Chapter Twenty-Three: In Which She Takes The Plunge

Mark was a nice guy. Nice but boring, too boring to keep Glory's attention. He lacked the irritating charm that had become a clear must in her life. It had been a mistake to let Lucy set her up on a date. She had done it only to shut her up about how hard it was for her to watch her mope around. This was the last time that Glory was ever going to let that happen.

Mark had talked throughout the whole dinner about his job. He was a professor of some sort, perhaps physics or something science oriented. Glory honestly couldn't remember she had tuned him out halfway through the meal, only smiling and nodding when the conversation called for it. That was something she had learned how to do well, thanks to her upbringing and Mark hadn't seemed to notice the difference.

The only redeeming quality he had going for him was the naughty professor fantasy that Glory had to keep her company throughout the conversations. It had been a little while since she had gotten any action. Of course she had no plans to do anything with the Professor outside of her mind. The fantasy was much better than the reality and she didn't want to ruin that for herself.

So now they sat together on her couch, Glory trying to keep the space between there bodies with a bowl of popcorn as they watch the least sexual thing she could find in her collection of movies. She was doing her best to keep the vibes friendly, endure the rest of the movie before she feigned she was tired and sent Mark on his way. She was only enduring the entirety of the date to appease Lucy and because she was sure that Mark was indeed a nice guy.

When he grabbed the bowl from between them and set down on the coffee table, Glory felt her heart drop into her stomach. This was clearly not his first time in this situation, and he was bolder than most. The popcorn bowl trick didn't stop him. As his arm came up around her shoulder, she stiffened as he pulled her into the side of his body. Clearly he wasn't put off by the blood and guts that was currently on the screen. This guy was a pro.

He turned his face toward her, hot breath hitting her ear, "I've had a really good time tonight." Mark whispered in a low tone that had her gritting her teeth.

She turned to tell him she was feeling tired but stopped when eyes locked on a piece of spinach stuck in his teeth, god how long had that been there? He must have taken her speechlessness as sign for the go ahead because suddenly his lips were descending toward her own in slow motion. The soundtrack to her impending kiss the screams of terrified campers as they were hacked apart by some backwoodsmen psychopath.

The surprising knock at the door was a welcomed interruption, the flake of greenery wedged between his front teeth killing any mood that Glory could have conjured, "ignore it." He said in a husky tone that would have been sexy if it wasn't for Mark being Mark.

She leaned back further as the knocking persisted, pushing her hands into his chest to keep him from getting any closer, "It could be important..." Glory mumbled with an apologetic smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Mark shrugged his tweed covered shoulders, "Or it might not be...if we're quite they might go away." He gave her a smirk that only drew her attention back to the foliage he had been growing in his mouth since dinner.

Glory cringed before pushing him away and leaping up off the couch, "I really should get that. I'll be right back..." She turned away from him, running her hand over her hair. She hoped it was the police saying there was bomb threat, or firemen evacuating the place because Mrs. Tuckerman had fallen asleep with the burner on again (Happened twice last year). Honestly, Glory would have even been happy to see Arden at the moment, if only to be saved from this date.

She was clearly, feeling more than a little desperate.

Glory opened the door, surprised to see Rainy Fox standing outside her door. She immediately wished she had ignored it and had gone tromping through the jungle in Mark's mouth instead. Anything would be better than being trapped in another situation with this wretched witch. Her hand tightened around the handle, "I think you must have gotten lost, taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way Mrs. Fox to end at my door." She commented dryly.

"Has my son made you an offer of marriage?" Her question was direct and to the point. There were not idle greetings.

Glory's eyes widened for a moment at the shocking question before snorting out a laugh, "I'm sorry. You'll have to excuse me, but is this some kind of prank? Are we on TV or something?" She poked her head out further into the hallway, glancing up and down the hallway.

Rainy pursed her lips, blue eyes blazing with anger, "I do not care for your sarcasm Miss. Novacek. I came here only to put my own mind at ease." She pulled a folded wad of paper from her purse, hands shaking slightly as she read the a couple of the words aloud, "Source confirms that Arden Fox, newly appointed leader of Fox Enterprises is not far from making a proposal of a different sort to Blogger, Gloriana Novacek."

She shoved the paper towards Glory's face, "Do you still deny that my Son plans to propose to you?"

Glory's heart was hammering in her chest as she read over the tabloid. It was there in bold words that Mr. Fox and Her had a secret romance, and that they had sources saying that an engagement was not long off. A weird twisted feeling began to bubble in her stomach. She collected herself, staring down the demoness before her, "You're wasting your time coming here." She held the paper back out towards her.

Rainy sneered, "So you're not denying it?"

"I'm not denying anything because there is nothing to deny. I don't know anything about a proposal, especially in regards to myself. You know how writers are. They like to make things up because there real lives are dull and boring. " Glory snapped back, fighting back the urge to smack the woman in the face with the damned tabloid.

"Well if my son does make you a proposal, you will have to decline it." She said with such certainty, as if that was the end of the conversation and they had come to the same conclusion.

