Mia

5 months later

The sun is high in the clear blue sky, casting a warm, golden light over the pristine beach. The Mediterranean Sea stretches out in front of us, its turquoise waters shimmering in the sunlight. The gentle breeze carries the fresh scent of salt and blooming flowers, mingling with the sound of the waves lapping softly against the shore. We were in Monaco right now. Our second holiday together. It's been 5 months since that horrible incident took place. 5 months of recovery. I finally felt like myself again and I decided to surprise Aryan by bringing him to one of my favourite countries in the world.

We were both lounging on comfortable beach chairs under a white umbrella. I was wearing a black one piece swimsuit that had a low V-cut and some crosses around the bodice that showed off my skin in a scandalous way, my YSL glasses were perched on my nose and I was reading a book. Aryan was next to me in a blue swim trunks, his naked tanned chest shined brightly under the sun, his Ray Bans glasses hid his eyes while he napped. I could see some girls giggling as they walked by him and I just stared at them.

"You look like you want to murder someone real bad." I heard Aryan's voice and I glanced at him. He pulled down his sunglasses and looked at me with a smirk. His light brown eyes looked like gold flecks under the sun.

"No, I don't." I scoffed and concentrated on reading my book again.

A waiter from the beach bar came back with the drinks we ordered. He placed the strawberry gin next to me and the strawberry vodka lemonade next to Aryan. He nodded at us and left.

"Hmm, so good and refreshing." Aryan took a sip and stirred his drink.

"I needed this." He sighed and leaned back in chair.

"I'm happy I brought you here then." I smiled at him.

"Let's go for a swim, fiore." He placed the drink down, got up and extended his hand to me.

I placed my book down, removed my glasses and took his hand and walked towards the blue ocean. We played around the water a bit splashing at each other. I even pushed him down and laughed.

"I'm so going to get you for that." He came back up, carried me and I squealed when he tossed me into the water.

"Aryan..... You ass..." I couldn't even finish cursing him because he splashed more water onto my face and I just stood there shocked. Aryan laughed harder at my expression.

"I'm going to get you for that." I started chasing him and he ran away back to our chairs.

By the time I reached him, I was panting a little hard. I haven't worked out in 5 months and given my heart condition and how I got shot, it took a massive toll on my fitness.

"Shit fiore, are you okay?" Aryan came to my side quickly and helped me to sit down.

"I'm fine, Aryan. It's just that I haven't ran like that in a long time."

"Fuck, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have strained you like that." He looked so worried and my heart melted at how much he cared about and how gentle he was.

The past 5 months was hell for him as well. From keeping an eye on my health and running back and forth from the hospital. On top of that he made sure to follow me to all my check ups. He had no breaks in between. Sometimes I would force him to go and spend some time with Rahul. I know they boxed together and I know he needed his boy time. It would at least get him to stop worrying about me so much.

"Baby stop worrying about me so much." I kissed him on his lips, he tasted like salty beach water.

"I can never stop worrying about you. It's my job and destiny."

"Too dramatic baby." I pushed him down on the chair and laid down on top of him. My back on his chest and his hand played with my hair.

I saw some guys ogling at me and I just rolled my eyes at them.

"Hey, she's taken. Walk away." I heard Aryan yell.

"Look who is all jealous and protective now." I smirked at him.

"Ofcourse I am. I don't want anyone staring at my girl." I giggled at his words.

"I am so delighted to be your girl." I played with his hair and he pecked me on the lips.

We pretty much spent the whole day on the beach, just laughing and relaxing until the sun started to set, then we headed back to our hotel and made love all night long.

Aryan

I had a huge surprise planned for Mia today and it took a lot to hide it from her. Honestly, she is the worst, Mia wasn't fond of surprises and the whole time we were out today, just walking along the bustling streets of Monte Carlo and trying to enjoy the scenery, she kept asking me why I looked nervous and suspicious and I kept brushing it off by saying that she is just obsessed with my face too much and of course she replied me with a sarcastic response.

Right now, we were in front of the famous Casino Square. The late afternoon sun was burning us like we were in hell and Mia was just enjoying a vanilla ice cream without a care in the world.

"Everything is set and in place sir." I received a text from one of the waiters at the hotel and I was a little relieved to know that. Now I just had to get Mia back to the hotel in time, right before sunset.

"Aryan take a picture of me, standing here. Make sure you get the whole outfit and make me look tall."

"How am I supposed to make you look tall?" I asked her all perplexed.

