Chapter 40

Mariah

 

“Congratulations!” Matthews says, and everyone else in office joins in with their praises. I had made another sale of a house for over a million dollars, and it’s another office party in my honor.

It’s one month after Wesley told me that he’d give me another chance and that he’d always be here for the baby and me. I was so happy.

And I’ve been on cloud nine ever since. Work has been going great – I’ve been selling houses left and right, and I’ve just made another big sale, which is the reason everyone’s congratulating me.

“Here’s your cake,” the new receptionist, Boyd, says, passing me a piece on a plate, with a fork.

“Thank you,” I reply, winking at him.

He’s much nicer than Kristy, and he doesn’t have to wear skimpy clothes. In fact, no one in the office is encouraged or even allowed to wear them, now that I’ve changed the dress policy. And no one better be hiring any coffee girls.

I take a big bite out of the cake. “Mmm, chocolate, my favorite.”

“And this time you can actually eat it,” Wesley jokes.

“No champagne for you, though,” Boyd says, and I snap my fingers and say, “Awww, man.”

“Don’t worry,” he adds. “I’ve got you covered, with some fake bubbly.”

He pops open a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling apple drink, and pours it into a glass for me.

“Cheers!” he says, and everyone joins in by toasting their own glasses of champagne.

“To another sale for you, and a happy future for us,” Wesley says.

A couple weeks ago, Wesley took me back to Seafarer’s and proposed to me. He had the large diamond ring put into a chocolate cake and he got down on one knee in front of the whole restaurant and asked me to make him the happiest man in the world and be his wife.

Everyone in the restaurant clapped for us and it was definitely the best moment of my life. What a better restaurant experience than the one I had had with my dad and Charles, that set off this whole crazy chain of events.

I couldn’t wait to go tell Sterling and Elle the good news. I’ve stopped working at the diner but I still drop in to see them. Plus, they have amazing potato soup.

“Girl, I knew you and that fancy realtor were meant to be,” Sterling said, as he gave me a congratulatory hug. “I’m glad you took my advice to be honest, too.”

“Hey now,” Elle said, with a wink. “She took my advice to go talk to him before it was too late.”

“Thank you both so much,” I told them. “For everything.”

The next Monday, Wesley and I returned to the office and let everyone know we were together, and engaged. Now that Kristy was gone, no one really cared – and the board members were just happy to hear that it was consensual and that we were getting married.

“There’s more,” Wesley said, with his hand on my stomach. “We’re having a baby.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Boyd said – it was his second week at the office – “if this gets any more perfect I’m just going to puke.”

Now, after we finish the champagne (and fake champagne) and cake, it’s time to set up my new office. This one is bigger and has a better view. I take a moment and look around at the spaciousness, wondering how I should decorate it and make it my own.

It seems like just yesterday I was reluctantly donning a schoolgirl outfit to serve coffee at the one job I could get. Now, I’m so happy I’ve gotten a promotion in the office – to senior realtor – as well as the promotion I’ve received in real life – to future Mrs. Drive.

My journey here has been fraught with drama but I’m so glad I went through it all. As we move in some furniture, Wesley comes over and gives me a kiss, putting his arm around my waist.

“Are you sure you’re okay to move this?” he asks, pointing at the lightweight bookshelf we just carried in and have been moving around to different places in the office to see where it looks best.

“Honey, I feel fine,” I reassure him with a smile.

“Okay,” he says, “because I don’t want any harm to come to you or our little baby in there.”

I stand on my tiptoes to kiss him, so happy I found him. Marrying Charles just to pretend to get my dad’s company would have been the worst mistake I could have ever made. But going out on my own to seek my own destiny and earn my own fortune has been the best decision ever – not to mention that otherwise I never would have had the opportunity to work at Drive Realty and I never would have met Wesley, nor would I be having his baby.

I guess life works in funny ways sometimes. And all we can do is everything in our power to work with it to try to make things go the best way possible for us.