Chapter 73: Cheapest Flight
Chapter 73: Cheapest Flight
EMMA’s POV :
"Wake up baby girl,"
"Mmhmm?""
I shuffled my head lazily and pried my eyes open slowly.
It was early morning and Ian was sitting on the edge of the bed with a little red box in his hand.
"What's going on?"
I croaked and propped myself up.
Ian just beamed at me and said, "It’s Christmas morning.Merry Christmas, Emma,"
My heart felt like it was doing backflips at his words.
Smiling from ear to ear, I asked, "Is that for me?"
"It's your first present, open it,"he handed the small box to me and my hands busily pulled the ribbon away.
"A charm bracelet?"I gasped when I saw what was inside.
"Inspired by the scrapbook you made me.It’s got all our memories,"he said and he pulled the bracelet from the box.
The charms were beautiful.
There were hearts with my initial E.S.and one with his initial I.H.
There was one in the shape of underwear, a book, a car, a statue of liberty, and finally a ring.
It was like everything that symbolized our story in one bracelet.
"These are our names, of course.This is the underwear that I tore.This book can be Wuthering Heights or my sketchbook.The car represents the fun road trip you took me to.The liberty is, well, the city.And the ring, our future together,"
"It's beautiful," I said, admiring it.
"And so thoughtful..."
"And here is your second present," he said again, revealing a red envelope to me.
"What? Is it a card?" I said as I took the envelope from him.
"Open it," he said simply.
I gave him a puzzled look as I opened the envelope slowly. Inside was a makeshift ticket to an art gallery called ‘The World’.
"One admission to The World Gallery?" I asked, reading the title.
"It's a ticket to our gallery opening. We're gonna launch this summer and I want you to be here with me,"
he paused before saying, "All summer long,"
"An entire summer with you in the city?" my breath was caught in my throat for a moment,
"Is this for real?"
"Well, technically it’s a fake ticket I printed myself.But it is real.I want you to be there, you're my muse and my guest," he chuckled.
"Aw...Ian...this is so sweet,"my eyes got all glassy as I stared at the ticket in my hand.
Ian just smiled and he leaned down, placing a soft kiss on the top of my head.
Reaching for my bag next to the bed, I grabbed my purse and placed the ticket inside, making sure it was safe and secure.
"Wait here, let me get your present,"I said to him and I got up to my feet.
I went to my duffel bag and pulled out a black box with a red ribbon on top.
"Merry Christmas,"
I said as I handed the box to him.
He took it and slowly pulled the ribbon away.
He opened the box and found and pulled out the thing inside, saying, "What's this? A Fitbit?"
"No, it's a couple bracelet,"
I shook my head and lifted my other hand, "Look, I’m wearing mine, try it on,"
Ian put the bracelet on his hand and I helped him turn it on.
I already synced it beforehand so it was ready for use.
"Okay, now what?" he asked.
"Do you feel that?"
I said as I squeezed my own bracelet in my hand.
His eyes shot open and he said, "Whoa, how is that possible?"
"Whenever one of us squeezes the bracelet, the other one will feel it on their wrist," I explained.
"That is so cool!" he grinned and started squeezing his bracelet,
"You feel that?"
"Yeah," I nodded as my bracelet squeezed my skin the way he would squeeze me.
"Woah,"he gaped.
He was still reeling from the feeling.
"Cool, right? This way you'll know every time I'm thinking of you,"I said again.
"You're so sweet.I love you so much," he said as he got up to his feet and stood in front of me.
"I love you too," I said, linking my arms around his waist.
We leaned our faces forward and our lips found each other, entangled in a long, sweet kiss.
"Wait, I'm only getting one present?" he said suddenly as he pulled away.
"I didn't know we're supposed to have two?"
"It's our thing," he said matter-of-factly.
"You never said anything," I resisted, "But, okay fine, I'll get you an extra one next year,"
"No, I don’t wanna wait that long," he shook his head.
"Well, what do you want?"
A naughty grin crept up his lips and he said, "Since you asked..."
