Still, I couldn't help but think about the bills she had piled under the kitchen table. I had meant it when I had offered her the money. It would make a slight difference to me, but it would probably change her world forever if she had agreed. At the same time, I respected her for wanting to work for it.
Her stomach grumbled for the third time in the last hour, and I slipped my phone out of my pocket.
"What are you doing? Did I keep you from your work?"
"I'm not working. I'm ordering us some food," I told her, tapping away on my screen.
“You don’t have to do that. You have been out here all afternoon working. I cannot ask for you to feed me too.”
"You are not asking, and I am offering. Remember what I told you earlier? I don't do anything I don't want to do. So don't even consider apologizing for whatever you have convinced yourself you've done wrong. Besides, it is a meal, Asta has readied. I am just having one of the workers bring it down here.”
She tucked her chin at my admonishment, but not before I saw her smile. The food arrived shortly after, and we decided to pause our soap-making efforts.
“Let’s eat in the living room,” she suggested with a dubious look at the haggard dining room table. “The couch is more comfortable anyways.”
She gestured for me to follow as she walked into the similarly worn space. The couches were old and well-used, and that was what made them so comfortable. The fireplace was an old stone hearth that took up a considerable chunk of the back wall. The last time anything had been updated or renovated was in the nineties, but I could tell she did her best to keep it clean and cozy.
The silence between us was comfortable as she ate. Neither of us felt the need to fill it with pointless conversation. More than anything, I felt like we were both lost in our thoughts. I was amazed at how easy everything was when I was around Agotia. I didn't feel like she wanted anything from me other than me. She didn't expect me to be impressive or to have all the answers. She enjoyed being around me.
We worked well together. That much was evident by the amount we accomplished today. And the pull of chemistry between us was undeniable. I wasn't sure what to make of it all because, after this mess with Bridget, I had sworn off dating for a while. But Agotia was making me reconsider that perspective.
“You’ll never believe what I found out today about -”
My phone started ringing, cutting off the rest of my sentence. I answered after seeing that it was Asta calling.
"Hello?" I said, excusing myself to the other room, unsure why Asta would call me.
"Alex, there is a woman here claiming to be your fiancée. She is frantic, demanding that you come to see her. I don't know how she snuck past the gates, but when she knocked on the door, I answered without thinking twice about it. I don't know what to do. She is emotional and dramatic -"
“Asta,” I said firmly, “Take a deep breath. It is all going to be okay. Now, can you tell me what her name is?”
I had a sneaking suspicion I already knew who it was, but I just wanted to confirm it.
“I think she said her name was Bridget.”
"Is there someplace else you could stay tonight? I don't know how long it will take to deal with her."
“I-I can go stay with a friend. But what about the lodge?”
“Leave it. It is not worth your peace. I will be back as soon as possible.”
I hung up and strode back into the living room, Agotia pacing.
“Is everything alright?” she asked as soon as I stepped into view.
"No," I sighed. "My crazy ex-girlfriend has lost her mind, showed up at the lodge, and scared Asta. She is not dangerous, just hyper-emotional, and refuses to believe that I have moved on."
She looked at me for a few seconds. "Oh…I have heard of this type of story before," she told me. "The man couldn't be free until he started dating someone else."
As she spoke, I suddenly understood the big task my public relation mentioned. She must have seen the light bulb go off over my head because she stopped pacing and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips.
“What is it? What is that look for?”
I've come up with a way to solve both of our problems.
“How?”
“Marry me.”
