Chapter 25 Ella #2
“It’s time to go in, darling,” Catherine says. “We’ve been announced.”
“Give us a minute.”
“Your minute has passed.”
Asher groans and takes my hand, and we follow his parents into the ballroom. The guests’ cheers grow louder, welcoming the Langfords to their own party. As soon as the applause dies down, the small orchestra in the corner strikes up a new song, and the mingling begins.
My stomach is in knots, and I want more than anything to ask Asher what the fuck is going on, but I can’t.
We can’t catch a breath with all the people who want to speak to Asher.
My worries are somewhat assuaged as Asher holds tight to me as we make our rounds—at least I have him to ground me—but the back of my mind cannot stop worrying as I’m introduced to dozens of people, one after another.
They all simper and fawn over Asher, and most are nice to me, if not curious, while a few seem to be genuinely friendly.
The vibe is very different from the other events we’ve attended this weekend, and I’m grateful.
Blessedly, there are so many people to get through that the conversations are short and mostly directed toward Asher, so I only fill in answers and questions sparingly.
My curiosity still burns throughout dinner, but I can’t get in any words with Asher since his grandmother is at the table.
I don’t dare speak about what he was so nervous about earlier with her in hearing distance.
As it is, she shoots me piercing looks and cuts at her food more viciously than necessary.
I can hardly get a few bites of food down I’m so tied in knots.
After dinner, Harrington and Catherine make their way onto a small stage at the front of the ballroom, and a stage tech hands Harrington a microphone.
“Thank you all for joining us tonight at our annual Memorial Day weekend party,” he says. “This is a long-standing tradition for our family, and we’re honored by your presence.”
He passes the microphone to Catherine.
“As a special surprise, I’d like to introduce our entertainment for the evening. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming multi-platinum and Grammy award winning artist, Alena!”
My jaw drops, and I gasp. I turn to look at Asher. He smiles and laughs at my reaction. All my worries of the night disappear, and Maya, Zahra, Lucy, and I can barely stay in our seats as Alena takes the stage. She’s my favorite artist of all time, and I’ve always wanted to see her in concert.
“Oh my god!” Lucy yells.
“I can’t believe it’s Alena!” Maya squeals.
“And she’s right in front of us!” Zahra cries.
We are sitting at the host table at the very front of the room and right up close to the stage, so yes, Alena is, like, twenty feet away from us. I want to die.
The band starts her song, and then Alena’s opening notes give me chills. I almost start crying. Asher wraps his arms around me and pulls me in toward him.
“Surprise, baby,” he says, giving me a kiss on my neck.
“You booked Alena? For me?”
“She’s your favorite.”
This is the surprise everyone is so worried about?
Why? This is a dream come true!
I turn and face Asher, placing my hands along his jaw. “You are . . . I don’t even know! How is this real? How are you real?”
“I’m real.”
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
I press my lips to his. “Thank you. Thank you for being the worst liar in history.”
“What?” he asks with a laugh, confused.
“You told me when this all started that you weren’t relationship material and that you’d probably be terrible at this. That was either a gross underestimation or an outright lie. Either way, you were wrong. You’re incredible at this, Mr. Langford, and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”
He leans down and kisses me, slow and sweet, and I don’t care that we’re in a room full of people.
I don’t care how this all started. All I can focus on is him and how amazing he is.
When we pull away from our kiss, he turns me around and wraps his arms around me.
We sway in our seats and sing along to this semi-private concert.
I’ve never felt so alive in my life.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Alena says, bowing and smiling to the crowd. Her set was amazing, and the room is buzzing on the high of her concert. She made eye contact with me and smiled at me several times while singing, and I think that if I died tonight, I’d die a happy woman.
Alena brings her microphone back up to her lips, and the crowd quiets as she starts to speak. “It has been an honor to be here tonight, but I have one more order of business, one more song to sing before I go.”
“We can talk about everything after the ball,” Asher whispers in my ear. “Just trust me.”
I look back at him, confused, but turn back when Alena starts speaking again. “For my last song, I’m going to dedicate it to a very special couple. I need Asher Langford and Ella Hale to come up here!”
“What?” I gasp as shock travels through me.
“Let’s go, baby,” Asher says, grabbing my hand and pulling me after him.
The crowd cheers and looks on as we walk to the stage. Cameras flash from all directions, and just like Emily said, a professional photographer snaps several photos of us climbing the stairs.
As soon as we’re on stage, Alena hugs me, and my soul leaves my body. I still can’t believe this is real. And I have no idea what Asher and I are doing up here.
“I hear it’s a long-standing tradition in the Langford family for the men to present their women with a meaningful gift,” Alena says. The crowd quiets to almost a hush for several seconds, then roars, and as I look out over them, I see a room full of shocked and wide-eyed faces.
Butterflies leap inside me as Harrington, carrying a deep blue velvet jewelry box, and Catherine walk onto the stage. Alena hands Harrington the microphone, and cameras continue to flash over and over again.
“Thank you. We’re so happy to have you all here for this extraordinary evening,” Harrington says to the crowd.
