Th_omas

" How about we help each other?" He says and I look up at him, eyes still wet from the tears streaming down my cheeks, heart freshly broken from the public humiliation and betrayal that was Lucas's breakup. I can faintly make out the first droppings of snow floating magically under the light of the street lamps. It's that time of the year, a time for wool coats, a time for relaxing, none of which I'll be doing. "I'm an orphan with a wicked aunt and a boyfriend who left her because she has nothing to her name, how could I possibly help you?" I say another sob escaping my lips. "Marry me" he replies and my eyes widen in anger. Is he mocking me?. I look into the eyes of this stranger and see he's dead serious. "I need a wife, you need a home, marry me and you'll have all you want". I nod.

A Snowy Marriage (A Christmas agreement)

"Is that what made you lapse into silence earlier?" He asks.

The tone of his voice, which I think should have sounded questioning and interrogative, from me trying to snoop around his private apartment, is oddly jovial with a faint hint of concern in it.

I just love this thing about him, he seems to only be conscious of the person you are, and not what you currently look like, or what you were about to do either way. He likes to see the person in you, not the person that is standing in front of him looking like she was just about to rob him of all his personal possessions.

"I thought there was more to this place than this room" I say, and he scrunches up his nose in fake distaste.

"You don't like the room?" He asks and my eyes widen in surprise.

"No no no. I like it I like it very much" I reply hurriedly. The silly and gleefully delighted glint in his eyes makes me almost gush, until I realise what he's so clearly trying to hide. He's messing with me.

I shove him on his shoulders and he laughs, it's a really pleasant laughter that comes out, or maybe that's just my head talking.

"Come on" he says, opening the door. I had thought due to its size it would be heavy, but it was surprisingly light and easy for him to open. So it's either the hinges have recently been oiled or it's just like that, light and simple, but yet giving you the impression of an heavy an intricate oak door.

The door leads us to a marvelous living space, with beautiful velvet cushions, and a huge TV there's an home theatre system that I noticed bears a similar resemblance to the one father had been eyeing before his death.

It was a home theatre system whose design and model entailed a user to device interface, that entailed a main control panel which had connections to speakers all over the house. You could control it from your phone, or any other remote device you had synced to it.

It seemed a very nice thing to have, I bothered him a lot about it, and he said you would get it for me immediately he and mother came back from their trip. Unfortunately they didn't come back, and now here the system of my dreams was in, the house of someone else.

I didn't know when I had stopped walking, and my hand was now stroking the smooth plastic frame of said home theatre system. A few tears dropped from my eyes and I could see the former concern that was in Adrian's own return.

I do something I like to call choked crying, and before I knew what was happening, Adrian had his arms around me, as he gave me a hug.

I wrapped my arms around him and I sobbed deep and hard into his shoulder, the comfortable warmth from his body still there and my grief slowly ebbing away the longer I stood in his embrace.

I raise my head up to look at him, he wants to know so clearly why I am crying, but yet he knows this isn't the time to ask for it, even with how hysterical I'm acting, he still doesn't want to make me feel bad or nervous, and so I find myself giving the answer without being asked the question.

"It's something my father wanted to get me, before he died" I say, and he pulled me into another hug. I accept this one without any struggles.

Chapter 74