“You said you had never been to New York.” I shrugged. “Obviously we had to change that. And what better opportunity to do so than during the most special day of both of our lives?”
“But Zayden,” she spoke in stutters. “All my family and friends and everyone I know are here and they can’t exactly afford to take a trip to—”
“I will take care of everything. You have to learn to stop worrying about money. I want you to have the wedding of your dreams. Pick out the best wedding gown, the best décor; pick out an invitation embellished in gold and platinum if you wish. I will pay for absolutely everything. We will put all your friends and family up in five star hotels. Everything you need will be taken care of. Don’t worry about how or when; just decide what you want and it’s yours. You might as well start getting used to it because this is not just about the wedding either. That’s basically how things will go from now on for the rest of your life.”
She was crying into her hands now, unable to process all of this. It made me feel a little weary because I did not like seeing her in tears, not even those of joy. Her tears were more precious to me than anything money could ever buy and they were not worth wasting.
I stood up from my chair and went over to take Aria into my arms. She was so small and fit so perfectly against my chest.
“Aria, I love you so much. More than you will ever realize. More than the world will ever have accurate measures to quantify. When I decided I wanted to marry you, I also decided that from that moment on, nothing in the world mattered as much as your happiness. If you really think about it, I’m being selfish by giving you the wedding of your dreams. I can only be happy when you are happy. So in the end, I am doing this for me. Okay?”
I hugged her tighter, intending to never let me go.
“I love you so much too, Zay,” she mumbled into my chest. “I can’t wait to be your wife…”
We sat like that in each other’s embrace for the longest time, with the whole office watching through my office windows. When we finally broke apart, I remembered the other thing I had to discuss with her.
“One more thing,” I said, wiping the last of her tears from her face. “There is absolutely no reason for you and me to be apart for another second from now on. I hired some movers. They will be at your apartment tomorrow to get all your things. You don’t worry about a single thing. They will pack all your things and carry everything to my place. Is that okay?”
I felt like it was important to phrase everything as a question. Aria would not be okay with being told what to do, which was one of the many reasons I loved her so much.
“Of course,” she said
to my utter relief. “I can’t wait to move in with you either. The thought of being apart from you is tormenting sometimes. I’ll miss my roommates of course, but I’ll have one last night with them tonight.”
“They will be happy for you,” I said, stroking her hair.
“I’m sure you have a good command on exactly how they will feel, given that they have been sneakily planning things with you behind my back,” she said with a smirk.
“It’s because they love you. How can they not? How can anyone not?” I leaned over to plant a kiss on her lips. “You are so damn loveable.”
“So are you,” she said, kissing me back. “Thanks so much for arranging everything with the move. And for Fiona, the Plaza and everything else. I can’t believe I get to marry you in three weeks.”
“You can have the rest of the day off,” I said, looking at the time. “I have some business to tend to and you have to go talk to your roommates and plan for your move. You can come in to work whenever you feel like it for the next three weeks or not at all if you don’t want to. You won’t be stationed at the teller’s booth—”
“No!” she gasped again. “No, Zayden. I haven’t earned a promotion. You know how I feel about making my own way to the top.”
“Well, that complicates matters. Considering you will soon be part owner of the company. I mean if you prefer to run half of this office while sitting where the tellers do, that’s up to you, but I would suggest that it’s not the best business move.”
“I didn’t earn this,” she whispered again.
“Yes you did. I have seen your mind, Aria, and fallen in love with it. Remember when I asked you if you would work for me long before I even realized I was in love with you? Even when I had no plans but to seduce you, I was already blown away by your brilliance and your ideas. My company needs young ambitious assets just like you and this would be the fact of the matter regardless of whether or not we were getting married in three weeks.”
“But that’s not how everyone else will see it,” she protested. “They will all just think it’s some kind of nepotism or something.”
“Well, give me a list of everyone who thinks that way and I will fire every last one of them.”
She sighed. “That won’t be necessary. Fine, no more teller duties. Where do I sit then?”
“I am having them build you a new office right across from mine. So let me know what you want in that space. Meanwhile, you can just take that desk over there. I don’t think – well I hope – that you won’t be engaging in much other work than planning your dream wedding for the next three weeks so that shouldn’t be a problem. By the time we are married your office should also be ready and you will have your own space to come up with brilliant ideas that I don’t doubt will bring my company heaps of money.”
“You give me too much credit, Zayden.”
It was my turn to sigh. “The fact that you think that is also one of your greatest qualities. God, if you could only see yourself the way I see you. We will talk again after you have assumed your new role in the company for a few months. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”
She shrugged. “If you say so. I’m going to head out now. I have a wedding to plan,” she said joyfully and almost hopped out of my office, leaving me grinning with admiration.
Chapter 5