A I D E N

Off the Market!

The most eligible billionaire bachelor is taking the plunge!

Get those tissues ready, ladies, because Aiden Carlisle is officially off the market. Today, the Carlisle family announced the engagement of their only son, the dashing, self-made billionaire businessman, Aiden, to the beautiful and charismatic pageant Queen, Caroline Baxter.

Their official engagement is said to have taken place last Friday, at the Carlisle Mansion in uptown, where Aiden presented Caroline with a huge emerald engagement ring, set in 14-karat white gold. No comment has been made by any family members.

Aiden Carlisle, 30, is the founder and CEO of Isle Co., while Caroline Baxter, 28, is the face of luxury clothing line, Versatile. The couple is said to have met at a charity gala, the likes of which both entrepreneurs frequent.

Aiden, seen as quite the playboy bachelor, frequently being pictured with various ladies on his arm, did not mention even in his most recent interview that he was involved with anyone, let alone Caroline Baxter. He opted to speak of his business with a lot of passion, which can be attested by his major success in the field.

Caroline is the darling of the luxury clothing industry in the city, with designers competing to dress her for any and every event. She had quite the jet-setting lifestyle ever since she won the Miss Teen Queen pageant at age 16. Her decade-long career is going as strong as ever.

Though it is unclear when their relationship began or blossomed, it's quite easy to tell that they have committed to each other.

We wish them the best of luck and many happy years of marriage!

I pinched the bridge of my nose with two fingers, so completely exhausted with the day of work. The newspaper that sat on the table in front of me, was almost mocking me. The engagement announcement had gone up and that was one of the many, many articles that had covered it.

Every time something about me came in the papers, I was always amazed at how much information they managed to find out about me.

I checked my watch. It was four-thirty, which meant that I had about two hours before I had to go and pick Caroline for our dinner date.

The thought of a whole meal alone with Caroline made the work inside the conference room seem like heaven.

"Mr. Carlisle?" someone said, shaking me from my thoughts, "This is the report on investments that you asked for."

"Thank you," I said, taking the file and nodding to the man that I didn't know.

I got up and went to the window, wanting to stretch my legs.

We were in the midst of discussing a merger between one of the companies I invested in and a related company. The conference room was filled with people from my company, their company and investment bankers galore.

"Aiden," the CEO of Hammond and Gerber, Arthur Hammond called to me, walking over. He was an old friend of my father's and knew me well. "Good to see you. I hear congratulations are in order."

"Well, thank you," I replied, shaking his hand and smiling.

"How's your father?" he asked.

"He's doing well, Arthur, and you look very well, too," I said.

"Well, the wife and my daughter keep me healthy," he said, conversationally, "I came here because I wanted to introduce someone to know. This is Ian Jeffries. He's presented me with some good ideas and I think they could be a real win-win for us both."

He motioned to a tall, dark-haired man, wearing a smart suit. This man, Ian, smiled and stepped forward. "Mr. Carlisle, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, shaking my hand, "I look forward to doing business with you now and in the future."

"Likewise," I replied, "Anyone Arthur recommends must be good at their job."

Arthur laughed, heartily and I looked over Ian, feeling like he rubbed me the wrong way. "You flatter me," Arthur said, clapping me on the shoulder, "Anyway, it's good doing business with you. I'm late for another meeting, so I'll see you later."

Arthur walked away, with Ian trailing behind him and I watched them leave, wondering what was wrong with Ian.

Two hours later, I was in my car, on the way to pick Caroline up from her condo in the city and take her to dinner.

Going on a first date with my fiancée was such a strange feeling, but I figured I had to get used to it since Caroline and I were about to have a lifetime of firsts together.

I had called ahead in a favour and made a reservation at Chez Rosé, which was one of the newest and hottest restaurants in town, so of course, that's exactly where Caroline wanted to go. I knew the owner and had done business with him, so he had promised a fantastic night, but unfortunately, he could only provide culinary entertainment and nothing else. I wondered what Caroline and I would talk about.

When my driver pulled up to her building, I got out and walked in, carrying the bouquet of flowers that I had brought for her. I felt a twinge of guilt at the thought that Molly, my assistant, was the one who had picked the flowers and not me, but at the moment, it was more a gesture that I felt was expected of me, than one that I wanted to me. It was a bouquet of red lilies, and I figured Caroline would like it because she wanted the wedding to be red.

I walked up to her door and rang the bell. The door opened and a lady in a maid's uniform stood at the door.

"Mr. Carlisle," she bowed her head to me before I could say anything, "Please come in and have a seat. Ms. Baxter will be with you shortly."

