"Isn't this the way to the house? Is the restaurant on this route or are we stopping by the house before going to the restaurant?" Sonia asked with a displeased frown as Bryan drove the car.
As much as she liked being spontaneous she wasn't in the mood for spontaneity right now. She had planned to spend the evening just lying in bed until Bryan suddenly decided he was craving some fancy Chinese delicacy.
She had suggested he order whatever he wanted but he had insisted they go out together since it had been a while they had gone out on a date.
How could he not understand that being an extrovert didn't mean she was always up for such impromptu dates? She was not in the mood. She was feeling lethargic and wanted to stay in.
After much convincing, here she was, dressed up in a sexy red dress he had convinced her to wear and seated in the car letting Bryan drive her to wherever he pleased
"Yeah. Jade said she left her earrings there yesterday and wanted me to help her get it…"
"And you didn't think you should inform me about this detour? We are going there to meet with the interior decorators tomorrow, aren't we? Why can't the earrings wait until tomorrow?" Sonia hissed irritably.
"She wants to wear it tomorrow…"
"For Christ's sake, Bryan! Then she could have picked it herself! I'm really not in the mood for all of this! I'm tired and want to be on my back," Sonia said, and Bryan reached over to take her hand.
"I'm sorry. I understand I'm stressing you," Bryan said as he lifted her hand to his lips without taking his gaze off the road.
Sonia pulled her hand away from his irritably and turned her back to him so she was looking out her window.
"C'mon love, don't frown. You look more beautiful when you smile," Bryan said, and she turned to glare at him.
"I'm not staying at the restaurant. Not after this detour. We will just get the food and come back home. We can arrange to go on a date some other time," Sonia said, and Bryan nodded.
"Alright. If that's what you want. I'm sorry," Bryan said amicably.
Seeing how calm he was and how he was trying to calm her, Sonia sighed, "I understand you were trying to be romantic by wanting us to go out on a date, but I'm really not feeling up to it. Sorry I'm ruining the mood," Sonia said apologetically and Bryan shrugged.
"It's fine. Is something bothering you or is it the pregnancy hormones?" He asked curiously and she sighed
"I don't know. Maybe it's the hormones," she said, and Bryan turned to look at her.
"What can I do to help?" Bryan asked and Sonia raised a brow.
"Other than taking me back home?" She asked, and Bryan grinned.
"I thought we are heading to our home?" Bryan asked, and Sonia smiled involuntarily.
"Whatever. Let's just get it over with," she said as he drove through the open gate.
"Why is the gate open?" Sonia asked with slight a frown.
"I guess they workers must have forgotten to shut it on their way out. We will do that on our way out," Bryan said and Sonia sighed.
"That's quite careless of them. I guess we should be thankful there's nothing valuable in the house yet," Sonia said and Bryan smiled.
"I doubt anyone living around here would be the type to cart away people's valuables when they're not looking," Bryan assured her as he parked the car.
"Well, you can afford to be so trusting. I can't. Did she tell you where she dropped the earrings?" She asked as she unfastened her seatbelt.
"Give me a minute to call her," Bryan said as he picked his phone and dialed Jade's line to inform her they were there so they could get ready.
"We are here. Where did you drop the earrings?" Bryan asked, and listened for a moment before turning to Sonia who was already getting out of the car.
"She thinks it might be in the backyard," Bryan said as he got out of the car and they both headed for the front door.
Once they got into the house, Sonia turned on the lights and headed straight for the back door which led to the backyard, and as she approached she couldn't help but hear the sound of music drifting from there.
"Are the workers still around or did someone forget their speaker here?" Sonia asked as she turned to look at Bryan.
"Let's find out," he suggested with a blank face as he slowly followed her, letting her lead the way.
As Sonia opened the door, Bryan quickly dipped his hand into the pocket of his trousers to take out the ring.
Now she could clearly hear the lyrics of the song. It was Ed Sheeran's thinking out loud. One of her all time favorites since she was a huge fan of Ed Sheeran.
As she got off the porch and turned the bend following the music, the backyard was suddenly flooded with light and a loud cry of "Surprise!" Split the air as camera lights flashed in her eyes to capture her shocked expression.
"What?" She asked in stunned surprise as she looked around at the smiling face of everyone present there while wondering what was going on.