"Just take it from a good angle." She argued.

I took so many pictures for her until she was satisfied. God this girl.

I checked my watch and it was already 6.p.m. I have to get Mia back to the hotel so that she can get ready for her surprise and boy does she take long to get ready. She has to pick the right outfit, makeup and hairstyle and I am familiar with how she operates by now. So I already got her outfit sorted out and decided how I was going to style her hair. I even watched some youtube videos on how to do it. As for her makeup, well I just have to get her to do a simple quick one, she is already very pretty and doesn't need too much stuff on her face anyways.

"Fiore, let's go back, it's getting late."

"Late?. It's only 6p.m. The sun doesn't set for another 2 hours and plus I want to visit the car collection museum. I promised my siblings I would take some pics for them." She protested.

"Fiore, we can come back here tomorrow. I just want to go back to the hotel now. The sun is burning my skin." I whined in hopes of getting her to listen to me.

"I told you to wear sunscreen but fine let's go back to the hotel. I don't want you getting sunburned." She caved and I celebrated my victory in silence.

We arrived back at the hotel and I told her that I made dinner reservations for us and told her to get ready quickly. I knew she was growing more suspicious by the minute but I didn't have time to worry about that. I had to get her ready for the surprise. God I hope the plan works out.

She showered and put on her short red maroon dress that I picked out for her the other day at the mall. It had a heart shaped neckline, thin straps and the bottom part of the dress was flowy. I made her sit down in front of the mirror and did her hair. I blew her hair dry first and then used a curler to curl it, giving her a natural look.

"Where did you learn how to curl people's hair?" She questioned me while she looked at me with an amused look from the mirror.

"Youtube."

"You can do my hair from now on. I can tell my hairstylist I don't need her anymore." I chuckled at her statement.

"Thank you for the compliment Fiore, but I only learnt this because it takes you forever to get your hair done and we are always late because of that."

"I'm never late, everyone else is simply early." She quoted Queen Clarissa from Princess Diaries.

"I have to tell you to get ready a week before we even plan to go anywhere, because you have to pick out your outfit, get your hair and nails done and finally your makeup. It takes at least 5 hours, baby." I styled the last strand of hair and was satisfied with my work.

She got up and fluffed her hair out and turned around and faced me.

"Now, you go get ready or we will actually be late." She walked out of the bathroom to go and get her makeup done.

I took a shower and came back into the room and changed into my white linen shirt and black jeans. I stood in front of the mirror and styled my jet black hair and applied some perfume on me. I could tell I was getting more nervous by the minute and I had to shake my nerves off or Mia will start bugging me about it again.

"Ready." I walked out back into the room again and I saw her clasping on her high heels.

"I'm ready too." She jumped up from the bed and stumbled back and almost fell down.

"Can you please be...."

"Let's take a picture." She dragged me to the floor length mirror and we took a bunch of cute pictures together.

We headed down to the restaurant to have our dinner. It was an open restaurant facing the beach. It's a beautiful evening on the Monaco beach, the sky painted with the soft hues of the setting sun. People walking and talking around all over us.

"Okay Aryan, you got this. Just hold your shit together for another hour." I mentally reminded myself.

The waiter guided us to our table and I helped Mia sit down. While she was scanning the menu, I pretended to take a call and I got up and walked away from her.

I walked over to Jacques standing at the side. He was the manager of the restaurant and he had a calm look on his face. He instantly smiled when he saw me.

"Jacques, is everything ready." I whispered urgently.

"Oui, Monsieur Aryan. The musicians are in position, the candles are ready, and the sign has been arranged as per your wish. We just need the signal." He nodded.

"Okay we will have dinner first and then take a long walk down the beach and once we reach the spot, I will give you the signal."

"Alright Monsieur."

I walked back nervously back to our table and sat down again.

"Are you alright?" Mia raised her perfectly threaded eyebrow at me.

"I-im fine. Why would you even ask that? I'm so damn fine." I started rambling.

"You look like you got caught doing something you shouldn't have been doing." She replied in a flat tone.

"No, I just got a call from the hospital and there was a problem and they needed my help. That is all." I lied.

"Okay whatever you say Doctor Aryan. You are always on duty even when you are on holiday."

"It's a tiring profession." I admitted.

"Doctor's were never my type at all." She took a sip of her drink and placed it down. Her confession caught me off guard.

"What do you mean and why?" I started panicking further.

