Emancipating Andie

“Trace?” Andie said just as her friend was about to exit the car, and she stopped, looking over her shoulder.

“I don’t want what my parents have. I want the couple in the park.”

Tracey pulled her brow together. “You want the what?”

Andie smiled. “I gotta go,” she said as she put the car in drive, the urgency back in her voice and her movements. “I love you too. And thank you.”

Tracey looked at her friend for a moment before she smiled sadly. “Good luck,” she said before she exited the car and walked up to her sister’s front door.

Andie sped down the road, the adrenalin coursing through her as her conviction grew stronger. Colin deserved someone who loved him, who really loved him, not someone who stayed with him because it made sense.

She was doing the right thing for both of them. She knew she was.

Andie reached over and pulled her cell phone out of the cup holder in the console, holding down the speed dial for Colin. He answered on the first ring.

“Hey babe, I was just about to call you.”

“Hi,” she said, her resolve faltering a little when she heard his voice. “Um, where are you?”

“I just got home. Where are you?”

“I just dropped Tracey off at her sister’s.”

“You okay?” he asked. “You sound frazzled.”

Andie swallowed, trying to remember what made her think she could do this. “No, I’m good…I just…I wanted to come over. I need to talk to you.”

“Okay,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you about something too.”

For a second, Andie’s heart dropped. Did he know? Could he possibly know? Her stomach rolled at the thought.

It shouldn’t matter. She was going to his apartment with every intention of breaking things off. But still, if he knew about what had happened between her and Chase, he would hate her. She didn’t want him to hate her. Maybe she was incredibly naïve, but she was hoping that after all was said and done, they could remain friends.

“Okay, well, I’m about ten minutes away.”

“Alright. See you in a few,” he said before he ended the call, and Andie spent the remainder of the drive to his apartment trying to analyze his tone, his words, in an attempt to prepare herself for what might be coming her way.

She approached his front door and stopped, closing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath before blowing it out slowly through her mouth.

This is the right thing to do.

And with that thought, she opened her eyes and turned the knob.

“Colin?” she called softly as she entered. The living room was dark.

“In here,” she heard him say, and she followed his voice into the kitchen.

There were candles on the table, their soft light flickering around him as he stood at the counter, still dressed in his suit from work, opening a bottle of wine. He looked up at her and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she said softly, her eyes sca

His smile grew wider. “We’re celebrating,” he said, handing her the glass of wine he had just poured. He lifted his own, clinking it softly to hers.

“Okay,” Andie said with a small laugh, looking down at her glass. She swirled it gently, and she was sure she looked as uneasy as she felt. “Can I ask what we’re celebrating?”

Colin took a slow sip of wine before he placed it on the counter, and Andie gently placed hers down next to his without having taken a sip. He turned toward her then, and his smile was stu

“I got the Davis account.”

Andie gasped. “Oh my God!” she squealed, completely losing herself in the moment as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Colin. “I’m so proud of you!”

He tightened his arms around her, laughing softly.

She froze in his embrace, realizing how counterproductive her behavior was, but she couldn’t help her visceral reaction to the news; she was genuinely excited for him. The Davis account was huge, and Andie knew that pretty much everyone in Colin’s firm had been after it for months.

She felt him rub his hands over her back, and she chewed fretfully on her lower lip, gradually loosening her hold around his neck. It was pointless to even try to refocus her purpose for coming now; she knew there was no way she could do it tonight, not after what he had just told her. There was no way she would ever allow herself to sully this moment for him.

“Congratulations,” she said with a soft smile as she pulled away from him.

“I’m the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet,” he said, loosening his tie with one hand as he reached for his wine with the other.

“Don’t say that,” Andie reprimanded softly. “This isn’t about luck. You worked really hard for that account.”

Colin nodded as he took another sip of wine. “I know,” he said, putting the glass down. “I just mean in general. Everything in my life is working out the way I’d hoped. I have everything I want.”

Andie swallowed, looking down as her stomach rolled uneasily.

“Well, almost everything,” she heard him say as he bent down to pick something up off the floor. When a few seconds passed and he hadn’t stood back up, she lifted her eyes to look at him, and her breath stopped her throat.

He was kneeling before her.

The glass of wine slipped from her hands, shattering on the floor in front of him.

“Oh God,” Andie sputtered, leaning over and reaching frantically for the paper towels.

His hand came up, gripping her wrist and stilling her movements. “Leave it,” he said softly, and she stopped, taking a trembling breath before she forced herself to look down at him.

She felt as if she might be sick, and she swallowed convulsively, unable to remove her eyes from the box in his hand, the diamond inside glittering delicately with refracted candlelight.

“When I got this account today, all I wanted to do was come home and share it with you. And I know that’s all I’m ever going to want.” He reached forward, taking her left hand gently. “Any experience I have, good or bad…I want it to be with you.” He looked up at her from under his lashes. “Marry me, Andie.”

In the split second that the words left his mouth, all the possible scenarios ran through her mind.

She could accept. She thought of her mother, choosing to marry a man because he was kind and intelligent and responsible, one who would make a good partner, a good father. It had all turned out well for her, hadn’t it? Would it really be so awful if Andie made the same choice?

She could say yes now, so as not to ruin the moment, and then tell him the truth about her feelings after things settled down. She could find a reason to break off the engagement once she had time to think it through.

She closed her eyes, swallowing forcefully again, because she already knew she wouldn’t do either of those things. There was no way she could agree to marry him knowing she wasn’t in love with him, and she didn’t have it in her to say yes only to call it off down the road. In their own way, both options were equally as cruel.

She found herself struggling to take a breath as her heart plummeted.

He was kneeling before her, offering her a future.

And in doing so, he was leaving her no choice.

“Colin,” she said, and her voice sounded far away, like it didn’t belong to her. “It’s beautiful.”

He smiled up at her, and she felt the stinging begin behind her eyes.

“I just,” she said, her voice barely a whisper, “I’m sorry…I can’t.”

His smile slowly faded, his eyes on hers, and he shifted his weight slightly, remaining on one knee. “I know it seems fast, Andie,” he said, his voice soft with persuasion, “but we love each other. What more is there?”

Andie dropped her eyes to the broken glass on the floor, shimmering with candlelight like the diamond in Colin’s hand.

“We could live together first,” he offered. “We don’t have to get married right away. Our engagement can be as long as you want it to be.”