“Why would she say no to the chance of living with you? You guys are engaged.”
“Because we’ve been fucking engaged for six months, with no sign of a wedding date in the future.” I throw the burnt pancake into the trash before turning to Zach. The black silicone spatula in my hand shakes between us.
He takes a step back.
“She needs t-time, Zander.” Zane presses lightly on my shoulder, making me aware of my tensed muscles.
I switch off the flame and put a lid over the smoking pan before releasing a deep breath. I look away from the concerned gaze of my younger brothers.
“I thought six months would be enough time for her to fully believe in me and my love.”
My stomach tightens, hating the vulnerability I feel. After my horrific childhood, I pledged that I wouldn’t let myself feel vulnerable ever again. But since Rose came along, memories of my mother and all the nightmares my brothers and I suffered have been more and more recurring.
“You gotta ask her, Zander. How the heck will you know if she’s ready or not?” Zach turns on the stove, placing the spatula back in my hand. “Just propose to her again with some flowers and maybe another piece of jewelry. I’m sure she’s just waiting for you to ask again, bro.” He grabs my shoulders and tries to turn me toward the stove. “Now make me some pancakes.”
“How are you always hungry?” His actions distract me and pull my attention away from Rose.
“I work very hard.” That bastard doesn’t even smile as he blurts the stupid excuse.
Zane snickers. “Zach’s r-right, you sh-should talk to her.”
I nod, even though a nervous energy still courses through my body.
“Yeah, I’m driving to Cherrywood this weekend. I’ll ask her then.”
* * *
After my driver, Greg, parks the car, I saunter to the private elevator, which takes me to the top floor of my company building.
As I step out of the elevator, my executive assistant, Kelly, rushes to get up from her seat and wish me a good morning. I give her a smile and head into my office.
I power on my laptop and type in the name I’ve dreaded all my life but is slowly becoming the biggest comfort. The calendar app allows me to check if Rose is busy in a meeting. My staff, who use this app to book meetings, doesn’t know their CEO has found an alternate usage in stalking his fiancée.
There’s a knock on my door, and then Kelly pokes her head in. “May I come in, Mr. Teager?”
“Yeah.” I minimize the window.
She places a cup of steaming coffee on my table. The warm liquid reminds me of my first meeting with Rose at the café. Her reaction to my coffee habits was one of the things that attracted me to her instantly.
“You have an eight-thirty meeting with the board, then a breakfast meeting at nine with your brothers.” She swipes the screen of her tablet and then asks, “I also need to schedule your international business trip to Japan.”
I relax back in my chair. “What are the client’s preferred dates?”
“I don’t have them, Mr. Teager. I asked if we could propose some tentative dates, and they could pick the most suitable one.”
“Why? We usually do it the other way around.” I look at the young woman in confusion.
“I thought… I mean…” Kelly shifts on her feet. Her nervousness reminds me of my girl, like every other thing these days.
“What is it?”
“I wasn’t sure if there were any specific months or weeks you wouldn’t want to be out of the country.”
“I don’t get it, Kelly.”
“The wedding. I assume it’ll be soon?” she stammers like she’s trying to find the right words. “I mean, in the coming months?”
When I don’t confirm or deny, Kelly says, “I’ll ask the client’s preferred dates, Mr. Teager.”