“The Langfords have many long and meaningful traditions, but tonight we are excited to celebrate one that has arguably the strongest significance to our family because of what it represents.”
The crowd now fully loses it, cheering and clapping, and it seems as though every phone is out and pointed in our direction, recording. So, Alena wasn’t the surprise. This is. Whatever this is.
Harrington waits for the crowd to settle before speaking again. “I don’t want to bore you with a history lesson, but I will give you a little background to this long-standing Langford tradition. This tradition dates all the way back to the late 1700s, to our great ancestor Henry Langford.
“Henry was a man born of moderate means, but he was a man who dreamed of more. He was determined to make something of himself. During his business travels, he met a maiden named Elizabeth, and they fell in love almost immediately. They wanted to marry, but Elizabeth was considered the town jewel, and there were several men after her hand in marriage. There was one suiter in particular that Elizabeth’s father favored because of his high standing and wealth, and so when Henry asked her father for her hand in marriage, he was denied.
Elizabeth pleaded with her father, and he eventually conceded—to a degree.
He told Henry that he couldn’t have Elizabeth unless he could provide her with the same life the other suitor could, and Henry vowed to do so.
But Henry knew building his fortune would take time, and he feared he might lose Elizabeth in the interim.
“So what did Henry do? He found a way to create an early promise of proposal. He spent what little money he had on a lovely gold pendant he saw in London and presented it to his sweetheart as a promise of a proposal and begged her to wait for him. She accepted the pendant and agreed.
“Elizabeth’s father was furious and tried many times to change her mind, but Elizabeth stood firm.
Over the following four years, Henry built enough of a fortune to be an acceptable match for Elizabeth and returned to her with a lavish ring and a true proposal.
And since that time, all Langford men have presented their future wives with a gold pendant as a promise of their intentions and to ask a promise of them in return.
To wear a Langford pendant is to be promised to the Langford man that gives it to her.
“Now, the world has changed quite a bit in the last two and half centuries, but we have kept this tradition alive because of what it means to our family. We consider Henry and Elizabeth to be the founders of our family as it stands today. Their love, their marriage and children, and Henry’s business pursuits are what laid the foundation for all the Langfords that have come after him.
And so, to honor our ancestors, we continue to this day to present a pendant to the women we love to give them a promise, to give them our protection, and to welcome them into our family. ”
My heart drops and my ears ring as I watch Harrington open the blue velvet box. A gold, teardrop-shaped pendant hanging from a delicate gold chain sits on a pillow inside.
“This is the original Langford pendant, the very one Henry gave to Elizabeth. This pendant is only given to the first-born sons of the family.” Harrington turns toward us. “Asher, I gave this to your mother thirty-eight years ago, and now we both give it to you to present to your future wife.”
My stomach all but bottoms out. Future wife?
Holy shit, is this really happening?
Thinking of Emily’s warning, I school my features. I know I must look completely in shock. Asher takes the microphone from his father and reaches out for me with his other hand. I place my hand in his, and he gives it a squeeze.
“Ella, from the moment I met you, I was drawn to you. You came into my world and eclipsed everything else, and I’ve never been so happy.
I know that being with me comes with a lot of good and a lot of difficulties, but I would be honored if you would be willing to take on those difficulties and be with me. To be mine.”
My heart races as Asher carefully lifts the pendant from the box and holds it up for me.
The crowd roars. Asher steps to me, and tears spring to my eyes.
This is all so much. It feels so real, and my heart crumbles and soars all at once because I can’t deny it—I want it to be real. I want it to be real so much it hurts.
And the last pretense in my mind falls.
All I want to do is shred that contract.
I want all of Asher, and I want him to want me, free of obligation, free of the board.
Just him. Just me.
I turn, and he places the pendant on my chest, clasping it around my neck. As soon as the pendant is in place, Asher turns me back around, takes me in his arms, and kisses me. The crowd roars again, but the sound quickly dies in my ears, and all I can hear is my beating heart.
I’m so shocked and overwhelmed that I don’t think. I just fall into the kiss, and kiss Asher without walls, without pretense, letting my hope and wishes bleed into it. And for a moment, it’s just the two of us. For a moment, there is no contract. There is only the promise of more.
I’ve never wanted more like this.
When we separate, Asher leans his forehead onto mine, and we breathe each other in for one more minute before the bubble surrounding us bursts.
Alena is back on the microphone. “How lovely! What a lucky lady! Congratulations to you both!”
My mind somehow reorients itself as Asher and I hug Alena again. The band starts back up and begins to play Alena’s most popular love ballad, and I’m a mess as I wipe tears with shaking hands.
“Why don’t you two take to the floor. This one is dedicated to you both,” Alena says, just before her cue to start singing.
Asher leads me to the dance floor in the middle of the room.
The tables have been pulled aside sometime in the last few minutes, and now we are at the center of the room, all eyes on us, dancing as Alena sings to us.
Asher rests his cheek to my temple and holds my hand in his, while his other hand rests on my lower back.
My heart is still racing a mile a minute, and I cling to Asher like a lifeline. Although no one would be able to tell that from the outside. Outside, I look like a girl in love. Inside . . .
I’m a girl in love.