Chapter Twenty-Two
Ransom
Bethany came out of the bathroom with her hair done up in some kind of complicated style, but her face--made up as it was--didn’t lie. She was upset.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “It’s your big night of triumph!”
She bit her bottom lip and looked at the floor. “I’m kind of thinking I might not bother to go,” she said.
“Just twenty minutes ago, you told me you were going to be the hottest woman there or die trying,” I pointed out.
“I’ve been thinking about it and the whole thing is stupid,” she said.
“What happened? Did Jess get the same dress as you or something?”
Bethany glared at me and the full heat of her look made me instantly regret the bad joke. “Really, what happened?” I asked. “Obviously something did.”
“I went to go help Jess with her hair, and ran into Katherine and Nadine.”
I gestured for her to go on; obviously it couldn’t have just been her nearly colliding with two former classmates.
She said, “I heard them talking. About me.”
“What did they say?”
She grimaced and then gave me a wry smile. “That I probably hired you from a modeling agency to pretend to be my boyfriend because in spite of being hot, I suck at life.”
I stared at her for a long moment. “They think you’re paying me?”
She nodded.
I sat down on the edge of the bed. There was a part of me that wanted to come clean to her right then--completely clean, about more than just why I’d needed her work access. But I pushed that idea out of my head. I remembered something I’d tucked away for a rainy day, something I’d won in a poker game, that might come in handy--and in that moment, if Bethany was willing to be a little daring, it would come in handy indeed.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I got up and found my wallet, and dug around in the change pocket until I found what I wanted. I took the ring out and showed it to Bethany.
“Think getting proposed to and being engaged to me after tonight would shut their bimbo mouths?” It was a respectable ring: a three-carat sapphire, perfect and unflawed, surrounded by diamonds and set in white gold.
Her eyes were huge as she stared at the ring in amazement. “Where the hell did you get that?”
I shrugged. “I’ve been holding onto it for a while. I thought it might come in handy sometime, and now seems pretty good to put it to use. I’m not letting you keep it--just to be clear.”
Bethany snorted at that, but stared at the ring for a moment longer.
“That would probably shut them up,” she admitted. “I mean--this isn’t the kind of thing most people would plan, is it?”
I laughed. “If they think that me proposing to you is part of the plan, then they’re over-thinking their entire lives,” I told her. Especially since you’re going to be genuinely surprised, since you’re not going to know when it will happen. I put the key in my suit pocket and looked at Bethany significantly. “Now, finish getting ready so we can show your stupid former classmates that you’re a hundred times better than them.”
It only took her another couple of minutes to get her dress on and put her shoes on her feet, and I had to admit that if I had been one of her former classmates, I would be amazed by her. Of course, having seen her naked, the sight of her in a floor-length gown was just impressive--not amazing. But I thought she’d get the effect she wanted.
The dance, taking place in the Clairmont Hotel ballroom, was just as lame as any prom could ever have been, save for the fact that they were serving alcohol openly instead of in secret. The DJ was in the middle of a set of early 2000s hits, and as Bethany and I worked the room, saying hi to everyone and taking pictures like we were supposed to, I caught more than a few surprised looks turned her way.
“Some of these guys are definitely wishing you’d come alone,” I told her quietly, as we headed out to the dance floor. I was still full from the luau food, but the hotel had provided hors d’oeuvres which would come in handy later.
“I think I saw Tracy Peters staring daggers at me,” Bethany said, smiling.
Ever since I’d proposed proposing to her, she’d been in a much better mood. I knew she was waiting for me to spring my big surprise, but I fully intended on making it a surprise for her, too. I wanted her reaction to be as genuine as possible.
So we danced, and we took breaks to drink spiked punch and eat cocktail food, and talk to people. More than one person came by to marvel at how good Bethany looked, and how cute we were together, and I wondered if Nadine and Katherine had kept their thoughts about me being hired to themselves, or if they’d been spreading the idea around. Would be just like a couple of Stepford Wives like them, I thought.
