Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Jayden had gone back to L. A with Courtney after she was done with her studies and the company in Massachusetts had expanded.

She was now the managing director of the company in L.A. Narcia and her friends were in the sophomore year of college.

Zara had retired as the caretaker of the Daniels mansion. Jayden had bought her a new house in New York and had sponsored Chloe's education until she was done with school.

He still paid Zara a monthly allowance which she was always grateful for.

I'm not getting any younger. I need to settle down and start a family. Jayden thought to himself as he swirled in his chair.

He booked a reservation in one of the most expensive restaurants in town. He had already gotten a ring for the proposal.

He saw how much Courtney was looking at the ring when they went out to shop.

He had secretly gotten the ring for her, but now he was going to use that ring to propose to her.

"Hey, Mel." Courtney greeted her friend through the phone. "Hey, Bestie!" Mel exclaimed.

"How's married life treating you ?" She asked. "Courtney, I get got married yesterday." She added rolling her eyes. "But it's going well." She smiled.

"I'm happy for you," Courtney added. "Tell Jayden to put a ring on that finger, y'all aren't getting younger," Mel advised.

"Alright Ma, I'd tell him." She teased her friend. She knew deep within that Mel was right.

The two friends talked for a while and then Mel hung up saying she had some stuff to do.

"Hey, love," Jayden said as he entered the office and sat in front of her. He stared at her adoringly and lovingly. He was glad he had a wonderful woman in his life.

"Babe?" She called breaking him out of his trance. "Are you alright?" She worriedly asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Are you done here or you have more work to do?" He asked. "I'm done for the day." She confirmed.

"Any problem? She inquired again.

"Well, I want to take my baby out for dinner today." He said staring at her.

"What's the occasion?" She asked absentminded. "Seriously Courtney, do I need an occasion to take you out?" He asked getting offended.

"I'm sorry Jay, its just---" "It's fine, just finish up and let's go home so that we can freshen up and go for dinner." He started walking out of the office.

Courtney sighed as she picked her handbag and followed suit. She was in no mood for any arguments or quarrels. She had a lot on her plate and mind to deal with.

Courtney emerged from the shower to see a box wrapped in beautiful paper on her bed. She secured the towel tightly around her body as she walked towards her bed and picked up the box. It had no inscription on it.

She sat on her bed unwrapping the box to reveal a beautiful A-line V-neck Burgundy dinner gown with leg split and a pair of beautiful black 6-inch open-toed heels.

She was awed by the present. She wondered why Jay got her this beautiful gown.

Where are we going and what has she planned? She asked herself.

She held her hair in a tight ponytail and then wore her dress then paired it with the heels. She picked a blue clutch to match her dress.

Her make-up was nude and beautiful. She twirled in front of the mirror for one last time before descending the staircase.

She decided to go to her house where Jay said he would come and pick her from. The doorbell rang as she opened the door to reveal Jay wearing a tuxedo that matched her outfit.

He looked hot. "Ready?" He asked after googling at his girlfriend soon to be fiancée.

"Yeah." She smiled as she got out of the house locking the door behind her. He opened the door of the car for her as she sat inside and he joined her in the car and sped off.

They had fun talking and singing in the car just like old times. Jay finally parked his car in the parking lot of one of the most expensive restaurants in town.

She wasn't surprised much though, but she wondered why he decided to bring her here.

"Any reservations Sir?" The waitress asked as they entered. "Yes under Jay Daniels." He added as the waitress led them to their table.

The view from their table was beautiful as it was close to the window. It showed how the city brightened at night. It was just marvellous.

"A penny for your thoughts?" He asked startling her. "Just enjoying the view from here." She smiled. "You look stunning love." He added as the waitress came for their order.

Jay intentionally dropped his keys beside Courtney's leg. He went down to pick the keys as he pulled a ring from his pocket kneeling before her.

She was speechless. She thought marriage wasn't on his mind for now and that was making her stressed out because she wasn't getting any younger.

"Courtney, you came into my life as my best friend, my best pal, my playmate and gradually I began to fall for your kind heart, your loving soul and beautiful smile. We've both been through a lot in life but we still held on to each other. And now we're here. Would you do me the honours of becoming Mrs Courtney Aura Daniels?" He finally asked as she sobbed and nodded a "Yes."

He slipped the beautiful ring on her hands and hugged his fiancée. There were claps, whistles and "aaaaaws" filled in the air as she buried her face in the crook of his neck shyly.

They returned to their seats and then enjoyed their meal. "But how come I didn't think that you were going to pop the question, it was as if you didn't care about starting a family anytime soon." She explained.

"I made you believe so so that you won't think that was what I was about to do this night." He added grinning.

"Thank you for choosing me." She mumbled. "No love, thank you for showing me love, for teaching me how to love and I'm sorry it took me long to realise that I love you." He added as her cheeks turned rosy.

“I should have done that long ago, but I was blinded by lust which I believed was love, but when I realised I was in love with you the whole time, it felt good and I felt happy.” He told her.

“That day I almost lost your love, I told myself I wasn’t going to lose your friendship even if I lost your love to another man, I could be just bear to lose you, not to have you in my life. The thought of that alone tore me apart. When I saw you run to me, I thought, maybe there’s hope for the future.” He added as she chuckled.

“You’ve got Mel to thank for that, I almost gave up you know. She talked sense into my head, she was right. I won’t have lasted with that dude anyways.” She said smiling at him.

“Thank God!” He exclaimed making her laugh.

“I think, we were meant to be, soup mates for life.” She said as they clicked their glasses together.

“I can’t wait to marry you Courtney, and rip that wedding free off your body on our honeymoon.” He said wiggling his eyebrows.

“You, naughty Jay.” She blushed again.

“What, you’ve got a sexy body.” He teased.

“Why, thank you.” She smiled.