Love on the Dotted Line

Chapter 6: Blind Date? Nah, Just Blind Marriage!

"What did you say? You're gonna tie the knot?" Grace's friend and roommate, Jade, asks, her jaw on the floor. Jade's thin brown hair is a bird's nest like always, and her green peepers are wider than dinner plates.

"Yep, it's a proposal," Grace says, fiddling with her bed like a Rubik's cube. She's trying to act cool as a cucumber as if it's no big deal.

"Do folks still get hitched with proposals?" Jade asks, scratching her noggin. Right now, she looks like she's auditioning for the role of a bag lady. She's perched on a chair, one of her skinny legs propped up like it's taking a break.

"Looks like it," Grace says, still wrestling with her bed sheets like they're hiding state secrets.

"Who popped the question, by the way?" Jade fires off. "What'd your mom say about it? And you didn't even drop the dime to me. Or did you? Did I miss the memo?" Jade's questions are coming faster than a machine gun.

"A relative passed the proposal to Mom," Grace fibs, keeping it short and sweet like a candy bar. She hasn't breathed a word to her mom about the proposal. She knows her mom puts Grace's happiness on a pedestal, way above her health woes. So, her mom would definitely tell her not to rush. But Grace wants to get her mom treated ASAP, with the docs saying she's in a pickle.

Grace's mom spends every waking minute thinking she's a burden to her daughter. But for Grace, her mom is her whole world. Her mom doted on her like a champ when she was healthy, working her fingers to the bone. Her mom put Grace's happiness on a pedestal. So Grace figures this is her chance to pay it forward.

"So, what's the guy like? Is he a hottie?" Jade asks, wiggling her toes on the chair like they're doing the cha-cha.

"Haven't laid eyes on him yet. Tomorrow's the big reveal," Grace says.

"And can you give your toes a break? It's... it's... ew."

Jade stops her toe-tango.

"Hold your horses! You just dropped the marriage bomb, and now you're telling me you haven't even seen the guy?" Jade's eyebrows shoot up like rockets.

"Well, the main reason I'm jumping on this bandwagon is for my mom," Grace admits, tidying up her table. It looks like a tornado hit her study session.

"They're loaded and say they want to lend a hand. The guy's supposed to be a real gentleman. Well-educated," Grace rattles off like she's reading from a dating profile she hasn't seen.

"But you haven't met him! What if they're spinning you a tall tale?" Jade gasps, looking like she's seen a ghost.

"I've met his brother. He's a stand-up guy. And I trust my relative who introduced us," Grace says, piling on the fibs like pancakes.

"Listen, girl, watch your step. No joke, this whole thing's giving me the heebie-jeebies," Jade warns. "It's fishy why a rich dude wants to marry a regular Jane. Hope he's not hiding any skeletons in his closet," she adds, her green eyes clouded with worry.

"Yeah, I thought she'd hit the jackpot with him. Those cobalt blue eyes of his were to die for. Remember that million-dollar smile?" Jade says, grinning like she's won the lottery.

"Yep. Even had a teeny crush on Angelica's ex myself," Grace admits with a sheepish smile.

"Who didn't? He could stop hearts with one look from those azure peepers. Oh... those cobalt blues," Jade sighs, looking like she's floating on cloud nine.

"Alright, pump the brakes. Angelica's ex is a total jerk, remember? Didn't Angelica catch him smooching another girl at the same club, just a stone's throw away?" Grace says, her face scrunching up like she's smelled something funky. "Oh, and on her birthday, no less."

"And get this - he was a player. After she caught him red-handed, he had the nerve to say she wasn't his girlfriend. Said he was just in it for kicks and thought she was, too. What a load of bull," Jade spills the tea.

"Yeah, I remember. Angelica bawled her eyes out. What a grade-A jerk. I can't stand guys like that. I saw him flirting up a storm with every pretty face," Grace says. "Caught sight of him a few times at the club with Angelica when they were an item."

"Did you see how he'd turn on the charm for the hot girls?" Jade asks fishing for confirmation. "But he never gave us the time of day, Grace. Guess that means we're ugly as sin," Jade adds, her voice dropping like a lead balloon.

Grace glances at Jade with a twinge of hurt. Yep, Jade's hit the nail on the head. Grace and Jade hardly had boys beating down their doors. Mainly 'cause they weren't social butterflies and couldn't care less about dolling themselves up. Both were as shy as mice and about as famous as a wallflower at a dance. They weren't the life-of-the-party types. Grace wonders if her rich hubby-to-be will treat her like yesterday's news 'cause she's not hot enough.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Well, guys like that never give us the time of day. Well, at least we're safe from getting our hearts stomped on," Grace says. "I'm betting my bottom dollar the guy I'm marrying isn't a scumbag like Angelica's ex," Grace says.

"Seriously, who in their right mind would want that kind of player?" Jade scoffs.

"I know, right? Who'd want that cheater, even if he's loaded? Whoever ends up with that guy, I feel for her," Grace says, shaking her head.

"Oh, now his name's coming back to me. It's Dion. Dion Dimitriadis," Jade pipes up.

"Now that's a name with some pizzazz," Grace says.