"Thank you," I said stepping in, "Uh, what's your name?"

She looked slightly startled. "Gloria," she said.

"Thank you, Gloria," I told her, smiling.

A glorious smile overcame Gloria's face, and she bowed her head again and led me to the living room. I looked around as I sat down. The whole place was blue, silver and white. The white couch had blue and silver cushions and the white curtains had blue and silver sashes. Everything was immaculate and shiny, almost like no one even lived there.

The clock on the counter near me told me that it was ten past seven and I instinctively checked my watch. I rolled my eyes at the thought that Caroline was late, but God forbid I am.

After a few minutes, a door in the far corner of the open area opened swiftly, and Caroline stepped out in a fitted, red dress with straps and a large, open slit which showed me her leg from her mid- thigh. She glided over to me, smiling, her red lipstick highlighting her white teeth, and her strawberry-blonde hair was curled.

"Aiden," she sang.

"Caroline, you look lovely," I said. She did. She was an attractive woman; very desirable. She was the dream of many men I had known, but she didn't give me any kind of spark.

"Oh, thank you," she said, coyly.

I held up the flowers to her. "For you," I said, "They match your dress."

She took them, smiling. "Thank you. Gloria!"

Gloria came scurrying out. "Put these in some water and find a place for them," Caroline said, handing the bouquet to the lady, "And I'll be back around ten or ten-thirty."

In my head, I made a mental calculation, and wondered what Caroline and I would do for about two and a half to three hours.

She and I walked downstairs in silence and I opened the door for her.

"Did you see the engagement articles in the papers?" I asked her.

"Oh, God, did you see the picture of me that People put on their website?" she asked, disgusted, "It was hideous."

"I'm sure it was fine," I said, trying to comfort her.

"And somewhere they had said my ring was ten karat white gold. It's unacceptable, really."

"It doesn't matter, Caroline. It doesn't matter what they think."

"Of course, it matters, Aiden," Caroline shot back, "The people make or break your career. Hopefully tonight's presence at Chez Rosé will do some damage control."

I wasn't aware that there was any damage, but I didn't go to disagree with her a third time about pretty much the same thing.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, Caroline spent a few happy moments posing for the paparazzi pictures and waving her left hand so that they got good shots of her ring. I smiled through the whole thing, my arm around her waist.

We walked in and were seated in a private dining room. I read through the menu, not being particularly enthused by the oysters or snails. Caroline seemed quite happy. She ordered her dish in French and I gave my order of duck confit and some wine for the table.

Caroline happily sipped her wine, looking around.

"So, Caroline, tell me a little bit about yourself," I said, thinking or rather hoping that once I got to know her, I'd like her.

Caroline gave me a strange look. "You know about me," she said, putting her glass down on the table.

"Not really."

Aiden, darling, there's plenty of time to get to know each other after we're married; a whole lifetime. I think we should discuss the wedding," she said.

"I think we should get to know each other at least a little," I pressed, "We have about ten months before the wedding and I think we should do what we can in that time."

"We have so much to do for the wedding," she began.

"And we have a wedding planner taking care of the wedding," I rebutted, "But don't you think it's best that when we have to write our wedding vows, we know something about the person."

"We can just say the "to have and to hold" thing," Caroline waved her hand, dismissively.

"No!"

Caroline stopped and looked at me.

"We have to get to know each other," I said, "I barely know your middle name."

"Nothing you can't Google and find out," Caroline sipped her wine.

"Don't you want to know about me?" I asked, almost like a child who has been deprived of attention.

"I know about you, Aiden. You're Alan Carlisle's son who built his own entrepreneurial empire and became a self-made billionaire. You're a businessman extraordinaire, and you're fantastic at interviews."

I watched her for a while. "Nothing you just said is about me."

"Everything I said was about you!" she replied.

"No. It was about my career. None of that is about me, about who I am as a person. Don't you want to know any of that? Don't you want to know what I'm like, what I like, what I dislike? I sure as hell want to know about you, so that I can know whether we're on the same page and if we want the same things in life. We have barely spent any time together alone. All I know of you is what they print and I know from experience that that's not exactly who a person is. Don't you want to know who is going to be sleeping next to you in your marital bed and to years to come till death do us part?"

I hadn't realized that I had been going on at a tangent for a while, until I stopped and realized that I was out of breath. Caroline was silent, staring at me. I quickly took a large sip of my water, wondering why I had lost my cool the way that I did. I generally kept myself composed relatively well.

The door opened and a waiter walked in. He put our dishes down in front of us, the fragrance wafting up to my nose. Once he had left, Caroline opened her mouth.

"Let's just eat."

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