oddest sight in the whole fucking world.
I walked toward them, keeping my eyes on his face. Mom extended a hand for him to shake, then turned to look at me over her shoulder with a look I couldn't decipher. "You came with my daughter, didn't you? Yes, I saw you near the elevator. I figured you wanted to get closer."
"Yes," was all he answered, glancing at me.
"And who are you to her?"
The question seemed simple enough but I knew my mother. I get mortified already. I stepped closer to them and opened my mouth to intervene, saying, "He's my bo—"
"We're fixing to get engaged."
My mouth fell open and so did Mom's. She threw me a bewildered look over her shoulder and asked me, "Alice, is this true?" She didn't even give me a chance to answer her. "Oh, my goodness! Oh, my! David, honey? Are you listening to this!?"
"Huh?"
"Alice is getting married!" she remarked, clapping once and looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, my daughter is marrying and not living in sin! Oh, Alice! You've made me so happy!"
Mom raced inside the room and I looked at Theodore Linden-Hawthorne wide-eyed. He looked guilty, but not for too long. He then shrugged and said, "I felt it would be the easiest thing to say. I didn't want them to think that you're something you're not."
I shook my head at him. "You don't know what you've done."
"I only meant to—"
We fell silent when Mom walked out of the room and this time, grabbed his wrist and started pulling him toward my father's bedside. We made eye contact as he walked past me, but we couldn't say anything else to each other.
I swore I'd never seen Mom look this happy before. She had always been a fan of Benjamin's, which was why she and Dad were devastated when he and I broke up in such a way.
I didn't think she'd move on this quickly, though.
I watched as my father struggled to sit up so he could shake my boss's hand properly. My hand went to my forehead as I watched the whole painful interaction.
Heaven help me.