His hand went and gripped my waists, resting on the bands of my underwear.
I was only wearing his oversized t-shirt and panties, nothing else.
He played with the band a little before his finger slipped inside and he pulled my underwear down until it pooled around my feet.
Oh, Ian.
Why am I not surprised? Smirking that devilish grin, he pushed me down on the bed and spread my legs open with both hands.
His lips started trailing kisses from my inner thigh towards my core.
I knew what he was gonna do, but I had a better idea.
I pushed him up suddenly and he staggered back.
Not giving him a chance to recover, I sat up straight and my hands went for his boxer briefs.
I pulled the fabric down and revealed his semi-hard length.
I took one look up at him before I turned my gaze back at the deliciousness in front of me.
Licking my lips, I leaned towards his length and placed a long, wet kiss on his tip.
He let out an appreciative groan and his hand went to grip the back of my hand.
Using both my hands, I massaged his length up and down while my mouth was sucking on his tip.
"Emma!" he hissed as I moved faster and harder, taking him in my mouth deeper and deeper.
He clenched his fist and his body stiffened.He was rock hard now.He was trying to hold himself together, but he was unraveling under my touch.
That gave me the confidence boost to keep going and I was enjoying every moment of it.
"Emma — shit, I’m gonna cum if you keep —"
"Cum for me, daddy,"
I murmured to his skin, looking up at him seductively. Ian tilted his head back and stifled a laugh, "You're unbelievable,"
I didn't stop and I kept on going.
I rolled my tongue all over him and I sucked him hard, taking him in as deep as I could.
My head was bobbing in and out of him and his hand gripped my hair tightly in place.
Before I knew it, Ian cursed and I felt his length convulsed inside my mouth.
I braced myself and received his entire load and swallowed hard.
Some of it dripped from the edge of my mouth and my hand went to wipe it away.
I sucked my thumb clean, making sure I got everything in me.
"Fuck, you're driving me crazy when you do that," he said through ragged breaths.
"Do you like your second present?" I looked up at him and batted my eyes.
"Oh yeah. You should forget about them more often," he laughed and he pushed me back down on the bed.
I couldn’t stop grinning like a maniac as I watched him climb on top of me.
Now, this is what I call a Christmas present...
That was pretty much how Ian and I spent our Christmas together.
We were in New York City, but we ended staying in the apartment all day long, just enjoying each other's company.
The only time we went out was to get pizza and we went right back on the couch, in front of the warm fireplace.
In the next few days, we did go out and do a little sightseeing.
We went to the Met Museum in the day and we ice skated at the Rockefeller Center.
We took walks around Central Park and tried the dirty water hot dogs.
Everything was _ perfect, almost dream-like.
For New Year's Eve, Ally invited Ian and me to a party at this fancy club.
She said it was important for Ian to go because there were a lot of potential investors at the party.
I didn’t have an excuse not to go, so we went.
I made sure I got all dressed up and looked my best, I had to compete with Ally somehow.
Ally looked gorgeous, of course.
She was wearing this low cut red dress that hugged her curves perfectly.
She had a lovely curve, even I must admit that.
I felt like a little schoolgirl standing next to her, all flat chested and skinny.
All the straight guys at the party were checking her out, and some were just blatantly all over her.
All except one, my fiancée.
Ian had his hand on my back the entire time.
Even though I felt like I didn't belong with all these people and their talks about investment and the future of art and economy, Ian always tried to bring me in on their conversations. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
I must admit, Ian cleaned up nice in a suit.
I could just picture it, the future Mr.Hayes, wearing a sharp suit and taking over the city by storm.
Girls would throw themselves at him for sure, but he only had eyes on one girl and that would be me.
That thought got me smiling all through the night.
Seconds before the clock stroke midnight, everyone did a countdown and I was standing with Ian, hand in hand.
His dark piercing eyes bore deeply into mine and I couldn't stop myself from smiling and feeling the butterflies.
"You, me, and this city. It’s gonna be our year, baby girl,"
"Absolutely and always,"
I said and I pulled him into a kiss.
"2...
1..
