Feather After // Chapter 42 // Songs and A Yes

Aria's POV

"Just remember why you're here Aria," I heard mother mumble and I took a sip of the cold liquid from the glass in my hand. I nodded. I had no interest in knowing what she meant. I didn't want to know, whatever she wanted she would get it anyways so there was no point of any resistance. "Now go and have fun," she said and smiled at me.

I walked towards Zachariah who was standing at the back of the room. He looked at me, and said, "Do not disturb me it's just a private time for this chicken and me."

I nodded and he looked at me, he wiggled his eyebrows at him and said, "Chicken here is better than KFC, I would want to know the number of the damn chef."

A waiter was passing by, he looked at him abs called him, "tell your manager that this pretty lady right here said that the chicken is amazing, she would like few pieces more."

"Hey-"

"If my mother gets to know that I have eaten ten pieces of chicken, she'll kill me."

"How many have you eaten till now?"

"VJ's?"

"No your horny man, chicken pieces."

"This is the fourteenth one I guess," he shrugged as if it was no big deal. People ate ten pieces of chicken all the time. "I have lost count now, shut up!"

Tell me everything that I need to know about the gala," I asked Zachariah while he ate the fifteenth piece of fried chicken. The manager had placed a waiter next to Zachariah who was bringing him chicken pieces when his plate got empty.

"Get a glass of wine for me," he said as a man with a tray full of glasses of various drinks passed us. When he heard us, he stopped and bent the tray for me to choose a drink. "No alcohol for you, you're still a minor," he said. Well, I wasn't planning on taking anything in the first place.

"I'm sorry she doesn't know how things are done here, she is still new," he said to the man serving us the drinks and he just smiled at me.

He shoved another piece of chicken in his mouth and pushed the plate towards me. He took the glass of wine from my hand and took a sip from it. He then gave me the glass back and took the plate from me.

"It's time for some salsa now!" Zachariah exclaimed and shoved the plate and the glass onto the hands of the waiter who was standing there just for him. He smiled and politely took the plate and the glass.

"What-"

"It'll be fun," he led me to the center of the dance floor and gave me a 'bitch, I'm a bitch' smile.

"What the hell are you doing"?" I hissed at Zachariah while he twirled me around the dance floor. He just smiled at me and pulled me closer to him. He sneaked his arms around my waist and I almost stumbled.

"I don't know how to dance, don't you get it!" I whispered in his left ear but he didn't say anything. Before I could know what was happening, he pushed me back while his hands were in mine and gave me a mini heart attack. I glared at him.

He put his left hand behind him and twirled me around, again. "I'll puke all over that expensive suit of yours, don't challenge me," I threatened him and he smiled again, "meet me outside, I'll kill you. And then I'll bury you under this chandelier."

"Just relax," he mumbled and pulled me closer. With my face on his chest, we twirled around the center of the huge room. The romance was in the air, I saw a lot of people: couples dancing around me. Some guys had their hands on their partner's butt. I thanked God that Zachariah didn't do that. I would have kicked his balls if he tried to do anything.

"What if the chandelier falls on us, I don't know about you-"

"But I'm feeling twenty-two," he cut me off. Oh god, this guy.

"Hey-"

"Hey hey, you-you I could be your girlfriend, yes yes I think you need a new one," he winked at me, I opened my mouth to say something but then I closed it. I really wanted to take my heels off and hit him on his head with it.

"Zachariah please, listen to me. I can't dance anymore. I love-"

"Love the way you lie, love the way you lie," he mumbled and smiled at me. He was not letting me say anything because he was interrupting him with lyrics of different songs.

"Please-"

"Please have mercy on me, take it easy on my heart, even though you don't mean to hurt me, you keep tearing me apart," he sang. I squeezed my eyes shut. With the soft music playing in the background, I was pretty sure his voice was audible and I didn't want to get noticed.

"Zachariah, shut up!" I stomped on his foot and glared at him. He mumbled a quick 'ouch' and then glared at me. I glared at him back. He was literally poking me. His voice was hideous. I would rather hear a bunch of old ladies singing karaoke than hear him sing what he was singing. I knew Shawn Mendes wouldn't hesitate twice before hitting Zachariah in his head with his favorite guitar if he heard him singing mercy like that.

"Bang!" I mumbled, my mission was finally achieved. Zachariah was quite handful if someone wanted my opinion. He was pleasant. He emitted good vibes, I mean in Zachariah's presence nobody could feel sad. He was like Xavier. The only difference was Xavier was 'I don't give a fuck' annoying and Zachariah was 'I'm so annoying that even annoyance will get annoyed by me' annoying.

He looked at me and smirked, I think it was the silence before the storm.

"Bang," he said and eyed me, as if he was saying 'bitch you'll face the consequences' and continued, "bang she got me one thing, bang she got me two thing, bang bang, bang."

"What the hell!"

"I prefer the word fuck more," he said and pulled me closer.

"I hope you know this is not our honeymoon, this is a dance going on. Plus I'll be not marrying you for the next two months!" I looked at him. All the boys were horny.

"You know, all the guys are the same, we could work your dick up in like two seconds, irrespective of what your age is," I shook my head.

"I bet you could work my dick up, in just one second. Want to give it a try?"

"I'm sure you don't have one," I raised my eyebrow at him.

"I'm sure I do. You have no idea how worked up it is. Want to feel it?" He said and pulled me closer. I swear to god if he hadn't been some formal ball where I was not just representing my self but my family and their companies as a whole, I would have beaten the crap out of him right there.

"You're one hell of a horny man," I gave him a smile and he smiled back. I was not in love with Zachariah that didn't mean that I couldn't fall in love with him. I mean, I don't see anything wrong with him. He was a little horny but these days who isn't?

"Learnt from the best," he smiled at me. Suddenly the music stopped and he let go of my hand. I stepped back. I looked around, the beautiful walls of the room. The walls were with white surrounded by golden pillars and beautifully carved painting. There were paintings of men feeding each other, children playing around, women sitting in groups and knitting. There were lights shining on the wall carvings making it look even more beautiful. I didn't know much about this place but I knew that it was old. Or the paintings and the designs on the walls have been brought from somewhere and was painted and glued here. Whatever it was, it was nice.

Suddenly the lights turned soft, I looked around. The ceiling of the room started glowing into different constellations. It looked like the night, the dark blue sky with small silver lights, giving the effect of stars. The lights of the ballroom started fading away and everything started disappearing. What was happening?

Suddenly a white bean of light fell on us. Zachariah was bent on one of his knees and had a ring in his hand. It was a white box, and a ring shined in it. The ring meant so many things to so man you people.

"Aria, you're the love of my life," Zachariah said, and everyone gasped including me. He was the same guy who was trying to press his dick and wanted me to feel it. I don't know about his love but he definitely wanted me to be the fuck of this life. "I remember the first time I saw you, you looked so beautiful," I remember he told me that I looked like a mixture of a koala and a monkey, on our first date. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You make me the happiest man on this planet. Your sarcasm is marvelous. You love geography and I love history! We're meant to be one, Aria Everly Rhett, will you please do the honor of being my wife?"

"Yes."