Chapter 7-He kissed her
Audrey's POV…
“Audrey, I'm sorry”
I stood there in surprise, looking at Jonathan on his knees, apologising to me.
Who would think that the ‘high and mighty’ Jonathan Ryder would go on his knees, apologising to me.
“Ms Willows, there you have it. He's apologised already” the other guy said.
I looked at him and frowned. Why does he keep butting in my business?
“He asked for forgiveness, but for what?” I asked dramatically. “You can wrong someone in so many ways and when you apologize, you should be specific about the reason you're apologising. So… “ I said facing Jonathan. "You need to be specific”
I wanted to make good use of this opportunity.
"Ms Willows, that's ridiculous. You don't need to ask for that much”
I heaved heavily. It looks like I'm not going to be on good terms with this other guy.
I ignored him.
“I'm sorry for my behaviour when we met. I was not in my best behaviour and must have offended you. It was wrong of me. I'm sorry”
I just stood there, mouth hung open and stared at him. This was all too good to be true. Was this a show?
I rubbed my eyes to be sure I wasn't dreaming. I brought out my phone. Thank God I grabbed it before coming down.
“This seems strange and surprising. I need to keep a memory of this moment, so that in the future I can watch it and remember this moment “ I smiled slyly as I took a video of Jonathan on his knees.
"I accept your apology. It's time to beg me to come for the engagement party you announced without informing me" I laid emphasis on the last part.
“Please, can you come with me to our engagement party?"
I scoffed in disbelief. Just like that. He said it immediately I asked without bantering. Was this really happening? Was this a set-up or was there another motive behind Jonathan apologising?
I looked around to ensure nothing suspicious was going on. I started feeling discomfort. I knew he didn't mean it.
“It's okay. I'll go with you. You can stand now" I sounded like a royal Highness forgiving her subject or bodyguard.
“Let me get ready. You guys will have to wait. I tend to take a lot of time when getting ready"
“Take your time. That's why we came earlier" Jonathan said as he stood up. The other guy quickly rushed to him to help him.
Where was all this gentleman behaviour coming from? And where did his arrogant and jerky behaviour go?
I turned slowly and went inside.
"You know you didn't have to do her bidding” I heard the other guy say.
“I know. I only did that because I needed her. She's not that important and worthy to have me on my knees” Jonathan said.
I knew he did that because he needed me.
______________________________________
I looked at myself in the mirror for the hundredth time that evening.
I was putting on a black knee-length dress. It was sleeveless. It fitted my body and brought out my shape.
I was a model and I needed to look the part. I moved towards the window and looked down. They were still there, waiting for me.
‘I should make this evening fun’ I thought to myself and sat on the couch.
I was going to make them wait and wait till they came to call me. I won't come down on my own unless he comes to call me.
I turned on the television. The news and craziness about Jonathan and I had started to lessen.
"That's great," I muttered to myself.
I got a message from Lena.
‘Where are you and your Mr charming. It's your engagement… I mean fake but it's all the same’
I saw another message from my mom. She was asking if she should come for the engagement party of which my reply was an absolute ‘NO’. I told her it wasn't necessary to waste her precious time to come to the party.
I watched the latest news in fashion to stay aware of the latest trends.
I turned towards the door as soon as I heard a knock. It was coming from downstairs.
I went down and opened the door.
“Ms Willows, Mr Ryder said I should pass information to you” the other guy with Jonathan said. "He left"
“So…" I tried not to sound displeased that my plan didn't work.
“He had to leave as you were taking a lot of time. So now he asked me to pick you up whenever you're ready, and you'll meet him at the coffee shop, few meters away from the engagement party"
“A coffee shop?" I asked in disgust. “I don't visit cheap places. They could taint my clothes and fragrance"
“He chose that location because he didn't want people to see that he didn't come to pick you up and that's the least place people would expect to see you”
“Wait a minute. What is your name again?" I asked unconcerned.
"The name's Richard” he said and extended his hand for a shake.
Was he expecting me to shake his hand I don't know where it's been? Seeing my unwillingness, he withdrew his hand.
"Richard, tell your boss I won't meet him in a coffee shop and that…” I paused and thought for a minute. "You know what, forget I said anything"
I didn't have the energy for any arguments and I definitely didn't want to ruin my makeup.
"Then if you're ready, of which I can see you are, let's go”
I went inside and got my bag, put my perfume and makeup stuff in it, just in case I needed a redo, which I always do. I wore more perfume.
I glanced at myself one more time before leaving. I looked perfect.
I came back outside and headed for where my cars were parked.
“Ms Willows, please, you'll come with us. We'll be transporting you there” Richard said.
I heaved heavily and rolled my eyes. "Whatever"
______________________________________
We met Jonathan at the coffee shop and together, we headed for Grande d’hotel, the venue for the engagement party.
At the party, we met a lot of people. Most were Jonathan's partners in business and collaborators. I was forced to be smiling all through, that my cheeks started hurting.
I wasn't used to smiling all the time. As a model, I usually wore a fierce look, especially while walking the runway and during photoshoot.
I met some other models, my rivals obviously. I don't do friends and definitely not from the same industry. They were obviously not happy. Their jealousy and envy was so obvious.
I scoffed. They think I want to be with Jonathan. They can have him all they want.
Pictures of us together were taken and all the while, Jonathan's hands were around my waist. I felt disturbed. We answered lots of questions, including our backstory, from reporters, partners and some other important people.
Jonathan prevented them from asking more questions because we had not rehearsed the answers.
I was grateful for that, atleast. I leveraged the opportunity to show off my modeling looks and poses.
Wait a minute, I hadn't seen Lena. Where was she? She was the one bombarding me with questions earlier.
Jonathan was called up to talk about us and as a ‘good fiancee’, I had to stand by his side.
“Mr Jonathan Ryder, please can you tell us what you love most about Ms Audrey Willows?"
I laughed inwardly. If I was posed with that question, then it means I'm giving us away because I love absolutely nothing about him. In fact, I hated his guts.
"I love her smile,” he started, glancing at me.
Woah, that caught me completely off guard. Sure, I knew my smile was charming. I knew that. But I can't remember smiling at him at all. When have I ever smiled at him? Ever since we met, it has been arguments after arguments, frown after frown. So where exactly did he see me smile at him?
“Her smile was the first thing to draw my attention, before her pretty face. Her smile is soothing and it has this way of giving me encouragement whenever I'm down"
“You said her smile was the first thing to draw your attention, that means there are other things you love about her. Mind telling us?" Another reporter asked.
I looked at him from the corner of my eyes, he was looking at me in a strange way.
“She's a strong woman. A very ambitious one at that. She's not one to depend on someone for support or help, rather she pushes herself to achieve whatever it is she aims for… and something admirable is that she always gets it”
I was flattered at this point. He was right anyways. I don't depend on anybody at all to achieve anything.
“She's an independent woman and she's better than a lot of men. Her focus and dreams are really exceptional. I'm so happy that I have her by my side"
I scoffed. Have who? You don't have me please.
“She's pretty, she's nice, intelligent, smart, innovative…" At this point, the crowd were applauding and cheering.
“She's witty and always speaks her mind. She's not one to be shun from voicing her opinions and I love her deeply for these traits and more”
Applause and cheerings continued as he finished talking and at that moment, the very last thing I expected happened.
He turned to me. Held my cheeks softly and kissed me.
WHAT...
Oh my God. Did he just do that? How dare he?
I'm just kidding ?? ??. That was actually cute. If you agree it was cute raise your hand in the comments ?
Please vote ? and drop your thoughts below ??. Love y'all