Chapter 15

 

Chapter Fifteen

 

By the time I got off the phone Thomas was already dressed in what seemed his standard uniform lately, a tee shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, and leather belt. I had to admit that no matter what he wore he made it look good.

I got up out of bed, heading into the shower myself, just a quick one to wash off the afternoon’s playtime. I wasn’t sure what was on Thomas’ mind so I came out wrapped only in a towel until I knew what we were planning on doing this evening, I hadn’t had a Thursday evening that I hadn’t had to work since I’d taken the weekend off to go with Andy and Nick, even then it wasn’t time I had to spend just doing whatever I’d wanted, there were things expected of me being Andy’s Maid of Honor.

“So, what does my Prince have planned for us this evening,” I giggled as I said it. He looked at me his eyes wide with surprise at my calling him my prince, I guess no one acknowledged his tie to the royal house as openly as I had before.

“I read in the paper there is a street fair going on right now, “ his boyish grin breaking across his face, “I thought maybe we’d check it out, then grab some dinner, maybe you could show this poor country boy what night life in the big city is like?” he said, followed by a deep throaty laugh.

“Poor country boy?” I asked innocently, “Seems to me there’s nothing poor about you.”

“Other than I’m socially inept it seems.” he stated playfully. “I haven’t a clue what you city folk do to entertain yourselves.”

“We could take in a movie, or we could go clubbing I guess” I shrugged, “It’s up to you.”

“Is clubbing like going to the pub back home?” He asked in earnest. I could tell he was definitely out of his element here.

“Sort of, but louder” I laughed. “If we’d actually planned this, we could have gotten tickets to a live show, but those usually have to be picked up a day or two before you plan on going.”

“So, we could get tickets and maybe do that next weekend?” He asked. I nodded as I started rummaging through the closet trying to decide what I was going to wear so that I didn’t look too out of place with him tonight. I had gotten rid of most of my “country girl” clothes shortly after I moved to the city. I settled on a pair of jeans, that were just tight enough, I coupled it with my black leather corset, and a pair of black strappy sandals. I added my black leather three quarters length duster to the ensemble which I laid across the arm of the sofa for the moment, to complete the look. Thomas just looked at me, he didn’t have to say a word to know, I’d blown him away. I smiled at him, turned around, heading into the bathroom to do my hair and make-up. I came out, my hair up in a loose bun, a few curls trailing out here and there, and my make-up on. Thomas had pulled his hair back, binding it loosely at the back of his neck, his own duster lie across the back of the sofa.

He looked at me for several long minutes, it made me feel as though I couldn’t move, or maybe I just didn’t want to while he took all of me in. I was looking him up and down in much the same way; it still amazed me that he was here, in New York, with me. He moved towards me with something in his hand I couldn’t quite make it out, it looked like a small black box, but I couldn’t be sure until he moved in front of me, dropping to one knee. He took my hand, looking up into my face, he smiled.

“Amy, I’m not really sure how to do this,” he said, looking down for a moment, “I’ve seen how human men do it on the television, so I guess I’ll give it a try.”

I thought I knew what was coming next, it was completely unheard of among our kind however for a male to propose to a female, within our society, you were either already promised for political reasons, or the females picked their mates. He cleared his throat, which brought me back to the here and now.

“Amy, would you be my wife?” Thomas asked. My eyes welled up with tears; I could feel them hot against my cheeks as the rolled downward.

“Yes!” I almost shouted, “Yes, Thomas I will be your wife.” I threw my arms around his neck, kissing him passionately. “I would love nothing more Thomas, than to be with you forever.” a smile broke across my face matched only by his boyish grin that I loved so much washing across his. We stood like that for a long time, just holding each other, kissing, and then pulling each other close again. He finally pulled away, rocking back to sit on his heels, he opened the small box he held in his left hand.

I gasp, I’d never seen such a beautiful ring, the inside of the box said Tiffany & Co., I knew he’d spent more money on the ring than I had seen since I’d been here in New York. The ring its self was a two point five carat marquee cut diamond solitaire, set in platinum. I gasp at it’s magnificence. He took it gently out of the box, reached for my left hand, sliding it carefully into place on my ring finger. He closed the box, though I caught a glimpse of the matching band, eternity channel set diamonds, in the same metal, it matched the engagement ring perfectly. He rose to his feet, tucking the box back into his duffle bag, so he knew where it was for later retrieval.