Happy new year!"
everyone around us cheered and we could hear the fireworks booming outside the tall windows.
With Ian moving to the city this summer, I knew I was getting closer and closer to my dreaMs.We had been through so much the past two years and it was gonna be our time, finally.
Oh, I could hardly wait.
Christmas and New Year went by in a flash.
And as soon as the New Year was over, Ian had to go straight back to work.
Ally and he were spending a lot of time together at the gallery.
He refused to let me see the place because he said it wasn’t ready yet and he wanted to surprise me with the grand opening.
Sometimes I would nag him so that he wouldn't spend too much time at the gallery with Ally.
Ian always said that it wasn't just the two of them and that there was always a bunch of other people there too.
I didn’t wanna be petty, so I stopped my nagging and pretended like I was cool with it.
But let's face it, I wasn't.
Something about her made me feel threatened.
I couldn't put my finger around it.
Ian always tried to get me to hang out with Ally while we were in the city, but I dodged it as much as I could.
I made excuses about being tired or that I wanted to spend time just the two of us.
The rest of my trip in New York City was kind of blah.
I spent a lot of time on my own, reading or exploring the city while Ian was working in the gallery.
Before long, another week had passed and it was time to pack up our bags and leave.
Ally would stay in the city and keep working on the gallery while Ian would go back to Georgia and finished the last six months of his teaching contract.
With the holidays over, I was now back in college.
Ian and I wore the bracelet I got him and we sent each other ‘I miss you’ squeezes throughout the day.
That was a great gift, especially now that we were back in our busy schedules and we barely had time to facetime.
I was pretty much adjusted to my college life now.
I was so confident, I was taking more classes this spring semester.
I also made new friends, but I still hung out with Sophie and Tristan the most.
Sophie and Tristan were the best.
Tristan and I were great study buddies, and Sophie was the party queen.
We worked hard and we played hard, that was our motto.
For the past few months, that was all we did.My days went by like a blur.
Everything went by so fast, all of a sudden it was midterms in April already.
I was absolutely busy, but Ian was too.
He was preparing for the gallery opening and they commissioned him to put up some of his artworks too.
When Ian was working on his art, he liked being in his zone, and so I wouldn't wanna bother him.
This was his dream and I wanted to give him all the time and space he needed.
"Sweet baby Jesus! It’s spring break!"
Sophie was yelling at the top of her lungs as we made it back to our dorm room after our last exam of the week.
"I can't wait to get some sleep.I've been sleep deprived for the past two weeks,"
I groaned and threw myself on the couch.
"I know what you mean,"
Tristan followed after me.
"Excuse me?"
Sophie gaped.
"It’s spring break and you two are thinking about catching up on sleep? Are you crazy?"
Tristan and I looked at each other and we just shrugged.
"No! This is not how we're spending spring break as college freshmen!"
Sophie protested, she pushed Tristan and me away and forced herself in the middle of us.
"We're gonna go out and celebrate.We're gonna go crazy because we're college freshmen and that’s what we do!"
"Ugh, that sounds like a lot of work,"Tristan rolled his eyes.
"And guys, I have the perfect pIan!"Sophie exclaimed.
She clapped her hands and pulled out her phone.
"Uh-oh, this isn't gonna be good," Tristan turned to me and shook his head.
"I don't know," I said,
"Let's hear her out,"
"As you two know already, I'm a finance major.
I love to have fun, but I also love saving money.
So, for the past few days, I have been doing my research.
And guess who just found cheap tickets to Panama City Beach for spring break?"
"Panama City, Florida?" Tristan gaped.
Nodding her head ferociously, Sophie got up to her feet and said in a sing-song way, "Guys, let’s all go to Florida for spring break!"
Tristan and I looked at each other before turning to Sophie and we glared at her.
"There’s no way we're going to Florida,"I stated.
"Florida and spring break? You're so cliché,"Tristan added.
"Ugh, I knew you two would be difficult, that’s why I've bought all our tickets already!"
Sophie announced proudly.
"Pack your bags guys, we're going to Florida!"