Losing Her Wings

Chapter 22

Angelo was a little surprised at the way Paige was acting as she led him just out into the small garden at the bottom of the stairs by the French doors. It was a pretty garden, with pebble pathways, a decoration of sandy coloured patio slabs arranged in a circle, right in the centre of the small, private garden area with a little bird table to the far left. There was a stone bench to their right and nothing but large, tall bushes around the edge, with some pretty little rose buses ahead of them, arranged like a forest. It was especially beautiful in the failing light, and Paige somehow felt that it was a beautiful place to have their discussion, whatever the outcome as she stopped in the middle of the garden and gazed up at Angelo. “Could we talk while we dance?” She asked quietly, appreciating his indulgence of her wishes as he kept silent and simply took her hand, twirling her before pulling her into his arms.

“Is everything alright?” Angelo wondered as they began a thoughtful and slow dance, mostly staying close to each other. But as much as he wanted to talk, he could see that something was troubling her as she lay her head against his chest and snuggled in, letting him slip his hand from hers as he ran it through her hair, holding her close.

“I’m fine.” Paige sighed sadly, and as much as she didn’t want to tell him the truth, she felt that she couldn’t keep it inside and that it would be like lying to him to deny him the simple truth that he was so sweetly asking for. “I just didn’t expect Danny’s friends to be the way they are. They’ve done nothing but hit on everyone all night.”

“Including you?” He asked, having already seen it for himself, even though he was proud of her sticking up for herself. He still felt that he should have done something about it, but he had to keep reminding himself that it wasn’t his place. Paige had invited Danny, as her date of all things, and so it was his responsibility to take care of her and make sure that she had a nice time. But when the only answer he got was a soft moan of agreement as they continued to dance, he knew that she didn’t want to talk about it. “You know how I wanted to talk to you about something important?” Angelo began, taking a deep breath as he gathered his courage, waiting for her gentle moan of acknowledgement before going on. “Well…would you mind if we talked about it now?” He asked, smiling as Paige laughed softly and looked up at him with those beautiful smiling eyes of hers.

“That’s what we came out here for, isn’t it?” She giggled, both unaware that Julius had just stepped out of the reception room and onto the top landing of the staircase, for some fresh air, a smile reaching his lips as he watched Angelo twirling his daughter in his arms.

“Well…I guess, it’s just that I’ve been thinking a lot lately…about things.” He decided to get the real point of their conversation underway without any more delay, no matter how hesitant he was to do so. But Paige was willing to listen to whatever he had to say, having been wondering what direction their discussion would take, since the early morning. “You know, about life. And I know I’m not getting any younger, I’ve not really got much chance for promotion at work cause if I get this one Jacob and I are waiting to hear about…that’ll be as far as I can go. But…” Taking a deep breath, he wasn’t sure he could say what he needed to say, hoping that when he did say it, Paige didn’t run away from him or from what he was suggesting. “I’m twenty one Paige…and I see you with Julius and I see Raya, who’s already like a little sister or a daughter to me and I…I feel like, maybe I want to have a family of my own. I really think that this is the best time for me to settle down and have a family.” He admitted, Paige’s pulse beating erratically as she kept quiet, knowing what was coming next. But Angelo didn’t say anymore. He went deadly quiet and stopped dancing, burying his hands in his pockets with a sigh. Paige had no idea what was going on as she stared at Angelo, who just hand his hand up to her, as though asking for a minute to think, and walked over to the stone bench and sat down with a deep sigh. He looked really scared and she didn’t know what to say or do. But when he held his hand out to her, she couldn’t do anything other than place her hand in his and hope for the best, and maybe find out why he was so awfully scared as he held on to her hand tightly. Paige could feel her own nerves kicking up as Angelo gently ran his finger over the back of her hand, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out if it was because she was excited or just as scared as he was, but for an entirely different reason. “Paige…I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.” Angelo continued finally, although extremely hesitantly, still unsure of whether it was the right thing to do. He had the ring in his pocket, but did he have the guts to give her it? “I don’t think I’ve ever really had a serious crush on another girl, and I think we’d be really good together, once we got past all the arguing we seem to do. You know that’s how I feel but…”