The Bride of Chrysalis

Chapter 7

I jump at a sudden knock on the door and when I look over I see Thomas standing there. He has something in his hands.

“I brought you something to sleep in for the night” he says as he looks at me.

I kind of expect him to walk in and hand it to me but he doesn’t. He stays standing outside the door. So I get up and walk over to him. I didn’t notice it earlier but he actually smells really nice. He smells like

one of those expensive colognes. Wait, why am I thinking about that right now? Why am I thinking about it at all? I realize I have just been awkwardly standing in front of him smelling how nice he was. My eyes widen at this and I quickly reach for the clothes he is holding out for me. When I look up at his face I can see he is grinning at me. For the second time today I can feel my face flush because of him and again I look down to save myself from embarrassment.

“Uh, thanks” I say. I expect him to turn around then and walk away but he doesn’t. Oh my word, why is he still just standing there? Do I say something? But what do I even say? But to my surprise he speaks up first.

“Follow me,” he says.

That must be one of his favorite lines. He starts making his way down the hallway towards the staircase. I hesitate for a moment before following him. We both reach the bottom of the stairs and I follow him across the foyer to a set of glass double doors. He opens the doors before flipping a switch on the wall next to us. A few lights turned on and I realize he has led me to an outdoor seating area. It's a cozy set up with an outdoor fireplace in the centre. It's too dark to see the forest clearly, but I'm pretty sure that during the day the view of the forest would be magnificent. The warm orange lights encircling the seating area just gives it that extra beauty and cozy feeling. I look over at Thomas and find him already looking at me. Again for some unknown reason my stomach does a little flip. Why is he staring at me? I just look at him for a moment before I can finally bring myself to say something.

“So” I say “why did you bring me out here?”

He doesn’t answer right away. Instead he just keeps looking at me intently. He has an expression on his face that I have not yet seen but I can’t seem to make out what it means. It feels as if he is trying to look at my soul through my eyes. His gaze feels so intense that I unintentionally look away. He then clears his throat before finally answering my question.

“I wanted to ask you something,” He says.

“OK and why did you need to bring me outside to ask me something?”

“I thought this environment of us being here under the stars would better suit the question”

OK now i'm really confused and slightly concerned. I then watch in shock as he gets down on one knee. No, there is no way this is actually happening.

“If we are going to get married” He says “Then i'm going to do it the right way, it’s the least I can do”

Wait this is actually happening. I'm going to be marrying a complete stranger. He then

reaches into the pocket of his blazer before pulling out a ring. The ring was simple yet

magnificent at the same time. The ring band was rose gold with a very sparkly array of rose gold diamonds adorning it. He then looks back up at me

“I would like to say that this ring has a lot of

meaning to me and that it was my mothers ring and what not, but in actual fact I had found it in the forest one day and just decided to keep it”

he laughs to himself a little as he says this which brings a smile to my face.

“Anyway” he says, his expression turning serious “Dawn Alderidge will you marry me?”

There is no way this is happening. My life has literally just flipped upside down in a matter of hours. I realize that I'm just standing here with my mouth hanging open, looking like a fish on land.

“Uh, yeah, I mean yes, yes I will marry you” I say my voice coming out more high pitched than I anticipated.

So this is really happening. In a matter of days we will be married. I watch him

hesitate for a second before he reaches out for my hand. He gently grabs hold of it before sliding on the ring. Which to my surprise fits perfectly. He stands up then and looks at me for a second before simply nodding his head and then retreating back into the house. My heart is racing and my legs feel like jelly, yet he seemed completely unfazed by it all. I mean he literally

just proposed to me. Then again I need to remind myself that this isn’t a real marriage and it is only temporary.