Authors: Mercy Cortez
“Calm down, it isn’t a ring” I laughed and he pushed the box across the table to me and I blushed and opened it, a Pandora bracelet stared at me, with a few charms already on it, he walked around and placed it on my wrist and knelt beside me to explain the charms.
“This one..” he pointed at the
Green Faceted Murano Charm “reminds me of your eyes and this one, the Big Ben charm reminds me of when I offered you this job and first met you and the key to my heart charm, because that’s what you’ll always have” he kissed my little fingers and then looked into my eyes.
“One is missing...” he fished it out of his grey trouser pocket and pulled out a tulip flower charm and put it on my bracelet, and pulled the black box up and below where the bracelet had been sitting was a key
“And this tulip will remind you when I gave you a key to my home” I stared in shock and he laughed and held me.
“You will still have this place for now; I know you need the security and it’s a little soon to move in; but you are almost always at my penthouse, why not have the key too?”
“Jared, this is incredible, thank you so much!” and I kissed him over and over, once I stopped he had a serious look on his face.
“Remember the whole collar thing? Well I don’t want to ever collar you, I love you like this, I love seeing you flourish like the rose you are, like I’m watering you and watching your petals open, I could never take that away from you, it is far too striking but maybe to show you’re mine and you to have something to remind you of me, that bracelet is like your collar Melissa, you are officially all mine, and I am all yours” I felt so happy in that moment and knew we would be okay, that he would love me and protect me. I was his, the collar I had agreed to long ago, I didn’t know the full premise of my words when I said I would let it happen and I never really wanted to know, things have a way of eating at you and I would rather have my Jared now, re born and loved like he was always meant to be. I know that it is important that he loves me enough to lose that control of a collar; that he trusts me enough.
Three months later
“Jared, hurry up you will make me late again!” I slammed onto the bathroom door and he opened it and pulled me in, and kissed me hard.
“No, now I will make you late” he chuckled and turned the shower on. His sculpted body before me was making my mouth water.
“I suggest you get naked Ms. Payne, or your expensive clothes will be ruined in five seconds” he smirked and waited while I undressed and pulled me into the shower, he pushed me against the tiles, he took my nipple into his mouth as the water washed down and I moaned
“I’m so going to be late” I grumbled
“I’m sure your boss will forgive you, after all you’re in the shower with him” and he kissed down my body and pushed my leg up while he tasted me and made me ache to release, he was so good at making me lose control, he moved back up and pinned my arms to the tiles and grunted as he pushed inside me, we finished our shower and spent a long time cleaning one another, I was a full five minutes late for work and had an email waiting at my desk
To: Melissa Payne
If you know what’s good for you, then leave him alone. This isn’t a threat. It’s a promise.
I felt as my hope and happiness dropped. Who was this and what did they want? Before I had to worry about it I had work to do, before long it was lunch and I decided to walk to the local Starbucks and get me and Jared a coffee, I walked out to the cold London air and took a shortcut through a well-lit alley, an alley I had passed through many times in my time at GME Records. I noticed a lot of cigarette ends on the floor; I wondered why someone would be standing pecifically here smoking for what would appear to be for hours; my phone started ringing, it was Carl, he had been doing so well as Jared’s assistant and I liked that Carl was in no way attracted to Jared in the slightest.
“Hi Carl, are you okay?”
“I’m good want to meet for lunch?” before I could answer a woman whose blue eyes were bloodshot looked into me, she was petit, late twenties, hair was a mess, it looked almost black with dirt and grease, she looked high on something; it was interesting juxtaposition, her clothes were expensive; my tastes for fashion in the three months I had been officially with Jared had given me an eye for seeking labels and I knew this lady had money at her disposal. I went to walk around her when she grabbed my arm making me drop my phone.
“Melissa, I warned you, I warned you on the phone, I have emailed you over and over but you just won’t leave him alone will you? He is mine, he wants to marry me, you’re just in the way!” she sounded crazy probably because she was and I knew now, it was Caitlin, I kept getting calls and the person would hang up but only today had I gotten any other emails and I told her so, she called me a liar and moved closer to me, pulling out a knife, I went to scream but she pushed me into a wall and covered my mouth with her hand, she took the blade and made small cuts up my thigh, ripping through my skirt.
“Jared doesn’t like damaged girls, he won’t want you with all these scars Melissa, he certainly won’t want you when I kill you” I was terrified and I heard Carl on my phone calling for me, but I couldn’t answer, before I knew it she took the knife and pushed it inside my stomach; I thought of Jared’s mother and his six year old little boy stare and I prayed he wouldn’t find me like this. I tried to cry out through her hand and she smiled, she stabbed me again and my whole body felt empty and I knew I was going to die, right here, alone. She touched my face and asked why I was with him, mumbling about it not being fair, that she saved him and then she used the same knife to slit her wrists in front of me, she lay there bleeding out with me; the two women who were in love with the same man bleeding in an ally in London, I watched as our crimson blood seeped into the cracks in the cement and I looked at my bracelet that was now full of charms and saw blood splashed over it as my eyes gently closed.
I opened my eyes and saw white, I thought I was dead, then I saw him, my Jared asleep by my bedside, I heard the beeping of machines and knew I was okay, I had survived somehow. I tried to move but I couldn’t, I watched him sleeping, his eyes looked heavy, his shirt was dirty, so unlike him, like he hadn’t moved in day, his hair was dull and lifeless and his skin deathly pale. Suddenly he woke like he knew I was awake, he told me not to move and I listened, he told me he loved me and he was sorry.
