Grand Gestures
1830 Words
CHAPTER 17
Three weeks later
Things were getting back to normal.
The tabloid story had mostly died down. New celebrity scandal had taken its place.
My business was recovering. Catherine Park's ten events were keeping me busy. A few of my old clients had even come back, apologizing for overreacting.
And Damien...
Damien was being Damien.
Which meant he was going overboard.
"What is that?" I asked, staring at my office.
Roses. Everywhere. Hundreds of them.
Red, white, pink. Covering every surface.
Maya stood in the doorway, grinning. "Your boyfriend is extra."
"This is beyond extra. This is... excessive."
I found the card.
"Just because. I love you. - D"
My phone rang. Damien.
"Did you get the flowers?" he asked.
"I got the forest. Damien, this is too much."
"Nothing is too much for you."
"My office looks like a flower shop exploded."
"Good. I want everyone to know you're loved."
I couldn't help but smile. "You're ridiculous."
"You love it."
"Maybe a little."
"Dinner tonight? I'm cooking."
"You're cooking?"
"Well, I'm ordering from that Italian place you like and pretending I cooked. Close enough."
I laughed. "Sounds perfect. Seven?"
"Seven. I love you."
"Love you too."
I hung up.
Maya walked in. "He's trying really hard."
"Too hard?"
"No. Just hard enough." She picked up a rose. "After six years of barely trying, I think you deserve the grand gestures."
"Yeah. Maybe I do."
That evening – Damien's apartment
I walked in to find candles everywhere.
And a trail of rose petals leading to the dining room.
"Seriously?" I called out.
"Too much?" Damien appeared from the kitchen.
"Way too much." But I was smiling.
"Good. I'm going for way too much."
Liam came running out. "Mommy! Look! Daddy made it all pretty!"
"I see that, baby. Where's your dinner?"
"I already ate! Now I'm going to bed so you and Daddy can have grown-up time." He said it very seriously.
"Who taught you that?"
"Uncle Richard! He called earlier and said Daddy needed to 'woo' you. What's woo?"
I looked at Damien. "Your grandfather is giving you dating advice?"
"Apparently." He looked embarrassed. "He also suggested the rose petals."
"Of course he did."
After Liam went to bed, in his room at Damien's place, already calling it "his room"...Damien and I had dinner.
Real Italian. Not delivery pretending to be homemade.
"This is nice," I said.
"Just nice?"
"Really nice."
"Better."
We ate in comfortable silence.
"So," Damien said. "I've been looking at houses."
"Houses?"
"For us. You said we could start looking."
"I said eventually..."
"It's been three weeks. That's eventually." He pulled out his phone. Showed me listings. "This one has a huge backyard for Liam. This one has a home office for you. This one..."
"Damien, these are all mansions."
"So?"
"So I can't afford a mansion."
"We can. Together."
"Damien..."
"Before you argue, just look at them. We can go this weekend. Just to look. No pressure."
I studied his face. He was excited. Actually excited about house hunting.
"Okay," I said. "We can look."
His smile was brilliant. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. But Damien, I'm paying my share. I'm not letting you..."
"Our share. We'll figure out our share. Together." He took my hand. "This isn't me trying to control you or buy you. This is us building a life together. Equally."
"Okay. Together."
"Together."
The next day – My office
I was reviewing contracts when my assistant, Jenny, knocked.
"Sophia? There's someone here to see you. She doesn't have an appointment but she says it's important."
"Who?"
"Isabella Chen."
My blood went cold.
"Tell her I'm busy..."
"I told her. She said she'll wait. She's been out there for an hour."
Of course she had.
"Fine. Send her in."
A minute later, Isabella walked into my office.
She looked the same. Beautiful. Polished. Cold.
"Sophia. It's been a long time."
"Not long enough. What do you want?"
"To talk. Woman to woman."
"We have nothing to talk about."
"Don't we?" She sat down without being invited. "I heard you and Damien are back together. Playing house with your little bastard."
"Get out."
"In a minute. First, I need you to understand something." She leaned forward. "Damien is mine. He always has been. That contract marriage? That was just a blip. A mistake. And you? You're just a rebound. A way for him to feel like a good father."
"Are you done?"
"Not even close." Her smile was sharp. "I'm coming back to New York. And I'm coming back for Damien. And when I do, you and your little boy will be nothing but a memory."
"Damien hates you. He knows what you tried to do..."
"Does he? Or does he just think he knows?" Isabella stood. "Men are so easy, Sophia. They want to believe they're in love. But give them a few months, a few complications, a screaming child and a nagging girlfriend... they remember why they wanted freedom in the first place."
"Damien isn't like that..."
"He's exactly like that. He threw you away once. He'll do it again." She walked to the door. Stopped. "Enjoy your little fantasy while it lasts. Because it won't last long."
She left.
I sat there, shaking.
She was wrong. She had to be wrong.
Damien had changed. We were different now.
But a small voice in my head whispered: What if she's right?
That night – My apartment
I didn't tell Damien about Isabella.
