Amy

"What time do we leave?" I asked Aaron as we got back home from office.

We came back really early today since it is Tuesday and we are supposed to go to the Duke's party.

"Well, it is four right now so maybe in one and a half hour? We have to reach by six", he told me.

"Fine! Is there a dress code?" I asked him.

"Not really. It is a normal party", he shrugged.

"Normal? Duke's party is anything but normal, Aaron. I am so scared what if I end up looking like a walking disaster?" I groaned.

"You will look good in anything you wear, Mel", Aaron smiled cheering me up.

"I don't know, Aaron", I groaned.

"Just go get dressed, Mel", he laughed and went to his room.

Men don't understand the complexities of women. It is so easy for him to say. He will pick out a suit and gel his hair and be done. We have so much to think about. What if I wear something too formal? What if I wear something too informal? God, this is so difficult.

"Mel?" Aaron opened the door to his room and peeped out.

I looked at him in question.

"Wear anything you feel like but, don't tie your hair. You look more beautiful with your hair down", he winked at me and shut the door.

I was surprised at first and then blushed at little.

I just shook him out of my head and walked to my room.

I was deep in my thoughts when I noticed a bag on my bed and a small note beside it.

I picked it up and read it.

'Hope now you don't need a reason to accept these. -Aaron'

I smiled as I saw that the bag contained the sandals that I had returned to him months ago.

When did he even leave them here?

I just kept the bag in my closet and looked for a good dress to wear.

I finally settled for a white dress. It was a semi formal straight fit dress with no sleeves. It reached my mid calf and looked pretty much nice and comfortable. It was good because it was an afternoon party and the dress was neither an evening dress nor a sundress. It looked perfect.

I matched it with nude heels and diamond studs. I wore a diamond bracelet on one hand and a watch on the other hand. I left my hair down and wore light make up as usual.

I looked at myself one last time in the mirror and went out.

"Aaron, I am read-" I stopped as I noticed him. He was sitting in the living room already dressed and I forgot what I was about to say as he got up from the couch.

He was wearing a white shirt on a black jeans and had a dark blue velvet blazer on it. His hair was gelled as usual and he was wearing his spectacles. He looked so handsome. I was trying hard but I couldn't get my eyes off him.

I blinked and I noticed that he was looking at me the same way that he looked at me on the night of the annual function.

I gulped and asked, "Wh..what?"

"You...you look..." he just slowly let out a breath.

"Is it not okay? Should I change?" I asked frowning.

Aaron let out a chuckled, "Change? Yes, you must otherwise people may think that an angel arrived at the party."

Okay, at first my eyes widened as he indirectly called me beautiful but, then I scowled as I realised that he just used a bloody stupid pick up line on me.

"Really? How many girls have you used that one on?" I asked him with narrowed eyes.

"Just you", he winked and smiled.

"Liar", I rolled my eyes.

"You look really gorgeous, Mel", he smiled genuinely at me.

"You look handsome too", I shrugged lightly.

"Thank you. Let's go", he said extending his hand to grab mine.

Soon we reached the party. We enter the mansion with Aaron's fingers interlocked with mine.

By the time we arrived, the party was in full swing. It was unlike anything I expected. I expected it to be really quiet and elegant. I thought people would behave with the utmost etiquettes. But, to the contrary, the living room was changed to a ball room setup. People were laughing and dancing to the slow music. There were many people but looked like most were family. There were some business magnets too. I recognised some from the magazines. It was surprising that the party was elegant and yet a lot more normal than any other party I have been to.

Of course, the house was anything but normal. It was beautiful. Obviously, I had designed it so it was no surprise but, the construction was done with such finity that it just made it look even more extravagant and beautiful.

"Mr. Kingston, so glad to see you made it", Mr. Silva, the duke's son, smiled at Aaron.

"Of course, sir. We had to come. It is my pleasure to be here", Aaron shook his hand and smiled at him.

