The Only One He Wants

Quiet, he buttoned his white shirt and put on his sneakers before turning to her. She was standing with her flowery dress unzipped, staring blankly at him.

“I don’t know… It’s your hands… Your finger… Something is strange about them.” He grinned and a stone fell from Gabrielle’s heart.

She looked down at the diamante ring decorating her finger and his joke was clear. “You’ll kill me with your humor,” she said, softly hitting him on the stomach.

“You’re the most beautiful fiancée in the history of fiancées, honey,” he said honestly this time and leaned down to kiss her on the lips.

“I am, right? God, I still can’t believe it,” she observed as he went behind her and slowly zipped her dress.

“You better start believing it, because I can’t wait to give you my surname. It sounds so nice. Gabrielle Good. Your initials will be GG. It doesn’t get any cooler than that.” He stood before her again.

The distant cry of the seagulls reminded her where they were. Michael’s words always tended to transport her to another world. And he was right. It didn’t get better than sharing her life with him.

“You know, I never thought that I’d carry the surname of a billionaire,” she admitted, taking her purse from the nightstand.

“I never thought I’d give it to the most wonderful woman on the planet, either,” he added.

Then he offered her his hand and they left the room together, smiling.

***

France, Italy, China and Japan were the next on their list. Gabrielle was ecstatic, seeing all those places. Traveling with her man was something she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She climbed the Eiffel Tower, ate bowls of spaghetti, pizzas, and desserts at Italian restaurants, rode on a gondola in Venice as well as pretended to lean on the Leaning Tower of Pisa in epic pictures she forced Michael to take of her. Then, they explored the Asian culture in numerous temples across China and Japan, took part in a colorful celebration of some sort where a bunch of Chinese people disguised as a huge dragon roamed the streets. All in all, it was a journey she would cherish for the rest of her life. And the best thing was that it wasn’t ending.

They reached the Solomon Islands at night and retreated to their hotel room. The weather outside was coldish, so Gabrielle appreciated the warm and cozy room even more. Michael opened a bottle of wine from the small fridge and poured the contents into two glasses. After he handed one to her, they lifted the glasses in the air.

“To us!” he began.

“To our love!” she added and the glasses made a soft clink.

Michael had nearly drank all the wine when his phone rang. He hurried to pick it up like he was expecting someone.

“Yes?” He said and his face lit up at the response. “You’re here? Great, great… Yeah, she’s with me… Tomorrow? Okay… I’ll call you… Okay… I will, okay… Thank you, mate!” He hung up and turned to Gabrielle, who was confused.

“Who was that?” she asked, sitting on the bed.

“My assistant Toby. I asked him to do something for me and he finished it!”

“And what was that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Our wedding! Let’s get married, my Gaby! Right here and now,” he said excitedly and kneeled before the bed, taking her hands in his.

“I… I don’t know what to say… I didn’t expect this so soon,” she noticed his eyes turning down a bit in disappointment. “But yeah! Why not? Yeah! Let’s get married now!”

“Really?” he shouted.

“Really, really!” she answered, hugging him. There was no reason to wait. Yes. She was sad that Alesha couldn’t be there to share her happiness, but hey. The girl had her own life and it was about time for her mother to do the same.

He explained that Toby had taken care of everything. He had arranged the marriage officiant’s arrival as well as the spot where they could get married. A few more small preparations and they could get married the next day. At least, that’s what Michael was assuring her.

With the excitement about the whole ceremony buzzing in her mind. Gabrielle couldn’t fall asleep the whole night. She turned in bed, crumpling the sheets until she decided to get up and let Michael have a nice sleep.

She walked to the window, hugging herself. The night outside was young, the moon was clear between the faint, gray clouds. In that setting, she couldn’t help but wonder how unpredictable and mysterious life could be. One moment she thought she’d die alone and the next she was on the Solomon Islands about to get married to the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Oh, why couldn’t the morning come sooner?

Luckily, the dawn broke while she was lying on the sofa before the window. Someone must have covered her during the night because she sensed warmth in her bones. However, when she opened her eyes to thank him, she found the bed empty. Michael wasn’t there.

She stood up, stretching, and went to change when something caught her attention. The bed wasn’t completely empty after all. A large white box lay on it with a small paper attached to it. “For the most beautiful bride. From Mike,” she read, emotion flooding her. He was so sweet.