The Best Friend's Contract

Chapter Four

Aidan

“Oh my god,” Dimitri moans, eyes rolling.

Then, he continues to bite onto his hamburger, making me furrow my brows. The way he chews it and continuously moaning with pleasure, leaves me slightly uncomfortable. My eyes wander around to look at a couple of women glancing towards our direction before giggling.

“This is so good,” He swallows, tilting his head to the side and taking another bite.

Dimitri is no different than Kenna, they both miserably enjoy food. They are the easiest people to bribe because . . . only with food. I don’t need to pay them with a large amount of money or buy them something expensive because as long as I pay for their lunch, they’re pretty much happy.

Which explains why we’re both sitting in a restaurant, letting Dimitri enjoy his hamburger while he can. He seems to cherish the moment as he pays attention to nothing but his food. As I clear my throat, I glance down at my wrist watch—looking at the time.

“Let’s go,” He says, finishing his last bite before taking a sip of his water.

As soon as I’ve paid for the bill, we both walk out of the restaurant and straight towards my car, seeing Gerald opening the door for the two of us. I step inside the car and see that Flynn is playing with a game on his phone which he quickly closes, clearing his throat.

“Have you called Kenna?” I decide to ignore his previous action before scrolling down at my phone, seeing that there are a couple of texts from my mother, reminding me of my future wife at the gathering.

He nods, “I have.”

My eyes focus onto the back of his head, waiting for him to continue but he keeps quiet. I let out a deep sigh, gesturing for Gerald to begin driving. The whole car remains silence with nobody daring themselves to speak, especially not Flynn.

I let my ego slip, “What did she say?”

“She’ll be at the hospital until five. Then, she will go home with no stops. She even refused to have dinner with me . . . the invitation that you planned,” He replies.

Before Flynn called Kenna, I practically told him the whole idea of the conversation. So, it was Flynn’s job to ask her about her day and how long she’ll be at the hospital but it’s currently Dimitri’s job to plan the whole proposal.

He has not yet given me ideas or even ways to start the proper proposal but he said about going down on one knee, which is considered important as I’ve known. It’s like a symbol; a man would go down, just for the woman he loves but the situation is pretty much different for us.

She asked for it. I’m just giving what she wants.

“Here!” Dimitri exclaims which causes Gerald to immediately press onto the brakes, causing the car to stop. I turn to glare at him as cars behind begin to horn . . . leaving him chuckle without a single care before stepping out of the car.

“Drive around. Be back in fifteen,” I say, both Gerald and Flynn nod their heads. Without further ado, I step out of the car as I glance at the car behind us—raising my hand as an apology. The woman’s eyes widen as soon as she sees my face but I’ve already made my way towards Dimitri without waiting for her respond.

My eyes look up at the building, “Cartier?”

“What do you expect when you ask a French guy to help you with an engagement ring?” He raises an eyebrow before making his way inside, leaving me trailing behind him with a sigh.

The only reason why I asked Dimitri to help me with Kenna’s engagement ring is because he was married before . . . maybe he knows how to choose one. It’s not like I can’t depend it on the people who works here but personally, Dimitri is good at observing people.

He’s good enough to observe about the liking of others. Without a doubt, he’d know the type of ring that Kenna would want or like. It’s quite a push on my ego . . . admitting how I can’t determine my best friend’s kind of interests after knowing her for twenty-years but in a situation like this, I don’t mind giving in.

As long as Kenna accepts the proposal and likes the ring, everything can go on as planned. The ring is something for her to keep, too—I won’t ask for it back when we get a divorce. It’s like giving my best friend a present but something more exquisite and expensive.

“Welcome, I’m Louis. How may I help?” A man says, standing in between two women. My eyebrows furrow at him . . . realising that I’ve seen him somewhere but can’t recall, perfectly.

“We’re looking for an engagement ring,” I reply and he looks at both Dimitri and I, realising that he seems to be getting the wrong idea—as if Dimitri and I, are the couple. “I’m proposing to my girlfriend,” I add which causes him to nod and gesture for us to follow him with a wide smile plastered on his face.

Aha! He looks exactly like the guy from Princess Diaries who did the whole makeover thing. Honestly, being best friends with a girl ever since I was little . . . had quite an impact. She would always be the one who get to choose movies up till now, don’t blame me when I end up knowing girly movies such as Barbie.

