Note: This is after the Praetorians have been gotten rid of. Mark is just
some random guy I stuck in here, he's not anyone from the show or anything.
As for the bar, well, I needed a place where they could meet, kinda like
CD's Bar And Grill on Walker, Texas Ranger. It's like a regular hang out,
though here they're only there once. Also, the spaces between paragraphs
indicate POV change between Jacob and Angela. Hope you understood all
that! Anyway, enjoy!
The Net: "Engagments"
Jacob left the jewelry shop the same time Mark walked in. They said
'hi' and went on their separate ways. Jacob went back to his dorm room
where he was in the middle of packing his stuff and thanking God that
college was now finally over. He took the little black box out of his
pocket and opened it. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring, and tomorrow
night he was taking her out to dinner. That's when he planned to ask her.
They were going to the best restaurant in town, The Victorian. He knew
she'd say yes. She had to! He put the ring away and continued to pack.
Angela was at the bar the next day where she met Jacob.
"So, Jacob, are you going to tell me why we're going to The Victorian
tonight?" she asked.
"Nope. It's a secret." Jacob smiled with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Hmmmm, you're gonna make me guess huh?"
"Even if you guess right, I won't tell you one way or the other."
Knowing that it would be something good, since it was coming from
him, she said with a smile on her face, "Oh darn. I guess I'll just have to
wait then."
"Don't worry Angel, it will be worth the wait."
Jacob just loved talking to Angela. Just being with her, in the same room,
filled his heart with a certain joy that he'd never known before.
"ANGEL! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Mark came
over and pulled Angela to the center of the room. "Everyone, may I have
your attention please!" Everyone in the room turned to face him. "I have a
proposal to make, to my special Angel here." Jacob cringed. Mark had stolen
his nick name for Angela. "So, here goes, Angel, marry me?" David pulled
out a little black box that contained an engagement ring.
Angela's hands went to her mouth and Jacob's heart pounded. She gasped, and
said yes. The crowd cheered and Jacob's heart broke into a million little
pieces. Quickly he turned and stumbled out of the room and into the bright
sunlight. Up until now, he'd had no reason to hate Mark. True, he knew Mark
liked Angela, he just never thought it would go this far!
Angela turned from the crowd around her to see Jacob leave. She wanted to
go to him but the crowd wouldn't let her. She turned back to Mark who was
smiling from ear to ear. She smiled too. If Jacob had been there he'd
notice something was wrong. Her smile suddenly wasn't true. He'd know. He
was her best friend. She wanted him to say this engagement was OK. If he
said no she wouldn't go through with it. But he had left so abruptly
without even saying goodbye to her. Angela almost felt like crying when she
should be happy.
Why had he left? She wondered. Was there some important thing he had
to do? Or was there something more?
Jacob ran back to his dorm room and finally finished packing. He lugged his
bags and boxes out to his car. When he was done he went back to the room
for anything he had left behind. He saw a small black box with something
glittering in it on the floor. He slowly picked it up to see what it was.
It was the engagement ring he had bought the day before. It seemed to
scream a happiness he would never know. Today, he would find a new home for
the ring. Now, never hoping to return to where she lived, he left his dorm.
He loved her too much to stay.
Mark had already left the bar a half hour ago, leaving Angela sitting
there, not knowing what to do, and still wondering why Jacob had left
all of a sudden. Her thoughts fell on comparing Mark and Jacob.
Mark liked to be the highlight of everything. He also had tons of
money from his father and he could be very snobby at times. She knew he
wanted her as a girlfriend, well fiancé now, soon to be wife. He'd shown it
almost right from the very moment when they'd first met. He was always
complimenting her, and wanting to buy her things. Sometimes she felt he was
going a little overboard, but he liked being that way and there seemed to
be no way of stopping him. He also therefore liked taking her out to dinner
at the most expensive restaurants around. And though she did enjoy them on
occasion, he never liked anything else.
Jacob, on the other hand, didn't want to be the highlight of everything,
though if someone else put him there, and it didn't last long then it was
OK. He was also nice to just about everyone he met. She didn't know what he
thought of her, besides as a very good friend. Though Jacob always had this
quiet way of admiring her, he hardly ever said anything directly to her out
loud nor did he buy her tons of unnecessary things, but she could read it
in his eyes; Deep blue pools of eyes she felt like she could stare into
forever, given the chance. They'd hung out together almost everyday, and
had gone out to dinner or lunch on a number of occasions, though never
anything as upscale as The Victorian. He had almost no money to his name
whatsoever. So from this she knew, whatever he had hidden up his sleeve
for tonight must be something special.
They were both so different, so much opposites. After debating the issue,
she knew what must be done. She had to go see her best friend. She went to
Jacob's dorm room, hoping to find him there, still packing. The place was
empty except for a small black velvet box. She picked it up and stared at
it. It was as empty as the room. Taking it with her, she left.
Her heart ached to see him already. And then, there he was standing a
few feet away from her. He was talking to someone. She couldn't tell who
because of a huge bush that was in the way.
"Look, I'm not asking much. Just promise me you'll take real good
care of her," Jacob was saying.
"Sure I will," Mark answered.
