Two Weeks Later
“You didn’t!” Kendis gasped as Tony helped her out of the car. Her eyes were wide as she practically bounced up and down in delight. She shot her husband a grin.
She stared at the restaurant in the heart of the Hollywood Hills. It was a two-story modern-style building that looked like three rectangular blocks stacked on top of each other with a dark wooden facade.
On the right side of the wall, there were wooden-framed glass walls that looked out onto the sprawling city. And on the second floor was a neon light with the words ‘Spice Harmony’ written in white cursive.
“How did you get a reservation?” Kendis spun on Tony. “The waiting list for reservations is full until next year. I checked! ”
Tony pouted and clutched his chest. “I’m hurt, Glinda, that you doubt my abilities.”
Kendis laughed, brought him in by his suit lapel to give him a kiss. He sighed as their lips met. They fell together so easily these days as if they had years together instead of only months. The flicker of his tongue against her glossy lips brought a shiver of pleasure down her spine. He cupped her cheek with those big, rough hands of his that Kendis loved so much.
Kendis groaned as his talented tongue tangled with hers, a dance that made her heart speed up. His other arm wrapped around her waist to pull her flush against him.
Her center throbbed with want, and God, she was getting wet.
And just when Kendis felt nearly dizzy and out of breath, Tony finally pulled away.
“What about we blow this popsicle stand?” Tony rasped, his voice low and full of filthy promises.
“I love you,” Kendis shook her head. “But I am not about to miss these reservations. God knows when you’ll get a new one.”
Kendis had been dying for ages to go to Spicy Harmony, but the price for a reservation was out of her budget. She couldn’t quite justify splurging that amount of money. And with the outrageous waiting list, Kendis had decided it wasn’t worth it.
Tony offered his arm, and she took it with a sigh as they walked across the parking lot. “How did you know?”
Tony just gave her another smug look, but he said nothing. They quickly climbed the small number of stairs, and Kendis noticed the two pretty bonsai trees on either side of the door.
Tony opened the door for her, and Kendis glanced around the restaurant. The first thing she noticed was that the place was empty. Spicy Harmony looked like a place that should be filled with pretty people dressed in expensive designer outfits.
Yet, no one sat in the crimson-colored leather booths, and the bronze tables were clear of any plates, glasses, or silverware.
“Tony,” Kendis said, slowly turning to give him a suspicious look. “Tell me you didn’t book the entire sodding restaurant.”
Tony smirked, and Kendis rolled her eyes. “You could have just booked a table.”
“What would be the fun in that?”
“Cheeky bastard,” Kendis mumbled under her breath, but secretly she was pleased. Things have been mad since they walked the red carpet at the Apogee Awards, and everyone was speculating about who was behind the attack on the ceremony.
According to Samantha and Pepper, people speculated that it had been anti-war protesters. People hadn’t been happy that a so-called war profiteer was getting the Lifetime Achievement Award.
And thankfully, no Aurors have shown up to inquire about Coil’s whereabouts.
But both the Muggle and Wizarding press have been rabid. Poor Hortense and Isaiah came home to paparazzi practically camped out in front of the gates of her shop.
Kendis was lucky that she wouldn’t have to face a gauntlet of curious people or their judgment. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she wasn’t the type of person people expected on Tony Stark’s arm.
Tony led her to the hostess podium, where a pretty brunette was waiting for them with a tablet in hand. “Mr. Stark, Ms. Black, welcome to Spice Harmony. Let me show you to your table.”
“Mx.” Tony corrected. “Kendis goes by she/they pronouns.”
The woman blinked, but nodded and turned, shot Kendis an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Mx. Black.” Kendis waved it away but squeezed Tony’s hands in thanks.
Kendis followed Tony and the Hostess through the empty restaurant. She took in the wooden Korean carvings on the wall. Each carving depicted different scenes, like a woman in a hanbok cooking for her family. Another was a man in ancient Korean armor fighting a battle on horseback.
The carvings must have been expensive, but they fit well with the opulent East Asian atmosphere of the restaurant. And even with the lack of other patrons, Kendis felt ridiculous and out of place. Despite her station in life, at the end of the day, Kendis was just a mechanic.
And she never felt comfortable with the trappings of wealth, meanwhile Kendis could see how Tony felt right at home in a place like this.
Tonight, Kendis was wearing a black heart-shaped bodysuit, and over it was a black sheer mesh blouse, a long 80s-style trench coat, and a black corset belt that cinched at the waist.
With it, Kendis wore black leather palazzo pants that were cuffed at the end and with the new pointed-toe leather ankle boots (that Hortense can take over her dead body). When Hortense had put this together, Kendis liked it. And going by the heat in Tony’s eyes as he picked her up for their date, he clearly approved. But now she was second-guessing everything.