I should have. But I didn't.
Instead, I was quiet during dinner. Distracted.
"You okay?" Damien asked.
"Fine. Just tired."
"Long day?"
"Yeah. Long day."
He didn't push. Just helped clean up. Played with Liam. Did bedtime routine.
Normal. Easy. Like we'd been doing this for years.
After Liam was asleep, Damien found me on the couch.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "And don't say nothing. I know you."
I debated lying.
But we'd promised honesty.
"Isabella came to my office today."
He froze. "What?"
"She came to warn me. To tell me you're hers. That I'm just a rebound."
"That's insane..."
"Is it?"
"Yes!" He sat next to me. Took my hands. "Sophia, look at me. Isabella is nothing to me. Less than nothing. She's a con artist who tried to use me. I have zero feelings for her except disgust."
"She said she's coming back to New York. Coming back for you."
"Let her come. I don't care. She can stand outside my office every day. She can send letters, make calls, whatever. It doesn't matter." He cupped my face. "Because I'm not going anywhere. I'm here. With you. With Liam. This is my life now."
"But what if..."
"No what-ifs. I love you. I choose you. Every single day, I choose you."
"She said you threw me away once. That you'll do it again."
Pain flashed across his face. "I did throw you away. And I've regretted it every day for six years. But Sophia, I'm not that man anymore. I can't be that man anymore. Because I know what life is like without you. And I won't survive it again."
"Promise?"
"I promise. I swear on Liam's life. I will never hurt you like that again."
I believed him.
I had to believe him.
"Okay," I whispered.
"Okay?"
"Okay. I believe you."
He pulled me close. Held me tight.
"Isabella can't touch us," he said. "No one can. We're solid. We're real. We're forever."
"Forever is a long time."
"Not long enough."
One week later
The billboard appeared on I-5.
Massive. Impossible to miss.
A picture of me and Damien and Liam at the park. All of us laughing.
And underneath, in huge letters:
"SOPHIA MARTINEZ, I LOVE YOU. THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME A FAMILY. - DAMIEN"
My phone exploded.
Calls. Texts. Emails.
Everyone had seen it.
Maya sent a picture with three crying-laughing emojis.
Maya: YOUR BOYFRIEND IS INSANE
Me: I KNOW
Maya: But also kind of romantic?
Me: Kind of
Maya: Okay very romantic
Me: Don't encourage him
I called Damien. "A billboard?"
"You don't like it?"
"Everyone can see it!"
"That's the point. I want everyone to know I love you."
"Damien..."
"Too much?"
"Way too much."
"Should I take it down?"
I looked at the picture Maya sent. At the three of us, happy and together.
"No," I said softly. "Don't take it down."
"No?"
"No. It's ridiculous and over-the-top and completely unnecessary."
"But?"
"But I love it. And I love you."
"Thank god. Because I already bought three more."
"THREE MORE?"
"One on Highway 99. One near your office. One near Liam's preschool."
"You're insane."
"Insanely in love with you."
"That was terrible."
"But you're smiling."
I was. I really was.
"Come over tonight?" I asked.
"Already on my way."
That night
We stood on my balcony, looking out at the city.
"I talked to a realtor today," Damien said. "About the house on Mercer Island. The one with the big backyard."
"The mansion?"
"It's not a mansion. It's just... spacious."
"It has seven bedrooms, Damien."
"So we'll have room for guests. And maybe..." He hesitated. "Maybe more kids. Eventually. If you want."
I turned to look at him. "More kids?"
"I mean, not right away. But someday. Maybe. If you wanted." He was nervous. Actually nervous. "We don't have to. Liam is enough. More than enough. But..."
"I'd like that," I interrupted. "Someday. More kids."
His face lit up. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. A little girl maybe. Or another boy. Or both."
"Both sounds good."
"Let's survive moving in together first."
"Fair point." He pulled me close. "But I'm putting it out there. I want more kids with you. I want the house. I want the life. All of it."
"Me too."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. You, me, Liam, and whoever else comes along. That sounds perfect."
He kissed me. Deep and long and full of promise.
"I'm going to make you so happy," he whispered.
"You already do."
"Then I'm going to make you happier. Every day. For the rest of our lives."
And looking into his eyes, I believed him.
This was really happening.
We were really building a life together.
And for the first time in six years, I wasn't scared of the future.
I was excited for it.
Meanwhile – New York City
Isabella sat in her apartment, staring at the billboard picture on her phone.
Sophia. Damien. And that brat.
Looking happy. Looking perfect.
"Enjoy it while it lasts," she muttered.
She scrolled through her contacts. Found the number she needed.
A private investigator. The best in the business.
"I need information," she said when he answered. "On Sophia Martinez. Everything. Her business. Her finances. Her weaknesses. And I need it fast."
"What are you planning?"
"To take back what's mine."
She hung up.
Damien thought he was done with her.
He thought he could just move on. Play happy family with his little contract bride.
But Isabella Chen didn't lose.
Ever.
And she was going to prove it.
- Writer
