Invest In Me

Chapter 6

Nothing could shatter Bella’s excitement that morning. Not Sam’s annoying shooting games. Not the neighbor’s cat meowing under her window. Not her crappy apartment and the unwashed dishes lying in the sink. She was getting married. As much as it seemed fake and quick and crazy, she was indeed getting married. And her heart couldn’t stop fluttering because of that.

For a brief second, her thoughts went to Thomas. She wondered whether he felt anything out of the ordinary because of their wedding or he was just considering it as a pure business deal from which the both sides had benefits. In fact, she should feel the same way about it. But the mere truth that she would wear the white dress of her dreams and stand next to the man she was rather attracted to, if nothing more, made her even more thrilled that she imagined.

“Hey, doll. Pay the rent, will ya? The man will knock on the door any minute now,” Sam said from before the TV, pulling her back to her tough reality.

“Sorry, I’m kind of in a hurry, Sam. Please take care of that for me,” Bella told her roommate, grabbing her purse from the chair.

“Okay, fine! I’ll see to it later. Have a nice day!”

“You, too!” Bella replied, as she hurried out of the door and down the creaking stairs of the ancient building. Once her feet touched the sidewalk and her lungs filled with air, she realized how much the apartment choked her. However, not for much longer.

She made her way between the rushing crowds that were trying to get to their workplaces in time and just when she was about to catch the bus, a familiar honk buzzed in her ears. She turned around to see her fiancé waiting for her near the bus station.

“Thomas? What are you doing here?” She approached him when he went out of the car.

“I’m preparing for my wedding, of course.” He smiled with his adorable smile that melted her soul. So, he, too, was excited. “Where are we going, future Mrs. Graves?” he joked.

Bella smiled. “I… I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. I…” she confusingly said, feeling his strong hands on her shoulders.

“Look. We’re in this together, alright? You won’t do any of it alone. We’ll figure it out together.” He gently kissed her forehead as she nodded. She was lucky to have him.

He helped her to the front seat of the black car and a moment later they were driving down the busiest street in the city. Thomas increased the volume of the radio to prevent the honks from ruining his good mood while slowly leading the car across the lines of vehicles. Bella’s eyes couldn’t move from the enormous glass structures and shops. No matter how much time she spent there, it seemed that there would always be something new about the city.

“You like New York, hmm?” Thomas spoke once the song ended and a slower one began playing.

That was the first time Bella broke the eye contact with the surroundings and turned to look at his wonderful deep eyes. They appeared like huge black pearls on his dark skin. “Yeah… I do, just not as much as my hometown.”

“That’s logical. Our hearts always stay at the place we call home. You know… When I first came to New York, I was a college student. My dad always wanted me to study at one of the prestigious colleges here, so there I was. Alone and scared of these massive buildings…” Thomas began.

“You? Scared? Give me a break!” Bella teased him and he chuckled.

“Yes, dear. You know, it was very tough for me at first. But eventually as the days went by I learned to live in this asphalted jungle. You will, too…” He fondled her hand, as the car went left and they entered a less crowded part.

“I just hope that everything will play out as we wanted with the marriage and the property and I’ll be able to get back to my house. I don’t think…”

“Everything will be as it was, believe me. Even better.” Thomas winked, hitting the brake. “We’re here!”

They were on a parking lot facing the biggest mall Bella had ever seen. It had walls colored in different shades, numerous glowing advertisements even during the day, and trees along the entrance path. She caught her mouth agape and smiled at her silliness. Who knew what those walls held inside? It seemed that unlike her, Thomas had the whole picture.

“We’ll find everything we need here, Bella. Don’t worry!” He came next to her and caught her hand in his.

They walked hand in hand toward the entrance surrounded by running children, young girls carrying more shopping bags than Bella had in her whole life, and other couples loudly conversing about brands or something like that. In one word Bella felt like Alice in Wonderland.

She threw a glance at Thomas, who was walking proudly next to her, his green jacket and jeans fitting him perfectly. At that moment, it became more apparent how happy she was to have sneaked into his heart. They passed the distance to the mall in silence until Bella noticed that his eyes were glistening when they stepped inside. He was staring at what looked like a tuxedo store.

“Should we go in?” he asked her and she nodded.

“Let’s get the groom ready first,” she said kissing him on the cheek.

The girl working in the store recommended them a company she couldn’t memorize the name of, and Thomas went to try on a few tuxedos produced by them. To Bella, they all looked pretty much the same with the black bowtie around his neck, the white shirt, black coat, and trousers. However, the sales girl seemed to disagree. She went on and on explaining the fabric of the coat, the shiny shades, the buttons of the shirt, and the size of the bowtie. Bella thought that she would go crazy over all the information when her man turned to her from before the mirror.

“Dear, what do you think?”

She gulped a few times and then let a wide smile wash over her face. “This one is perfect!”

“Excellent choice, madam. This has a lot of silk in it so it fits your man amazingly,” the sales girl said, but Bella interfered.

“Let me be the judge of that,” she told her, strictly thinking to herself, What a bitch. Was she starting to get jealous of other women looking at her future husband?

“Right. We’ll take this one, then.” Thomas winked to Bella and went to the dressing room.

After he gave his credit card to the girl and typed his pin, they exited the store with a huge bag and the tuxedo in it. All at once, a joyful mood engulfed them and they began laughing in the middle of the hall. For nothing and for everything. Cherishing their moments together and their newly found love.

Still smiling they took the stairs to the second floor. They were moving automatically beneath Bella’s feet and she grabbed Thomas’s arm for reassurance. It looked to her like she would fall and she didn’t want that to happen in front of so many people inside the mall. Luckily, they reached solid ground fast and she could relax again.

Her eyes darted from store to store, admiring the beautifully decorated windows. All of them were so diverse with clothes, shoes, women bags, toys and even perfumes and towels neatly ordered inside. However, the real miracle uncovered before her eyes once Thomas brought her in the hall.

The white color blinded her eyes and she squealed out loud. “This is my store, right?”

Thomas chuckled at that. “If you want to, we can buy it whole and it will be yours.”

“I meant…”

“I know, sweetheart. I know… Now let’s go inside!” He cheerfully followed her inside the store of her dreams. All the dresses looked exactly like the ones she used to stare at for hours back at her country house. They were accessible to her only through the screen or the magazines back then. Whereas now… She wanted to grab all of them and run.

“Hello there. How can we help you?” A sales woman approached them.

“We want to find the best wedding gown from the best wedding gowns for my beautiful bride,” Thomas said squeezing Bella’s hand. She thought that she would burst into tears.

“Alright then. We have all you need here, sir. Madam, follow me!” The woman smiled leading Bella toward the dressing room. With the corner of her eye, she saw Thomas taking a seat close by.