“What is she like?” Louis asks, turning to look at me. Both of his eyes squint as he tries to get me to say something about Kenna . . . in order for him to find the perfect ring but it’s only making me realise how he’s really no different than Paolo.

“She’s . . . she’s beautiful?” I speak which causes Dimitri to roll his eyes, knowing that he’s probably mentally slapping himself for having a friend like me. As for Louis, he is glancing at the two women beside him, shaking his head.

Then, all of a sudden, he grabs onto my hand before gesturing for me to take a seat. He looks deeply into my eyes, making mine widen in surprise but stay still, instead. He squints his eyes again, flicking his wrist once which causes me to release the breath that I’ve been holding.

“Sir, I’m not trying to teach you how to describe your woman but . . . that’s definitely not it. You should describe her with passion, admiration, as if she’s the most amazing woman you’ve ever laid eyes on. The woman that you will love for the rest of your life,” He speaks with full of energy, as if he was possessed before opening his eyes again, looking back at me.

“He’s right,” Dimitri smirks.

Louis stands up straight, looking down at me. “Now, sir. What is she like?” Both of his eyes are looking at nowhere but me which leaves me staring down at my hands, realising that I can’t describe her with passion, admiration or even love. Just in a way of love between friends.

I stay quiet, trying to think of Kenna. Focusing onto her light blue eyes and how she would laugh loudly at my silly jokes or even roll her eyes at my stupid decisions, making me imagine her perfectly shaped lips curve up into a smile as we tease each other.

Kenna has all the good qualities in her. The qualities that I haven’t found in other women but I’ve never paid enough attention to her . . . to an extent that I would be in love with her. Her beauty is no doubt, a killer. It’s a surprise for a man like me to stay friends with a woman like her but we’ve always remained that way, happy in our own way.

Whenever I look at her lips, I’ve never felt the urge to kiss her and whenever I look into her eyes, I’ve never felt the temptation to see through her. So . . . describing her with passion and admiration seems impossible. It’s like, we have this border in between.

“Forget it. What about this one?” Dimitri interrupts which causes me to blink a few times, finding myself back into reality as he points at the ring.

Louis places the ring in front of us, “The classic setting. It has been the world’s favourite engagement ring. The ring of rings . . . as it has been called,” He states, making me stare at the simple ring, in fact, I’ve seen them quite a few on newly-engaged women.

“No,” I reply, receiving both Louis and Dimitri’s attention. “The ring is too simple. Like, it’s just a ’will you marry me‘ ring instead of ’I love you and I want you to be my wife’ kind of ring. I’m just saying that it’s a no and I won’t buy that,” I add which surprises Louis.

He grins widely, eyeing down at the suit I’m currently wearing before glancing at Dimitri. He seems to be getting the whole idea as he clears his throat, “Actually . . . I can give you something more meaningful and special. It’s not as simple as this ring but it’s not too much. It defines how you want it to be defined, an ’I love you’ ring with the meaning of marriage,” He replies.

“Show me,” I respond.

Dimitri and I walk out of Cartier with the bag in his hand while I place the red box inside my coat’s pocket. My lips curve up into a smile at the design I’ve chosen, satisfied by my own choice.

“You’re welcome,” He says, walking pass me and into the car with Gerald opening the door.

I raise an eyebrow at his attitude before entering the car with a light chuckle escaping my mouth, “All you did was brought me to the jewellery shop. I was the one who chose the ring and paid for it,” I reply, smugly.

He scoffs, “You still need me for a proper proposal,” Then, I am left turning to look at him; knowing that he’s got a point. “You better play nice or your proposal will do you no good . . . how does that sound, Aidan?” He adds.

Even though I have the sudden urge to just shove him deeper into the car seat, I am left glaring at him as I hold back my annoyance. There’s no doubt that he’ll be able to help me with the whole proposing thing because he’s quite a lady’s man. He uses words to get them instead of just flashing off the beauty he thinks he holds.

“It better work,” I mutter.

He laughs, running his fingers through his hair effortlessly, “You’re talking to Dimitri, the damn MVP. Believe me . . . it’ll work,” He smirks, proudly.

Minutes have passed and he won’t stop typing on his phone with a sly smirk plastered on his face.

So, the whole thing with Dimitri and his ex-wife, it’s something that took him quite a long time to move on. Up till now, he still hasn’t managed to fully forget about her even after all she had done to break his heart.

