The Greatest Obsession

Chapter Two: The Proposal & The Party

Every five seconds, Elijah kept checking his back pocket for the box that held the ring he had for Irina.

Currently, Elijah lay in the grass of the mansion's very full, very large garden. It had a small maze which he and Irina took the liberty of solving many years ago. He peered over at Irina who sat beside him with a book in her hands.

The girl wore a beige satin dress on top of a pale blue skirt. Her hair, a burning orange, was wrapped in a large loose bun. There was a calmness in the air that afternoon, Elijah noticed. Not a sound made by man could be heard, only the quick chirp of a bird or the rustling of the summer breeze in that whistled in his ears.

It was hot, though, hot enough that Elijah felt moist under his clothes, like yesterday. He noticed the perspiration that Irina had to wipe from her forehead every few minutes to avoid sweat dripping into her book.

Elijah eyed the canopied swing over in the corner. He longed to be out of the sun's rays. Irina watched him and smiled. She peered at the swing as well, equally attracted to the shade.

"Care to join me on the swing?" Irina asked, a smirk plastered on her plump pink lips, her dimples showing.

"You noticed me staring?" Elijah laughed, wasting no time on standing, and reaching his hands down to lift Irina.

"I think we were having a telepathic moment," Irina said. "It's far too hot to be sitting in the sun, anyhow," she concluded.

They rushed to the canopy, Irina beating him by the skin of her teeth. She smoothed out her dress and perched her hands in her lap. The book she'd been reading was tucked beside her.

Irina let her boots scuff the grass, careful to keep her white silk stockings clean. Elijah sat close enough to place his head on top of hers. He peacefully sighed.

She searched for his fingers on the fluffy surface of the canopy and when she did, Irina interlocked their fingers. She felt the caress of Elijah's thumb against hers. Elijah looked out toward the mansion, which was not too far away. To not ruin his lady's hair, he pressed his temple above the top of her head.

"Do you ever think of marriage, Irina?" Elijah asked thoughtfully.

The woman in question perked significantly, eyes drifting toward her lover and she answered, "Every woman dreams of being married, and being an ideal wife, an ideal mother." Just when Elijah was about to continue the conversation, Irina added to her statement, "I feel most mothers are incapable of loving their children as much as they should."

"Why do you think that?" the brown haired man asked in confusion.

"All mothers have more important things to do than raise a child after they give birth to them. They hand the infant to the nanny for nearly all things. They are given all the toys in the world to compensate for lack of maternal love," Irina explained patiently.

"Not all mothers are like that," Elijah disagreed.

"It is common in mothers of our class. I have no desire to become that type of mother," whispered Irina.

Elijah ran through the conversation in his head; he noted the dark, worrisome tone it seemed to take with Irina's questioning of her own future motherhood. Elijah smiled as a smart and playful objection spilled from his lips. "Well, I would never let you become that type of mother if you were my wife."

The young woman's hazel eyes sparkled at the statement whilst she let the words sink into her mind. She could feel the blush on her cheeks, '...if you were my wife,' he said. What a tease! Irina thought with irritation. If only I truly were his wife. A laugh, tiny as a fairy's, sounded from her throat.