Amanda gasped when she heard that, and Kelvin repeated it,
"Be my wife," Kelvin said again and looked expectantly at Amanda. He saw nothing on her face that showed what she was thinking.
He held both her arms and continued. "I want to help you out of this, it is not just for that. I am happy that you said that 'You don't do friends', because I do not want to be friends with you. I want to be your, everything!"
Kelvin let go of her arms and went on one knee, then he took off a necklace he had around his neck. It had a ring that he took off and presented to Amanda.
"Even though this is not an expensive ring, it was my mother's ring. I want this to be a token of my affection for you. I- I promise that I will care and love you… if you allow me."
"But if you are uncomfortable, I will still marry you today so that you will be free from your father's influence, and w-we will divorce when he no longer is a threat to you."
"Please?"
"Will you at least give me the chance?" Kelvin seemed to struggle with the last few words. His facial expressions and words touched Amanda deeply so much that she felt herself tear up. She helped him up and said,
"If I'm going to do this, I am willing to go all the way through and there will be no turning back for me. So, Kelvin, I will leave myself in your hands..." then she extended her ring finger to him.
Kelvin beamed and slipped the ring on her finger then he hugged her tightly.
They parted and returned to the table.
"Are you ready?" the old man asked, and they nodded.
Amanda felt like she was watching a drama. Within a few minutes, they had signed everything, and the 'head of registry' had packed up his files and left.
"Congratulations, you are now officially husband and wife," the old man said.
Amanda smiled and sighed while thinking, that her dad will not be able to force her into anything again.
"I came for an engagement today and will go back home married!" she muttered under her breath, but they all heard her clearly.
She looked at the old man and asked again, "Who are you, sir?"
"I cannot answer that question now, but I will give you a way to contact me", he smiled reassuringly at her.
"How do we pay you for this?" she added
"Oh, Amanda, you have already paid for everything in full," the old man said and smiled. This made Amanda stare at him for a while.
"When did I pay anything? I-"
The man took a business card from his assistant and gave it to Amanda and then turned to Kelvin, "Take care of her, young man."
"You will have a lot to answer to if you do not."
Kelvin replied, "I will do so with my life!"
This earned a nod from the man.
"The certificate will be delivered to you by tomorrow."
They had both long passed getting surprised at anything the man said so they bid him farewell and turned to leave.
But he stopped them, "Just a moment," then he gave them a file. Amanda opened it and then shook her head and gave it back to him.
"We really appreciate your kindness, but we cannot accept this", she told him and Kelvin nodded to it as well.
"Do you think that this is a good idea sir?" his assistant asked after they had left and he replied, "Yes, I am positive, and I know that he will take good care of her." Then he added, "keep the deed of the building in their names and hold on to it." Then he handed the file Amanda just passed back to him to his assistant.
"Also, Sam, remember to tell him to backdate the certificate. It will look strange that they got married on the day they announced it." He quietly said and the assistant, Sam, made the relevant call almost instantaneously.
"It's been done Mr. Owens," the assistant reported back, and Mr. Owens smiled and nodded before getting up from his seat to leave.
They exited the restaurant through the back door and entered a waiting black Rolls-Royce Ghost.
Back on the ground floor of the restaurant, Kelvin guided Amanda back to her table.
Amanda had barely sat down when Ella came by with Eddy.
"Congratulations dear sister," she said but she looked anything but happy.
"Can I see the ring?" she asked sweetly.
Amanda brought out her hands for her dear sister to take a look at the ring. She thanked her lucky stars for whoever the old man was because she knew that Ella was just fishing for information.
"It's just a useless old ring," Ella uttered quietly but Amanda just smiled at her sister and took her hands back.
Ella had a smug look on her face and turned back to look at Eddy but stopped short. Because Eddy was standing directly by Kelvin, one could not help but compare them both. Ella cringed because Eddy was a visible head shorter than Kelvin for as he was 5-ft-2, Kelvin stood a full 6-ft-2. Tasha snickered when she saw that, and then she intonated mercilessly,
"Won't you look at that? The midget and THE man, hehehehehe."
Thankfully, no one was listening to her and therefore none were offended. You cannot get angry at what you do not know about right?
Tasha felt no remorse in her insulting thought as she had come to detest Eddy for 'playing around' with Amanda.
The men were as different as the night and the day; Kelvin was tall, dark-haired with grey eyes that seemed to suck one in and Eddy on the other hand was short, blond and had hazel eyes. Even though Kelvin was a waiter now, he had such a commanding presence that clearly overshadowed Eddy even though he was a lawyer and businessman.
Apart from their height, Kelvin looked more like the typical 'bad' guy who would sweep any woman off her feet, just as he had done with Amanda at the dinner. But Eddy, well, even though he was handsome looking, sometimes it is best to admire something or someone alone because they can be overshadowed by another.