Truth be told, I don’t see anything wrong with him. The true corrupt was the ex-wife, herself. He remembered everything . . . her birthday, their anniversary. I guess those kind of things weren’t enough to make it seem as if his love for her was genuine. Years spent trying to know each other better but at the end, it did him no good.

“Try to remember this. Say it out loud,” He says, slowly handing me his phone which causes me to furrow my eyebrows at the word count. This does not seem like a proper proposal because this seems like a damn essay.

“Okay, when you get there . . . pretend as if you’ve been running to see her. Like you were going to lose her if you didn’t hurry. You were supposed to be on your flight to somewhere but you ditched your flight so that you’d be able to propose to her. Sweet, eh?” He says, grinning.

“This is like a Bollywood movie. Do I have to change clothes, too?” I ask, causing Gerald to let out a scoff but he quickly covers it by clearing his throat—continuing to look down at the road with both of his hands gripping onto the steering wheel.

Dimitri laughs, “Man . . . since you’re proposing in public, I’m trying to attract people to watch your damn proposal. Once they start lifting up their phones and record the whole thing, it could just get viral. Then, you can shove it in your mother’s face.” He replies.

If anything about me goes on the internet, mother wouldn’t be pleased. Well, if those kind of things are scandals . . . but if it’s a proper proposal, she’d flip with confusion and joy at the same time, especially if she finds out that it’s Kenna.

Does proposing in the emergency room at the hospital count as a proper proposal? The main point is to surprise Kenna. She doesn’t need to know I’ll be proposing today because like she said, she wanted a proper proposal—a proposal where the other person is surprised.

“Do you think it’ll work? The emergency room is always busy and what if I get kicked out?” I question with a slight worry showing on my face as I keep on gripping onto his phone.

“For all I know, you’ll be curing those people.” He responds before pointing onto his phone, ”Now . . . stop procrastinating and start reading. Memorise them,” He adds.

As I’m about to read, he stops me.

“Never mind. Let’s do a little bit role play here,” He turns his body so that he’ll be sitting the opposite from me instead of beside me. “I’ll be Kenna and you’ll be yourself, now read the damn proposal,” He says, making me think that the proposal might already be damned.

“Kenna . . . thank god you’re here,” I begin to read as I look up at his face, making sure that I’m doing it correctly before continuing, ”Look, do you have a minute?”

“Don’t forget the panting,” He interrupts.

Just as we both continue the role play, I am already memorising the words. They seem to fit our situation perfectly . . . me describing the years we’ve spent together and how her beauty somehow mesmerises me—she’ll be stunned at the words.

Yet, this proposal isn’t something genuine from the heart. It’s made to impress her and also the people around her for them to stop what they’re doing and look at us.

“Remember what I said, don’t forget to pretend as if you’ve been running.” He looks up at my hair, “Run your fingers through your hair a little bit, try making them look messy in a good, attractive way.” He adds which causes me to chuckle, doing as told.

Just as I’m about to ask him something, his phone starts to ring which causes him to raise his index finger up before looking down at the screen—immediately answering the call as soon as he sees it’s no other than his, son.

“I’m leaving,” I say before turning to Gerald, “Drop him wherever he wants and then come back here to pick me up at the exact spot,” I add and he nods, making me turn to Flynn who is stepping down the car to open the door for me.

As I step out of the car, Flynn quickly catches up with my walking pace before answering his phone that has been ringing for the past couple of minutes.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to tell him.” He says on the phone, quickly hanging up as he stands beside me, “Mr. Ashton … you’re needed in the office as soon as possible. Esmeralda told me that—” I cut him off by turning to look at him, causing him to press his lips into a thin line.

“Flynn, I’m going to propose to Kenna and you’re asking me to head back to the office? That has got to wait, this can’t.” I reply before entering the emergency room which is not as packed, making me swiftly walk in the middle, eyes wandering to look for Kenna.

Flynn is being left behind, answering another phone call as he makes his way towards a different direction—making me turn back to look for Kenna. According to the informations I have gathered, she’s working at the emergency room this week during the day with no night shifts so she should be here . . . somewhere.

All of a sudden, I find Kenna walking towards one of the patients which is a little girl around the age of six. The little girl’s eyes are filled with tears as she holds back the pain from the injury on her knee, making me see that Kenna is doing her best to calm her down.

