AN UNEXPECTED GROOM

The sun shone through the large French window. The golden light illuminated Roxane’s silhouette. Her delicate face was so serious at the moment, it was as if she had forgotten the world around her at the moment.

Sebastian moved to stand next to her. When he looked down, he saw a sketch of a man and a woman kissing. They were drawn in manga style.

At that moment, she stopped drawing and bit her lip before whispering to herself:

– Something is missing. He doesn’t have that feeling that makes people’s hearts beat when they look at him…

– What feeling is that?

Roxane was surprised when she heard Sebastien’s voice. She trembled as she instinctively raised her head. It was Sebastien who was looking at her with a slight smile on his face. She asked, still in shock:

– You… When did you come back?

“Just now,” Sebastien replied. When he saw that she was slightly pale, he placed his hand on her head and asked softly:

– I scared you ?

Roxane took a deep breath to calm herself. She seemed to realize something and quickly turned her iPad over. Her face was red as she thought about how he had seen her sketch and heard the words she had said. She was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a hole.

When Sebastien saw her silently lowering her head, he crouched down in front of her to look at her face and her starry eyes. His expression was desolate as he asked softly:

– What’s wrong ? Did I really scare you?

If he had known, he would have knocked on the door sooner.

Roxane was inexplicably nervous when he looked at her. She felt it was quite difficult to breathe at the moment. Finally, she shook her head and said:

– No.

Sebastien thought about it for a moment before realizing what was wrong. He said:

– Your drawing is really good.

Hearing this, not only was she not happy, but she felt even more embarrassed. She looked at her feet which she had stuffed into the indoor slippers. She stammered in her sweet voice:

– I, I… It’s for a manga. The editor said I needed to draw something with an ambiguous atmosphere. I… It’s not like I’m drawing something perverted.

Sebastian smiled.

– I know. You are very talented.

Roxane bit her lip. Somehow she felt that he wasn’t complimenting her, but when she saw his sincere expression, she thought she had misunderstood him.

When Sebastian saw the frown on her face, he quickly changed the subject.

– This is for you.

– Hm? What is this?

She was immediately distracted. Sebastien had managed to divert his attention.

– Open it yourself and take a look.

When Roxane opened the box, she saw a ruby ring. Although the size was not large, the design was exquisite and unique. She couldn’t help but tremble slightly as she wondered if he was proposing to her. Then, she was quick to dismiss the thought when she came to her senses.

Sebastian’s lips curled into a slight smile when he saw the silly and cute expression on her face. He asked:

– You don’t like that?

Roxane shook her head quickly. She couldn’t help but ask:

– Why did you give me a ring?

– We are now officially married. Our act must be perfect, Sebastian said, taking the ring out of the box and slowly putting it on for her,

– I don’t want grandmother to suspect us.

– But… This ring must be very expensive, right? What if I accidentally lost it…

She bit her lip, wondering how much she should draw to pay for the ring.

– It’s good. I’ll just deduct it from your brother’s salary.

Roxane:

-…

“It’s a good idea!”

Enzo, who was far away in M City, suddenly sneezed. He was unaware that the capitalist had already planned to deduct his salary.

…

The ring was slightly cool to the touch and the ruby gleamed in the light.

Roxane turned the ring on her ring finger as she raised her head to meet Sebastian’s deep, gentle gaze. A bright smile could be seen on her delicate face.

Sebastian smiled slightly as his eyes fell on the iPad in his lap. He asked :

– Do you need help ?

– Eh?

She followed the direction of his gaze and landed on her iPad before asking, confused:

– You don’t know how to draw, so how are you going to help me?

– It’s true that I don’t know how to draw, but…

Sebastien said in a low voice before stopping. Then, his dark eyes shined as his well-defined hands held her chin, and he knelt with one knee in front of her. Then he leaned closer to her.

Roxane was stunned when she saw the beautiful face enlarged before her eyes due to their proximity. She felt like she had stopped breathing as she looked at him with wide eyes.

Sebastian held his chin and tilted his head slightly. The tips of their noses were very close together, and their lips were even closer; their lips were only a millimeter apart.

Roxane could feel his warm breath on her face. His face was red, his ears were ringing, and his mind was blank. Its unique woody scent wafted into his nose. She heard the sound of a heart beating wildly, but she wasn’t sure if it was coming from him or her.

Sebastian’s eyes burned as he stared unblinkingly at her delicate face. His eyes slowly moved down her face until they landed on her tender pink lips. His breathing gradually became labored and he swallowed several times as if trying to hold back.

Something ambiguous hung in the air amid the silence.

The duo didn’t speak or move. They each looked at each other with unspoken emotions swirling in their eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, Sebastian finally looked down and walked away. Then he asked slowly in a hoarse voice:

– Have I given you inspiration?

She blinked slowly before finally coming to her senses and asked:

“You… You were trying to inspire me?

Sebastian nodded.Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

Roxane bit her lip and looked down. She felt slightly embarrassed when she thought about how she assumed he was going to kiss her.

– No?

Sebastian asked again.

-Ah, yes, yes. I know how to draw now…

she replied with a nod. She felt her ears burning.

Sebastian placed his warm hand on the top of her head, but he didn’t caress it. Then he said softly:

– Okay, then you can continue drawing. I will not bother you anymore.

After saying this, he got up and left.

Roxane’s eyes followed him, and when the door finally closed behind him, she let out a long sigh of relief. She rubbed her face with both hands and muttered to herself:

– Roxane Alvarez, don’t flatter yourself. He was just being nice and trying to inspire you.

After calming down, she picked up her pen and focused on revising her drawing.

…

Time passed very quickly. By the time Roxane had finished revising her drawing, it was already noon.

She stretched looking at her drawing with a smile on her face.

The two people who were about to kiss had their eyes closed. They looked like they were going to kiss, but they didn’t. There was an atmosphere of ambiguity and tension in the drawing.

-I’m truly incredible. I can’t believe I managed to draw this.

After saving the drawing, she turned off her iPad. As if she had remembered something, she went to the next room.

After knocking on the door three times, Patrice opened the door and greeted her respectfully.

– Madam.

Patrice did not lower his voice so that the executives sitting in his room could hear him very clearly. They were shocked.

– M-ma’am?