"Of course, I told you remember? That I will give you an invitation when the house is built?" his wife smiled beside him.

"Yes and like I promised I arrived with my wife", Aaron said facing me.

"Oh of course, Mrs. Kingston! She was right there that day, wasn't she?" Mrs. Silva smiled at me.

"Your home looks really pretty, Mr. Silva", I smiled at her.

"All thanks to you, Mrs. Kingston. You never told us though that she is your wife, Mr. Kingston. We found out through the papers a few days ago", Mrs. Silva told Aaron.

"Well, now you know that I know how to keep a secret", Aaron laughed.

"Of course. Darling, I think we have more guests to meet. Please enjoy the party both of you", they smiled and left.

Two hours into the party and Aaron had met a lot of people. Some were business associates, some were clients and some were just people he knew. But, Aaron hadn't left me alone for a single moment. People asked him about business, his accident, his future acquisition plans and a lot more. He answered each and every question of theirs and yet, made sure I wasn't bored. Just like he promised.

And for a change, I wasn't. I was enjoying every bit of it. I liked this party maybe because I was attending it freely after years. No one to please, no one to impress. I didn't have to spend time with someone listening to their talks just for the sake of it. I could just be myself.

Anyways, now that we were done meeting everyone, Aaron and I were standing in a corner and looking at the people dancing and chatting.

"Are you enjoying?" Aaron asked me.

"Yes, I am", I said honestly.

"Good. I am glad you aren't bored as usual", Aaron blinked with a smile.

"Yes, thanks to you dragging me everywhere with you, I don't have to listen to anyone's boring conversations about makeup and shopping", I whispered making him laugh.

He stayed quiet for a few minute while I looked around.

"You had asked me what I would have done if people knew you were my wife, right?" he asked me.

"Yes, that was after the annual function party when we had a fight before you ki-" I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything further.

"Yup, that one. Come on, let me show you", he said pulling my hand.

My eyes widened as I realised what he meant.

"What? No, I am not dancing with you here", I shook my head pulling him back.

"Why? You were dancing that day, weren't you?" he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Yes, but that was before people knew I am your wife and it was not in front of such power filled people. I can't even dance properly. I don't want to embarrass myself or you", I whispered.

"You can never embarrass me, Mel", Aaron rolled his eyes.

When I just kept looking at him, he continued, "Trust me, Mel. Come on."

"Aaron, what if I fall?" I asked him.

"Then, I will catch you, okay?" he said.

He pulled me with him and we went to the center of the floor.

Slowly a new song started and Aaron kept his hand on my waist. He bent down and whispered in my ears, "Forget everyone, Mel. Just look at me."

I looked at him and slowly started drowning in his eyes. Slowly I started moving along the beats and as Aaron took the lead. He twirled me around and pulled me even closer. He moved to the beat and turned me around holding me by my waist by one hand and his other hand trailing upwards from my knee. He held my eyes as he held my hand and turned it around bending us slightly backwards.

Our eyes met constantly and everything else started fading away. Soon it was just us in the room. We kept swaying to the beats as Aaron kept moving me around sometimes extremely far aways and sometimes dangerously close. The dancing felt so sensual and intimate making my heart beat faster and my breath hitch.

Soon the music became slightly faster and so did our steps. We waltzed around as if there was no tomorrow. I felt fireworks in my stomach increase with every passing second. We turned another time and my back touched his chest. He held my hands and lifted me slightly of the ground making me bend a leg.

He kept me down and slowly the music slowed down. He turned me around and dipped me to the side. He kissed my lips slowly and sensually as we got back on our feet.

Suddenly, there was a round of applause around us that pulled us back to reality and we looked around to see that we were the only ones on the floor at the moment and we were surrounded by people.

As we were catching our breaths, I looked around to realise that everyone was looking at us with awe in their eyes and that made me blush. The thought that we forgot about them for the whole time and kissed in front of so many people made me want to run and hide somewhere. Which I would have, if only Aaron wasn't hold my hand so tight right now.

