Laura

 

 

 

Layla and I have been best friends and roommates for years. We share more than just the cost of living and an apartment. She tells me everything, about her family, her adventurous love life, her dreams, and her worries. And I do the same with her. There has never been a secret between us.

Until now.

When she came up to me right after the event to ask about Mr. Hawkins’s intentions, I flat out lied to her. I don’t know why, but something kept me from telling her the truth. I told her that he just wanted to thank me, acting surprised that he would approach me for something like that. She seemed confused, but then shrugged and let it go, after mentioning once again how hot she thinks he is.

We share that sentiment. His appearance is unsettling on its own, and the effect he had on me only intensified when I learned his identity.

I had no idea who he was when I first bumped into him. I never concern myself with the names and faces of the people at the events we serve because it doesn’t matter to me who I’m serving drinks to. Layla is usually more informed than I am, and she was appalled at my ignorance regarding Ryan Hawkins.

“How could you not know that?” she hissed at me during his speech, in complete disbelief that I hadn’t known who he was.

How could I not know? Well, I never cared.

But I do now.

It’s been three days since the event, and I haven’t found the courage to call him. I’m lying on my bed, alternating between browsing the internet and staring at his business card.

I want to contact him, I know that much. But, as any person who’s about to accept an invitation from a stranger to go out on a date, I’m scared. And I’m not even sure if a date is what he has in mind. Is that what he meant by “proposal”? Why didn’t he just ask me out like a normal guy?

Because he’s not a normal guy. Something seems to be off about him, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

He has an aura of dominance, a possessive and powerful nature. This doesn’t come as a surprise, considering his position. No person ends up where he without having these traits. If he owns Onyx Corporation, he must be one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the country.

And he’s so young.

Instead of calling him, I spent a lot of time stalking him on the internet. He’s twenty-eight, only six years older than me, but he has already acquired more in life than most people do in a lifetime. What’s most impressive about his wealth is that he didn’t inherit it; he’s a true, self-made man. Even I can admire that, despite the usual spike of jealousy that comes with it.

But why would a man like him be interested in a woman like me? Maybe his interest is not personal. A “proposal” could mean anything. Does he pity me? Is this about a job offer?

“Is this all you do?” he had asked. Does he have another type of job in mind for me?

But he doesn’t even know about my predicament. He doesn’t know about the mountain of debt I’m buried under, about my failed attempt at college, about my plan to leave all of this behind once I manage to pay off most of my debt and save up some money to be able to afford a new beginning.

A new beginning far away from here. A new life, a new opportunity, in a new city. Layla and I have been planning this for a while now, and we’re getting closer all the time.

I close the laptop with intent, forcing myself to focus on the question at hand. Whether he wants to date me or make me a job offer, both options would screw with my plans of leaving the city.

But I can’t ignore him. I want to know what he meant by a “proposal.“

Most of all, I want to see him again. Just thinking about him stirs something inside me. The way he looked at me, catching a whiff of his masculine scent when he leaned in close to whisper in my ear...

Damn, he’s messing with my head - and other parts of my body. Until now, I didn’t even know I could feel this way.

I just turned twenty-two a few weeks ago, but I’ve never had a boyfriend, or even a fling. Layla and I are very different in that regard. While she’s out there with a new guy almost every other week, I’ve never been interested enough in anyone for it to become anything serious, or intimate even.

I’m not completely innocent. I’ve done stuff. I’ve flirted, I’ve kissed guys, and even fooled around a little, but that’s the extent of it.

People say you should wait until you feel “ready”, and I’ve yet to figure out what that means. All I know is that I’ve never felt ready enough to go all the way, to do something so special with someone who doesn’t turn both my head and my heart.

Even with the brief interaction we’ve had, Ryan Hawkins has done so much more than that to me. It’s only been three days, and there hasn’t been a moment when I wasn’t thinking of him. My thoughts revolve around him, all underlined by that one paramount question: what did he mean by “proposal?“

I have to find out. I have to. I owe it to myself, maybe I even owe it to fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it. Someone like him doesn’t cross my path on an everyday basis. In fact, no one ever has, and I doubt it will happen again anytime soon.

I take a deep breath and reach for my phone. Doubts and worries need to step aside for a moment.

I have a call to make.