Kenna smiles at her as she cups onto the girl’s face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The little girl nods her head, wiping away the fallen tears with her tiny hand—somehow, leaving me smiling at myself at the current situation.

On the other side of the bed, stands a little boy, also around the age of six with his parent holding onto his shoulders—realising me that the little boy might’ve pushed her down and cause the injury which leaves me remembering about Kenna and I, in the past.

“You’re a strong little girl,” I read Kenna’s lips as she wipes away the blood with an antibacterial liquid on the girl’s knee, paying attention to her expression and seeing that she’s wincing in pain. “We’re almost done and you’ll get better,” She adds, putting the bandage.

As soon as Kenna’s done, she begins to stand up and turn towards the parent. She looks down at the little boy, gesturing for him to walk towards the little girl which he does and slowly, he is already standing in front of her, saying something unreadable from my distance.

I smile to myself, seeing them shake hands.

My eyes widen as soon as Kenna turns to look at me, her lips curving up into a smile when she sees me standing in the middle of the hallway. I continue to stare at her, seeing her making her way towards me, leaving me think back of the words I’ve memorised.

“Kenna . . . thank god you’re here,” I say, earning myself a confused look from her. “Look, do you have a minute?” I ask, looking around at the emergency room.

“Of course, I’d be here. What’s wrong, Aidan? Is there something wrong?” She raises an eyebrow, her blue eyes are squinting at me which causes me to forget the whole thing I’ve memorised, making me curse, mentally.

Screw it. I thought.

My eyes wander around before slowly going on one knee, making a few people stop walking as soon as they get the whole point of a man going down on one knee. Within seconds, I am left staring back at Kenna who has the same confused look on her face.

“Here?” She asks, her voice low but loud enough for me to hear.

“Here,” I answer.

“I’m sorry, I know that you’re working but I don’t want to lose you.” My eyes are focusing onto her blue ones, “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me and by far, the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with.” I say, the words randomly appearing in my head due to forgetting Dimitri’s words.

“Oh my god! Someone’s proposing,” Someone says and I begin to slightly look around, the people here are turning to look at us including a few doctors.

“Kenna . . . I know that things between us were sometimes rough. I mean, we met when we were both six and ever since then, we’ve been through a lot but we were always side to side. You helped me when I was at my worst, you’re my lifesaver.” I add, the words slowly coming out of my mouth—realising that most of it is true.

“I am myself when I’m with you. You bring out the best of me because you were just perfectly made that way . . . your beautiful blue eyes, your pink rosy cheeks and oh, don’t get me started when you laugh, you’re like an angel. You’re real and I want us to be real, too.” I focus onto her eyes which she does the same, making me lost unintentionally.

“I love you, Kenna Anne Roosevelt.” I breathe out, “I want you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you . . . will you marry me?” The question pops out as I take the red box out of my jacket’s pocket which causes the people in the emergency room to gasp before muttering words under their breaths.

Kenna stands still, her lips are not twitching into a smile and neither does her eyes. She just stands there before blinking a few times as her eyes wander around the room.

“If you’re not going to say yes, I will.” A man says and people begin to cheer which leaves both Kenna and I to laugh before turning around, seeing that there’s people standing behind me while a few are on their beds, clapping their hands.

“Damn girl, he’s hot.” A woman says.

“I will, too!” Someone else says.

“Say yes! Say yes!” They begin to cheer which surprises a few doctors, including Kenna. My lips are already curving up into a smile as I look up and wait for her answer.

Kenna nods her head with a smile plastered onto her face, “Yes, Aidan. I will marry you,” She answers and I slowly stand up straight, looking down at her due to our heights before sliding the ring into her ring finger—leaving the crowd to clap.

We awkwardly stand as I hold onto her hand and to my surprise, she starts to pull me by the neck, “Hug me.” She whispers and within seconds, I am already wrapping my arms around her body as she wraps her arms around my neck, causing the people here to cheer.

As we both pull away, we begin to realise that our lips are inches apart so both of us begin to pull further away, seeing that she’s currently eyeing down at the ring on her finger.

“You got Dimitri to help you . . . cute,” She smirks while I chuckle, looking at the ring on her finger, seeing how much it matches her—slightly leaving me happy for choosing it. “Did he help you with the proposal, too?” She playfully pushes me on the chest before smiling.

My eyes are looking into hers, “Yeah.”