Mr White Proposes (BWWM Interracial Romance) (8 page)

“
No. I did every mushy thing I could think of. I even Googled how to make the perfect proposal,” Mitchell said as he signaled the waitress for yet another cup. “Down on one knee, dinner and everything,” he added as the waitress brought him another cappuccino.

“
Seriously dude, do you like own the joint?” Leo asked as the waitress left. “Normally people have to like place orders and shit,” he added in a whisper. Mitchell smiled.

“
Actually, yes. I own it but back to the more important matters,” Mitchell said in an attempt to change the subject.

“
Wait,” Leo said. “You never told me what she was like, “ he said looking at him. Mitchell smiled as he reached for his phone.

“
She is the most perfect woman you could ever imagine. She is the girl high school boys jerk off to and the same girl men leave their loyal wives for,” Mitchell said proudly as he scrolled his gallery for Natasha’s photos. “There,” he said when he finally came to a decent album of the two of them in Rome.

“
Fuck…!” Leo said in a low whisper. “Great piece of chocolate right there,” he said smiling.

“
Hey, watch it,” Mitchell aid. “That’s my future wife you are talking about right there,” he added.

So, what do you think should I do?” Mitchell asked.

“What do you want to do?” Leo asked. “I don’t think I am the best person to advice you on this,” he added.

“
You are actually the best person I would ask right now. You are the lord of the female ring,” Mitchell said before they both burst in laughter. “That sounded a bit dirty,” he said amid laughs.

“
Yes it does,” Leo said. “That kind of talk could get you stoned in some countries of the Middle East,” he added. Mitchell smiled. “So, why is it so important to get advice from me? Why don’t you ask someone with a functional relationship or even marriage?” he asked.

“
Because I need to know what my best man thinks,” Mitchell said. Leo looked at him in surprise.

“
For real?” he asked as Mitchell nodded. “Twice the honor, man,” he said as he reached across the table to slightly fist bumped Mitchell on the shoulder.

“
So, tell me,” Mitchell began as he leaned back in his chair. “What do you think about my situation?” he asked.

“
Well, have you asked her what’s going through her mind?”Leo asked. “Because it would help to know what the hell she’s thinking,” he added.

“
Dude, I’m telling you I’ve tried it all,” Mitchell said. “But every time I try to talk, we just end up in bed and I must say that in the last two weeks I have had the best lays ever!” he added in a loud whisper.

“
Really?” Leo asked. “Now you’re just making me feel bad, man,” he said looking at Mitchell.

“
I kid you not,” Mitchell said leaning towards him. “Just last week, she made me bondage stuff. One word, awesome!” he whispered excitedly.

“
Wow,” Leo breathed out. “And here I was thinking that I was lucky to have twins in Bangkok,” he said looking at Mitchell in disbelief.

“
Crazy man. I might just call her today to quote unquote, talk if you know what I mean,” he said winking at him before he took a sip of his cappuccino. “Wait, you had twins in Bangkok?” he said as he put the cup down. Leo looked at him and smiled broadly.

“
Oh yeah,” Leo said nodding. “The perfect ménage a trios for sure,” he said as he raised his cup at him.

“
You pathetic lucky bastard!” Mitchell said. His facial expression suddenly turned and he held up his hands. “But I am in a committed relationship right now,” he added.

“
So, she never gave you a reason not to marry you?” Leo asked. Mitchell shook his head.

“
Something about marriages in her family not working out,” Mitchell said.

“
There it is. You are overreacting,” Leo said. Mitchell looked at him. He almost wanted to punch him right in the face.

“
How so?” he asked.

“
All the marriages she’s seen don’t work out so well,” Leo said. “I think she’s just scared of being hurt,” he added. Mitchell looked at him. He had a point. He needed to find Natasha and tell her that. Maybe she needed to hear the words from his mouth.

“
I think I need to talk to her,” he said. “Who knew, Leo Hayes, world class pimp[ could give such sound advice,” he added laughing.

“
Hey, the only reason I am a world class pimp is because I get the women,” Leo said. “We speak the same language you know,” he added.

“
Could this language be somewhat vertical?” Mitchell said as he took one final sip from his cup.

“
You know it,” Leo said smiling. “But seriously that’s cold, man,” he added feigning sadness. “How’s the rock anyway?” he asked looking at him.

“
Not so rocky,” Mitchell said as he reached into his pockets and pulled out the black velvet case.

“
Why not?” Leo asked looking at him in surprise.

“
She hates flashy stuff,” Mitchell answered. “So, I got the original ring redesigned to a smaller size,” he added as he handed Leo the ring.

“
No wonder she said no. You got her a small diamond!” Leo said looking at him.

“
I just said she hates flashy stuff. And she didn’t say no…” “…you’ve heard the line that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right?” Leo asked as Mitchell’s mouth remained gaped mid sentence. Mitchell nodded and looked at Mitchell unsure of where he was going with this.

“
Then get her something cool. This is nice and all but really, you are Mitchell Schmidt,” Leo scolded. Mitchell looked at him and slowly nodded.

If you think it will work,” Mitchell said.

“If and when she says yes to you, it won’t be because of the ring,” Leo said looking at Mitchell. “Put that away,” he said slamming the case shut and handing it back to a smiling Mitchell. “What the fuck’s the matter with you?” he asked looking at him.

“
You said when,” Mitchell said. “You believe in me,” he added dramatically as they stood up.

“
As much as a lot has changed, the most annoying aspects about t you are still the same,” Leo said as Mitchell dropped a couple of bills on the table. “Why are you even paying? I though you owned the joint,” he said as they walked out.

