MY TOXIC TAURUS

CHAPTER 12

Let's meet tomorrow noon. We need to talk.

Veronica had been staring at her phone for more than five minutes thinking of what to tell her dad. She did not want to meet him but knowing how her dad was, he would probably use her secret about him from Chris to get her to do his bidding.
Chris on the other hand had been going on and on about work, all the meetings he had and how stressed he felt with all the responsibility on him. She was getting tired of listening to it all and as much as it was selfish of her, she could not help it. He had not even realized how lost she seemed as he read her the newest article written about him taking over his family's company.
"I heard that Ethan's back."
This caught her attention and for a split second she looked like she was going to choke on her drink. She finally put her phone down to look at Chris who stared at her expecting some sort of reaction. He must have missed it since she acted like this was probably the least important information she needed to know.
"Really? I didn't know."
"I only learnt of it recently. Apparently he is into art now and his pieces are selling pretty good. He even owns a gallery now. Perhaps you and I should pay a visit to his gallery."
Veronica knew he said that intentionally. He was doing everything he could to get a reaction from her. Trying to see if Ethan still affected her and he was right to think he did but she sure as hell was not going to show it. Why did Ethan not mention any of this to her anyway? She would not be getting all these surprises if he had personally told her everything. Still, she herself had not told him much. Especially about Chris since according to her there was nothing to tell. But again that was exactly how they had always been with each other, but getting to hear all this from Chris made her feel like she was running out of air struggling to not show interest or any sign of knowing that Ethan was back.
He was back long enough to have reached out to her, long enough to have made everything a mess in such a short time. What was it about him that she could never stay away for too long? It had barely been a week and everything her life had become over the past few months suddenly had Ethan smeared all over it like an unremovable marker. How much longer was this flight going to take anyway? She needed some air.
"I don't think I'll have time for that but good for him. I'm happy to hear he finally explored his artistic side."
"He didn't reach out to you? I kinda expected that he would "
"Chris,"she called out with a polite smile as she tried her best to calm her nerves irritated by just how hard he was trying to get to her,
"Can we please not talk about him? We're going on a date and the last thing we should be talking about is my ex or your work. Let's just try and talk about something else, anything else please. Okay?"
"You're right. I'm sorry I just kind of got carried away."
"It's okay, I get it. But I moved on. I'm with you now. So it's not okay to let the past interfere with our present."
Saying all this, she could not help but think of just how good she had gotten at lying. She was shutting off talk about the man she had spent the whole previous night cuddling with. Talk of her being the perfect description of 'the daughters of Jezebel'.
They soon got to their destination and a limousine drove them to the fancy restaurant they were having dinner at. For some reason, she felt that Chris had been acting rather odd after their plane conversation and she was trying to make things normal as she occasionally could not help but think that he might have known something about Ethan and her.
They had a reserved table right next to a window that overlooked the city's view. It was all beautiful and for a moment she thought she did not mind having so much money if it meant she got to see the world from an eleventh floor exclusive restaurant where not just anyone went to. But who was she kidding. Money was good but it had cost her family so much.
She wanted people to be genuine with her and not only be around her for her money. She wondered what Chris must have felt sometimes whenever he had to encounter people like Ella. She did not want to be another one of those people but at that moment, it felt like she was exactly that.
Her trail of thoughts were interrupted when a waiter came to serve them with their starters and a bottle of what she felt was the most expensive wine she had drank so far.
"Veronica," Chris started after the waiter had excused himself, "I've been meaning to ask you something for a while now."
Veronica froze. Was it about Ethan again? Did he know everything? What if that was the reason for his indifference earlier after mentioning Ethan. Could he not have waited to ask her about it somewhere else? She had a thousand questions and she felt her palms get all sweaty when suddenly, Chris got up from his chair and took out a tiny box from his pocket. A band coming from out of nowhere was playing a romantic ballad as Chris knelt in front of Veronica grabbing everyone else's attention in the restaurant. What the fuck was he doing?
"Veronica Mares. You are the most amazing woman I know. You're intelligent, loving and so freaking beautiful. You're the woman of my dreams..."
Veronica was speechless. Her attention was on the man kneeling in front of her and the flashing lights from people's phones as they took photos and videos of what might have been the most romantic proposal if only she did not feel like it was a push in making her choice between Ethan and Chris.
"... would you give me the honor of making all that true and be my wife?"
Making what true? She had literally just missed out on half of his speech and now she was more than confused.
"Yes?"
And everyone was suddenly clapping and cheering as he put the ring on her finger.
Hold on. She did not mean 'yes' like she would marry him, it was a question kind of 'yes'. She wanted to know what he had said but now she had made everything go from bad to worse. Did she just accidentally agree to marrying Chris? What in the world was happening?