We nodded at them in a small thank you and Aaron pulled me with him as their attention waved off from us. We started mingling around again as people gave us compliments about our dancing.

We all had dinner as we talked and slowly, as the clock hit nine, the party came to and end. People started leaving. Aaron and I too decided to call it a night. We met Mr. and Mrs. Silva and thanked them for the night. They thanked us for going and then, we left.

We got in the car and hit the road and I was so tired that I didn't even realise it when we got back home. We went into our home and I sat on the couch to relax.

"I am so tired", I groaned resting my head on the back of the couch.

"You got tired in just one party? There are so many more to come", Aaron laughed as he settled next to me.

"More? No ways. I am not going to any more parties with you", I shook my head closing my eyes.

Arron just chuckled and said, "You have to. You are my wife. It is expected most of the times and it doesn't look good."

"You can't go alone to all of them?" I opened an eyes. Aaron laughed.

"Not if they specifically invite both of us. It wouldn't look nice on your part. Besides, you can't keep avoiding the parties always since most would be organised by our clients and it would be awkward when you would have to keep facing them as you work on more projects with them", Aaron reasoned.

"More projects?" I asked.

"Of course. You are one of the best architects I have and I don't think you want to leave the company any time soon", he frowned.

"Are you saying that you lost the challenge?" I grinned.

Aaron laughed and said, "You are still stuck there?"

"Obviously! You had wound my ego saying I am not capable enough to get a job at Kingston Designs", I scoffed.

"Well, I didn't say that. I asked you if you think you could bag one", he argued.

"Because you did doubt my capabilities", I told him.

"Well, I knew you were good at it but, I didn't know if you were great", Aaron raised an eyebrow at me.

"And what do you think now?" I smirked at him.

"I think that you aren't assigned the right position at the moment", Aaron told me.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"I mean that I want you to be the managing director", Aaron told me in all seriousness.

I laughed thinking that he is probably joking but, he continued to look at me with a serious face.

"Aaron!" I exclaimed with shock and sat up straight.

"What?" he frowned.

"You can't be serious!" I scoffed.

"I am very serious, Mel. I want you to be the managing director for New York office", he said seriously.

"Aaron, are you mad? Why would you do that? Why would I do that? You are there to manage it. You don't need me to do it", I told him.

"I am right now but, you know I am expanding to Europe. I will be in and out soon. I cannot concentrate enough on managing this office. So, I was going to assign a director here like I have one for all my offices in the world. They manage the projects and dealing in those office and I only have to check the reports every month. I was going to do something similar here too so that I can shift my whole attention to my Europe projects. I was planning this since a few months", Aaron explained.

"But, why me? I don't think that I can handle it. I have never even done such a thing before. It is too much responsibility", I explained to him.

"Yes, it is a huge responsibility but, I think you are responsible enough. After seeing you handling my work by following my instructions after my accident, I just think that you can manage it good enough and there is always a first time. Additionally, it is going to be awhile before I hand it over to you completely and I will train you before that happens. So, that shouldn't be a problem", Aaron shrugged.

"But, there are so many other capable people, Aaron. People will just think that I got the position because I am your wife", I said biting my lip.

"People who know you when will never do it. But, for others, they will always have something to say. Some of them are jealous and for others it is just grapes are sour and criticism is the answer to everything. You think that even if you wait for ten more years to reach this position, they won't say that? They will. You just have to ignore such things. You just shut them up with good work. Besides, everyone who has seen you work before knows you are capable enough", Aaron told me.

"How do you know that?" I asked him.

Aaron scoffed and said, "Let's face it, Mel. You have done more work in last four months than some people do in a year. I have constantly burdened you with almost impossible stuff and you have excelled in all of them. Anyone in the office would be blind not to see it."

"But, you did all that to show me what I am truly capable of, right? I wouldn't have even known my true potential without you", I said softly.

