I sat at the small coffee house around the block from the gym sipping my black coffee in the late afternoon of December.
The cold wind was blowing outside and whenever someone entered or left the small establishment, the opened door allowed swift gusts of cold air to seep inside the warm and cozy establishment.
Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is around the corner. People running around in the cold to buy presents from decorated shops is a common sight. The first snowfall of the fall season greeted us today just two days prior to the twenty fifth. It had started an hour ago and was still snowing, covering everything in a soothing but cold white blanket.
"EEEEE....!" I quickly turned around when I heard a squeal but what I saw made my mood bitter. A guy on his knee with a red velvet box in hand that housed an engagement ring. The girl a mixture of awe, surprise and excitement with her hands covering her mouth in disbelief.
"YES! YES!" She nodded her head and everyone cheered but I just rolled my eyes and walked out of the coffee shop where I first met my husband of six month but I did not get a proposal or any sweet dates or time to get to know him, no I was just thrust into an arranged marriage against my will just for other people's benefits.
While walking down the decorated streets of Brooklyn I picked out a few last minute Christmas gifts for my sister, sister-in-law, my mother, mother-in-law, father-in-law, husband and finally my brother-in-law. I walked down these streets daily when I lived here. My gym and apartment used to be just seven blocks away. So I knew the shops where I could get good gifts within my budget. A lot of my money which I usually saved every week was now spent on just transportation, especially during winter when I could not ride my bike.
Now I lived in the Upper East side of Manhattan while the gym I worked at was still near my old apartment. Everything was way more expensive around my new residence. I couldn't ever dream of buying things from there considering the amount I made in a month would never be enough to get me through a day in the lavish area I lived in now. Although it was way cheaper compared to some of the more lavish areas of Manhattan.
After a bit of a shopping spree I hailed for an Uber. I found one sooner than I would expect considering the crowd of people out on the streets shopping for holiday season these days. I sat in the back of the car and told him my destination.
As we drove my vision fell on my wedding band. A gold ring embedded with a huge diamond at the center and smaller diamonds surrounding it in a square. There were slightly bigger diamonds running down the side of the ring in the middle and around these diamonds even smaller diamonds along the periphery. It was expensive and the band I gave to Christian was equally so. While mine was yellow gold, his was platinum with red rubies in middle and smaller normal diamonds along the periphery of the ring. We had decided that we would not have matching wedding bands and we custom made these for each other. My ring was funded by my stepdad who did not want to be shown down on by his biggest business rival. Both the rings were beautiful to say the least.
And surprisingly Christian kept up his promise and our wedding was small. But he was not standing up to his vows. As we left Brooklyn and entered Manhattan I checked the text I had received from my husband.
'Don't come home yet.'
It was a simple text which would have any married person racking their brains to figure out the reason for the strange request made by their significant other. In my case I already knew the reason.
I just sighed and told the driver to drop me off a few blocks away from my apartment. The Upper East Side was more of a residential area and so the streets were considerably empty compared to other parts of the city. On my left was Central Park. The building whose penthouse apartment Christian owns was directly in front of it. I would be lying if I said the view wasn't breathtaking from up there; especially at night during the holidays.
Snow was still falling when I crossed the road ready to enter the park along with the shopping bags when a honk that came from right behind me made me stop. I looked over my shoulder at the road to find a taxi parked and then the back door opened and my eyes widened when my mother-in-law got out.
"Ethan, how are you?" She came up and hugged me tightly and I awkwardly hugged her back with my arms preoccupied by the bags.
"Debra! I'm in top shape. This is a pleasant surprise. How have you been?" She stepped back and held my shoulders with her glove covered hands and her blue eye, that my husband also inherited, examined me from head to toe starting from my beanie covered head, the thick jacket that protected me from the harsh cold from the neck all the way down to my thighs and then finally my jean covered legs and my combat boots.
Similarly I also examined Debra Smith. Even though in her fifties, she was in top shape. She used to be a Broadway star in her prime. She left all of that behind when she met Adrian Smith, my father-in-law, and fell in love. They were the perfect couple in the room. Always together, smiling and laughing at god knows what. Even after all these years she maintained her figure to the T. She still had the moves to match her figure. Her blond hair was left in loose curls. A furry white cap protected her head and ear muffs protected her ears. She was wearing a long white fur coat that reached her ankles along with snow boots. Her make-up was done just perfect, nothing over the top with her lips painted with a red lipstick.
"I am glad to see my son is treating you right. You haven't lost any weight." She added after her examination was complete and she was satisfied.
"You have no idea." Seriously, she had no idea. Out of the whole Smith family she was the only nice one who bothered to call me and ask about my life every few days. She had always made me feel welcomed no matter what. "You should have called ahead. I bet Christian would have had time to come pick you up."
"I wanted to surprise you both." She said with a huge grin.
"That you did." My response was genuine but my smile was fake.
"Well, what are you doing going to the park with all this load? Let's go inside and have a warm cup of hot chocolate." She said as she turned around ready to cross the street.
"Hey, Debbie." I stopped her. "We can go back up any minute we want, why don't we have a look around the park first. It looks stunning during holidays." I was trying to stall her.
"I bet it does. We can come back down again after we leave my luggage and your bags up there." She was already getting her bag and started crossing the street. I quickly followed her.
As soon as we reached the building she went to the private elevators and the guard stopped her to confirm her ID.
"Hey. Ralph." I greeted our watchman and an idea popped into my head. "Would you mind looking after our stuff while we visit the park? Just look after them, we'll be back soon and pick them up ourselves, no need to take them up yourself. Thanks." While I was speaking I put my stuff as well as Debra's bags by his desk and then started leading her out.
"Wait-" She tried to say but I cut her off.
"I'm tired Debra and I know you are too tired from the flight. So, as soon as we hit our beds I'm sure we'll be out like a light. Then we'll miss this amazing opportunity. Because soon the snowfall will increase and we won't be able to enjoy the park." I made up fake reasons to buy my stupid husband time.
I somehow managed to get Debra to agree. When she asked about Christian I told her I would call him. He did not pick up so I texted him telling him about his mother. Then made up some lie about him being busy and wasting our time if we went up to get him.
I was able to give my husband an hour before I could not stall his mother any longer. He still hadn't seen my text. God I really hoped he was done with it.
We entered the elevator with our stuff and I punched in my key card so that I can access our floor.
When we finally did reach our floor, Debra got out of the elevator with one of her bags and walked ahead with my key card to open the door to the apartment. Everything was silent as I quietly closed the door behind us. Debra was about to call out to her son but was interrupted by a sound that made both of us freeze.
What sound was that, you may ask.
It was a female's moan.