"I have to take this," I whispered to Stefan as I pressed send and walked toward the exit to take my call outside.
"Hi honey," I said, cringing a little as I heard the overly sweet sound in my voice. This was nothing like the way I always answered the phone, but maybe he wouldn't notice.
"Well, hello there, someone's happy," Richard responded, making my cheeks grow hot as if he knew every one of my secrets.
"I'm just happy to hear from you."
"That makes me happy, darling." I smiled as a feeling of relief washed over me. Maybe everything would be okay after all. "Where are you, sweetheart?"
"The auto shop, why?" Panic began to bubble up, why would he ask?
"Because you're not here. I had a meeting today and didn't see you when I came home. I went out shopping, got some groceries, and when I came back you were still gone."
"Oh. I'm sorry for not leaving a note, Richard."
"That's alright, why don't I come pick you up?"
A symphony of "er's" and "um's" filled the line as I immediately realized just how bad that would be.
"Are you okay?" he quickly asked, worry present in his voice.
"Yes, of course I am. I just had a tickle in my throat. But you don't have to come down, honey. The mechanic told me it won't be much longer until the car is done. There's no need for you to waste your time coming here just to go back home."
"First of all, it is no waste, nothing involving you ever is. However, I am happy to just wait here for you to come back if you're okay."
"I am," I answered a little more quickly than necessary.
"Wonderful! Oh, do you have the credit card with you to charge this on?"
"It's in my wallet, Richard, but I'm not going to use it. This is my car, I'll pay for the repairs."
He let out a chuckle. "Oh, my dear, do you really not get the whole, 'what's yours is mine' saying? It's your car and your repairs, true, but we're getting married which means it is my concern too."
I sighed. I never understood why I refused to let Richard pay for anything of mine. This wasn't the first time, and as logical as his suggestion was, I still felt like I would owe him and I hated being indebted to people-fiancé or not.
"I know that, honey, but I got it just fine this time." This of course was a lie. I had the money, but a lot of it was tied up in the salon or wedding plans.
"Alright, darling, well call me if you need me, and if not I'll just see you when you get home."
"Okay, baby."
"I love you, Greyson."
"Love you too," I said as lovingly as I could before clicking the phone shut.
My eyes flickered toward the door to the shop, and I breathed in a sigh of relief that Stefan hadn't come outside. I found that I was suddenly feeling like I had to hide each man from the other when this was purely innocent. I mean I would fix my car and move on. Sure, I would pay Stefan back, and surely he would accept a check in the mail. It wasn't as if I was going home with Stefan-Richard was my home now. The last couple days had been nothing more than a surreal reality that felt almost dreamlike, and the one thing I learned from dreams was that sooner or later you were going to wake up.
With a few more deep, calming breaths I slipped my phone into my pocket and went back in to meet with Stefan. A knowing, almost forced smile awaited me when I entered the waiting area. He knew very well who I was speaking to, but neither of us mentioned more about it. Instead I took the seat directly next to him and watched some more Court TV silently. Neither of us said a word but to me, it only meant we were approaching the end of our dream and everything was slowly going to fade away.
If that was true-I wanted to enjoy just being in this moment.
So I let myself enjoy the peace and serenity that surrounded us, because the beautiful serene feeling in my heart was one I hadn't felt in years. My mind was clear, my lungs pulled in the fresh scent of the air around me and my body inched closer to his until finally his arm rested around my shoulders. Maybe this was wrong, but it was too mesmerizing of a feeling to back away from.
Eventually the mechanic stopped back our way, explained all they did and how much the cost was. Before I could speak up Stefan demanded they put my work on the information for him that they kept on file. I hated owing people, but strangely enough, I let him do it. Of course I promised to pay him back.
This only brought a smirk from him as he nodded. "If you insist, pretty girl."
I responded with nothing more than a smile as I watched him slip his arms back into his sports blazer. The mechanic put the keys into the palm of my hand, and almost instantly my anxieties set in. I felt my stomach twist around while the blissful feeling slowly escaped each time I exhaled the serenity from inside my soul. I could hardly look away from Stefan as we walked to my car. I watched as he opened my door, but didn't release it. My eyes fixated on his face while he looked from the backseat, the front and everywhere else but directly into my face.