C4 4

A dark look came over Garrett’s face. “Well, I think if you do have any doubts about it that you should do whatever it is that you want to do. Do what feels right to you. You shouldn’t have to change your whole life and future just because of some agreement your dad and his best friend had. They aren’t living your life; you should be making your own decisions for yourself about what you want to do. Don’t let them dictate to you.”

Derrick let out another sigh, then finished his drink and set the empty glass back on the bar. The bartender brought him a fresh one. “It’s not really that easy, Gar… it’s just not. I feel like I owe my father everything, and I don’t want to disappoint him. I don’t want to let him down and mess up everything he spent his whole life building, and for that matter, everything that my grandfather and his grandfather spent building. I’m the most recent inheritor of a long line of Madison’s, and I have a duty and an obligation to continue that. I’m a legacy. I need to leave a legacy. I don’t have the luxury and freedom to run off and do whatever I want to. More than all of that, I just can’t let my dad down.”

Garrett was quiet for a long minute. “Do you love Felicia?”

Derrick shrugged and answered nonchalantly. “I don’t hate her. We’ve been sort of friends most of our lives. Close a few times when we were younger. We know each other pretty well, I guess.”

He took another long drink and looked back at Garrett. “I could do a lot worse for a wife, I’ll say that. She’s smart, she’s hot, and she’s wealthy. She’s always had kind of a crush on me. I just… don’t love her romantically. I guess that’s not a deal breaker for me, though. I’m not really sure that real love exists, at least for me. I know my mom and dad had it, and my grandparents, but… not me. She has a thing for me, but I don’t know if I could ever really love a woman.”

“Sounds like a match made in heaven.” Garrett rolled his eyes.

Derrick scoffed a laugh almost inaudibly. “So, I guess I need to ask you to be my best man.”

Garrett looked away from him and then turned back to face him. “Yeah, of course, whatever… but, are you really sure? You really want to tie yourself to Felicia for the rest of your life when you aren’t in love with her?”

“Why not? I don’t have anything else going on. She’d be a good wife. She likes me. It will please her father, and I guess mine, if there’s a heaven and he’s actually there. It wouldn’t be terrible, would it? I could think of it as another business arrangement.” Derrick finished his beer.

“You old romantic you…” Garrett shook his head and waved at the bartender for another drink.

Chapter2

Derrick stood outside of the door of Felicia’s condo on 5th Avenue. She was expecting him, and he knew it. He’d called her to tell her that he was going to come visit, and she had been excited to hear from him and to have him drop by her place. It was set. All he had to do was make himself knock on the door, go in to ask her to marry him, and change his whole life.

It felt to him as if his hands were made of lead as he tried to raise one of them to tap his knuckles gently on the door. He had gone over and over the scenario in his mind. He would just ask her. She would say yes; it would be over. They’d get married. He’d ask her for a small wedding, though he wasn’t sure he’d get it, and then the deed would be done. He had told himself over and over that it was as simple as all that, and yet it felt like the most difficult thing that he had ever committed himself to doing.

With a deep breath, he finally got his hand to chest level and rapped on the door. He heard her light voice sing song out as she came to open the door for him. Felicia stood there beaming at him with a bright smile on her flawless face.

Her elbow-length, wavy blonde hair was pulled up loosely at the back of her head. Her hazel eyes were shining, and her smile gave away her absolute excitement to see him standing in her doorway. She reached both hands to him, closing them around his forearms as she pulled him into her condo and closed the door behind them.

“You’re here! I’m so thrilled! It’s so good to see you, darling. God, you look divine!” she lifted her heels off of the floor, adding a couple of inches to her five foot something frame, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek and then aiming to kiss his mouth, which he narrowly escaped by leaning in closer to hug her loosely.

He let her go and stepped away from her. “It’s nice to see you, too. Thank you for taking the time to see me. I appreciate that.”

She waved her hand through the air dismissively. “Of course! You know I’m always glad to see you. The real trouble is that I don’t see you nearly enough!” She took his hand in hers and tugged him along behind her.

“Come in here and sit on the sofa with me, and tell me what’s going on. I haven’t seen you since your father’s funeral. How are you doing?” She looked at him with wide sympathetic eyes.

He shrugged. There was no way that he was going to share with her just how he really was doing. That was for him to suffer through alone. He neither needed nor wanted her to be privy to any of his innermost emotions.

“Oh, I’m getting by. I didn’t come to talk about that, though. I’m here about something else,” he said nervously, trying his best to sound calm. His heart began to beat a little faster, and his mouth grew dry. She plopped down on the sofa and pulled him down right beside her, holding his hand in hers.

“Yeah? What’s that? What brought you over here to me?” she smiled coyly and began to stroke her fingertips over the back of his hand.

He drew in a long slow breath and looked around her apartment, willing himself to answer her. “Well, to be honest, I had a visit from your father the other day. It seems that… well, it seems that your father and mine have had this idea for ages that they want us to… that they want…” He had practiced saying it. He couldn’t figure out why he was having trouble getting the words out.

He cleared his throat, and she watched him closely. “What is it?” she asked in a soft voice, reaching her other hand up to the side of his face and combing her fingers through the longer locks of his dark hair, brushing it back over his ear.

He wanted to pull away from her, but he knew he had a job to do, and he knew he wouldn’t leave until it was taken care of. “I… know we haven’t really been with each other… romantically… in a long, long time, but…” he pulled the box out of his jacket pocket and opened it, handing it to her.