She turned to Bryan, and gasped in surprise when she saw he was on one knee and holding out a princess cut diamond engagement ring.
"For days now I've been thinking a lot about this moment and what to say to you. There is so much I want to say to you and so many promises I want to make, but I don't think I want to exhaust them all here tonight. If I do that what else will I be telling you for the rest of our lives together?" Bryan asked, and everyone laughed, while Sonia merely continued to stare at him as tears gathered in her eyes.
"One thing I can say though, is that I don't think it's a coincidence that of all the ladies gathered at the lobby that day, I chose you to be my fake fiancée. Perhaps I did not recognize you as mine then, but my soul recognized your soul and of its own volition my heart pulled me to you. At first I thought you were a witch, but then I knew for real that you were one, cause only a witch could have captivated my heart as easily as you did. I'm enchanted by you and I love you, Sonia Smith. You're the most beautiful, most intelligent, most compassionate and sexiest woman I will ever know. I want you to be mine. In body, heart and soul. I want to spend forever knowing and loving you. Will you please do me this honor and be my partner for life?" Bryan asked, and a tear spilled from Sonia's eyes as she bobbed her head and held out her fingers to him to slip on the ring.
"Oh, Bryan!" Sonia cried, her lips wobbling as she looked down at her fingers and broke into a sob startling everyone.
Bryan smiled as he rose and embraced. Kissing her head as he held her tightly to himself while she cried.
Looking at Sonia, Lucy couldn't stop her tears from flowing either, despite the smile on her face, and she sniffled as she received the hankie Tom handed her.
"Damn pregnancy hormones," Jade muttered beside Harry, and he chuckled since he could see she was blinking back tears.
"I suppose you're pregnant too?" Harry joked, and Jade giggled as she brushed her tears away.
"Her tears are contagious," Jade said as she stepped forward.
"Alright, enough of the tears sister in-law! It's time to celebrate!" Jade exclaimed, and they all clapped and gathered around Bryan and Sonia, congratulating them.
While the guys drew Bryan aside, the ladies flanked Sonia.
"We took you by surprise, didn't we?" Jade asked with a grin and Candace giggled.
"All that talk about engagement and proposals was because of me?" Sonia asked when it finally clicked, and both Jade and Candace laughed even more but Lucy was lost.
"I always thought you were so smart. I can't believe you didn't catch on," Candace teased Sonia as she embraced her.
"Did you know about this too? I really wasn't expecting it," Sonia said and Lucy shook her head.
"I had no idea. Tom tricked me. He lied we were going on a date and brought me here. Now that you mention it, I should get back my phone from Jade," Lucy said and explained how Jade had seized her phone making Sonia laugh softly.
"Well, we couldn't trust you to keep the secret from her," Jade said as she returned Lucy's purse.
"Lucy is best at keeping secrets," Sonia assured them as she faced Lucy again and they both teared up as they embraced.
"Congrats, best girl! I'm so happy for you!" Lucy said as she patted Sonia's back.
Perceiving that the best friends needed a moment alone, Candace and Jade excused themselves.
"I can't believe I was giving him such a hard time in the car earlier while he had managed to set this up. Now I feel like a bitch," Sonia said, and Lucy giggled.
"I'm sure he knows you're a bitch already and loves you all the same. By the way, if I remember correctly you used to say people who shed tears during proposals are hypocrites, yet you just cried a river," Lucy said and Sonia shrugged.
"Blame it on the pregnancy hormones," she said, and Lucy giggled.
"I have a feeling you're going to be blaming a lot of things on your pregnancy hormones," Lucy said and Sonia laughed softly.
"Well, I was actually surprised and touched. I wasn't expecting a proposal. I didn't think Bryan was ready. I know he loves me and stuff, but you know, he's a celebrity and all that. I thought we will just keep dating and I'll be his Babymama and stuff until he was ready," Sonia said with a shrug.
"How do you feel?" Lucy asked looking at her seriously and Sonia sighed.
"Happy and contented. I'm going to have a husband I love and a baby we cherish. My own family and home, Lu!" Sonia said, and Lucy smiled.
"Dream come true, yeah?"
