Whatever It Takes Ch. 03

After a few minutes, Phillip joined Nicole in a deserted little area under the grand staircase.

"So, what do you think so far?" he asked, handing her a glass of Champaign. "Was it everything you thought it'd be?"

She laughed, "And more. It's amazing, really. I can't thank you enough."

"So you're not mad anymore?"

"I may have overreacted a bit, and I am sorry about that. But in the future, I would appreciate it if you would talk to me first before doing something this outrageous."

Phillip gave her the sad-eyed puppy look. "But it's much more fun if I can surprise you."

"Phillip, I'm serious. This might be nothing for you, but I nearly had a heart attack when I opened that box."

"Alright, alright. I'll try to stick to smaller surprises from now on. Would that make you happy?"

"Yes, so long as you and I have the same definition of 'smaller'"

"Fine. You're such a killjoy, you know that?"

Nicole shot him a dirty look. In return, Phillip once again squeezed her cheeks.

"That's not going to work. Remember what I said about looking cute when you're angry?"

Nicole opened her mouth to respond, but the lights flickered again, and everyone left to return to their seats.

Nicole turned to leave. "Guess we should head back." Before she made it too far, Phillip place his hand on her shoulder.

Phillip took a drink, and turned to Nicole with a very serious expression. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, becoming embarrassed and self-conscious under his stare.

"Nicole, there's something I wanted to talk to you about tonight."

She looked at him, confused. "Alright...but couldn't it wait until-"

"What did you think of me when we first met?" If he hadn't looked so austere at that moment, she would've burst out laughing.

"What? I-I don't know. What kind of question is that?"

"I mean, I know we haven't known each other all that long, but I feel like we were made for each other. Have you ever heard that Greek story about how humans were split, and spend their lives searching for their other half, their soul mate, in order to feel complete? That's how I've felt about you from the very beginning, Nicole...like you're my other half."

"Phillip, I think you might be a little confused...a-are you feeling okay?" responded Nicole, gradually becoming more and more nervous.

Phillip placed their drinks on a nearby table, and grabbed both of her hands. "I've never been so sure of anything. I love you, and I never want to be without you. I want you to always be with me, and let me be the only person who makes you happy."

Nicole was almost disgusted by this sudden confession. She had never wanted to be in a relationship where things felt rushed, and he was taking rushed to a whole new extreme.

She tore her hands away from his and began to walk away. "Can we please just go back to the show?" Phillip grabbed her arm.

"I think you should stay right here with me," he said, tightening his grip on her.

"You're scaring me. Please, let go."

"Not until we've finished our talk."

"Phillip, why don't we just finish watching the opera, and then talk later?" she asked, desperately hoping that there was some part of his brain that was still thinking rationally.

Phillip's demeanor only darkened. "Stay." He commanded, as though she were his pet. Nicole did as she was told, afraid of what would happen if she didn't. "Now, back to what I was saying. I want you to become mine. By that, I mean I want you to marry me."

Nicole was fighting to hold back tears. She would've never thought that she'd be in a situation like this, and the tension was becoming too much for her to handle. They were all alone in the lobby, and she really had nowhere to run to. She was sure that if she ran into the hall, people would think she was just some crazy girl trying to start a scene, and it wasn't as though she could run back to the apartment. She felt trapped. "You're crazy!" she cried out, raising her hand to slap him.

He caught her wrist and held it. "Only for you, baby. Now, you do have the option of saying no, but I think you should listen to what I have to offer you..."

Nicole only heard the first part of that last sentence. Of course I'm going to say no! She thought. He's lost it! And it's just my luck that the hottest guy I'll probably ever meet turns out to be a complete lunatic!

"In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend rejecting my proposal. You see, I know people, I have an infinite number of connections, and my family has more influence than you could imagine. I want to help you, Nicole. I could easily pay off your loans for school, grad school, and whatever else you want to do. I can help you build up your career. In a year, I could get you in a position that would take most people 10 years to earn."

Nicole hardly knew what to think about that. It was a tempting offer, sure. But at what cost? "And if I do say no?" she asked.

"Well, just as I could use my connections to help you, I could also use them to ruin you," he responded, dead serious. He put his hand to her face and began caressing her cheek. "I can make it so that you spend the rest of your life working some menial, minimum wage job, all while having to pay off what you owe in student loans. I can make sure that not only you, but your family as well, spends the rest of your lives in debt. Everything will be taken away, all because you made a dumb decision. And going to the authorities wouldn't solve anything for you. It'd be your word against mine, and a few important people owe me some favors. Not to mention the justice system is more corrupt than you can imagine, and someone's always willing to accept a bribe. "

Nicole remained silent while she thought about the things Phillip had said. He's crazy, he's gone completely mad! But I believe him. I believe he'll follow through on his threats. There has to be some way out of this, though. I'll go along with it for now and figure things out later.

"Well?"

"I...yes. I'll marry you." Just saying the words made Nicole want to cry. I'll just keep playing along. He'll have to let his guard down sometime, and there has to be someone who can help me, but now is definitely not the time for me to do something that might upset him.

"I knew it! I knew you felt the same way!" he exclaimed, kissing her hands over and over again. "Nicole, I'm going to make you so happy, I promise. Let's get out of here."

"But...the opera..."

"There will be plenty of time for that in the future. I'll take you to see one every weekend if you want. But for now, I want to celebrate. Come on." He grabbed her arm and led her out of the opera house, and into a town car waiting for them outside. Once in the car, Nicole became even more on edge, and tried to move as far away from Phillip as she could, not wanting to be so close to a lunatic who was capable of ruining her life. What have I done?! There's no way in hell I'm actually going to marry him, though, she reminded herself. Things will work out in the end, I'm sure of it. But those thoughts did nothing to calm her rapidly beating heart. She'd never been so scared. Then something occurred to her.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Back to my place." He responded, coolly. On the outside, he tried to remain calm. However, his thoughts were anything but. She's mine! All mine! Well, almost, but I guess we'll get to that later. There's so much to be done now, but we'll just take things one step at a time. God, I'm so lucky. She's so perfect. And now she's mine.