Cuffed by Will

XXVI. Square One

Thursday, 24th May. Day 24.

The first thing I saw when I woke up was the engagement ring wrapped warmly around my ring finger. A smile found its way on my lips and I touched the ring to make sure I wasn't dreaming. The platinum felt cool on my fingertips and the diamond sparkled in the sunlight. I turned in Ezra's arms to face him. He was still asleep, looking peaceful and angelic as always. My fingers itched to touch him and they involuntarily moved to run down his arm. I pulled my hand back to confirm he was still sleeping. His breath was still even and he didn't waver so I continued my exploration on his perfectly sculpted abs. It was then I saw his mouth twitch.

"How long were you awake?" I asked and pulled my hand back completely, flushing as I did.

"Long enough." He said with his eyes still closed. "Good morning, Kostelijk, " he said a second later and opened his eyes to reveal beautiful grey irises filled with a myriad of emotions. He then took my hand in his and kissed the ring. "My dad gave this to my mom." He said mostly to himself and my eyes flickered to the ring once again, this time feeling the value of the ring even more.

"It's beautiful. And you gave this to me, it's... thank you." My voice held the weight of understanding my words couldn't hold. "I love you, Ezra."

"I know. Come." He pulled us out of bed and the day was back in action.

***

"Congratulations!" Sandra greeted us in the kitchen and ran over to hug us both. "Aww, don't you both look just..." She clapped her hands and squealed in delight since her words failed her. It seemed everyone was lost for words today. "Now hurry along, your breakfast will get cold." She ushered us to the breakfast bar and we ate our salmon bagels in comfortable silence. While Ezra drank his cup of coffee, I read the newspaper.

Close friends, candles, roses, the works, Ezra Copper sure knows how to go about the perfect engagement even if it is fake.

The first line of the article in page 6 turned my smile upside down. I refused to read the rest of the article and quietly folded the paper back and kept it on the bar. I looked at Ezra as he sorted through messages and e-mails on his phone. Our engagement wasn't exactly fake, was it? No one asked him to plan the dinner yesterday. He did it because he wanted to. And it was not like he told me not to love him. He said soon, as in give him some time. That didn't mean what we have was fake, right? And we do have something, don't we?

"Is everything alright?" He asked, pulling me out of my train wreck of thoughts.

"Mhm." I said and put on a strained smile.

"Are you sure?" He asked slowly, looking right past my little act.

"Yeah, I was just thinking if we could visit our parents today."

And we did. After we left the mansion, we bought some bouquets and then went to the cemetery. This time however, we didn't take the timeout but visited our parents together, as a couple. We didn't talk but simply spoke through thoughts. Ezra always had my hand in his, holding it and squeezing every now and then to give me silent reassurance. Holding hands was no longer about hiding the chain of our cuffs. No, it was about support and love and reminding the other person that someone was there for them.

After the visit, we went to the Copper House and all the employees we passed stopped us to congratulate us. Sylvia was as ecstatic as she was last night and I found myself smiling for real this time. Once we were in Ezra's office, he went about doing what he normally did and I helped him with files and menial things. At around 12pm, Ezra got a call on his cell.

"Copper." He answered the call and his eyes widened in surprise for a second before he threw his head back and laughed. "Just a moment." He said and covered the phone with his hand before turning his head to face me. "Lucy is insisting on lunch."