"They are always busy, they can hardly make time for their loved ones and besides they just might nag you about your health and stuff." She basically described me in one painful sentence. After dating me for almost a year, now she says, doctors are not her type. She might as well just stab me to death at this point.

"Then what is your type?" I felt a lump forming in my throat.

"Businessmans, engineers, sometimes even boxers." I looked up at her instantly when she said the last part and there was an evil grin on her face.

This infuriating woman.....

"But unfortunately for me, I am very much in love with this nagging, annoying Doctor." She sighed and placed her hand on her heart.

"I'm sure he isn't that bad." I tried defending myself.

"He's alright."

We enjoyed the rest of our dinner with laughter and our usual banter. When we were done, I once again started getting anxious.

"Mia, would you like to go for a walk on the beach?" I anxiously asked her.

"Yeah sure, a walk right now would be lovely." She gave me a beautiful smile and my heart skipped a beat.

Mia

I knew Aryan was hiding something from me. The whole damn day he was just nervous and agitated for some reason. His restlessness was evident on his beautiful face. Even at dinner, I noticed him fidgeting and getting more anxious by the hour. "What is wrong with him?" I wondered to myself. Now all of a sudden, he wants to go for a walk on the beach and I agreed in hopes that it would calm down his nerves.

We silently walked hand in hand along the beach. The evening sun setting casted a warm orange glow around us. Everything just felt so perfect in the moment and I enjoyed it very much except for Aryan, he was still worried for some reason.

"Mia, will you close your eyes for me?" He asked abruptly and I was taken aback.

"Close my eyes? Why?" I sounded confused.

"Please just do it for me?" Aryan begged and I closed my eyes.

Honestly, what is going on?

I closed my eyes and Aryan placed his hand on my shoulder and guided me further down the beach.

"Where are we going Aryan?"

"We are almost there, Fiore."

We stopped after a few minutes and the Aryan removed his hand from my shoulder.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yes"

I opened my eyes and I saw Aryan kneeling in front of me. Next to me, I saw candles and rose petals arranged in a heart shape. Inside the heart, the words "Will you marry me?" were arranged using more red petals. My eyes started swelling up and I closed my mouth with my hand and looked back at Aryan. He was holding a beautiful diamond platinum ring. The cut was so perfect and beautiful.

"Aryan......I....you." Tears were streaming down my cheeks.

"Mia, my fiore, the love of my life, from the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were going to be someone special in my life. My life was extremely dark and meaningless before you and then you walked in and my whole life changed. Your love, laugh and most importantly sarcasm lighted up my life. Mia, we've shared so many wonderful moments together, you've brought so much of happiness and laughter into my life and I can't imagine a world without you, fiore. I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you've made me. I want to laugh with you, cry with you, and grow old with you. You are the Queen of my Heart. Mia, will you marry me?" His words were so beautiful and cheesy but I absolutely loved it.

"Yes...... Yes, yes." I jumped onto Aryan and almost pushed him down but he held us up.

He placed the beautiful ring on my finger and I cried further and kissed him.

"I love you.... I love you so much Aryan." I cupped his face.

"I love more fiore. You are my angel and my light." He hugged me and kissed my lips.

"Is that why you were so anxious and fidgeting like you were about to have a heart attack?"

"Yes. Do you know how hard is it to plan a proposal? All that planning and making sure you don't accidentally find out."

"You pulled it off like a pro. Best proposal ever." I complimented him.

"I am so happy you said yes." Aryan sighed in relief.

"What would you have done if I said no?"

"I would have jumped into the ocean."

I laughed when he said that and he looked so upset and I laughed harder.

"If I knew you would do that, I would purposely say it."

"Of course you would." He rolled his eyes.

"Now let's go back to our room. I wanna make love to you all night long as your fiance." Aryan whispered into my ears and placed a kiss there.

"You don't even have to ask twice." We both went into our room and did exactly what we planned.

If a year ago, someone told me I would  be married to someone as annoying as Aryan, I would have thrown coffee all over their face. But that is the funny thing about life, it takes you on an unexpected roller coaster ride. Aryan, my love and my light, I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. When it's just the two of us, the whole world just fades away. His gentle touch, his laughs and his love for me speaks volume more than words ever could. Everytime, we hold each other close, I become lost in the symphony of our love. In those moments nothing else matters except the warmth of his embrace and the electrifying love he always showers me with. As we continue this new journey in our lives, we are about to create more beautiful memories that will last a lifetime and I can't wait to spend every waking moment of my life loving him through it all.

I love you Aryan.