I waited until Bethany had probably almost forgotten about the idea I’d had--or at least until she’d probably concluded I wasn’t going to do it. And then I waited a little while longer, for her to step into the bathroom attached to the ballroom, to freshen up, and I went to the DJ booth.
“Hey, man. I need you to do me a solid,” I said. I’d brought my wallet with me, and I took out a twenty and handed it to him.
“Anything you want,” the DJ said. He grinned, his teeth too white in his face, and I thought about the best way to do what I wanted to do--the best way to get the full effect.
“I’m going to propose to my girl tonight,” I explained. “I want you to play ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna, and then I’m going to come up, and just play along with me--okay?”
“For twenty I’ll let you play it yourself if you wanted,” the DJ said, grinning again. “I’ll give you a cue just to be sure you’re ready for it. I’ll play ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ before I do ‘Umbrella’--you know it?”
Of course I knew it. I nodded. “That’ll be perfect.” I shook his hand and ducked out of his booth before Bethany came out looking for me.
I led her out onto the dance floor and when she wasn’t looking I caught the DJ’s eye and gave him a nod to let him know I was ready when he was. Bethany started to get tired, but I realized that just about everyone at the reunion had made their way onto the dance floor, and I wasn’t about to let her leave the center of the room when she was about to get the nail to hammer into her enemies’ coffins.
“Let’s just do a couple more songs, okay?”
“Okay, but you have no idea how much these shoes are hurting my feet,” she said.
I made sure to dance up close to her, in spite of the fact that it made me remember what it was like to be with her in bed--a little too much, maybe. When I heard the first Rihanna song, my heart started beating faster. I’m almost as nervous as I would be if I was really about to propose to the woman I loved, I thought. It was a crazy idea, and I almost laughed at my own stupidity.
Then the first couple of notes of ‘Umbrella’ came on, and I took my cue. Bethany almost screamed in delight at the song--as I knew she would--and I broke away from her.
“No. No--fuck this,” I said, shaking my head. “This is all wrong.”
“What?” Bethany looked at me in shock and I turned away from her, going to the DJ booth up and off to the side of the stage. I leaned in and in the corner of my eye I could see everyone else start to get shocked at what I was doing. Perfect.
“Give me the mic,” I said. The DJ shrugged and handed it to me. “Keep the song going for another verse and chorus, okay?” He nodded and shook his head at my madness.
I started singing along with the track, about her always having my heart and how we wouldn’t be separated. Fortunately, the mic was cordless. I hopped down off the stage and made my way to Bethany again, with her classmates making way for me. I didn’t have the best singing voice, but I made the best use of it that I could as I worked through the crowd. I stopped in front of Bethany, getting to the end of the verse and then into the chorus, and then dropped down on my knee as the DJ cut the music out.
Bethany was standing there, looking absolutely stunned--just like I wanted.
“Bethany baby, will you marry me?” I took the ring out of my pocket and held it up so that the people directly around us could see it.
“Yes--yes, of course I’ll marry you, you crazy fool,” Bethany said, starting to cry as I turned off the mic and put it down to put the ring on her finger.
The room erupted in cheers, and I stood up to kiss her, just like something out of a fairytale. I led her back with me to the DJ booth as he cheered us along with everyone else, and I gave him his microphone back.
He turned on the mic. “Everyone, let’s make some room for these two to have a special dance to celebrate their love!”
The people on the floor made some room for us. He re-started the Rihanna song, and I led Bethany back out onto the dance floor. We danced to the beat, and I mentally patted myself on the back for making it happen even better than Bethany could have ever expected.
As we danced through the song, it hit me--I’d been nervous to propose to her, even falsely, because I actually liked her. Not enough to marry her, but after play-acting as her boyfriend for a few days, and the incredible sex we’d had, I’d have to have a heart of stone not to have some kind of feelings for her.
When the song ended and we had a chance to get off the dance floor, I put my lips to her ear. “Can we go somewhere and talk for a minute?”
Bethany looked at me and then nodded.