"Dream come true, Lu! You realize this means you're going to be spending all your free time with me, right? We have to make lots of plans for the wedding, Lu! I want a really grande wedding," Sonia said, and Lucy laughed.
"Why don't you start by enjoying your engagement party and then we can talk about the wedding plans later? Your fiancé and the guests are waiting," Lucy said jerking her head towards the others.
"Fiancé, Lu! He's no longer just my boyfriend but my fiancé!" Sonia said with sparkling eyes and Lucy giggled as she took Sonia's hand and led her back to where Bryan was standing.
"Ready to go back home to lie on your back now?" Bryan asked, and Sonia grinned as she kissed him.
"I guess that will have to wait," Sonia said as Mia walked up to them.
"Congrats, girl! I knew if anyone could tame Bryan, it was you!" Mia said as she embraced Sonia.
"Oh, Mia! Thank you," Sonia cried softly as she embraced Mia, remembering how Mia had rooted for her at the beginning of the fake relationship.
"Tame? I tamed her too," Bryan said defensively making Mia and Sonia laugh.
"I don't think you did," Matt said as he joined them, and embraced Sonia.
"Too bad I can no longer snatch you from him," Matt said, and Sonia laughed.
"You couldn't even if you had tried," Bryan said smugly as he pulled Sonia back to his side.
"Can I welcome my soon-to-be sister-in-law?" Tom asked, and Sonia stepped away from Bryan to embrace Tom.
andasnovel.com Seizing the opportunity, Bryan drew Lucy aside, "I was going to talk to you before proposing to her but I also didn't want to ruin the surprise," Bryan said and Lucy grinned as she shook her head.
"That doesn't matter to me, Bryan. As long as Sonia is happy, I'm cool," Lucy assured him.
"Well, since you're the closest person she has to a family apart from your parents and brother, I wanted to assure you that I love Sonia and will do my best to make her happy for the rest of our lives," Bryan said and Lucy giggled.
"I'm sure you will. And if you don't, I trust Sonia to handle you," Lucy said, and Bryan chuckled.
"Right. I'm also hoping we would both get along better. I mean, it's not like we don't get along. I just hope we will have a better relationship since apart from the fact that you're Tom's girlfriend, you're also really important to Sonia. Maybe we could work on being friends?" Bryan asked, and Lucy smiled.
"Sure. Thanks," Lucy said and they both turned when Jade used a piece of cutlery to tap lightly on her wineglass so she could get everyone's attention.
"Alright, people! I know that so many of you are jobless here, but tomorrow is a work day and we need to leave here early," Jade announced.
"That's my role you're filling! I'm Bryan's best friend for crying out loud!" Matt complained loudly making everyone laugh as they took their seats around the table.
"I'm surprised you invited Alicia and Jasmine. I thought you didn't like them," Sonia asked as she looked at the couple who were busy capturing photos.
"I don't dislike them. I just don't like them nosing into my business. And I invited them because I wanted them to cover the engagement and release the news to the public. I didn't want to invite any other reporter into our home," Bryan explained and Sonia nodded.
"That was quite thoughtful of you," she said with an approving smile.
"You don't mind us spending the night here, do you?" Bryan asked quietly, and Sonia raised a brow.
"Where? We haven't set up... Hold on, did you fix our bedroom without my knowledge?" Sonia asked with a glare and Bryan chuckled.
"Only a temporary fix. I wanted us to spend tonight here. It doesn't change the fact that you're in charge of fixing up the place. It's your house after all," Bryan said, and she relaxed.
"Our home," Sonia corrected.
"The building is yours. I know you didn't notice that I bought it in your name. Consider it my engagement gift to you," Bryan said, and Sonia's jaw dropped.
"Bryan!" she said softly not knowing what else to say.
"I love you," Bryan said and raised her hand to his lips.
"That could be us, you know?" Matt whispered to Candace who was seated beside him, when he noticed the smile on her face as she stared at Bryan and Sonia.
"Really?" she asked as she turned her attention to him and Matt nodded.
"Yeah. I know it will be us someday. I'm counting on that," Matt said and without waiting for her to say a word he deliberately turned away from her to talk to Jeff who was seated beside him.
He wanted her to have it in mind that he was only playing her game with her right now but still had every intention of building something serious with her someday when she was ready. He wasn't going to let her forget it.
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