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Stepping out of her room, Ariel found the hall bustling with activity, the swish of evening gowns and the sound of giggling filling the air. She maneuvered through the crowd, excusing herself as she passed women destined to receive many Magnolias that night. Feeling warm and flustered, Ariel caught sight of the double doors leading into the dining room. A realization struck her: Noah and Jasper were behind those doors.
Suddenly, she was overwhelmed by the urge to turn around and hide in her room. No one had seen her yet; maybe she could lie and say she didn’t feel well? Compelled by a rising panic, Ariel turned around to do just that, but found she couldn’t move forward. The area outside the dining room had quickly become flooded with people—she was stuck, with her only way out being to go in.
Standing there, being brushed past by men in dress clothes and older women in their finest, Ariel felt rooted to the spot, reaching her limit. It was then that the wind of good fortune blew upon her—literally. Her bangs stirred across her forehead. Ariel blinked, drawn out of her dread. Slowly, she turned, her eyes finding the escape she hadn’t known existed a moment before. A door. Quickly, Ariel closed the gap and disappeared before anyone noticed her.
She squinted, her eyes adjusting to the last light of the day, which lit the small garden she had just stepped into. Another refreshing breeze filled the air around her, and she could already feel herself relaxing. That was when she noticed him.
“John?”
Sitting on a crumbling garden bench, the young priest looked up, surprised. “Ariel? Look at you. You look beautiful.”
Self-consciously, Ariel glanced down at her dress, almost as if to make sure she wasn’t really walking around in blue satin. “Thank you, you look nice yourself,” she answered with a smile. He did, sporting something not unlike a tux that made him look as dashing as any of the young men crowding the inn.
“How did you find me?” Encouraged by his smile and the fact that he had moved over a few inches, Ariel approached him. “I just wanted a bit of fresh air before dinner and saw this door. You?” she answered, attempting to hide her anxieties behind a light tone.
John nodded with unassuming eyes. “Me too.”
There was a moment of comfortable silence as Ariel took her seat beside him. A while later, she spoke again. “I never knew this existed. I guess I should have, though. I have a view of it outside my window...”
John gazed around at the overgrown shrubs and tall grass surrounding them. “I hadn’t either. I just found it yesterday. It’s been nice to step out.”
“Mmm,” Ariel said in agreement, closing her eyes for a moment, letting the last of the sun’s rays warm her.
“How are you feeling?” John asked gently.
Ariel opened her eyes and collected herself before glancing at John. “I’m fine. I’ve got this great dress from Mandy, and Taylor did my makeup and...”
John focused his kind eyes upon her, and Ariel trailed off in defeat. “Actually...” she began again, gazing down at her hands, “pretty nervous.”
Ariel felt his smile before she saw it. “You’ll do fine. I’ve never seen anyone look more beautiful,” John encouraged, his voice soothing as always.
Ariel looked up and offered him a half-smile. “Well, you haven’t seen Mandy yet...” she chided.
John smiled back just as brightly, but something passed in his eyes at the mention of Mandy’s name that Ariel couldn’t help noticing. Suddenly, Ariel’s smile formed a frown of concern. “But, how about you? This festival isn’t exactly...” Ariel paused for lack of words.
“My kind?” he offered, his smile never diminishing for a moment. “It’s quite alright.”
“Are you sure? I’m sure no one would be offended if you didn’t hand out Magnolias...” Ariel persisted, just as concerned for him as he had been for her.
“Not hand out Magnolias?” John questioned, gazing at her with warmth. “But then I couldn’t give this one to you.”
“What? John—” Ariel started as a pale Magnolia was held out to her.
“Ariel,” John interrupted, closing her hand around it. “Please take it. I feel closer to you than I have to anyone in a long time. I think...you’re God’s way of granting me the sister I always wanted.”
Ariel gazed back at him, a lump rising in her throat, her eyes burning at the edges. I won’t cry. I can’t cry, not when Taylor just finished my makeup...
For the third time that day, Ariel felt a deep gratitude wash over her. Being an orphan, GPI had long filled the void in her life in terms of family. To her, Leroy and John were the best brothers she could wish for. “Thank you so much, John,” she finally managed, still fighting off tears.
Noticing this, John quickly searched his pockets and a moment later offered her a handkerchief. “You’re very welcome, Ariel,” he answered affectionately.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Carefully, Ariel dabbed at her eyes. “Great, Taylor won’t be happy. Look what I’ve done to her work...”
John peered closer at Ariel’s face. “It doesn’t look ruined to me,” he remarked, providing a hopeful smile.
Ariel smiled back, her fingers playing with the handkerchief. “Well, whether it is or not, I guess there are worse things to be worried about than Taylor’s wrath.”
John made a face. “I wouldn’t be so sure...”
Ariel blinked, slowly remembering all the times the priestess’s wrath had descended on Leroy. The two of them shared a look and then broke out into laughter.
“I guess,” John said after their laughter had died down, “we better be going in?”
Having stood, the young priest offered Ariel a hand, and reluctantly, she took it. If it had been up to her, she would have spent the entire night out here rather than one minute in there.
“You’re right, we should...”
Silently, John watched Ariel as they walked to the door. Sensing her nerves—as he had plenty of his own that night—he decided to try to put them both at ease. “Ariel? Would you sit next to me tonight?”
Ariel, her hand on the door handle, blinked and looked over at John. The priest stared back at her a bit sheepishly. There was something in his eyes that told her he was just as bothered about something—or someone in that dining room—as she was. Ariel smiled.