‘Maybe those tabloids are getting to me.’
“Are you okay?” Tony whispered in her ear. The hostess stopped in front of the elevator. Kendis nodded and squeezed his hand. They rode up the elevator in relative silence. The doors suddenly chimed, and Kendis inhaled sharply as she looked around the rooftop area.
The place was gorgeous. The entire rooftop had rectangular booths with taupe-colored padding and white throw pillows. There were planters that stood on ledges and on top of the booths to give the illusion of privacy. Kendis noticed that there was a mix of shrubs and fresh flowers she recognized from her own garden: wisteria, azalea, and there was even a potted cherry tree in the corner.
The warm late spring breeze brought her a delightful mixture of scents.
The hostess guided them through the maze of booths. The faint golden candlelight and the shimmering fairy lights on the rooftop poles caught Kendis’s eye, and she could hear a soft instrumental song she realized was a popular Frank Ocean song. Next to the wall, the hostess paused before a booth. As they stood there, Kendis felt as if the city was so close they could almost touch it.
Los Angeles lay out before her, twinkling lights from the streets and buildings below lit up the night sky. And in the distance, you could see the hills and the San Gabriel Mountains beyond.
Kendis could not take her eyes off the view. It was so easy for someone to think that Los Angeles was all Hollywood glitz and glamor when it was more than that. It was the Mexicans who had lived here long before California was a state, the melting pot of cultures, colorful art, music, and food that only added to the enrichment of her life here.
While living in London, Kendis often felt the city was bogged down with the need for tradition and keeping things the same. In Los Angeles, newcomers were practically expected to reinvent themselves.
The city had accepted Kendis as their true authentic self, and for that, Los Angeles would always be home.
“A server will be back in a moment with your drinks.”
Tony took his glasses and hooked them into his black button-up shirt. He gave the hostess a thankful nod, and then it was just him and Kendis. Tony reached across the table and picked up Kendis’s hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
“Do you like it?”
Kendis turned to see, to her surprise, a hint of vulnerability and nerves on Tony’s face.
“I love it,” Kendis grinned. “But this is too much.”
“Tesoro,” Tony said, his voice uncharacteristically solemn. “I have more money than I can spend in ten lifetimes. And if the only thing I do is spend it on you? Then it would be worth it. Hell, I would probably buy you the moon and stars if you asked me.”
Kendis felt her cheeks flush hot as she looked down at her menu. She didn’t know what to say to that. The fiercely independent part of herself wanted to tell him she didn’t need his money. Kendis was a successful business owner in her own right.
However, there was another part that could clearly see that Tony didn’t want to buy her things in order to control her. He didn’t see her as a toy that he could dress up in jewels and designer gowns only to discard her when he got bored.
If that had been the case, then Tony would have run for the hills a long time ago.
Kendis got to see the heart of this man, and she knew with a deep-down certainty that Tony just wanted to take care of her. And despite all her independence, she sometimes wished she didn’t always have to be the strong one.
Kendis shook their head as they picked up the menu. Of course, there were no prices listed. Kendis rolled her eyes, but then she scanned the menu. There were so many options, and Kendis didn’t know what to pick. ‘Gyoza sounds good, but so does the sweet shrimp.’
Tony’s constant drumming of his fingers on the table grabbed her attention. She glanced up and met his gaze; if she hadn’t been staring, Kendis would have missed the weird, unreadable look that flickered across his face.
Tony tapped on the table again, then froze when he noticed her starring. “Sorry, this is probably getting on your nerves.”
“Nope,” Kendis lied, because the truth was, constant noises were often too much for her unless she was listening to music or stimming.
Tony snorted and rolled his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Kendis asked, concerned.
Tony fidgeted with his cufflinks and pointedly looked out at the city. “Nothing, it’s fine.”
Kendis lifted an eyebrow at the obvious lie because Tony had been acting off for a while. Initially, she thought Tony was still struggling with the aftermath of being tortured.
They both been having nightmares, and a few nights back, it got so rough that she pulled the Elder Wand on him.
Thankfully, Tony hadn’t gotten hurt, but Kendis realized in that moment that she needed to go back to therapy. She booked an appointment with Healer Bulwark the next morning.
Still, Tony swore he was okay and didn’t need any help.
Yet on top of the nightmares, Tony had become distracted. He seemed to be in his own world quite a bit these days. And he always brushed her off when she brought it up.
In the end, Kendis let it go and chalked it up to the Jericho demo being less than a month away.
“Hello, everyone,” a server came up to them with two drinks on the table. “I’m Ju-won, and I will be your server for the evening.” Ju-won placed a scotch on the rocks and a soju tangerine sparkler (which came highly recommended in the reviews) on the table.
