7 HIT A BIT TOO HARD

When Mary and Daniel entered their room they threw a glance at the big and spacious bed standing in the middle of it. Mary felt a bit regretful; the bed was too big for her liking, because on such a bed you may sleep together and not even meet once during the night. She honestly wished the bed was smaller, much smaller.

"Now, show me the night gown which you took for such a grand occasion..." Daniel said laughing.

"I took several," Mary answered, she looked very serious. "Would you like to choose?"

"Without any doubt!"

Regardless of the evening scandal, Daniel felt that the night might still be promising, especially considering the fact that he felt really jealous. He was still fighting the urge to beat Jim up for his stupid attempt to get Mary's attention. They were friends; and one friend should not try to kiss or steal the girl from another friend. Something felt amiss in this whole story; such behavior was not in Jim's character.

Mary really took three night gowns with her and when she was changing them she asked Daniel to turn away. He did turn away but it didn't mean he would not steal a glance or two while she was undressing. He didn't feel wrong about doing it though.

He took a picture of her in each night gown and compared them when their little game was over. For him the choice was obvious, the night gown with the least amount of fabric in it won the competition. When Mary was standing in front of him in this gorgeous prize-winning gown he noticed her blushing.

"Why are you blushing?" he asked.

"Am I blushing?" she replied, her voice failing a little, her breath a bit too rapid and irregular.

Daniel measured her with a long look. No way! Might that be?.. Might that be that she really had feelings for him? He was afraid to jump to this conclusion, afraid to be mistaken, afraid but still he caught himself feeling hopeful. If she really could fall in love with him that would be so much easier. He would not have to ask himself why she was with him, was it just for money, or money was just an excuse to be by his side.

He came up to her and put his hands on her waist, her breathing became even more rapid. He smiled and tenderly kissed her on the lips.

Mary felt like her legs would fail her any moment and she would collapse on the floor. Her head was spinning, heart was racing, there was not enough air in her lungs and she felt heat rising in her stomach.

Seeing her in this condition he let go of her saying, "I'll go take a shower, wait for me, alright?"

"I will" she said blushing again.

When he left the room she sat on the bed, then lay down a little, and then the next thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the night darkness. She fell asleep...

Daniel covered her with a blanket and fell asleep by her side after he returned from the shower. But now he was gone, the place beside Mary was empty.

Why? Why did she have to fall asleep in such a moment? It was very unlucky. She sighed.

Feeling thirsty she went to the kitchen to find some water and saw that the lights were on, someone was not sleeping as well. It turned out to be Jim; his cheek was still swollen.

When Mary saw him, she started to turn back but he already caught a glance of her, "Please don't go, I won't touch you!"

Mary slowed down her retreat and carefully scanned the kitchen locating all utensils which could be used for self-defense purposes. Jim followed her glance and laughed bitterly, "You won't need them this time, I promise."

Still indecisive, Mary took several steps forward, then entered the kitchen and headed for a glass to pour some water.

"Can you sit with me for a little? I can't sleep," he said.

"Why would I want to sit with you?!" Mary felt anger rising in her; she was not ready to talk to this guy yet. But he looked so unhappy...

"Please."

Mary felt pity for him and gave up at last, "Alright, but not for too long."

She sat down and drank her water silently, he also didn't speak. The atmosphere was uncomfortable. When Mary was already going to stand up and leave, Jim raised his head and spoke up at last.

"Marry me."

Mary was dumbfounded, "Wha.. What?.." She thought she misheard.

"I'm ready to marry you here and now. Do you agree?"

Mary was still in shock and could not utter a word of reply. What did he mean? Was it another of his jokes?

"I'm sorry for what I did earlier; I did a wrong thing for a wrong reason, and I deserve this bruise on my cheek. But when you hit me something in my head got on the move and pieces of some puzzle clicked together. I think I fell in love with you. Marry me."

She found her voice at last, "Here and now?"

"Yes."

"We're in the countryside and it's a deep night already. Who on earth would come to register this sudden marriage?! Be serious! It's a very stupid joke..."

"Except it's not a joke. You forgot that I'm also not some guy from the street, I have money and influence too, you know. If need be, in half an hour a person to register our marriage would be here. Do You Agree?" He pronounced each word of the last sentence separately, as if emphasizing that the only thing stopping them was her agreement, and nothing else mattered.

He was not serious, was he?

"But I am with Daniel!" she replied.

"Yes, with Daniel, who offered you money for sleeping with him, and who's not serious about you and probably won't ever be!"

"You don't know that!" she cried.

"Shh... Not so loud… Only a fool doesn't know that, and I believe I'm not that much of a fool. I'm offering you freedom, you can do whatever you want, just marry me. I know you don't love me, but I'll try to show you that I'm really not the worst person to fall in love with."

Mary still could not comprehend it; she was struck by this turn of events.

"You just met me, how can you ask me to marry you? I don't understand..." she said.

"Well... I guess you hit me a bit too hard..." He tried to joke but his voice had no humor in it. "You haven't given a clear answer to me yet," he pressed.

"Jim, you know the answer. I'll refuse. And I don't think that Daniel is just playing around or whatever, you all say, he's doing. I think it can work out between us two. And I hope you can understand me."

"I don't. But I want you to know, that my offer stays open. Any time you feel like changing your mind, just give me a call or something." He found a tissue and a pen and wrote down his number for her. "Or if you need help. Or just someone to talk to... Whatever happens, just give me a call or write to me."

Mary took the number from him. He did not look like the Jim she met earlier, like it was a different Jim in front of her, as if someone replaced him overnight. This one was mature and manly. Maybe she did hit him too hard after all...

After taking his number she excused herself and headed back to her room. On her way out of the kitchen it seemed she heard some noise, but she could not see what it was because of the darkness.

When she got back to the room she found that Daniel still was not there; and Mary did not like it. Was something wrong?

About ten minutes later he returned and said that he needed a breath of fresh air and was watching the stars outside on the porch, but he accurately missed out the fact that while he was standing on the porch the kitchen window was open and he heard the whole conversation which took place between Jim and Mary. He was glad she refused the offer, but she still took Jim's number. And it took her quite some time to pronounce her definite refusal. He was glad, yes, but he was worried as well. He took Mary in his arms as if afraid that someone might steal her away during the night.

Jim was still sitting in the kitchen when Gabriella went in. She was in her worst mood; she took a glass of water and stormed out of the kitchen not saying even a word to him. What was wrong with that woman?! He took all the blame for the kiss with Mary, didn't he? There was no reason for her to be angry...

And yet there was a reason, at least in Gabriella's opinion. It happened so that she also overheard this intimate conversation in the kitchen as well as Jim's proposal. It was her Jim! The Jim who followed her around like a puppy for years hopelessly in love with her. And now this girl from a bar came to steal Daniel and Jim as well!

When Jim returned to his room the house fell into silence again.