“
Didn’t your mother teach you about tipping your waitresses?” Mitchell asked as they slowly walked towards his car.

“
Do you really want an answer to that question?” Leo asked as Mitchell opened his door.

“
Bye Leo,” Mitchell said as Leo walked away laughing.

*****

Natasha sat on her bed, looking around at her old room. There was a sense of comfort being back here, the house she grew up in. She walked to her closet and opened it. She smiled when she saw the secret compartment on the floor where she hid her diary. Slowly, she bent down and took her diary out. She smiled as she flipped through the pages before walking back to her bed. She rummaged through her bag and when she finally got a pen, she leaned back on the bed and opened a fresh page.

Dear Diary,

I feel silly. I haven’t done this in almost ten years…but let’s face it, I am older wiser and I have a great social life. So…guess it’s okay that I haven’t written in a while. Anyway, I feel this is the only place I can totally say what I feel without any kind of conviction.

So, Mitchell proposed to me a few weeks ago and I know I have in the past scribbled Mrs. Natasha Jonas and Mrs. Natasha Raymond a million times before. But every girl has that dream or fantasy of marring one of the Jonas brothers or Usher Raymond at some point right? But people tend to think that Mitchell is my own Usher Raymond, Nick Jonas and everything nice plus a bag of chips rolled up into one great thing. But I’m scared. What if he changes? I mean right now he is the coolest, sweetest person. I mean the man rented out the Griffith Observatory just for me…and that was out first date!!! He listens. I am sure he is a great guy but people change. I mean mama did, Pop did too when he started beating on Nan. I am so scared but I might push him away.

Rita tells me that so far, he has not given me a reason to doubt him and she is right. Maybe I should just say fuck it and give it a chance. I hope I am right on this one. But I must be, right? Even Nan likes him and Nan never likes anyone. That’s a sign right?

Sometimes, I wish you would talk back. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel like the complete idiot I am right now…talking to a stupid journal. At least I know that I’m not alone. Maybe at this moment, statistically speaking, there are a million people writing weird things in their journals.

“Hey, princess,” she heard her father Eric’s voice fro the doorway. She looked up and slammed the book shut as he walked towards the bed.

“
Hey daddy,” she said smiling up at him.

“
You Nan told me you were around,” he said before kissing her forehead. “You have been coming over a lot of late, not that I’m complaining,” he said. “Anything the matter?” he asked sitting down on the bed.

She looked at him and shook her head. “Just escaping the busy life that has become Natasha Black’s latest script,” she said smiling at him. Eric looked at her and smiled.

“You know when you were a little girl, you’d run up here and grab that diary any time you were upset,” Eric said. “And old habits die hard,” he added as Natasha’s gaze fell to her knees. Eric used his index finger to lift her face up. “Does this have anything to do a little proposal I heard about?” he asked. Natasha’s eyes grew wide.

“
You knew?” she asked looking at her father in surprise.

“
That Mitchell Schmidt is a very upright young man. Very traditional,” he said. Natasha looked at her in surprise.

“
What do you even mean by that?” she asked looking at him, a questioning look on her face.

“
He called me up last month. Surprised me too. I didn’t even know he had my number,” Eric said as Natasha looked on. “So, he took me out for a great dinner and asked me for your hand,” he finally said smiling.

“
He did?” she asked feeling a wave of emotion come over her.

“
You know honey,” Eric said, a serious expression suddenly coming over his face. “Mitchell is a good man and he is not your grandfather,” he said taking her small hands in his. “And you are certainly not your mother,” he added with a smile.

“
Thanks dad,” she said looking at Eric. “I really needed to hear that,” she said with a smile. “And I think I am ready to give Mitch my answer,” she said still smiling.

“
So, what are you still doing here?” Eric asked. “You had better skedaddle,” Eric said patting her knee.

Natasha looked at him and smiled even more. Her father was right. Mitchell was not just some guy she had bumped into at the flea market. He was the real thing,. The ideal man. The greatest thing that could ever happen to her. She could not let him slip away.

“You are right daddy,” she said planting a kiss on his forehead. “I got to go,” she said practically running out. She stopped in her tracks and ran back and then quickly grabbed the diary from the bed. “Not today, Eric Black,” she said before running out.

“
You were a child,” he called out as he heard her run down the stairs.

“
And I’m still your child!” he heard call out from downstairs. He smiled as he heard the door slam shut. He was about to get a son-in-law.

When Mitchell heard the front door slam shut, his first instinct was to reach for his gun. He reached for his piece cleverly concealed underneath one of his cushions. He suddenly aimed it at the door, his index finger almost squeezing the trigger.

“
Bring it buster,”
he thought. “Breaking and entering can be an excusable reason for getting shot,” he said as he kept his eyes fixated on the hallway.

“
It’s me, Mitchell,” he heard. Natasha’s small voice coming through the hallway. He took a deep breath as he put the safety back on. “I’m sorry,” she said as she walked towards him.

“
It’s okay,” he said looking at her.
“Fuck, she’s beautiful,”
he thought as he looked at her. “What are you doing out so late?” he asked as he looked at her.

“
I needed to talk to you,” she said looking up at him. Mitchell looked at her as he felt his heart pounding a bit faster.

“
Oh shit. I’m about to get the it’s not you, it’s me speech,”
he thought as he struggled to maintain a brave face.

“
Right now?” he asked.

“
Yes, Mitchell, Right fucking now,” Natasha said obviously getting pissed off at his question. It was one in the freaking morning. This was either a booty call or a serious talk.