At the end of the day, words were just sounds that when strung together, made sense only to a person who spoke the language.
Ariel spoke perfect English.
It was her first language, but even with all of that she found herself struggling around the two words that she'd just heard.
"Marry me,"
No matter which way she tried to turn the phrase uttered by Tristan Asher. That was what kept coming back to her. There was no way, he'd said that.
"What? Can you repeat that please?" Ariel finally settled on asking, certain that
Tristan's words would be completely different from the ones that she thought she'd heard. There was just no way that she had heard him correctly.
"Ariel Jones, I just asked you to marry me," His tone was as light as anything, but he might as well have hit Ariel with a sledgehammer to the head.
Oh.
There they were again, those same two words. Tristan had actually just asked her to marry him.
Unable to hide the disbelief on her face.
She looked at him, even leaning a bit closer. Trying to see if he was playing a joke on her. But Tristan Asher was very serious.
"I will get straight to the point, Ariel.
I do not like you, and you do not like me. But I am certain that we do not hate each other. We don't know each other well enough to have strong emotions about one another. Am I right?" She nodded dumbly, her head feeling too heavy, then she waited as he continued. "That being said, you know I have to be married by the end of the month. Otherwise I will lose my position as CEO," Again, Ariel nodded...it seemed to be the only thing that she could do at that moment.
"That is not something I want to occur. And you on the other hand, owe a loan shark a million in cash.
Marry me, help me keep my position, and in return I will pay off your entire debt," At that last bit, Ariel took a startled breath. "Are you serious?" She asked. This time it was his turn to nod in her direction.
"As a heart attack. If you agree to marry me. I will make all of your financial worries disappear just like that," Closing her eyes, Ariel imagined a world where madam Mo's loan was paid off. A world with her brother safe.
A world where she would not have to constantly look over her shoulder, scared that some goons would just snatch her away and drag her someplace where no one would ever be able to find her. It was a world that Ariel desperately wanted to live in.
But still...
"What if I say no?" Ariel asked, her voice trembling around the last word. He gave her a look, like he was about to ask her why she would say no to such a great offer. But he shook his head at the last moment, and instead heaved a sigh before replying. "Then I would leave you to your problems and carry on trying to solve my own. I just figured that this would be a simpler way for the two of us to solve both of our problems with just one solution," Ariel had no idea what burned more. The fact that she knew she was going to say yes. Or the fact that even though he had given such a concise reply it was obvious that Tristan also knew that Ariel was going to agree to the proposal. In the past she would have been able to count on her pride to give her the strength to say no. But pride was for people who did not stand to lose everything that they had ever cared about. Even so, Ariel found herself reluctant to just agree to Tristan Asher's proposal right there and then. "Can you give me the night to think about it?" She asked him. Hating the way that her voice sounded so small. She had wanted to sound assertive, like someone who was merely taking things into account before choosing the best possible option. But she sounded a few seconds away from tears, and not the good kind. After giving her a searching look, Tristan nodded.
"You have until tomorrow, that is all that I can afford to spare. After that, you will have to give me an answer so that I can decide on a way forward," And just like that Tristan Asher got up and walked away from her. Slowly disappearing from view as Ariel sat frozen on the park bench. Marriage.
Tristan Asher had just asked her to marry him. All she had to do was say yes, and her financial problems would be over. But the price of her finances being in the green would be her freedom. Was she really ready to make such a monumental sacrifice? The question weighed heavy on Ariel's shoulders as she made her way back to her food truck. The question was still there when she drove home, and it most likely would have been on her mind for the rest of the night, had she not walked into her apartment and nearly stepped on a figure sprawled just inside the door. "Peter!" She cried when she recognized the man lying on the living room rug. Her brother's face looked as though somebody had taken a baseball bat to it. When he cracked the one eye that was not swollen shut open to look at her, Ariel felt her own eyes tear up at the sight of eyes the same shade of green as her own. "Peter," She breathed more softly this time. As gentle as anything, she leaned down and helped him stand, the two of them half-stumbling their way to his room. "I'm sorry," He mumbled as she grabbed the first aid kit, and got to work tending to his wounds, relieved when she found no signs of a concussion, or of broken bones. Had it been anything serious she would have had to take him to the hospital and those were never fun. "I'm sorry," Peter mumbled again as she worked. She dabbed lightly at his split lip, shaking her head as she shushed him. It is alright.
"The important thing is that you are here now. We will deal with this together," Peter fell asleep with her still tending to his wounds. Before he passed out completely, she managed to get the full story out of him.
It turned out he had gotten into debt in the first place because he had been trying to surprise her. The kind-hearted little fool had borrowed the money in order to try and get her a larger food truck. But it had somehow been stolen. Ariel had no doubt that that had been madam Mo's doing. But the disappearing act had fully been her brother's idea. He had thought that she would be left alone with him gone. Something that he had been very wrong about. But despite the huge mess that he had gotten them into. Her younger brother's heart had been in the right place, and it still was. He had tried to do right by her, and had failed spectacularly. But Ariel was the older sister. No matter the amount of trouble that Peter was in, she would do her best to help him. Quietly making her way out of the room, Ariel closed the door and leaned the back of her head against it. If ever there was any doubt, it was now fully dispelled. The next morning, she was going to accept Tristan Asher's marriage proposal.