Chapter 32 Samir
Imay not celebrate Christmas, but after what happened with Cole, I might become a believer in Christmas magic.
After the way he treated me in Boston, I thought that was it. I might not have known why, but I didn’t think I’d ever see him again. After all, I’d gone four years on this island without ever seeing him, right?
But him coming to me on Christmas day when he’s supposed to be with his family, him choosing to spend even a portion of it with me, was a memory I’d cherish for the rest of my life.
And everything he’d said made total sense. I didn’t want to believe him, or forgive him, or even excuse him, but one look into his eyes told me all I needed to know.
The next few days went by in a flash, yet to me they felt like a lifetime. We’d become inseparable, and I got to spend more time with him, Ella, Carson, and the rest of his family who all embraced me as if I were one of their own.
He even came by the store with Ella and helped me with book chores and the cats while Zainab and Alina cooed over his little girl.
It was incredible how fast things had changed since Christmas. For the first time in forever, I could picture a life with Cole, and I could picture it without feeling guilty or silly. It was so special, and I only hoped I’d continue feeling this way long after the holiday magic was over.
“I hear you’re having dinner with Uncle Haroun,” Zainab said when I returned to the register to pick up another box in need of organization.
“We are,” I told her.
“Does he know I’m not coming and your boyfriend is?” She giggled.
I stopped and looked back at her.
“Who said you’re not coming? He’s hosting all four of us,” I said, and Zainab gasped.
“No! Samir, what have you done?”
“Consider that payback for your meddling in my love life,” I said.
Alina glared at me.
“The fuck? If it weren’t for us, you’d still be single.”
I ignored both of them and walked away, laughing to myself.
Alina was right of course, but it didn’t mean I didn’t get to tease them eternally about this.
“What was that about?” Cole asked as he took over the box from me and set it on the floor.
“Nothing important,” I said, and he smiled, pulled me into his arms, and pressed me against the bookcase as he gave me a hard, passionate kiss.
It lit a fire inside me as it always did, but instead of helping me put it out, he just stepped back, bent over, and picked up a few books to organize them.
“You’re such a tease,” I grumbled, and he simply smirked.
Gosh, I loved this man.
And every day I fell for him even more as more of his personality came out of hibernation. I don’t know how, but somehow I felt it deep in my bones that he was the one. So how could I not believe in Christmas magic when the first I ever dated turned out to be the man I was supposed to be with?
Samir: You’re late.
I checked my phone again and sighed. The man I was supposed to be with wasn’t here, and I was getting really worried.
Cole: I’ll be there soon.
It was half past eleven. He was supposed to get here half an hour ago, and every time I checked on him, he kept telling me he’d be here soon.
Maybe something had happened, and he didn’t want to worry me.
Or maybe…
Maybe something had happened that had sent him running again.
Either way he wasn’t going to get rid of me that easily. Not this time. I’d made him a promise, and I was going to keep it for both our sakes.
I walked back into the store and hung out with Lord Bookworm and Missy, who kept trying to get a rise out of his older brother, but Lord Bookworm didn’t bite.
I stroked both cats and looked outside. All the stores might be closed but the street was full of people dressed in their nicest clothes, wearing new year head bands or taking pictures in the scenic background of Mayberry’s Main Street.
I couldn’t believe I got to spend a new year’s with someone. Someone I loved.
If he ever turns up.
I checked my phone again. It was quarter to twelve, and I was about to start typing another message when I heard commotion in the back of the store.
The cats jumped off the counter, and I reached for the first thing I could grab, staring at the darkened corridors of the store and bracing myself.
Of course I was going to get murdered when I finally found someone that makes me truly happy.
The intruders stepped out of the shadows and screamed. I screamed. I threw the book at them and ducked behind the counter when I realized who it was.
“Zay? Alina? What the fuck? You scared the hell out of me. I thought I was being robbed.”
Alina crouched down and picked up the book I’d thrown and stared back at me. Her face was fully made up, and her hair was caught up in a messy bun. She was wearing a shapely black dress with lacing all over the shoulders that made it look strapless.
“And you were going to defend yourself with this?” she asked and threw the book back at me.
I caught it in my hands and checked its condition before I snapped back at them.
“What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you were out. Were you sucking face in the reading room again? Because I told you before, that’s gross.”
Zainab stepped forward, and with a roll of her eyes, pulled me by the hand.
She was wearing a mermaid green sequin dress that looked almost black in the shadows with a matching sequined hijab. They both made such a beautiful couple. That didn’t explain why they weren’t somewhere making out or ringing in the new year.
“You need to come,” Zainab said. “I think there’s a cat stuck on the roof.”
“What? The roof?” I tensed. “Which one? How did they get there?”
“I don’t know but you need to hurry. We don’t know what to do,” Alina said, dragging me by my other hand, and we rushed up the two flights of stairs. As I crossed through my apartment to get to the small staircase that led to the roof terrace, I realized the girls weren’t behind me anymore.
