The One Night Stand's Proposal ©

chapter 11: What happened in Vegas

V a n e s s a

After fleeing from Vegas a couple days ago, I was finally seeing my mother, knowing the conversations that had been left unsaid would surface even when it wasn't what I wanted. We were seated by the pool of our family home, having lunch.

       "I'm still shocked. Shocked that he would do such a thing, " she said while sipping on her drinks.

I swallowed. "Yeah well, I imagine everyone is."

      "And to announce an engagement so quickly after. What a brute!" She exclaimed in displeasure.

I rubbed my forehead. "Could we not talk about this mom...please. It's hard to get over when it's mentioned every single time someone sees me. Could I get normalcy from you at least? " I pleaded and she looked at me pitifully.

       "Of course. This has to be rough on you, I'm sorry sweetheart, " she said and reached across to gently squeeze my hand.

I smiled. "It's Ok."

     "So aren't you going to tell me where exactly you've been for the last few days. I tried to get it out of Carrie but she only said you went for a 'breather'. Where exactly did you go? I have a feeling it's not the nice little resorts that I envisioned." she raised a skeptical brow.

The strawberry paused on its way to my mouth. I had been hoping that my mom forgot about the trip.

     "I went to Las Vegas, " I proclaimed watching as her eyes widened.

      "Las Vegas Vanessa? Why on earth would you do that?!" She exclaimed, clearly mortified.

       "I needed some space – some time to think!"

      "And you thought Las vegas would help you to do that? For God sake, it's the most sinful place on earth!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She was clearly exaggerating but it was a trait I was used to.

     "Sounds like you went to get hitched! Christ, Vanessa have you married some stranger that you haven't told me about as yet?!"

     "Gosh, mom no! You watch too many movies, it's actually not that easy."

She sighed in relief. "So what did you do there?" She interrogated.

     "I went to a bar to have some drinks, realized it wasn't my thing, and came home after, " I lied but it was only to relieve her. I didn't want to imagine what my mom would think of me if she knew I was parading with a stranger.

      "Thank God. You can't afford to jeopardize your reputation just because you're heartbroken. It will only cause more hurt, " she warned.

I huffed a sigh. "Mom, I did nothing to jeopardize my reputation!" I exclaimed in a tad bit of frustration.

She eyed me curiously, clearly not convinced. "You haven't met my gaze once since we've been here and someone just doesn't go to Las Vegas and leave unscathed."

     I swallowed. "Mom..."

      "You hooked up with some stranger, didn't you?" She said and I could feel the heat flood my face and the obvious disappointment in her own.

     "I– " I cleared my throat and nervously tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. There were only a few times in my life my mom felt disappointment towards me and I knew this was clearly one of those moments, making my Vegas regret more profound.

      "Christ, Vanessa, I can't believe you. A stranger?! You could have been kidnapped, raped, or even infected for God's sake!" She exclaimed blue eyes ablaze.

     "None of that happened. I just wanted to live my life without the mental rules I put in place for myself," I argued but she wasn't impressed with the excuse I had.

Shaking her head, she pushed the chair back and stood. "I didn't raise a fool so I don't want you acting like one. Get yourself together, the world doesn't end just because your relationship has." She walked away and left me there, not only to feel ashamed of myself but to realize her words were true, despite how hard they sounded.

I sat there and unwillingly the tears fell and I was overwhelmed by my grief. Blake had wounded me more than I had initially thought and the bandaid I had put on shortly after his first injury, had been harshly ripped off by him again, exposing once again the fragility that existed within me.

And I didn't know – frighteningly – how I would move on now. It seemed easy to envision but acting on it, living with constant reminders was making the task even harder as the days went by.

I didn't know when I would be over him or what he did. I just didn't and that was startling.

....

I got home and like I always did when I got back, I went on his Instagram and checked how he was doing, if he posted anything... Of him perhaps – of them.
     A fragment of my heart collapsed when I saw a newly uploaded photo. It was of him and her in bed, smiling. As I switched to the next slide, I noticed it was one of them kissing. Below it was the caption. 'The best part about waking up in the mornings."

My lips quivered as the dam of tears that were confined within me threatened to spill. But I pulled in a breath, brushed the traces that had spilled, and quickly shut off Instagram and hoped my emotions would be as easy to maneuver.

Knowing work always took my mind off things, I went on my laptop and saw that I had an email. As I scanned the contents, I realized it was from an old friend who was apparently hosting a party to celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary. She wanted me to cater.

     While it brought back a sense of reminiscence, I couldn't help but smile at her successful love life. While mine hadn't been as fruitful, there was no issue in being happy for someone else.

I quickly accepted, checked my other emails, and went to snuggle in the comfort of my bed. Thinking that my thoughts would stray to Blake and the times we shared, I was surprised when thoughts of Ian consumed me.

I imagined if any of what he told me was true, he'd be in LA by now and had blown everyone out of the park already when they realized who he was and what he was there for.

    I would have liked to see it all – the family's expressions when everything was announced. While I didn't know much about Ian – if anything at all – I knew he wasn't the type to back down from a challenge and that was exactly what would be presented.

Nevertheless, when the dust would eventually settle, he would do his duties, probably find himself and fitting girlfriend and make a few headlines if he was popular enough for that.

I would just be a far fragment of memory – the girl he met in Las Vegas. The girl he proposed to.

Somehow, I found myself smiling at that small fact.

Ian and I were complete opposites; he was the type that took great risks and didn't really fear the outcome while I didn't and still feared the outcome of life. Though we had been a great match in bed, we probably wouldn't have been in real life, where it was more than sex.

Still, I knew the chances of meeting him again were slim but I hoped things were going better for him than it was for me.

Author's note:

There you have it guys. Another chapter!
I hope you enjoyed although this one is a bit short. More coming soon anyway so stay tuned!

It's boiling down to the epic parts when Ian and Vanessa meet. Make your predictions of how you think that will happen!

Until next time...
Thank you
Stay safe
Xoxo
Juju ❤