Jacob turned and walked away as the skies suddenly opened up and rain
began to pour down on them, in a million tiny droplets. Angela moved so
that she could see Mark. She watched him smile to himself as she got soaked
by the rain. She didn't care about getting wet. Jacob was leaving! He
didn't even need to say it. She just knew. The way he had asked Mark to
take care of her, the way he had slowly turned around and slowly walked
away, they had said more to her than anything in the world. He didn't want
to go. She didn't want him to leave either. He was her best friend, or was
he more than that? The thought came up so quickly. Maybe she really did
care more about him than she had thought. But she couldn't think about that
now. She was engaged to someone else. She had to remember that. There was
no choosing between them. Mark had already asked, and she'd said yes. Even
so, she still wanted to see Jacob. She wanted to hear him say he was OK
with her marrying Mark because maybe his leaving the bar so fast meant that
he wasn't OK with it.
"Angel, what are you doing here? You're getting soaked!" Mark said,
upon finding her out in the rain.
She looked up at him. "Mark, was that Jacob?"
"Oh yeah! He just left. Said he had one more stop to make before he's
outta this place for good."
"Did he say where he's going?"
"Don't worry, he's not going to see you!" His quick, sharp words
stung her heart a bit, and her eyes sprang full of salty water, though
through the rain he couldn't tell. "Now, I was thinking we could do
something tonight, you know, to celebrate." He took her hand and looked
down at her ring, praising himself for buying such an expensive ring.
"No. Jacob and I had a date tonight at The Victorian and I don't
intend on breaking it."
"Jacob? But you're engaged to me now, not him. Besides, he's leaving.
So, where shall we go? I'll take you to The Victorian."
"NO! Look, I'll see you later. I've got to find Jacob!" Angela ran
off.
Jacob stood on the bridge overlooking the small river. In his hand was the
ring. All he wanted to do was throw it in the water and get away from this
place. He'd probably get into an accident somewhere out on the road, but he
didn't care. There was no use in caring anymore. He pulled his arm back to
throw the ring when he felt someone grab his hand.
"Jacob don't..."
No! his mind screamed. He hadn't wanted to see her again for fear his
heart would break all over again.
"No," he said out loud. He couldn't bear to look at her as the rain
continued to come down in sheets. He knew full well that it was Angela, his
Angel no longer. "Angel, I mean Angela, please, just go away and leave me
alone."
"It's OK, Jacob, I'll always be YOUR Angel. I mean it Jacob. I love
you."
He turned around and his eyes met hers. "Angel," he whispered. He
found himself wrapping his arms around her, giving her a warm hug. "I love
you too." Angela only held onto him tighter. "But, can I ask you
something?"
"What?" She asked, letting go of him.
"What about Mark? And how did you find me here?"
Angela thought about it for a few minutes. "Anytime something's wrong
Jacob, you come here. I knew something was wrong the way I've seen you
acting today ever since he proposed.
"Oh. But, when did you see me?"
"When you left the bar, and then again not that long ago, talking to Mark"
"Wait, you saw that?"
"Yeah, I didn't hear everything you said though."
"Oh. So what about Mark then?"
"Well, I knew something was wrong and that you were going to leave me.
And I didn't want that. Mark wanted to take me out to dinner tonight
to celebrate our engagement, but I said no cause you and I had a date.
Well, he got kinda mad at me, and basically said you didn't matter
anymore cause I was engaged to him and not you. But see, you do
matter, and if he wasn't going to accept you being in my life too,
well, then he could just say goodbye to the both of us then."
"Oh, I'm sorry Angel, for wanting to leave and all, I just..."
"No, look, if I'd had a clear head about me when he asked, this
wouldn't have happened. I mean, I was just so surprised, I didn't know what
to say or anything."
"It's OK, the whole thing is over now, we can just forget it ever
happened."
This time it was Angela who hugged him. And they didn't part until
Mark's voice could be heard through the thick rain. "Get away from my
fiance! If you want me to take care of her! Angel, come over here, you'll
be safer with me."
"That's 'Angela' to you!" she shouted to him. She took off the ring
Mark had given her and handed it to Jacob. "I believe you were going to
throw something earlier? How about this?"
He took it from her and threw it with all of his might into the
raging river below. Ignoring Mark's ranting and raving, Jacob turned back
to her. He still held his own ring in his tightly clenched fist. "Angel,
there's something I have to tell you..I..yesterday..well, I got you
something...I was going to give it to you tonight..at dinner.but.well, I
might as well ask you now..I don't think I could wait..after all that's
happened.."
"Go ahead.."
"Angel, will you marry me?" He opened his hand to reveal the ring in
his palm. The most beautiful ring she'd ever seen. On a golden band there
was a diamond with a smaller fire blue spinal stone on one side and a topaz
on the other, one signifying his birth month, and the other the month she
was born in.
Once again, for the second time that day, her hands went to her mouth
in surprise. She gasped. "Jacob, it's beautiful! I love it! Of course you
know I'll say yes! And this time I know what I'm doing!"
Jacob slipped the ring on her finger.
"Oh my God, you know I never even suspected..This is.this is.wow! I
don't know what to say!"
She looked up at him, into his deep blue eyes and before she knew what was
happening, their lips met in a slow soft kiss. When they pulled apart,
Jacob just held her there in his arms, thankful that he hadn't left after
all.
"Angel, I think we're going to have to skip The Victorian tonight. Our
reservations were for half an hour ago. They've probably already been given
away to someone else. I'm sorry." he whispered in her ear.
"That's OK. I don't mind. We're both totally soaked, and right now I just
want to go home with you," she whispered back.
The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.