“Of course, sure!”
“Great. It’s a deal then.”
Perfect. Now if I can just force Leroy to sit on the other side of me, Noah won’t be close enough to pass a rice wave to me, let alone close enough to whisper a surprise proposal in my ear, Ariel thought as the two of them stepped inside the now-empty hallway.
“Everyone must be inside,” John commented, glancing around at the open space.
Ariel only had eyes for the double doors. Just then, John walked into her line of vision, holding one of them open. “Shall we?”
Everything about his tone and expression was friendly and inviting. There was no reason for Ariel not to follow him. Except there was a reason—two reasons, actually—and those two reasons gave her pause...but in the next moment, a perfectly timed distraction came up behind her.
“Oy—Ariel! Finally, where have you been?” Leroy demanded. “I was just at your room. You know you’re thirty minutes late for dinner...” But then the monk trailed off. Reaching her, he stopped to stare. “Wow, Ariel, you look—are you wearing a dress?”
Ariel stared back at Leroy a moment, attempting to decide what exactly he meant by that. “So...?”
“Oh—nothing,” he hastily added, sensing her offense. “It’s just—it looks great.”
Ariel’s expression softened, and she smoothed the folds of her dress. “Thanks.”
“Leroy,” John spoke up, “you haven’t eaten yet, have you?”
The monk glanced at the priest. “No, but I’m not that hungry.”
Ariel glanced at Leroy. Not hungry? Since when? At her questioning look, the monk remained expressionless, but something in his eyes told her she would soon find out.
“But,” Leroy continued, looking back to John, “if you are...you better get in there before it’s all gone. You know Taylor’s appetite.”
Sensing something, John looked from the monk back to Ariel. Politely, he inclined his head towards her. “Are you...?”
Ariel, feeling a not-so-gentle nudge to her side, shot Leroy a glare before smiling at John. “Save me a seat?”
The priest smiled back and nodded. “Alright.”
The moment the double doors swung shut, Ariel turned on the monk. “What was that?”
Leroy adjusted the sleeves of his dress shirt. “What was what? I’m not hungry. Is that such a crime?”
Ariel’s gaze fell to the monk’s feet, which he—upon noticing this—took a precautionary step back. “You know what I mean, Leroy. Why do you have me out here?” Ariel asked, returning her attention to his face.
“Okay, okay,” Leroy relented, holding out his hands. “I don’t know why you have to get so testy. I think all this time with Taylor isn’t good for you—”
Ariel gave his feet another pointed look. “That’s beside the point. This is our chance, Ariel,” he said, lowering his voice. “The theater is empty.”
“You want to look at the pictures now?” Ariel replied, glancing at the double doors.
Leroy followed her gaze. “Come on, Ariel, there will be plenty of time tonight to impress Jasper and Noah. This may be our only shot—”
“Excuse me? For the last time, this isn’t about Jasper and Noah,” Ariel protested, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
The monk stared down at her, trying to contain an amused smile. “Sure, right. And I’m not hungry either.”
“I promised John I’d sit by him,” Ariel argued, crossing her arms and looking alarmingly like Mandy in doing so.
Leroy sighed, his face relaxing from its smile, his brown eyes fixed on the double doors. “Knowing this place, if we go now, we can be back before dinner’s served...”
The monk’s eyes now turned on her to seal the deal.
“Fine. But if dinner’s over before we get back, I’m blaming it on you.”
Leroy motioned for her to go before him and shrugged. “Fine, and while you’re at it you can blame me for the fact that we’re stuck in this town, dealing with a loony client, and you’re getting proposed to tonight.”
Ariel sent the monk a look over her shoulder. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
Passing through the quiet halls on the way out, Ariel could feel the energy in the air mounting. Even the silence was loud to her ears, as if she could hear the thoughts of the many hopefuls in love.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Leroy spoke up after they had reached the outside.
Ariel, her eyes trained on the golden moon rising in the clear dusk sky, shrugged. “They’re probably not worth a penny.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” he agreed, and Ariel turned her head, catching the small smile on his face. “But just the same, I bet I can guess them.”
“What? You’re a mind reader now in addition to a bassist?”
The monk narrowed his eyes at her. “You laugh now, but it won’t be so funny when I’m rattling off your deepest muses.”
Ariel smiled challengingly at him. “Well, what am I thinking?”
“You’re worrying whether Jasper is going to like that dress on you, or whether he’s simply going to think: great, now I have two Mandys...”
“As if, Monk,” Ariel objected, her cheeks distinctly red in the falling dark.
Leroy’s grin was equally noticeable. “Well, if that’s the best you can do, you’re a million miles off your mark,” Ariel persisted, her arms crossed and a sour look set on her face. That Mandy.
The monk spent a thoughtful moment in silence. “Okay, maybe I was joking there,” he allowed, glancing at her with a shadow of his smile returning. “But I know you are nervous. The good news is though, you don’t have to be.”
Ariel, who had taken to staring pointedly out over the festival grounds, looked back to the monk with kindness in her eyes. “Thanks, Leroy.”
The monk patted her shoulder reassuringly, and they walked in comfortable silence. That was until Leroy halted, a look of deep longing crossing his face. Ariel allowed herself a small smile; she had smelled it too.
“Not hungry, huh?” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“I lied. Let’s hurry so we can get back and I can eat,” the monk answered, walking quickly onward.
Ariel followed behind, shaking her head.