“I hid the emails from you, I shouldn’t have but I didn’t want her to scare you, it’s my entire fault, All of this is my fault” he rambled and I finally was able to speak as a nurse removed a pipe down my throat.
“Jared what happened?” he looked at me with concern
“Please forgive me, I had no choice… Carl called me asking if I knew where you were and I didn’t so I he told me what he heard and I went looking for you, I found you both in the ally, I was lucky I found you, you had blood all over you, I was terrified, she stabbed you four times, mainly in one area and she was on the floor, she bled out quicker than you and was close to death, I tried to help her too but.. It was too late, she woke up enough to tell me that she loved me and I knew she was going to die so... I told her a lie, I said I loved her too and she died in my arms. We got you to the hospital and she had damaged both of your kidneys, normally people can function with one but she damaged both of yours and your body was going into system failure, your organs were shutting down... I had no choice… I called your mother, got the number from your phone and sent a car to pick her up, she was so scared for you, she got tested, we needed a transplant and I wasn’t a match, your mother wasn’t either, she had to go back home, she didn’t want to stay when I, …I’m so sorry.. I asked your mother if she knew where your father was, your real father… he gave you his kidney, I paid him to give it to you so that you would live, I needed you to live, I was selfish but I love you, I can’t live without you, I’m sorry”
I sobbed knowing my father, my uncle, whatever he was had saved me, I didn’t want him anywhere near me, let alone giving me his organs, I wanted to rip the kidney out of me, I’d rather die, I didn’t want this, Jared kept apologising while I sobbed and told me it would take weeks or months to heal, he said he warned my uncle to stay away from me, but it crushed me, he had a hold on me.
I thought of Jared, would I have done any different? I doubt it, he didn’t have a choice, I would have died otherwise, in his mind this was better, I wasn’t so sure, maybe in time I would be okay but I wanted to throw up and run away from it all, Caitlin died, and he showed her mercy before she did, she didn’t deserve it, she tried to kill me and would have succeeded.
Just as I was collecting my thoughts, trying to understand everything I saw Jared bent down on one knee, please don’t. God please don’t, just get up.
“Melissa will you marry me?” I shook my head and mumbled nothingness, I couldn’t, not yet, how could even ask me that now. I felt like my head was going to explode.
“Melissa, I’m sorry, I nearly lost you, you were unconscious for three weeks and I love you, please don’t shut me out, please!” he cried, I hated when he cried, it made it so hard to say or do anything, made me just want to hold him and love him.
“I’m not saying no, I’m saying just not right now Jared, I’ve been through a lot and I am barely thinking straight; just give me time, I love you, too”
I spent the next three weeks trying to get better, trying to forget that my kidney wasn’t mind, the doctors decided therapy was for the best, and it had helped although I hated talking about my past, I came to realise it wasn’t my fault and I couldn’t protect myself, I always wondered if I did something wrong, I was brought into this world unwanted and I guess that’s enough to make anyone feel badly about themselves. My father didn’t try to contact me, I never asked how much Jared paid him but I didn’t care, I was just glad he was gone from my life forever and as much as Caitlin’s death was a shame now I saw her as just a troubled woman, almost like me, but at least she couldn’t hurt us or herself anymore. I was finally able to get up and walk around sort of normally and Jared drove me to the little house I had seen so long ago, the one outside the city, so quaint and sweet, inside it was like a cottage; wooden beams to the ceiling and floral wallpaper, it was old but perfect, old dark wood furniture and a butlers sink, it had a charm to it, it felt like a home I could raise children in some day. He looked after me, fed me, and bathed me, everything, even though I did keep telling him I could do it myself.
We were sitting on the couch and he looked at my wrist and noticed my bracelet was missing, I was lucky he hadn’t noticed before I guess, with all the happenings at the hospital I had lost it and I felt terrible about it, he pulled out a box and opened it to reveal my bracelet and I was so happy, he held me lightly, in all this time he could barely touch me because I was too sensitive but lately he could hold me a little. He pulled out a new charm; it was a ring, hanging down with a real diamond in the centre.
“Melissa I asked you this all wrong once before but I am never going to stop until you say yes and so you may as well say it now. When I met you I saw a spark in you, I saw someone driven and intelligent and absolutely gorgeous. I never dreamt that my life would change so much because of you but it did, every day I count my blessings and I know that even if I had nothing and only had you, it would mean I was the richest man in the world. This charm, this represents us, together, forever. Melissa...” he pulled out another small box and opened it, inside was an Akoya Cultured Pearl Ring, it was so gorgeous and so simple. “…Melissa Payne, will you promise me forever and be my wife?”
I smiled and held him, didn’t care about the pain and he chuckled.
“See I knew it was because I didn’t have a ring last time” he laughed
“Shut up, Mr. Edge and let me answer” I teased back
“Yes, if we can face all that we have in the last few months, we can definitely face marriage. I would love to be Mrs. Melissa Edge; I love you so much Jared, now give me that ring” He kissed me and then showed an inscription on the ring “Together forever” he whispered
He slid the ring tightly onto my finger, where it will stay, forever.
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