Glory laughed at her words, "If I am a passing fancy like you believe than you have nothing to be worried about Mrs. Fox. I doubt your son would stoop so low as to attach himself like myself or so you made it very clear the last time we talked. I'm sorry you wasted both of our time by coming here tonight." She moved to close her door but Rainy put her foot out to block the action.

"I want your agreement before I leave Miss. Novacek." She and Arden were definitely related. She could see where he got his persist and business savvy nature. Before Glory could speak Rainy was reaching once again into her purse and pulling out a checkbook and pen. She couldn't help but watch as the woman flipped it open and began to scribble, tearing the slip of paper free when she was done.

"Everyone has a price Miss. Novacek. You can get yourself out of this awful apartment, buy yourself some nice clothes...maybe travel somewhere far from here. All you have to do is agree that you won't accept any proposals from Arden. Work or personal. I want you out of his life for good." Her words burned through Glory, igniting the hatred she had for the world she had left behind her. The blank check hung between them, but she felt no temptation to take. She would rather live on the street than accept any kind of bribe from such a spiteful woman, or anyone for that matter.

She snatched the check and proceeded to tear it up into tiny pieces, enjoying the shocked expression on Rainy Fox's face, "Unfortunately, my value is more than even you can afford Mrs. Fox. I won't tell you false words of agreement, not now, not ever. Now if you'll excuse me, you've offended me enough for one night. Good evening." She tossed the pieces of check at her before slamming the door shut in her face.

Glory spun around, hand going to her chest as she tried to calm herself down. Her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her at the moment. Why hadn't she just told Rainy fox she didn't care about Arden like that? She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, Why had her heart stuttered at the thought of Arden's fake proposal as if it had actually happened? As If she had actually cared. Clearly the distancing tactic had not been as helpful as she wanted it to be.She needed to reign her heart in or when he actually found a girl she was likely to lose herself.

Mark sat on the couch patiently, popping some popcorn into his mouth as screams of the terrorized campers flooded her ears, "So I'm guessing that this isn't happening?"

*****************

Glory sat at her desk, tapping away at the keys listlessly as she replied to email after email. She had been back as her usual place of work for the past week and already the familiar bitterness was creeping back in. After Mrs. Fox visited Glory at her home she had sent her resignation as Arden matchmaker via email. She hadn't the strength to look into his eyes and say the words, not after having been so thoroughly humiliated by his mother.

At least now she was free from the constant torture of trying to set him up with the perfect women that seemed to line up for him. She could go back to the job that paid for her shitty apartment and helped her feed her obese cat, Duke. Everything in her life had fallen back into the exact place it had been before she had met Arden Fox.

"As your best friend it is my duty to tell you how pathetic you look right now." Lucy remarked as she came into Glory's cubicle, "You look like some borrowed your favorite heels and returned them to you covered in mud and scuff marks."

Glory spun in her chair to look at her friend with a flat look, "Don't you have something else to do, like don't know work maybe?" She really wasn't in the mood to deal with Lucy's attempts to cheer her up. She wanted to be left to sulk over her life.

"Why don't you just go talk to him, Glory? You know that you want to. You're letting your stubbornness get in the way of your possible happiness." Lucy wasn't wrong. She should have talked to Arden about a lot of things, given him the chance to explain himself but if she was going to be honest she had been afraid. She was afraid that he might feel the same for her as she did about him and then she was afraid that he wouldn't. It was pure torture. In the end she had proven herself a coward and had justified it with the simple fact that the two of them would never work.

They fought like cats and dogs. They wanted to lead completely different lives. And of course there was his mother. Glory shivered at the thought of ever having to deal with that wretched woman again, "It's better this way. Trust me."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "That's such bullshit, and you know it." Glory opened her mouth to say something more but stopped short. There was a shift in the air as the office seemed to break out into a tsunami of whispers, that only happened when there was something worth gossiping about. A strange unsettled feeling passed over Glory, she knew in the past couple of months such reactions usually centered around her.

"I want to speak to the woman who wrote this dribble." A familiar voice called out into the room, bringing Glory back to the moment when she had first met Arden Fox. Her heart stopped for a moment before it restarted itself at an accelerated rate, palms growing sweaty as the butterflies in her stomach assaulted her insides.

Lucy chuckled beside her, "I think that's for you."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Glory rose on shaky legs, making her way out of her cubicle and into the public eye. The moment Arden caught her up in his bright eyes she felt her knees lock up. It was completely unfair that the universe had made someone so obscenely handsome. His dark hair was slicked back perfectly, suit pressed with the right creases, shoes shined so that the florescent light reflected off of them. Glory suddenly felt completely under dressed, combing her fingers through her hair.

He moved towards her with slow steps, "Are you the woman who wrote this?" She was certain he was holding her resignation in his hand, that he was purposefully reenacting the way that they had met.

Glory crossed her arms over her chest, "What do you want Mr. Fox?"

He came ever closer to her, "Do you realize that because of your stupid little email my whole life was turned upside down? I was on top of the world. I had everything that a man could want. Now I have absolutely nothing that I want." The whole room attention of the room was focused on them, which had Glory extremely uncomfortable. She liked being in the shadows, and unnoticed.

