✗ UNEDITED ✗
~•★Mike's Point of View★•~
I stood before my mirror, busily adjusting my tie. I couldn't stop smiling as happiness swirled through me at the thought of what was going to happen not too long from now.
When my mother had told me to propose to Victoria, I had thought that she was crazy. I didn't think it would work. But seeing the way Victoria had reacted when I told her that I didn't send her the card, gave me some hope. Even if she thought that it was from someone else.
Once I was finished, I walked over to my night stand and picked up my car keys along with my phone. I walked to my car and got in, making my way to the ring store. I had already been there to order the ring a week before and they had told me to pick it up today. I couldn't wait to have it in my hands─better yet─on Victoria's finger.
I drove quickly to the store, unable to hold in my excitement. Today was finally the day for me to propose to her, after waiting all those weeks. I felt the smile still on my face as I walked inside.
"Mike," I heard the store owner call me. I walked towards him where he stood behind a glass counter of rings, smiling brightly.
"Is it ready?" I asked him, feeling slightly nervous for the first time. But that feeling immediately disappeared when he reached behind him and returned with a red velvet box. I released a sigh of relief when he opened it to reveal the same ring I had chosen a week before. Inside the box, lay the silver ring with a large diamond in the middle surrounded by smaller diamonds on each side to form the top half of the ring.
"She's going to love it," I heard him say, causing me to drag my eyes from the shining ring to smile at him as I nodded.
He handed me the ring and after thanking him, I left the store. My smile remained on my face as I got into my car, checking the time to see that I had forty minutes left to get there. That was more than enough time.
As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I heard the sound of my phone vibrating from a call. I momentarily removed my eyes from the road to answer it and put it on speaker.
"Mom?" I asked, after seeing the caller ID.
"How's it going?" she asked, her tone lined with excitement. And I thought I was the excited one.
"Great. I got the ring and now I'm about to pick up some flowers then head to the restaurant."
"You know where to go right?" she asked, causing me to chuckle slightly.
"Of course I do. You've told me the story about Alex's proposal so many times that I couldn't possibly forget." I felt my lips curve in a smirk as I imagined proposing to her. It was going to be perfect.
"Okay that's good. What time do you think you'll be done? I want to come and congratulate you."
"Around nine probably. It won't take too long." I came to a stop in front of a flower shop and after we had said our goodbyes, I left the car.
As I entered, the natural aroma which surrounded me increased my happiness. I felt like there was nothing which was going to bring me down. I had waited for this day to come for so long and with my mother's new fail-proof plan, I was destined to succeed.
I walked through the aisles as I searched for her favorite flowers, red roses, which also seemed to fit the occasion. I smiled triumphantly once I found a medium sized bouquet and went to pay for it.
Once I was in the car, I placed it on the passenger seat beside me and pulled out the ring from my coat pocket. I opened it and when the shine caught my eyes again, I felt at ease, knowing that I had everything.
I turned on my car and left the parking lot, checking the time on my phone to see that I had thirty minutes. I was about twenty minutes away, so I knew that I had more time.
~~♡~~♡~~♡~~
As I was driving, I was suddenly forced to come to a halt. There were cars surrounding me with drivers who seemed frustrated. I rolled down my window and signalled to the driver on my left. When he saw me, he did the same.
"What happened?" I yelled over the loud noise.
"There was accident so only one lane is working," he replied, grumbling slightly under his breath. I nodded a thank you as I returned my eyes to the scene before me, tapping the steering wheel and hoping that I'd be able to make it on time.
I moved forward slightly as I saw a space appear after the car ahead had moved slightly. I groaned in frustration as I sat back into my seat, running my hand through my hair.
After sitting in the traffic jam for what felt like an eternity, I picked up my phone. I checked the time and saw that I had only five minutes left to get there. I had barely moved from my spot and with every passing second, I was beginning to lose my mind. What happened to fail-proof?
In an attempt to get there, I called for a cab and asked the driver to meet me at a street closeby. I quickly picked up the ring and bouqet, hoping that I would still be able to make it there before she left.
I stood at the street intersection when I got there, constantly tapping my foot as my anxiousness increased. The only way this could get worse was if it began to suddenly rain. But luckily that didn't happen. I pulled out my phone as I felt a vibration.
She just entered the restaurant
The text had been from a guy I had hired to deliver the messages and gifts to Victoria. He had almost ruined everything when he had bumped into her yesterday but luckily it looked like it hadn't affected things too much. As I was replying to him, the sound of a car horn caused me to look up to find the taxi arriving.
"Finally," I muttered under my breath, walking towards it.
~~♡~~♡~~♡~~
I finally made it to the restaurant, panting for air as I entered to a surprised hostess.
"Do you have a reservation?" she asked me, smiling brightly as her eyes filled with humour, most likely from the way I was struggling to catch my breath. Any other day, I would've been annoyed at her but right now, there were other things on my mind, predominantly Victoria.
"Yeah under Matthews." As soon as I finished, her eyes filled with sympathy.
"I'm sorry to tell you that your date already left," she said, looking up from her book. My eyes widened once I heard her.
"What? Was it long ago?"
To my relief, she shook her head no, giving me a little hope that maybe I'd be able to see her before she went home. Just as I was about to ask her which direction Victoria had gone in, the door opened, bringing in the cool air of the night. I turned around to find my mother looking at me, with expecting eyes.
"How did it go?" she asked, adjusting her coat. I turned around to the hostess and finally asked her which direction she had gone in. I thanked her and left the building after she told me, only thinking of finding Victoria.