“I guess that makes it official,” he chided.

“I guess so,” I replied through happy tears.

I picked up my duster, only to find it promptly removed from my hands as Thomas helped me put it on, he then grabbed his own, and slid it on over his wide shoulders. We headed to the door, which he opened for me. I just smiled, I thought to myself that I could get used to all this pampering given the chance. He’d confirmed it tonight that I would be getting the chance, that he was truly mine now. However, we still had the annoying little detail of dealing with my sister and the rest of my family for it to be official back home.

We headed down to the lobby; Josh was at the door as usual. I couldn’t wait to show some one my new sparkly, Josh of course was the first candidate that has to see it. I smiled as I held up my hand for Josh to inspect it.

“Congratulations” he said, shaking Thomas’ hand, then reaching to give me a small hug. “It is nice to see you happy finally Miss Wynn”

“Thank you Josh,” I replied, as I stepped through the door he held open for me.

“Be careful tonight, the rain is going to be coming in.” Josh said as we all stepped outside through the door. “There is supposed to be hail mixed in it from what I’ve heard.” I nodded, looking over to Thomas.

“We’ll take a cab if it gets too bad Josh,” Thomas said, we were off headed down through the West Village to the street fair, then to dinner at Moustache on Bedford Street. We had also decided to hit Ladies Night at Webster Hall after dinner, since I didn’t have to be up early in the morning, the night was ours.

We headed up Seventh Street towards Christopher, there were stalls and booths all along the way displaying some very interesting items, all manners of adult toys you could think of, from whips and chains, to more intimate apparel and everything in between, movies, d****s, you name it, it was there.

“But, you know you want one Amy.” he joked.

“No, I don’t” I said startled that he’d even think of it. “I don’t even know what that does!” I blushed bright red as I drug him out of the booth. This happened a couple of more times before we actually found a booth with gorgeous nighties and teddies. I picked out one I liked. “What do you think? I held it up across me as if to demonstrate what it would look like.

“I like it” Thomas said blushing.

I laughed at the fact that it was his turn to blush. He paid the man running the booth, we moved farther down the street coming across another stall that had toys and lingerie, I picked out teddy this time, making Thomas blush, payback can be so fun. As we continued on our path through the fair, we came across a book, a couple of toys, and some flavored body gel we wanted to try, by the time we got to the end of the street, Thomas was toting several small colorful bags in one hand, holding my hand in the other.

We worked our way towards Moustache, it was crowded tonight with the street fair going on, we waited for a table, which didn’t take very long. We were seated a tiny copper topped table, a woman of Middle Eastern decent handed us menus. “Can I get you anything to drink?” she asked

“Sure, I’ll take a soda,” I looked over to Thomas.

“Same.” he said. We both went back to looking at our menus as she walked away to get our drinks.

“I’ve always liked the green salad with feta and sautéed chicken,” I bent over my own menu to point it out on his. “Oh, and the leek-and-scallion pitza.” Thomas just shook his head, smiling at me.

“I’ll try whatever you suggest.” he about half laughed at me. I knew he didn’t really have a clue as to what I was going to introduce him to for dinner tonight. The waitress made her way back to our table through the crowd, setting our drinks down.

“Have you decided what you would like?” She asked. I proceeded to order for the both of us, since I knew what the food was like. Thomas looked on smiling, I honestly think he was starting to get the hang of this city thing, and he liked it.

I couldn’t stop looking at my ring, it was as beautiful as it caught the light, sparkling on my finger for all the world to see, I reached for Thomas with my right hand. My face felt as if I was stuck with this permanents ear-to-ear smile, the night couldn’t have been perfect.

I looked up at Thomas; I was about halfway through my salad. “Even if we get married in the outside world Thomas, That doesn’t mean we will be accepted as a couple back home with in the grotto does it?.” I said to him, a twinge of concern in my voice.

“I’m afraid not,” he replied, “Back home I’m still bound to Emma until you confront her, winning my hand, and claiming the throne as yours.” I could feel my brow furrow in frustration, though I knew no body else could see it.

“But, I really don’t’ want the throne, she can have that as far as I’m concerned, I want you.” I shrugged. “What happens then?”