She stood up a little straighter, "I am not going to apologize. So if that's what you came here for than you've wasted your precious time Mr. Fox."

He held her gaze, lips twitching upwards slightly into what looked like subtle amusement, "You're absolutely right. That would be a waste of my time...Which is why I came here to apologize to you, Gloriana. I'm was a fool, have been a fool...I am a fool." Arden pressed not allowing her the time to runaway from him like she wanted. Her fingers trembled as she tried to keep her composure, all of her emotions threatening to overwhelm her. Glory's gaze flittered about the room, noting all the people watching them expectantly. Lucy was giving her a giant smile full of anticipation as she held her thumbs up as if this was the best thing she had witnessed despite all the reality TV she had waiting for at home on her DVR.

Arden didn't seem to care that he had an audience, slowly lowering himself down onto one knee. Glory felt her eyes widen at the new stance of his body, she'd seen enough romantic comedies in her life to know what usually followed such a motion. She shook her head at him, the muscles in her face tensing, "What are you doing? Get up. Seriously, Get up." She whispered to him through her teeth as she took another quick survey of the crowd.

He completely ignored her plea, either he hadn't been listening or he was pretending not to hear her, "Gloriana I think you are the most infuriating woman I have ever met..." Her lips pursed at the words leaving his mouth, a couple of people snickering at the comment.

"But I find myself captivated by the person you are. No one has ever matched me as you do. I thought that I wanted someone who was gentle and quiet. Instead I found I what I wanted was someone who checked me at every move I made. You are brilliantly maddening, Gloriana Novacek and I wouldn't have you any other way." His words had her heart beating hard against her chest. The air felt thicker with every breath she took.

"My mother told me that she came to your apartment. Told me everything she had said to you and done, for which I ardently apologize. But it gave me hope that perhaps I hadn't completely ruined everything between us." He shifted as if he was nervous, maybe even afraid of how Glory was going to react to everything he was doing.

Except Glory couldn't remember a time that Arden Fox had looked more perfect than he did kneeling before her.Her mind was full of all the moments they had shared together, from the moment he had walked into this office to this one. He was far from perfect. Half the time she couldn't figure out if she wanted kill him or fuck him, but she knew that she always felt more alive in his presence. He brought out the worst and the best of her, simultaneously. There was no way to know for sure if what she felt for him was anything like love but she wanted more time to figure that out.

"What are you trying to say Mr. Fox? Please get to the point. As much as I like you on your knees before me...you look ridiculous." She felt her lips stretching upwards into a smile, something they hadn't really done in the past couple of weeks.

Arden stared up at he silently, eyes narrowing slightly in brief agitation, "What I am trying to say Miss. Novacek is that I would like to take you are a real date, perhaps several of them and then maybe if you decide you like me we might try our hand at marriage. What do you say, Gloriana?" The tension in the room spiked as the anticipation of the crowd built in suspense.

All of the aches and pains of the past couple of weeks seemed to fade away. The attention of the entire world could have been completely focused on them but Glory wouldn't have noticed a thing. All she could see was Arden Fox on his knees before her in an Armani suit, not a hair out of place. The fact that he was here, doing what he was doing spoke volumes to how much he had changed since their meeting. He was still the obstinate man she had met but he had let go of some of the control. He was putting everything on the line for her, simply to have whatever future he could have with her.

"Fine." She snipped.

The room took in an audible gasp.

Arden's eyes widened as if he couldn't completely believe that she had agreed to his terms, "So that's a yes?" He questioned.

Glory rolled her eyes, "That's a yes, but on one condition Mr. Fox ..."

He rose up from the ground, with a suspicious gaze, "Your condition?"

She felt like she might laugh for a moment at how this moment seemed to be turning into some kind of business arrangement, then again what could she expect when she was dealing with Mr. Fox, "No Sex. I want to be sure that this is more than just animal attraction." The room began to snicker at her words, but Glory didn't care. She didn't feel ashamed of her body or anything she did with it, this was the twenty first century--cultural and societal ideals be damned.

Arden's expression became pinched, "At all?"

She gave him a look, "I might be mean at times Mr. Fox but I'm not that mean. Six months. Those are my terms. You can take me on as many dates or whatever for six months but there will be no sex. At the end of the six months if you still feel the same way we can reevaluate our situation."

He stared at her for a long moment, eyes raking over her body as if he was undressing her right there, trying to memorize every part of her. Glory couldn't fight the way her stomach fluttered or the way her nipples hardened at the memory of his touch on her body. Finally their gazes met again and she noticed the challenging spark in his bright eyes. Arden had no plans of making those six months easy on her. She could already tell he was going to do everything in his power to crack her resolve.

"Alright, Miss. Novacek." He held out his hand between the two of them, "You've got yourself a deal."

Glory smirked as she place her hand into his, pushing herself toward him. He looked a bit surprised, as her chest pressed into his. The heat of his body pouring into her in a familiar way, "I might have said no sex but that doesn't mean no kissing, Mr. Fox." She whispered to him before she pressed her lips to his.

The room erupted in applause and whistles, but the two of them couldn't be bothered by any of that. Not when they were so utterly wrapped up in each other.