"Mike where are you going? Why didn't you answer my question?" my mother's voice broke the silence which surrounded us as we walked out.
"Because I'm busy, can't you see that?!" I snapped at her, still walking. But she caught up to me and forced me to face her, to see her face portraying her momentary hurt before it disappeared.
"Where's Victoria?" she asked blankly.
"If I knew, would I be running around like this?" I asked her, my irritation not leaving my voice. She sighed as she continued to look at me, clearly trying to maintain her calm. I heaved a sigh as I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated.
"Look I'm sorry, this is just irritating. She said that Victoria left just a few minutes ago so maybe she's still in the parking lot," I explained to her. She nodded her head and I took that as a chance to continue to walk towards the parking lot.
But before I could even get anywhere close, the sound of her name being called, caused me to rush there until two bodies came into view. I watched as Alex ran towards her, immediately, feeling defeat begin to rush through me. This couldn't be happening.
I attempted to take a step forward but my mother grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me back as I saw Victoria standing before Alex, her position showing hostility.
"Just be patient."
But how could I when my brother was so close to the woman whom I loved instead of me?
But even with that thought in mind, I stayed back and continued to watch them as they exchanged words. Their voices filled the silence as the volume of their conversation increased. But suddenly, they appeared to go mute. It was killing me not knowing what was going on between them. I wanted nothing but to walk over there but my mother's tight grip kept me back.
They started talking again and just when I thought everything was going well, I saw Alex walk towards her before they kissed shortly after, causing me subconsiously ball my free hand into a fist.
But I still continued to watch them since I couldn't go anywhere. I saw Victoria attempt to walk away but Alex pulled her back, saying something to her before kissing her again. At this moment, I wanted to turn away and return home but my mother's hopeful eyes caused me to stay again, turning around to continue watching them as I felt pain in my heart at the sight.
Once I saw him kneel on one knee to put a ring on her finger, I felt my eyes begin to sting slightly as I realized then that it was over. There was no reason for me to believe that I'd be able to really be with the woman I love. No matter how much my mother tried to convince me.
Feeling my anger rise, I turned around and reached into the pocket of my jacket, pulling out the box with the ring. I opened it and looked at it longingly as it shone. How much I had wanted to see it on her finger hit me hard and caused me to throw it on the ground.
"Mike!" my mother exclaimed, reaching down to reach for it. But I stopped her by holding onto her hand and pulling her up.
"Don't bother picking it up. I don't need it anymore," I told her, throwing the bouqet down too.
"You're going to give up just because Alex put a ring on her finger?" she asked me, allowing me to register the disappointment in her tone.
"Just a ring? It wasn't just any ring but her wedding ring. If they weren't getting back together, he wouldn't have done that!"
"But you can't give up now. You can still be with her─"
"How?! What makes you think that I'll be able to change her mind about Alex? Didn't you see the way they looked at each other?!"
"That doesn't mean anything!"
"How can you say that when it clearly shows that they're getting back together?!" At this point, I couldn't care less if my tone was too harsh on her. She was failing to see what had happened for exactly what it meant.
"Because they can't be together," she replied in a whisper.
"And why not? Why are you so against them being together?" I wasn't sure why I had asked that question but it seemed like the logical thing to ask, even though I was against it just as much if not more.
"Because..." she trailed off without answering me.
"Because?" I asked, irritated.
"Because Alex won't be happy with her!" My eyebrows drew together in confusion as I continued to look at her, trying to understand what she meant by that. But I couldn't come to any conclusion.
"What makes you so sure?" I asked her slowly, "Did he tell you that he wasn't happy?" I continued.
"He didn't have to, I know him better than he knows himself. I'm his mother." I rolled my eyes at her words and turned around to leave but once again she held onto me to stop me.
"Let me go unless you have something better to say," I told her, trying to hold in my rage this time. She let go and I thought that was her telling me that I could go. That was until I heard what she said.
"I don't want them to be together. I never did. I always thought that their relationship was a little off. I remembered the way I had felt after I got married to your father. And I saw the way Alex looked and it just didn't seem right to me. But I saw the way you looked at her, with longing eyes and I knew that the only way to solve this was to have her be with you.
"Your brother has a way of attracting people so I knew that it wouldn't be long before he found someone who could really make him happy. Don't think that it was because I prefer one of you over the other. Because I was just trying to look after you both. But I guess you were already doing alright. Even though you didn't have the woman you love."
There was no doubt that I wanted to be with Victoria. I had been dreaming of it ever since I had met her in high school. But after hearing my mother's reason, I knew that there was no reason for me to continue to chase after her, it was time to call it quits. But I still didn't understand how she couldn't see how happy Alex was to be with her. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to be unhappy to have someone as wonderful as her.
"When you love someone, naturally, you put them before you. You put their needs before yours because all that matters to you is making sure that they're alright. And that they're happy. I wasn't fighting for Victoria earlier because I was only thinking about her. And I thought that she'd be happier with you. But now I'm not so sure."
Alex's words from a few weeks ago came to my mind and that was when I came to a realisation. I had claimed to love Victoria but instead of putting her happiness before mine, all I thought of was myself. I knew that I'd be happy to have her with me but I didn't think of whether she would feel the same way.
But now that I thought about it, she was happier when she was with Alex. If I loved her, which I did, then I would let her be with the person who made her happy. And after seeing them together just now, I knew that there was no doubt that the two of them were meant to be.
But that didn't mean that I had to give up. For now, I could just stay back and make sure that she was happy. And that would be alright with me, as long as I was allowed to be beside her.
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