Over the next three days, three events took place that changed Cat's life completely. And the more she thought about it, the more it felt like fate and perfectly timed destiny.
The first event happened the day after her decision to move in with Alec. She was presented with a notice that her lease would be ending within two weeks. Cat immediately took this as confirmation of her decision, and Alec immediately sprang into action. With little time and essentially endless resources, he arranged for a moving company to handle the entire process for Cat.
The second event was a long, heartfelt conversation on Sunday night, and Cat finally let go of her hesitancy to rely on Alec to provide for her financially. This included, but was not limited to, the tuition for the remainder of her time at NYU as well as any further academic pursuits she might be interested in. This one was kind of huge, and Cat was more than a little apprehensive. The tipping point, however, was Alec's not-so-subtle reference to a trip he might, or might not, have made to Cartier that morning. The tone of his voice told Cat a certain piece of jewelry was inevitable and forthcoming, so she happily relented to being dependent upon him in a financial sense.
Moving in only a matter of days was a huge undertaking, even with the services Alec had employed on her behalf. Cat uncharacteristically opted to take a day off from classes that week to sift through her belongings and divvy up items she knew Alec already had, donating the majority of her things to a local homeless shelter. That evening, the moving company transported boxes of little more than her clothing and a few sentimental items across the Brooklyn Bridge to what was now being referred to as Cat and Alec's condo.
The third event was the nail in the coffin for Cat's financial independence. Before she left her now former side of town, and at the behest of Alec's promises and urgings, Cat made her way into the bar where she had worked for just shy of two years and terminated her employment.
What Cat had believed would be a little scary felt surprisingly liberating. Her heart was full of hope for the future, one that included a home and life with her best-friend-turned-boyfriend-slash-soon-to-be-fiancé-and-later-husband. She considered her random and sudden move to New York almost two years prior to be the best decision she'd ever made and honestly felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
The whole whirlwind of events was mildly amusing. Saturday afternoon, Cat had been so livid with Alec she had been prepared to end their entire relationship, and by Wednesday evening she was living with him.
It was a classic first major argument, and despite her inexperience with relationships, Cat knew those things were going to happen. He'd made an honest mistake, she took it personally, he'd apologized, she'd forgiven him, and they did what they needed to ensure it wouldn't happen again.
The silver lining of the mishap was it thrust them into a place where Cat honestly believed they needed to be, because they seemed to be at the beginning of forever. The future was bright, and she knew it. She could practically hear the wedding bells chiming. Mostly because of Alec’s hilarious inability to keep a secret.
* * * *
"Cat!" Alec called as he made his way through the front door. "You gotta see this thing I just got from Richie. Where are ya?"
He sniffed the air and followed the enticing scent into the kitchen and found Cat humming pleasantly while she chopped up vegetables like a professional sous chef. Various pots and skillets simmered on the stove, and two wine glasses were set out next to a bottle of Malbec.
The appearance of her so wrapped up in such a distinctly domestic task made Alec want to immediately rush to his closet and pull out the not-so-secret surprise he had for her, but he opted to wait and simply slid up behind her to kiss the nape of her neck.
"Do you mean to tell me you can cook something other than pancakes?" he teased, smiling into her hair.
Cat giggled. "Excuse me, Mr. Branneth. I am Italian, after all." She set the knife down and turned to face him, wrapping both arms around his shoulders and catching his lips with her own. She smiled at him sweetly. "Besides, I couldn't take one more differential equation. My brain is officially mush."
"Damn." He grimaced. "I remember dabbling with that a bit in high school. The teachers all insisted that I'd use it in real life, but I've successfully managed to avoid it so far."
"I doubt I'll be that lucky." Cat smirked. "Just watch: five years from now, I'll probably end up as a ninth grade algebra teacher or something." She pulled a wooden spoon out of a pot, blew on it briefly, and then cupped Alec's chin. "My mama's recipe. Taste."
"Mmmmm, oh man," he moaned, taking the spoon from her and licking it greedily. "Maybe you should switch to culinary school."
He started to dip the spoon back in the marinara sauce when Cat playfully smacked his hand away.
"No, sir," she scolded. "You have to wait. Pour the wine." She flipped an authoritative finger toward the glasses.
"Yes, ma’am!" He complied, chuckling.
Alec filled the two glasses and handed one to Cat.
"To you," he toasted. "And your first night living with me."
"No," Cat corrected, grinning. "To us. And the first night of the rest of our lives."
An enamored smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and he pressed his hips against hers, pinning her against the counter.
"You keep talking like that and I might have to pull you out of this kitchen for the rest of the night."
"And I might let you," Cat said coyly. "But then the food would burn. So, I'd better just hold my tongue."
"Hmm, allow me," he murmured, slipping his own tongue between her parted lips. "Mmm, red wine tastes good on you."
"And on you, too, mio amore." Cat kissed his chin and turned back to the stove. "So, what did you get from Richie?"
"Oh yeah." Alec pulled a rolled-up magazine out of his back pocket and laid it out on the counter. "Tony's interview. Check it out."
Cat set the spoon down and stepped in front of the splayed-out article. Alec pressed his chest against her back and placed his hands on the counter on either side of her.
"Read the first paragraph," he murmured, brushing her cheek with his mouth.
Cat glanced over her shoulder with a small grin, and then turned her eyes back to the pages to read:
It is a rare phenomenon to make it in such a cutthroat environment as the world of big budget films. Rarer still is a meteoric ascent over the course of an extremely short period of time. The past twelve months of American film actor Alec Branneth's life proves, however, that sometimes the stars simply align and bring forth success of unprecedented proportions. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Branneth to discuss his burgeoning career in the swanky comforts of his Manhattan condo, which he shares with his lovely girlfriend, Miss Catarina Bellafiore.
"It should say wife." Alec whispered into Cat's ear, causing her to whip around and smack his shoulder playfully.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She giggled. "Between this and your little spiel on Sunday, you have pretty much spoiled your own surprise!"
"That part is hardly a surprise."
"Yeah, no kidding!"
"What I mean is," Alec went on, "the surprise will be when. I hope you know me well enough to understand that it's been something I've wanted since the beginning. Probably for as long as I've known you. I love you, Cat. Always have, always will. And I refuse to live the rest of my life without you as my wife, so prepare yourself. It's coming soon."
Cat pressed her fingers into her forehead and shook her head in amusement. "You might as well just do it already then, you big goofball."
"No way!" Alec laughed. "I'm working on the biggest, sappiest show of romantic emotions that you've ever seen. That's part of the fun."
Cat giggled and sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair and down his back. "Well, I'm excited. I love you so much. And you'd better prepare yourself, too."
Alec furrowed his brow with confusion. "For what?"
With a sassy tilt of her head and mischievous grin on her face, Cat responded, "For me to say yes."