Skyler decided to call Mallory, as she needed to talk to someone about her day, but before Skyler could tell her what happened at Logan’s Make-Up and about her new job, Mallory started talking about the baby. She was happy for her friend but was disappointed she hadn’t let her talk about her life. After listening to Mallory talked about the baby for twenty minutes, she finally told her friend she needed to go. She thought about calling Brooke but decided it would probably be the same scenario with her.
When she pulled into her driveway that night, she was surprised to see Jarvis was standing on her front porch with a large flower arrangement in his hand and her anger slowly dissipated.
“Jarvis, what are you doing here?” she asked as she got out of the car.
“I want to take you out to dinner to celebrate your new job.” He’d figured that even though she had taken a cut in pay, she still had a great of money for him to get his hands on. Besides, with her talent, she would soon be making a great deal more and he wanted to be in her life so she could share it with him.
“That’s so sweet of you. Let me put these in a vase, and then I’ll be ready to leave.”
They had a nice romantic dinner at her favorite restaurant and when they got home, Jarvis came inside with her and no sooner had she closed the front door that he knelt on one knee.
“Skyler, will you marry me?” He smiled at her surprised expression to his question.
She blinked at him, as he had completely surprised her. “Jarvis, we’ve only been dating for a few months.” She wasn’t sure she was in love with this man, but she was tired of being alone while her friends were married and had a baby. She wanted what they had, maybe Jarvis was the answer.
He stood, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I can’t live without you, and I want to marry you as soon as possible,” he muttered in her ear, as the sooner they were married, the sooner he could get his hands on her money. “How about June fifth?” he asked excitedly.
“For what?” she asked as her mind was still in shock from his proposal.
He took hold of her hands. “For our wedding day, of course.”
She shook her head, as June wouldn’t give her much time to plan a wedding. “Any special reason for that date?”
“My parents were married on that date, and it would mean a lot to my mother for us to be married on the same date.”
Something told her to refuse his proposal, as why was his mother even coming up in this conversation. “What kind of wedding were you thinking of having?” she asked without accepting his proposal.
“I want us to have a grand affair, with all the bells and whistles.”
His words stunned her. “Who’s going to pay for this elaborate affair?” she asked.
“Well you are of course, as weddings are paid by the woman and her family. If you’re worried about having time to plan the wedding, you needn’t worry, as my mother is going to make all the arrangement for our wedding,” he told her excitedly.
Skyler had to bite her tongue, as she couldn’t stand his mother. “That’s sweet of her, but I want to plan my own wedding.”
“She wants to do it, as it will make her to be happy.”
Once again, she refrained from making a nasty remark, as it was more important for her to be happy. “Jarvis, it’s very unlikely your mother and I will be able to agree on anything,” she stated, and it was true, as Helene Elder liked to argue with her regarding anything.
“She may surprise you, just give her a chance,” he insisted. “She and my dad eloped, so she didn’t get to plan her own wedding, and planning our wedding will help make up for that.”
Somehow, it didn’t seem right she wouldn’t have a say in her own wedding. “If I’m paying for the wedding, then I guess that means you are buying the rings. I’ve always wanted to have a three-carat diamond.” She watched his expression as she spoke and had to force herself not to smile at his shocked expression.
“I’m not sure if I can afford that large of a diamond,” he told her.
“Then I’m not paying for the wedding your mother wants,” she stated with a smile.
It took him a few seconds before he could respond to her, as he knew she could afford to pay for both the rings and the wedding without putting a dent in her pocket. He would simply buy her a knock off diamond and she wouldn’t ever know the difference.
“I could move in here with you right away, and after we’re married, we can start looking for a larger home,” he told her
She was shocked by his statement, as he of all people knew how much she loved her home. “Jarvis, I don’t want a bigger house.”
“The place isn’t very grand,” he stated, not caring how his remark about her home sounded to her.
Her lips grew tight as his statement offended her. “The house might not be grand to you, but this is my home, and I love it.” His words hurt her, as this was her dream house. “Then maybe my answer to you should be no.” She forced herself not to grin at his traumatized expression.
Jarvis quickly peddled backwards. “I’m sorry. I know you haven’t lived here but for a few months, but after we’re married, it will be our home, and I don’t want to live in this house. I’ve just listed a 300,000 house that will be perfect for us, besides, with the money you have from the settlement with the police station, we could live in a mansion.” As soon as the words were out, he was sorry, as she hadn’t ever told him about the incident or about receiving a settlement.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
She knew by him mentioning the money, he must have researched her and found the article about her treatment at the police station and the settlement. Not only did his statement make her angry, but also it was in poor taste. The money left after buying her new home had been put into investments and couldn’t just take out it out without paying a penalty. “I’m sorry, but that money isn’t available.” Not to him anyway, it wasn’t.
“Why do you say that?” he asked, trying to keep his anger out of his voice.
“The money has been invested, and it’s going to stay there, as it’s for my future.”
“Once we’re married it will be my money too.”
His comment made this quick proposal more sense. She wasn’t an idiot, if she did marry him, she would be sure he signed a prenuptial agreement before the wedding, and if he didn’t sign it, then there wouldn’t be a wedding, simple as that.
“I think we could go out to dinner to celebrate us getting engaged.”
