Unexpected

Chapter 21

A/N: Dediciated to the lovely @Mystishhh98 who loves these characters as much as I do! Thank you so much for all your support!!

I woke up to the distant sound of a knock on the door. I could hear the unmistakable rattle of a food service cart in the main room and Alex speaking to someone for a moment before the door opened and closed again. I grabbed one of the fluffy white robes I’d seen in the master bath and put it on before heading out to see him, my stomach grumbling. Although I wasn’t sure if that was due more to my hunger or my uncertainty about the conversation we needed to have.

“Oh my God, did you order everything on the menu?” I asked, gaping at the huge spread on the cart.

“Just about. I was starving and figured you might be as well after our intense workout last night.” He winked at me. “Come here and give me a kiss first, though, if you don’t mind.”

I crossed and gave him a soft kiss, then sat down at the table across from him. I loaded up my plate, but didn’t end up eating most of it, instead sitting and picking at my food as Alex and I chatted, mostly about the test and the celebration the night before.

“Ok, I think we’ve put this off long enough, are you ready to talk? Tell me what you’re thinking, I can see you mind is racing.” He smiled at me, not seeming to be worried about all we had to discuss.

“I want to start off first by saying thank you again for coming last night and for this incredible offer. I love you so much and I love the idea of being together for real. I’m getting a bit hung up on the details of it all, though. What would I do, like for a job? I can’t just be your professional girlfriend, Alex, as lovely as that would be. I’ve worked incredibly hard to be where I am today and I’m not just going to throw away my degree to be your date to balls and charity galas.”

Alex seemed a little taken aback by my questions. “Of course not, I would never expect that of you. I just thought that if you moved to England, we could be together and have a chance to see where this could go. As you’ve said, long distance never works and I want to give our relationship the best possible chance for success.”

I sat silently, taking it all in. My mind was absolutely racing.

Alex used my silence to better plead his case. “I know from talking to Jack that you don’t have a job yet, and as Maggie’s moving to Chicago soon, you could start a new life in England, with me. I’m fairly certain I could pull some strings to get you a visa,” he teased.

His teasing in light of my anxiety over everything caused me to blurt out, “But it’s not fair that I give up everything, can’t you see that?”

“I’m not asking you to give up everything! Charlotte, I don’t have your freedom, I have to be in England, it’s my responsibility, I have a duty to my family. I can’t just give that up,” he explained patiently.

“I would never, never ask that of you. But you act like it’s no big deal to just uproot my entire life, move to a different country where I have never been before, where I know only one person, who happens to be royalty with an incredibly busy schedule of his own, just because I don’t have a job lined up or anything necessarily holding me here. As though it were that simple. What would I do, just wait around in my apartment by myself, waiting for you to have a free moment for me? I’d hate that.”

“If you’re questioning my intentions, you must know that I would never ask you to do this if I wasn’t thinking marriage down the line but it’s too soon…,” he said stiffly.

“Oh my God, Alex, it’s not about that!” I yelled. “A marriage proposal would have been the absolute worst idea ever.” At his hurt look, I continued, “That came out wrong. I just meant that if you came in here waving a ring, like that would magically solve everything...well, that would have gone even worse than things are going now.”