Before You Say I Do

Chapter Ten

I was sitting back at the apartment, sipping a cup of tea, when the rest of the gang came home. Katelyn and Nick were along with them.

“Mommy!!” Katie comes running up to me. I set down the mug before she knocks it out of my hand.

“Hey sweetie.” I say, picking her up, “did you have fun today?” I ask. Adam and I hadn't spoken about him meeting her. Since he didn't mention it, I decided he didn't want to talk about it.

“it was fun. Daddy's nice.” I smile.

“yeah, he is.” I tell her. Katelyn was standing at the doorway like she was waiting to come in. I set Katie down and tell her to go play with Dakota and that I'd be out in a couple of minutes. When she leaves, Katelyn closes the door.

“so it went okay?” I ask to reassure. Katie could also spin things out of proportion.

“I haven't seen Adam smile like that in a very long time.” Katelyn tells me, which answered my question perfectly. “but you want to know when he really lit up?”

“by the tone of your voice I'm going to go with no.”

she ignores my answer, “when he saw your name flash across his screen.”

“oh.”

“where did you hide?” she asks, looking around the room.

I laugh, “under the bed. I heard him talking to you and thought best if I didn't exist yet.”

“and then you walked over to the closet and pulled out his shoebox.”

“you know about that?”

Katelyn looks at me over her shoulder, “girl, I'm his younger sister. I know things about you and Adam thatyou don't know about you and Adam.”

“creepy, but okay.”

“you saw what was in the box and that's about the time you called him.”

“took me about fifteen minutes to press the green button.”

“that makes sense.” she pauses and walks over to the balcony doors, “I bet you were standing here, speechless. And then you congratulate him on the wedding though you really hate the fact that he's getting married. You were going to hang up and he stops you, asks you to meet him for coffee.”

“someone knows me a little too well.”

Katelyn walks over and sits on the corner of the bed with me, “what happened at coffee? That's the one thing I can't figure out. He came back home and walked straight up to his room. He won't say anything to me. Though Finn got him to talk a little, but wouldn't tell me what he said.”

“I tried to give the ring back.” I tell her, looking down at my hand, “I wasn't even being rude about it. I told him that I didn't think it was mine anymore and he told me it was. I said that we needed to move on from our past and then he got all defensive and said he wanted Katie to have something of the families.”

“four, well now five, generations.” Katelyn comments.

“yeah. I told him that a ring with so much history belonged to 'the one' and he told me I was 'the one'. Then he told me he loves me. His exact words were 'I love you and nothing can change that, not fully.' he also told me that though he was getting married he hadn't moved on yet and when I decided it was a good time to leave he grabbed my wrist and, well, we designed the wedding cake. I think it's going to be the actual one.”

Katelyn just sat there, taking all of this in. “so my brother professes his love for you for the millionth time and you get up to leave?”

“he's getting married.”

“who cares?”

“i care.”

“and what do you think is going to happen when he sees the cake? You and I both know he'll be wanting to see you.”

“I'll be on my flight back to Maine while they get married. Your mom wants me out of the house the instant the cake is finished. Plus I have a lot of other people around the world who want my amazing cakes.”

“and he'll be chasing you around the world until he catches up.”

“he didn't chase me the first time I left, and he didn't stay the second time. I don't think third time is the charm in this case.”

she smiles her 'I have a plan,' smile and leaves the room. I was left there all alone and before I could get up to leave my phone starts to ring.

“hello?” I answer, laying back on my bed and looking out the window.

“Hey Jules.” Jon says on the other line.

“oh, hey!” why do I stay with him again?

“how's Italy?”

“good. Great, actually.”

“well hopefully this will brighten your mood even more.”

a surprise? Great. “and what would that be?”

“go to your suitcase,” I stand up and walk over to my bag, kneeling down next to it.

“okay.”

“and open up the main part.” I unzip it and open it up, “okay, now lift up the bottom flap thing.”

“Jon, what did you put into my bag?” I ask as I rummage through my clothes to get to the bottom.

“you'll see.” Finally I get the flap up and sitting right there, hidden under all of the things is a small ring box. I slowly pick it up from the bag. “Juliana, will you marry me?”

I drop everything. The ring, the box, the phone...and fall back on the floor with a big thump. I heard Jon calling my name on the phone and then the door opened to reveal Dakota standing there. She looks down at me and comes to my side.

“Jon, she's going to have to call you back.” she tells him. And then shuts the phone and sits me up. “what happened?” she asks. I blink a few times, still in shock. “Julie, I need you to speak.”

I take a deep breath, “he proposed.” I say. I look up at her and notice someone standing in the doorway. “A-Adam?” I ask, confused. What was he doing here?

Instead of answering me, he dropped whatever was in his hand and walked away as fast as he could.

I got up and chased after. I don't even know why I chased after him. But I did. I jumped over the obstacles and finally caught up to him in the courtyard.

“Adam!” I call out and he stops but doesn't turn around to face me. I slow down and walk up to him, standing in front so that he can't get away easily, “what the hell was that about?”

“si sposano. (you're getting married).” He mumbles.

“che cosa? (what?)” I ask, still slightly out of breath.

“Ho sentito dire Cody solo ora. (I heard you tell Cody just now.)” he still wouldn't look at me.

“eche importasemi sposoo no?Seitroppo. (and what does it matter if I'm getting married or not? You are too.)”

“non lo so. (I don't know.)”

I sigh, “well, what were doing at the apartment?” I ask in english.

“you left your Ipod at the cafe and I forgot to give it to Finn when they left.”

“how did you know where I was staying?”

“Katelyn said that she didn't want you guys to have to stay in a hotel, so she convinced my mom to let you guys stay at the apartment.”

“oh.” I didn't know what else to say so I stepped aside to let him leave like he wanted to. Instead he pulls me back and presses his lips against mine. There was that instant spark between us that happened whenever we kissed, or touched for that matter. I pull back before something more serious happens between us.

When I open my eyes I see Adam staring down at me with his chocolate brown eyes. The one's I fell in love with years ago. “I love you.” he says and then lets go of me and disappears around the corner. I stand there, alone, until the sky turned dark. I'm starting to feel as if taking this job was a huge mistake.