"Let's elope." Anne suggested with a glint in her eyes. "We can go somewhere far away and start a new life together, away from all the drama and stress."
Ryan was taken aback by the idea, but couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement wash over him. This could be their chance to start fresh and truly be happy together. He looked at Anne, her eyes were filled with hope and sincerity. It was if she had planned this for a while now.
Ryan felt a smile growing on his lips and without hesitation, he took her hand and was tempted to say, "Let's do it. Let's abandon this present life and go very faraway..." But instead he stopped himself and simply smiled warmly.
He can't leave his mother, though she nags a lot, but she's always worried about him. Additionally, there are still many things he can't let go off-mostly the companies.
Where would he start from if he elopes? A once CEO turns out to be working under a new manager or worst still, a supervisor -that sounded like a good headlines news, but he's not ready for such.
"Look here, Anne..."he began, "I think this is a wonderful opportunity for us, but then we can't. Do you expect we run and leave everything behind like a coward? What might become of us outside the world? I'm sorry, but we can't."
Anne's expression faltered for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. "I understand, Ryan," she said softly. "I just thought maybe we could have a new start somewhere, away from all the stress and chaos. But you're right, running away isn't the solution. We have to face our problems and find a way to overcome them."
Ryan nodded in agreement, feeling a sense of relief that Anne understood where he was coming from. "Exactly. We can't just abandon everything I toil day and night, go through all sort of embarrassment for, and start anew." He uttered. "I don't think I'm ready to lose those companies yet, not after my hard work towards them."
With a second thought, she realized he's right. There might not be any good profit - yielding business out there -even if there's, she doubts if he'll have enough capital to set one up for himself.
"Do you have any suggestion then?" She asked him, prying into his eyeballs like she might find some hidden answer in it.
Ryan took a deep breath and thought for a moment before responding, "I think the first step is to take care of ourselves, both physically and mentally -that's the only thing I can think of the moment."
"I don't know if this will go well with you, but that's the only way out that's left for us." Ryan muttered sadly after a couple of seconds of silence between them.
Anne was lost in thought. She really needs to think of something because she is not ready to lose when she is yet to start winning. Not that she needs her brain the most, it seems not to be functioning well again -where are her cunning tricks and quick idea of solutions?
She had wanted to slap her head in frustration, but she maintains herself knowing that doing so will cause nothing but attraction from the onlookers, and she was not ready for that, they might think she had gone nut.
"Think, Anne, think of something!" She said to herself in nothing but desperation. "You are not that dumb not to come up with another solution, just thinks" "What's wrong, Anne? Is there anything wrong with what I had said?" Ryan asked, noticing the strange look on her face -if only he knows she was fighting her inner self, he wouldn't have come up with his supposed assumption.
"Not at alL." Anne quickly responded with a small laugh to back her reply up, lightening her facial features. "It has nothing to do with whatever you had just said, this is just -never mind."
Ryan was having a second thought that she was not saying the truth, perhaps, she was not happy with his decision about them not running away, but she has to view things in his own way too.
It will be useless if they just elope because they will have to start from the scratch again and, maybe, Ryan would never be famous like this anymore -it will take them years to stand on their own. Running away should be excluded from the plan because it won't benefit neither himself nor her.
"I understand that my decision did not go well with you, Anne..."Ryan mumbled, taking her hands gently. "-that was not the reply you thought you will hear from me, but at the same time you know it would be useless if we do so."
Anne was not that daft. She probably knew that, on second thought, he will turn her offer down. Why would she want them to elope anyway?
It would only define them as a weakling, she had only suggested their eloping to see how he will react towards it -in other words, she's glad he turned her offer down.
"I'm not mad at you, I mean, why will I ever be?" Anne replied, masking it with a rhetorical question. "I understand every bit of what you say, and I know that you mean good for the both of us. Should I be angry at it?"
Ryan was glad to see that she was not vexed about what he says even when he thought she was. However, that doesn't change the fact that they are stranded and yet to find a quick yet sustainable solution.
"...When you are the man here..." He heard the voice in his head. Yeah, true -he is the man here and the one who ought to be coming up with a suggestion, but the case is otherwise, Anne is the one proposing on what to do.
He frowned deeply at his blank thoughts, clenching his hand into a fist under the counter, he couldn't be less angry.
"Since my first suggestion is not good enough, what about this one I'm about to say?" Anne suddenly voiced out of the blues, staring directly into his eyes like she was trying to hypnotize him.
"Spill it out, let me hear." Ryan urged without wasting any seconds to delay, hoping she had come up with a better plan this time. "I won't know what the plan is if you keep it all to yourself."
Even though he felt a little taken aback at how she had managed to come up with another, he brushed the thoughts off. Well, it shouldn't matter who plan it is, benefiting from it does.
She took in a short yet sharp breath before parting her lips to speak. "Since we both love ourselves genuinely, there's nothing for us to wait any longer for, you know." She mumbled slowly before trailing off.
Ryan did not understand what Anne was trying to drive at. What if they had come a long way? Is that the suggestion, or she is yet to tell him about it?
"You are keeping me in darkness for no reason, Anne." Ryan frankly told her. "You should just say what the plan is and stop beating round the bush, it's time-wasting."
Anne knows Ryan not to be the patient type, he hates suspense and would never fail to react to it, but she still wants to stir something inside him before letting the cat out of the bag.
"What ifwe get married as soon as possible -maybe in court. In that way, your mother won't have any other option but to agree with us." Anne uttered with her gaze fixated on him, expecting a reaction from him but got nothing. "-that is the only option I have left, I don't know if this is enough."
Ryan pondered over what Anne had just said, why did he not think about this for a very long time? This is the best option for them and in that way, his mother would be forced to realize that he had really moved on and have nothing to do with Ciara anymore.
"Why are you not saying anything, Ryan?" Anne asked with a tinge of sadness in her voice. "Don't you agree with this suggestion too? Are my ideas that bad?"
Ryan let out a small smile which broke into a wide smile just as quickly as its shows on his face. "This is the best idea ever, Anne." Ryan replied, still smiling unconsciously. "I should have brought up this idea before you."
"Do I take this for a yes?" Anne questioned demandingly. "Are we really getting married for real?"
Ryan held her hand and pulled her closer. "Yes, we are getting married for real. And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," he replied with a loving smile.
Their future seemed brighter than ever before, and at that moment, he felt as if they were meant to be together...