She figured he must be desperate for the marriage, as she still hadn’t accepted his proposal. She would wait and see where their relationship went before actually saying their vows. Besides, it might be fun to watch him work at getting her to say yes. “That would be nice.”
Of course, three days later, Skyler wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t liked any of Helene’s suggestions for her wedding. Not only didn’t they agree on one single aspect for the wedding, Helene wanted to invite over one hundred guests to the wedding, while Skyler wanted to invite only a few of their closest friends to her wedding, the wedding she was paying for. The last straw was the dress Helene had picked out for Skyler, as it was one of the ugliest dresses she ever seen. Skyler was going to have to put an end to Helene’s help, as no matter what, a bride should be able to pick out her own dress.
The next time Jarvis was over, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring case, opened it and brought out a bright and shining three-carat diamond ring. Since she knew, he wouldn’t have put out the dough for a real diamond; she naturally assumed it was a Cubic Zirconia.
Once the ring was on her finger, he began kissing her, slowly moving her towards her bedroom and soon they were lovers. The experience wasn’t what she would have liked but figured it would get better in time.
While they were still in bed, she started to tell him again about his mother, but then his cell phone began ringing.
“I have to get this.”
She expected him to let it go to voicemail, but it had a special ring, telling him exactly who was calling him. When he answered the phone, angry that he had taken the call while they had been in bed together, Skyler got up and started dressing. Hearing his side of the conversation, she quickly realized his mother was on the other end, and that Helene was talking about the wedding dress she’d chosen for Skyler.
It had to be now or never, because she’d decided either the wedding would be the way she wanted it or there wouldn’t be one. Now all she had to do was get Jarvis attention long enough to tell him what she’d decided.
“Jarvis, we need to talk,” she said after he hung up from his mother.
“Yes, we do.”
Skyler gave him a look, as she couldn’t figure out what he wanted to talk about with her. “Okay, let’s go into the kitchen and I’ll fix us some coffee,” she said as he started getting dressed.
Neither of them said anything until she turned on the Keurig to heat the water. “What did your mother want?”
“With my dad gone, she’s all alone, so she has decided to move in with us.”
Skyler so shocked by his statement, she gasped out loud. He had to be kidding, as there wasn’t any way she would ever live in the same house with that woman. “No,” she said forcefully.
He gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean no?”
“I’m going to say this just once. I will have the wedding I want or there won’t be a wedding, as I refuse to let your mother ruin our special day. And if she moves in with us for even one day, I’ll pack your stuff up and throw it out the front door and immediately file for a divorce.”
He was shocked by her statement, as he had been expected her to say it was fine for his mother to live with them. “You can’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do. Your mother and I don’t even like each other. Jarvis, you have to choose, either me or her, as there isn’t any way the two of us could live in the same house without coming to blows.”
How dare Skyler expect him to choose her over his own mother! “I can’t turn my back on my mother,” he started, assuming Skyler loved him enough to accept his mother in their home.
“I’m not asking you to, I’m just asking that your mother doesn’t live in the same house with us.”
He felt if he made her feel guilty, he could get her to change her mind. “I’m not going to abandon my mother,” he said softly, giving her a pleading look.
Suddenly, she had a feeling in her gut that told her that if she went ahead and married him, she would suffer horrible consequences, ones so bad, that she would always regret her decision to let him her life. With that, she took off her engagement ring and handed it back to him. “Since you’ve chosen your mother, you’ll be wanting this back. I hope you and your mother will have a nice life together. Now please leave my home,” she said, with her back straight, as she wasn’t going to back down.
“Skyler, you can’t mean this,” he asked staring at the Cubic Zirconia ring in his hands.
“I do mean it, as I refuse to play second fiddle to your mother for another day.”
Her comment made him mad, as what a rude thing to say about his mother. “When you change your mind, give me a call,” he said, turned and walked out the door. He was confident that once she came to her senses, she would be calling him to take her back, deciding that when she did call, he would make her wait a few extra days before he took her back just to teach her a lesson for breaking up with him.
She didn’t respond to his comment, but simply closed the door before he could say anymore. Once the door was closed and locked to prevent him from walking back in, she leaned against it. Suddenly she felt relieved that this farce of a relationship was over. It was then she realized she hadn’t really been in love with him, for if she had, the breakup would more traumatic for her.
Skyler called Brooke and Mallory asking them to meet her for drinks to tell them that her wedding to Jarvis was off. The two women were very supportive, telling her they thought she’d done the right thing by breaking up with him. Behind her back, Brooke and Mallory were doing a high five, relieved to know Jarvis was out of their friend’s life. He may have had Skyler fooled, but they knew he was just after her money.
* * *
When Jarvis returned home, he called his mother to tell her there wasn’t going to be a wedding.
“Hello,” Helene Elder answered.
“Mom, there isn’t going to be a wedding.”
“What happened?” she asked, disappointedly, as she knew Skyler was wealthy, enough that she’d planned to buy new bedroom furniture and clothes on her penny.
Jarvis didn’t know quite what to say, as if he told her the truth, it would break her heart to know she was the cause of broken engagement. “We couldn’t agree on some important matters regarding our marriage.”
“Maybe after she has had time to think about her decision, she’ll call and make up.”
“I can only hope.”
“Give her a week and I bet she’ll be missing you.”
But the call from Skyler would never come.