They both took turns giving Ju-Won their order and with a smile, Ju-Won took their menus and left.
“Tony, what’s going on?” Kendis asked. “And don’t tell me it’s nothing.”
“God, I am fucking this up,” Tony grimaced.
“Tony, what’s going on?” Kendis asked warily. Was Tony breaking up with her? No, that was ridiculous. You don’t go through what they have been through together to only break up a few months in. Besides, Tony, despite the constant zoning out, was attentive and downright sweet, at times.
No, Tony’s weird behavior was about something else, and Kendis was aching to get to the bottom of it.
Tony gave a cough, then slid his hand into his red suit jacket pocket. He pulled out a small, square, black box. It took Kendis an embarrassing amount of time to realize what she was looking at.
Kendis felt like everything was moving in slow motion when Tony stood up and came around to her side of the table.
And then, in one graceful move, Tony got on one knee and opened the box.
Kendis gasped, her hand flying to her mouth and her eyes stinging with unshed tears as she saw the all too familiar gold and ruby engagement ring in the box. Made of gold, the ring gave off a Victorian vibe. Elegant braided twists formed the ring’s band, with a diamond set in the middle of each. A big, oval, red ruby was housed in an elaborate filigree setting.
Her eyes stung with unshed tears as she stared at a replica of her mother’s engagement ring.
“Oh, Merlin,” Kendis whispered. She looked up to meet his eyes and noticed that he had gone pale.
“Please don’t cry!” Tony flailed his free hand, nearly overbalancing and toppling on his ass.” I knew I should have asked you first. And I am sorry that I overstepped, and I promise I will return it as soon as possible—“
Kendis put her fingers to his mouth to stop the babble. She looked down at the replica of her mother’s engagement ring sitting in the black box. “Tony Stark, you will do no such thing!”
Kendis suddenly remembered the night she caught Tony looking at her parent’s wedding photo that she had on her nightstand. She would never understand what caused her to confess to him that her mother’s wedding ring went missing after her death.
“I have few of their things left,” Kendis said wistfully. “I would have loved to have had that little piece of my mother.”
Tony didn’t give her any useless platitudes, he just held her silently in his arms. And after that, Kendis didn’t really think more about the incident. She wrote it all off as Tony being curious.
And now, weeks later, Tony was on his knees with a replica of her mother’s engagement ring in his hand.
“I had this whole big speech planned, you know?” Tony coughed. “I wanted to make sure not to fuck this up. But I already made a mess of things.”
“Tony, love—” Kendis started.
“Let me finish, please.” Tony begged. “I need to get this out before I mess this up.”
Kendis nodded, her heart pounding in her chest as Tony met her eyes. He looked at her with a serious, intense gaze.
“Kendis, I am not really the marrying type. I’m self-aware enough to acknowledge that I run hard and fast at the first sign of commitment.” Tony gave a self-deprecating laugh. “But even back when you shook that fantastic ass on that pole at Juicy Lucy’s, I knew there was something different about you.”
Kendis gave a teary laugh. She still couldn’t believe that this all started with a bet and some spontaneous pole dancing.
“And I know we’ve only been together a few months, and this is completely nuts. I love you, and quite frankly it scares me at how far I would go for you.” Tony took a deep breath and then continued, “There are so many things that I love about you. I love how brilliant you are and how you can make me laugh. But the thing I love most about you is your heart. It’s so damn big and you care so much not only about your family and friends but about making the world a better place.”
Kendis quickly wiped away the tears that fell down their cheeks, uncaring that it was probably smearing their mascara. It was a relief that for once, she was shedding happy tears.
“The depth of your love for me humbles me and makes me want to be a better man.” Tony took a deep breath, “I’m 98.2 percent sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
Kendis opened her mouth and then closed it. All the words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat.
Even though both of them had no memory of their drunken wedding in Vegas, Kendis and Tony were still legally married. She had already been married to Tony for two months, but here was Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist on bended knee, ring in hand, asking her to spend the rest of their lives together.
Her inner voice (which sounded oddly like Hermione) was telling her that getting engaged to a man she had only been with for such a short time was a recipe for disaster. Anyone with a lick of common sense would say no, but Kendis knew her heart. But more importantly, she knew Tony’s.
“Kendis?” Tony asked. “You are killing me here. Also, I think my knees are about to go out.”
Kendis laughed as she pulled him to his feet and wrapped her arms around him. “Yes!”
He pulled her away from her and grinned, “Yes?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” She kissed him slowly and deliberately. “Now put the bloody ring on my finger!”
Tony took the ring and slid it on her finger. He bent down to press his lips to her ring. Kendis felt as if her heart would explode with how much she loved this impossible man.
“I’m yours now,” Tony said, brown eyes sparkling in the dim candlelight, “No take backs.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
THE END
