A I D E N

My office was on the 36th floor of the Carlisle tower. 

It was glass on three sides and I could see almost the entire city from up there. I could see the kites the kids on the beach were flying in the sky and I could see the people who came out for a quick bite to the hotdog vendor on the corner at all hours of the day.

Today, I wasn't really enjoying the view. I was staring into nothing, with a glass of my favorite scotch. Tonight, we announced the engagement to our families and I couldn't be any less enthused by it.

"Dude, the sun is barely setting and you're already drinking without me?" Connor, one of my closest colleagues asked, walking into my office, "It's barely past five, man."

I turned around to look at him. He was pouring himself a glass from the drink trolley in my office.

"Shall we head out tonight?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

I shook my head, downing the last sip in my glass. "Not today, Connor. I have dinner with the family."

"Aiden, that's like the second time this week," he said, propping himself on the edge of my desk, "Are you dying?"

I chuckled. "Something like that."

I couldn't get myself to tell anyone that I was marrying Caroline Baxter. If I told Connor, he would congratulate me, tell me how hot my wife-to-be was and tell me to look on the bright side, and if I had to listen to any of that right now, I'd throw up.

"Fine, but we should all hit the bar tomorrow then," he said, pointing at me, "You haven't been out in about two weeks. Do you even remember what all those girls look like?"

I laughed. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were the paparazzi trying to catch me in a compromising situation with a stranger to earn your living," I told him, putting on the jacket that I had discarded.

Connor got up. "Hey, man, you pay me enough," he said, putting his empty glass down on the trolley, "Georgia has been asking about you."

Georgia was beautiful and very bendy. For some reason, hearing her name didn't make me perk up like it usually did. "Has she?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Connor shook his head at me and began walking out. "Tomorrow, alright?"

"Tomorrow," I said, vaguely, not really having decided whether I wanted to go out or not.

I drove myself to my apartment to change and then called my driver to take me to my parents' house for dinner.

I kept patting the ring box that sat in my jacket pocket, knowing that if it went missing, Caroline would go ballistic and probably eat my head. Not eat, really, because she doesn't like to eat things without knowing the exact nutritional content in things. She told me it came with being a model, but I had met my fair share of models and none of them were like her.

I steeled myself before walking into the house. I took the long way to my father's study, knowing he'd be there, because I wanted to avoid everyone else for the time being. I knocked at the door once and walked in, without waiting to hear him acknowledge it.

My father sat at his desk, reading a book; he was never one who enjoyed a party. I descended into a chair in front of him, slouching to exaggerate my annoyance.

He lowered his book and looked at me from over his glasses. "Penny for your thoughts, Aiden," he said, flipping the page.

"We went to see the wedding planner today," I told him, bored.

"Aiden, I barely want to attend parties. What makes you think I want to hear about planning them?" he asked, sounding equally as bored as I did.

"You're the one who's making me do this," I told him, with a shrug, "It's only fair that you suffer with me."

That made my Dad put down his book, with a laugh. "Don't use the business tactics I taught you on me, Aiden. Now, tell me, did you buy her a ring?"

I rolled my eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was a gold digger," I said, sarcastically, taking out the ring box and sliding it over to him.

He picked it up and inspected the ring. "Must have cost you a pretty penny," Dad said and I rolled my eyes again, "But that's what it probably meant to you, a penny. You have your own money, Aiden, you barely need mine."

"If I marry her, I might need it more than you think," I sulked, "She wants to have the wedding in Italy, Dad. Italy."

"Yes, and she'll want an island as a wedding present," he said, not comforting in the least, "But you can afford it, I know, I've seen your financials. And it helps the image, son."

"Dad, you married Mom for love!" I practically yelled, "Why can't you let me do the same?"

"I built the Carlisle name, Aiden," he resolved, "It wasn't handed to me. It's being handed to you. Do as I say."

There was a finality in his voice. It meant I couldn't argue. I sighed, pocketed the ring box and got up, walking to the door. "You have to join us at some point. It's your house."

I walked out, towards the main living room, where I could hear dozens of voices. Waiters were circling the room with glasses of champagne and appetizers. There were people I knew and people I could only assume were related to Caroline. It took everything in me not to roll my eyes at this pathetic gathering.

I picked up a glass of whiskey from the tray a waiter held out to me and located my mother on the other side of the room. Before I could even think of walking over to her, I saw that Caroline had her sights set on me and her smile was faltering.

I took a deep breath and a quick sip of my drink as she stalked over to me, knowing that I wouldn't be able to handle her without alcohol.

