A Love Like Ours

Chapter 32

"You've got some competition," Mads said as soon as she answered the phone. I could sense the smile in her voice.

"What?" I asked, smiling myself as I ruffled my fingers through my wet hair. I'd just gotten out of the shower, and decided to give her a ring.

It was just past seven here, so I knew it was getting late in New York, and that she'd be heading to bed soon. But there was something I wanted to talk to her about—something that was time sensitive.

"On my way home from work today, a very nice gentleman proposed to me on the subway."

It took me a moment to process that, but she sounded so pleased, I was smiling before the bit of information settled in my mind. "Really?"

"Mhm," she said, and I could hear her grin in that, too.

"And did you say yes to him as well?" I quipped.

Mads scoffed. "Oh, shut up," she said, understanding full well that it was a dig, but that of course, I didn't mean anything by it. "Guess it's not too soon for jokes, huh? Duly noted. The truth is, I almost did. He offered to take me to Florida and everything."

"Florida?" I asked, thoroughly amused now. "What's in Florida?"

"Sunshine and his family, of course."

"Of course," I repeated, looking into the fridge with a smile still on my lips. "How silly of me. How old was this gentleman, exactly?"

"Old enough to be my grandpa, but that's besides the point."

I cracked open a water bottle. "Seems you're into older men, my girl. Me, Rob, this gentleman whose name was...?"

"Marco. He was Italian. Another plus. He knows how to cook."

"I know how to cook!" I defended, almost choking on a mouthful of water to get my response out.

Mads giggled now. "Harry... you—you do realize I'm joking with you, right?"

"So... Marco didn't propose?"

"No, he did. Very nicely, too. First, he offered me his seat on the crowded train. Then, he told me that I had a lovely smile. And then, bam... he said he'd take good care of me if we got married, and asked me if I was looking to get hitched. That's when he tried to sweeten the deal with talk of Florida."

"How romantic," I said, amused all over again as I sat at my kitchen counter.

"I don't know why that sounded sarcastic, cause I swooned."

"You're ridiculous," I said with a chuckle.

"I know, I should've taken him up on it instead of telling him I was taken."

I really laughed then, but was eager to get to the reason why I'd called, so I cleared my throat.

"So, now that we got that cleared up, are you busy? I've got a question for you..." I said, still smiling, but nerves started firing off as the words left my mouth, and I told myself that it was ridiculous to be so worried.

It had been several weeks since I'd left New York, and we'd spoken pretty much every day. Mads had gotten back to work—a new semester filled with new students—and even though she'd been nervous at first, she took to it immediately, just as she had the first time. And I'd gotten back to work, too. The final songs for the album had been chosen (with her input about which she liked most), and all that was left now was for them to be mixed and mastered, and for me to start worrying about promo.

Which included appearances at certain events—meetings, parties, award shows...

"Why does that sound ominous?" Mads asked, and I could hear that she was still smiling, too.