"I haven't done all of it for that reason. Initially, I just wanted you to fail. But, later I realised it and I just told you because you deserved to know. Similarly, right now I see you capable enough to do this. So, I am asking you to do it", Aaron told me honestly.

"Aaron, I don't know", I told him still unsure.

"Trust me, Mel. I believe in you", Aaron smiled at me.

I let out a breath and told him, "I am scared but, I'll do it anyways. You wanna know why?"

He nodded and I said, "Because, I trust you."

He looked at me with surprise and then smiled back at me.

"Do you trust me, Aaron?" I asked him suddenly.

"There are five people in this world that I trust more than myself, Mel. Three of them are my parents and Dan and the other two I trust so much that if they tell me to kill myself, I'll do it without another question. The first is Peter and the second is you", Aaron told me and I gulped.

At that moment, I decided that I had to tell him. This had to come out before Aaron starts to trust me more and more.

"Aaron, I have something important to tell you", I told him softly.

But, he suddenly took a breath, as if he dreaded what I was going to say, and said, "L..later, Mel. I think we should change first."

He quickly got up and left to his room making me shake my head.

This matter is getting out of hands. I will tell him tonight no matter what. I took my phone and texted Luke.

'I am telling him.'

'What? No.' - Luke

'I have to. It's been a week since he told me everything.'

'Try to understand.This is a huge risk, Amy.' -Luke

'I can't keep lying to him any longer, Luke and you are not getting anywhere at all.'

'Just give me tonight. Please.' -Luke

'No. I will tell him tonight. That's final.'

My phone rang as Luke tried to call me but, I hanged up. I switched off my phone and kept it away so that he can't call me again.

I went to change. I got dressed in my night dress and went out of the room to see Aaron was waiting for me on the couch and was looking at his phone.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked him and sat next to him.

"Nothing. I was just seeing the photos from tonight. They are all over the internet", he said showing his phone to me.

"They are beautiful", I smiled as I looked at a picture of dancing.

"You know you looked beautiful tonight, right?" he said to me.

"Yes, you told me already", I said giving him his phone back.

"White is totally your color. I had to stop myself from kissing you hard all night because otherwise I would have ruined your dress and hair", he told me with a smirk making me blush.

"You still blush at compliments from me? Come on, you should be used to that by know", he nudged me a little.

"Well, you haven't complimented me that much", I shrugged.

"That's not true. I always gave you compliments when we were dating", Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but all that was fake, right? I am sure most of them you said to just impress me. I guess most of them were a part of your plan too", I shrugged.

"Not everything was fake, Mel. Somethings were true. Like they just happened unplanned", he frowned.

"But, on our wedding night, you said it was all planned", I said frowning.

"I was a jerk back then. Don't think about or believe in what I said on our wedding night. I don't remember half of my words myself. I was just trying to make you see the worst of me. I guess if you would have asked me that night, I would have even agreed to being a serial killer", Aaron rolled his eyes making me laugh.

"Okay, then tell me. What was fake and what wasn't?" I told him recovering from my laughter.

"You sure you wanna talk about this? You may not like the answer", Aaron told me raising his eyebrows,

"Yeah, I want to know and don't worry about me not liking the answer. You know how cool I am about discussing the whole planning now, right? I mean I understand you and it is all in the past. So, I don't care. Tell me", I insisted.

"Fine, if you say so. So, let's start with us meeting. Initially, I was supposed to meet you at the art gallery directly. I just saw you crying that day at the funeral ground and I just felt like consoling you. That was not a part of the plan. After talking to you, I thought since I met you, I might as well start sooner. So, I left my handkerchief there, thinking you would use that as a way to talk to me. But, you being you, you just didn't bother. So, I met you again at the art gallery. My plan was only meeting you and asking you out on a date. But, then you didn't even agree to be my friend", Aaron took a pause as I chuckled.