"Hello, Caroline," I said to her as sweetly as I could, before she could say anything, "You look lovely this evening."

She gawked at me like I had said something atrocious. "I wish I could say the same for you," she hissed, pulling me into the hallway, away from the crowd, "What are you wearing?"

I looked down at my clothes, wondering what I could have possibly done to annoy her.

"What's wrong?" I asked, genuinely confused, "It's a suit."

"It's linen," she said, like she couldn't possibly understand why I wasn't rushing to change.

"It's a family dinner, Caroline, and I'm in a suit," I said, shaking my head and snorting in disbelief.

"Aiden," she appeared to be trying to calm herself, "This dress is Prada!" she gestured to the velvet, green monstrosity that she was wearing, "How could you not even match with me? How must this look?"

"Caroline, you never told me what you'll be wearing. How am I supposed to know you'd be wearing green, let alone that I should wear green?" I reasoned.

"I hope you remember the engagement ring you bought me, Aiden. Well, it was an emerald, which is green, so obviously I would wear green. I'm not stupid," she pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and took a sip of champagne.

I look at her creased forehead and the distasteful look on her mouth and put on my most charming voice, "Look, Caroline, let's face it. No matter what I'm wearing, everyone's going to be looking at you. You're the belle of the ball, not me. Now, we can both go out there and show everyone what a wonderful idea this was and you can hear everyone tell you how wonderful you look," I flattered her.

She gazed at me with a pout on her face for a few seconds, before cracking a smile. "You really think I look nice?" she asked.

"Fabulous," I confirmed, hoping to God I never had to see that dress again.

"Aiden, you can be so trying sometimes," she said, linking her arm with mine and walking me back into the living area.

I chuckled at the thought of me being the difficult one, which the older people in the room must have mistaken for good humour, that they all stopped and admired us as we walked in.

Caroline and I circled the room, speaking to everyone that we could. Even though I did it almost for a living, I didn't really love the idea of schmoozing with people I barely knew, especially when I wasn't getting any business out of it. Caroline's arm was linked in mine the entire time, right up until we went into the dining room to sit down for dinner.

Once everyone was seated, I decided it was time for me to bring out my speech.

I stood up and cleared my throat. Caroline clinked a knife against her glass to get everyone's attention. Once all eyes were on me, I began.

"I'd like to thank everyone in our families for being here today," I said, gesturing with my glass, "I'm sure that Caroline's father is looking down on us happily from wherever he is."

A murmur of pleasure at my thoughtfulness went through the crowd.

"I know that we haven't gathered, just the close family, in a while. Let's chalk it up to business, but I'm very grateful that you are all here today," I continued, "I'm sure everyone's wondering what the big surprise is, but then again, I'm sure you must have guessed by now. We're all here so that I can announce my engagement to this beautiful woman sitting to my left," I smiled down at Caroline, who smiled beatifically back at me.

Everyone in the room applauded. My younger cousins whistled and there was a wave of congratulations uttered in our general direction.

"And this lovely lady has said that she will have me, so I thought it would be appropriate to have everyone we love in the same room when I offered to her, the mark of our engagement." I put my glass down and reached for the black, velvet box in my hand. "I believe you deserve the very best, Caroline, and I hope that, in this box, I can give it to you."

Caroline tittered, daintily and stood up, looking coy.

I opened the box. I had planned to ask her if she'd take me with the ring, but I couldn't physically get myself to say it.

"Here is a token of our engagement for you," I said, instead, holding it out to her.

She gasped, with an expression of utmost surprise and looked at me like she had never seen the ring before in her life. She held out her left hand to me and I took the ring from the box and slipped it on to her finger in the midst of applause.

"Oh, it's beautiful," she gushed and I couldn't help, but smile.

That was the kind of enthusiasm I was drawn to, even though it did come from the wrong source. Caroline was quite magnetic; she drew in the room, but I'd be lying if I said she didn't get on my nerves most of the time.

Caroline held her hand out to the room for everyone to see her shiny, new toy. She put her arms around my neck and hugged me. For appearance sake, I slid my arms around her waist and hugged her back. It was the first time we had hugged.

"Aiden, it really is beautiful," Caroline's mother said to me, "You're spoiling her."

I smiled around the room, painfully. It was difficult to know that I was lying to my family; the people who had watched me grow up; the people who meant everything to me. All eyes were on us, as I suspected they would be for a while.

I put my arm around Caroline's slim waist and held her as she admired her ring. The words I had said left a funny taste in my mouth. "She's worth it."

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