“What the—” I started, but then I stepped out onto the small roof terrace, and my breath caught in my throat.
White fairy lights were wrapped around the railings as well as large lanterns lit with candles scattered on the floor.
In the middle was a small table with a red tablecloth, a tabletop heater in the middle, and two champagne glasses with a bottle of fizzy apple juice in an ice bucket.
But most importantly, Cole was standing there, dressed to the nines in black suit with a white shirt and a red tie holding a red rose.
He looked breathtaking against the clear starlit sky; more breathtaking than he’d ever looked, and he always looked amazing.
“Am… am I on The Bachelor?”
Cole laughed and took the three steps necessary to get to me.
“Hey,” he said.
His eyes glittered, reflecting the lights that surrounded us, and I looked into them and got lost in them as my body, mind, and soul relaxed.
“I thought you ran again,” I said.
He shook his head.
“Never.”
I gave him a playful shove, and he laughed.
“I did need to put up a ruse while the girls helped me finish up out here.”
I looked around long enough to take it all in, then stared back at him and his wonderful face.
“What is all this?”
Cole shrugged and offered me half a smile.
“I wanted to apologize. For the way I treated you back in Boston—”
“I thought we’d already talked about that.”
He put his fingers to my lips and nodded.
“But I wanted you to see how much I mean it. How much you mean to me.”
I took a deep breath and took his hand.
“You mean so much to me too.”
“Yeah?” he whispered, and I nodded.
He stepped back and showed me to the first chair and asked me to take a seat, and he sat opposite me.
“H-how did you come up with all of this?” I asked, looking beyond my little romantic rooftop to all the other houses that made up the skyline of this island. Then to the lights around town and the people in all the alleys walking toward town square.
“I had help,” he mumbled.
I laughed.
“Let me guess. Zay and Alina?”
Cole shook his head.
“They helped with the setup, but the idea was mine. And Enzo’s. Mainly Enzo’s. I told him I wanted to do something nice. He came up with the rest. Though don’t tell him I said that. I was supposed to take all the credit.”
I laughed and put my hand on the table, palm up and open, and Cole put his hand on top of mine.
“Well, no matter who came up with it, it’s awesome.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said. “I also… I wanted to ask you something.”
I froze and a knot formed in my throat. I nodded.
Cole pulled away from our touch and ducked under the table only to resurface with a small box. He slid it across the table, and I grimaced.
“What—what is this? More sexy truffles?” I croaked.
“Open it,” he said.
I touched the top, found the ends of the red bow, and tugged it free before I put my fingers around the lid of the round box and lifted it, unsure what I’d find inside but excited for whatever Cole had to give me.
It was a red ornament, a heart-shaped glass Christmas ornament nestled in a silk cushion, light dancing across its planes.
“Wh-what…” I started, lifting it by the thread at the top, and Cole took my hand again.
“It’s… it’s my heart. Well, not my actual heart, but you know what I mean,” he said and rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Gosh, I’m screwing this up already.”
I smirked.
“You’re not doing as bad as you think you are,” I said. “Go on.”
“It’s… well, it’s supposed to symbolize my heart. It’s heavy and fragile and been through a lot, but… I want to give it to you. To look after it and protect it and all that. You just have to make a promise.”
I squeezed Cole’s hand and smiled.
“What kind of promise?”
“You have to promise not to break it. I don’t think it could take another shot. And I promise I won’t break yours either. I will cherish you and look after you as well. I just… gosh, this is silly. I sound so cheesy.”
I shook my head.
“No. Not cheesy at all.” I pushed myself off the chair and walked around the table to get to him, heart in hand, and crouched down in front of Cole. “I promise you, Cole. I will never hurt you. I will never break your heart. And I will always love you.”
“Yeah?” he whispered, and my chest felt heavy.
Not just with the responsibility of Cole’s heart, but with the vulnerability he was showing me. This was the true Cole. I knew it was. That Cole from Boston was just a scared kid who’d been through hell and didn’t want to go through it again. This Cole? This one was the real deal.
And I would stick to my promise no matter what.
“Yeah,” I said and bent forward.
Cole leaned toward me as well and reunited our lips. They’d spent enough time apart. It was time we gave them, gave our hearts and souls, what they wanted.
Someone to love.
As we deepened our kiss, there was an explosion of light and color, then another and another, but we didn’t break apart.
We simply kissed, welcoming the new year with the only thing that mattered, and the fireworks?
The fireworks paled in comparison to the ones lighting up my insides whenever I was with him.
“Oh, shoot.” Cole pulled away and breathed heavily. “I was supposed to slide in a question there.”
I laughed.
“What question?” I asked.
“Will you be my boyfriend?”
I laughed louder and pulled him back to me.
“Try to get rid of me,” I said and kissed him again.
Kissed my boyfriend.
My love.
My Cole.