“I don’t know.” he replied, “I don’t know that anyone has ever turned down the throne after winning it in one on one combat.”

“Is my grandmother ready to step down even if I do win the right to succession?” I implored.

“Again, I don’t really have an answer to that question, she’s not told me.” he said. I glanced down at my salad, taking another bite, when another question came to mind. “And what happens if I don’t want to go back at all, if we decide to stay here” I asked, “What happens then to the money she’s giving you to convince me to come home, and the life style we’re living in?”

“Well, I still have ties to my own grotto, even if this falls through, if we’re mates, and you’re with child, or we have a child, then my grotto will except us, though it might cause a large rift between the two.” He shrugged at me, “I guess that’s something we will deal with if the situation arises.” I wasn’t sure I liked any of those answers, I knew I really didn’t want the throne, I never had. I did however want Thomas, for him, I would fight with everything I had in me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to make a life for ourselves only to have it yanked out from under us should something go wrong. I was silent for a long time as I considered what Thomas had said. I finished my salad and pushed the plate to middle of the tiny table. The server soon showed up carrying our pitza, which she placed in the middle of the table after removing the salad plates, setting two small plates down one in front of each of us.

“If we decide to stay here while I get ready to go back and face Emma, it that going to be alright with my grandmother?” I looked up from my slice of pitza.

“Yes, she’s already given us her blessing so far as that.” he replied. “I haven’t mentioned anything to her about staying here beyond that, not yet anyway.”

I nodded, and went back to eating my dinner. When I had finished I folded my napkin and placed it across my plate, I sipped on my soda as I watched Thomas finish up. “Are you sure you want to do this? I asked,

“What go out with you to a club tonight?” he asked playfully.

“No Silly, stay here with me in the city, teaching me the ways of the Mer?” I asked him seriously.

“Yes.” was his only reply. Thomas picked up the bill looked at it, put down a tip, and headed to the cash register. I followed; he paid the bill, then held the door for me as we left my small colorful bags in his other hand.

We walked in the cool night air, past Washington Square Park, hand in hand, I stopped for a moment, turning to Thomas, and “Do you want a comedy club or a dance Club?” I asked him. “ So I have some clue as to which way to walk next, or we can skip the club, grab a movie then home, or we could just go home. “ I gave him all the options I could think have now. Any choice would be fine with me, I personally wasn’t big into the club scene anyway, though you get the most celebrity sightings is at the clubs in The Village.

“Hmm, choices, choices” Thomas looked at me, “How about a comedy club, sounds like some place I don’t have to make a fool of myself trying to dance.” He laughed.

“Sounds good to me,” I said, “We’ll need to turn here then.” We walked in silence, just being with each other as we headed towards The Comedy Cellar.

Once in the door, we were immediately escorted to a small table near the middle of the room, I set my purse on the floor at my feet, it was joined by the small bags Thomas was carrying, and the cocktail server asked if she could bring us anything, I ordered a beer in a bottle for both of us. Thomas put his arm around my shoulders, resting it on the back of the chair I was in, as we took in the show.

We hadn’t laughed so much since Thomas had been in town, it was nice just to relax and enjoy ourselves. It was also nice that we weren’t talking about back home, though I knew we needed to some more. Maybe I was just too worried about what would happen in the near future, maybe I just didn’t want to go back at all, I wasn’t sure to be honest. After we finished our second beer, we both decided we needed to head towards home. We stepped out of the club into a downpour, Thomas handed me the bags, stepped out into the rain, hailing us a cab.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“Parker Towne House.” Thomas said, it wasn’t far really, but we didn’t feel like walking in the rain. We arrived at the door to the building, Josh was off work by now, we didn’t have a night doorman. The door was locked, I used my key to the main door to let us in, then we took the elevator up to the apartment.

As we got off the elevator, Andy and Nick were just coming out of their apartment, Andy came up to me and gave me a hug, never taking his eyes off Thomas, I laughed softly, then showed him my hand.

“Wow Sweetie, guess your new man means to keep you?” he asked. I just smiled nodding.

“Well that’s great” Andy said, the elevator opened and they stepped in. “ You kids don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” He chimed as the door closed on him.

I turned to Thomas, who wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we walked to our apartment. It had been a fun but long evening, I was ready to cuddle up beside him, falling asleep in his arms.