Escaping to Ireland

Liam

It had not been official that night that she reconnected with her dad, but the line of being professional and personal started to blur so much that you could not tell where the line was anymore.

It was a few days later when she told me she had to quit her job.

"Why?" I asked, pulling her into my lap while I sat at my desk.

"Because of this," she said, throwing her head back into me and relaxing.

"I consider this one of the perks of the jobs," I said into the back of her neck. She stood glaring at me.

"What would your boss think of this?" she asked me, and I had to stifle the gut-wrenching laugh that was brewing in me.

"I am the boss," I said to her.

"You own Flyleaf Publishing?" Her face had gone red, embarrassed she didn't know this. "Online said it was a board of executives."

"That is true. I just own the majority of it. Fifty-five percent."

"Oh." She said even though I was elated that she was taking us so seriously that she thought she would have to leave. "I still think it's inappropriate, and I don't want people coming by saying that's how she keeps her job. Is because we are an item." 

"Are we an item?" I asked her grabbing her arm and pulling her back into me again.

"Well, are you going to date, other people?" She asked me.

I was talking into her neck again. "Vinessa, I haven't dated anyone since I met you."

"Oh," she said again.

"Yeah, Oh," I said to her. "And do you expect to do an Irish Exit any time soon?"

"Not that I know about. I guess if I get mad at you, I'll just have to throw a shoe at your head or something."

I laughed, kissing the back of her ear. "Anything would be better than you leaving me."  I was feeling better about Vinessa and me.

I had dinner the next night at my parent's house and asked for them not to have Chloe over.

Since it was just me, it was only a salad and a main course for dinner. My mother sat at the head of the table while my father was browsing something on his phone.

"Chloe called me," my mother said, and I held my hand up to stop her.

"Mom. Chloe and I will not be anything... ever again. I need you to understand this." She laughed in my face, which made me clench my fist. "Liam, don't be ridiculous; you are just going through a rough patch."

"I have moved on from Chloe the day after I dumped her, mother. She is a dim-witted human being, and it would be better if you removed her from your contact list. Or at least your favorite list on your phone."

"You cannot tell me who I will be friends with." She glared in my direction. 

"Then I will tell you this. I am going to propose to Vinessa Dempsey. I do not know when or how yet, but I am going to marry her."

My mother stood and gave me a death glare and stormed out on dinner, not touching any of her food.

"I think that is great news, son," my father said, giving me a smile. "It is your life and sometimes different than what you have been used to your whole life is what you need." He looked in the direction of where my mother had stormed off too. "She will come along. Vinessa swung by the house a few days ago."

"She did?" I asked, smiling at him.

"She wanted to see your mom, thought maybe she would want to have tea and get to know one another. Of course, I told Vinessa to never show up out of the blue and not ask for tea but to have lunch in the city. I gave her a list of your mom's favorite spots."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because if that woman was brave enough to come out here and try to have tea with your mother, she might be one of the bravest people I know." He chuckled and added, "plus, she obviously means a lot to you if she is trying to get on her good side."

The next day I had to talk to one other person.

"Liam, what did you need to talk about?" Vinessa's dad said, meeting me for a drink. Vinessa had been confused about my meeting so late, but I told her it was an added meeting at the last second. "You want to marry my girl?"

I hadn't had to say anything; it was evident on my face. "I do. I don't know when, but I just wanted to let you know."

"I owe you for everything you did for me." He seemed like he would tear up, but he recovered quickly, saying he would be glad for Vinessa to find someone like me. Which she already had, and I wasn't going anywhere.

We had only been officially dating a week when I had asked him.

Still, I knew that she would be my wife someday because even though the up and the downs, I knew that Vinessa was worth fighting for every second of the day; she was worth everything just knowing I would be able to see her face.

She was my everything.

And I knew I would wait and ask when I knew Vinessa was ready for it, but if it was up to me.
I would have been ready the next day to say "I do" to her.