FOREVER YOURS,MY CEO

Chapter 6

“So.. You bought out the entire restaurant just because we were dining in? If that was supposed to impress me.. It didn't..”

Georgina had been chauffeured to Red Gazelle - a restaurant which was known to have some of the best meat in the city - by Denis, in a Rolls Royce, dressed in a gown she'd prepared specially for this occasion. Upon her arrival, she'd been elated to see Zayn - in a leather jacket and leather pants, complemented by a pair of clearly expensive brogues - but deflated that the restaurant was empty, apart from them, and she had concealed her worry while food and drinks were ordered. Only when they'd begun eating did she voice this dissatisfaction.

She wasn't always so vocal, but she was strangely comfortable with Zayn, despite the age difference, that she felt bold enough to bring up something like this. Afterall, they were on a date..

Zayn looked up from the steak he'd been piecing up, smiled while slowly nodding his head, and then leaned back in his chair before replying:

“I actually didn't do it to impress.. I did it to get some privacy both for me and for you. For me, because I appreciate it and for you because I felt you would appreciate it, too..”

“Really? I mean, I like privacy but I don't think it would ever occur to me to buy out a restaurant.. Not that I have the money to do that, though..”

The last line made Zayn chuckle and Georgina felt over the moon that she could make him, as perfect as he was, laugh. He quickly composed himself to reply.

“Trust me, I didn't like that I had to do it - because everyone deserves to be able to go to a nice restaurant such as this and have some good food - but since it would have been awkward to ask you to meet me in my house, it was the only way to peacefully have this dinner, here.”

“Why? You don't like mixing with people?” Georgina had heard, in fiction, of rich men buying out restaurants but this was the first time she'd ever experienced it, live.

“No, not at all. I love people regardless of their status; I don't discriminate. I would do the same thing if everyone in the world were billionaires because, all my life, I've always had the spotlight on me. The name “Jones” has brought me a lot of attention. I'll admit that I've enjoyed it, in many areas, but it also has its downsides. More often than not, I get treated unnecessarily preferentially.. At airports, at supermarkets, even by the Police.”

“Isn't that the point of it all? To get things you don't really deserve because you're rich?” Georgina asked, genuinely curious. Zayn's answer brought water to her eyes:

“Well, if you ask some really rich fellows, like my father, they would very readily tell you that it is definitely the point of it all. But my take is this: It may be what it has become about, but I don't think that's how it's supposed to be. And even if it is, I do not like it that way. We're all humans, we should all get our own fair share in every thing; having some green paper more than someone else shouldn't earn me more than my fair share. It's oppression.”

Georgina had never been privileged to have a sit-down with anyone who was even half as rich as Zayn was, and yet the men with a little money who she'd met were always so quick to talk about how they enjoyed being treated like better humans because of their money. Zayn was different.. She could see this, already.

“Have you always been this way or you got to understand it over time?” She asked, willing to press on.

“For as long as I can remember, I've disliked being singled out simply because of the money. Something happened when I was 8. I got into a fight at school; a fight I started; and the other boy got expelled because God forbid that Zayn Jones should get expelled. I got home and told my dad that I wouldn't be going back to that school. I felt terrible.”

Georgina was agape. “You imposed an expulsion on yourself?”

Zayn, in response, nodded. “I didn't deserve to remain in the school afterwards. The school authority, probably after having to choose between the child of a rich man and a nobody, handed me more than my fair share. I was never going to take it.”

Georgina had never been so wet in her entire life; Zayn's pure soul and absolute humanity was weakening her knees. She had nothing left to ask, she could only stare at him in wonder. And then he threw a question at her:

“You were expecting a braggart, right?”

She licked her lips and looked everywhere but at him before stringing words together:

“Well, in a way. I mean, you are worth more than half a hundred billion dollars so, yeah, I was expecting a degree of arrogance.”

Zayn took a bite of his steak, automatically reminding Georgina that her chicken sandwiches had been largely untouched, so far.

“That's probably because you've gotten used to people in your life who have authority, flaunting that authority over you.”

Instantly, Georgina knew who he was talking about.

“My sister.. I really hoped you wouldn't remember.”

“A man like me doesn't forget things easily. When I saw her hitting you, I felt a rush of guilt and anger; it was just wrong, in every sense. One would expect that she should be venting at the fellow driving the car that almost hit you, but she clearly dislikes you. Why?”

Georgina shrugged. “Who knows? She's jealous that she doesn't have my body type; that I'm chasing a degree, something she feels she can no longer get; and, above all else, she's pouring the frustrations of her life on me because she feels I've held her back.”

Zayn sat and listened, slowly munching his meat, before taking a sip of his wine and speaking again.

“That's the perfect description of a bitter person. I don't think a woman like you, pretty and likeable as you are, should be under the wing of such a person. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not safe for you.”

Georgina, assured in her spirit that Hailey would never really hurt her but still excited that Zayn cared enough to worry, decided to flirt a little:

“Well, if you marry me and stash me in some billion dollar mansion, then she'd never be able to do more to me than she's already done.”

Georgina laughed, but Zayn didn't. He had a serious, pensive look on his face that instantly made her regret the joke.

“I'm so sorry, I was kidding but it was too forward of me; I'm so sorry. I was being silly; I tend to do silly things.. Please don't be mad. I..”

However, she was stunned and silenced when Zayn got up out of his seat, came and stood by her, and got down on one knee. He produced a ring from nowhere and then began to speak:

“I wasn't mad; I was shocked. I'd intended to do this, and I didn't even tell Denis so I was surprised how it occurred to you. Georgina.. We've not known each other for even a week, but I feel something for you that I've not felt for a woman in a long time. And I know you feel it, too. So, forgive me if this seems a little rushed but, will you marry me?”

Georgina had previously been chewing a bit of her sandwich, and it was not stuck in her mouth, as she watched Zayn proposing to her. She had never dreamed that her joke would take them this far. But, then again, Zayn had planned to do this even before the date, so it had nothing to do with her joke. She was gobsmacked, seeing Zayn holding out a ring towards her, that she didn't even know what to say.

“Georgina..? Will you marry me?” He asked again, a look of plea and hope in his beautiful, blue eyes.

“I.. I…”