Marriage proposal 1

Cade and his father shook hands with the Japanese business mogul as he prepared to leave, accompanied by four men in suits. They had just finalized a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The evening felt great, but something about it seemed off to Cade.

Just two hours earlier, his father had called to let him know he would be joining him to wrap up the deal, which felt unusual. While his father, still an active CEO, always oversaw significant deals, he usually trusted Cade completely when it came to signing off on transactions involving millions.

Moreover, this particular deal was straightforward since both sides were happy with the terms; it was practically finished and only needed final signatures. Cade couldn't figure out why his father wanted to "join" him for this meeting. However, he decided not to ask questions and would wait for his dad to explain when he was ready.

Mr. Stone glanced at his son, who was also focused on the menu. He felt unsure about how to bring up the topic of marrying his friend’s son. It wasn’t that he was afraid of his son; rather, he didn't interfere in his son's personal matters, and this was way beyond interfering. He had rehearsed a few different openings on the drive over, none of which felt right once he was actually sitting across from Cade.

“So,” Mr. Stone began, prompting Cade to lift his gaze from the menu he was pretending to look at. “How's life?” he asked.

“Life?”

“Yeah, life,” Mr. Stone replied.

Cade set the menu aside and crossed his arms. “What’s going on?”

“What? Am I not allowed to ask about your life?”

“Is there some sudden agreement you want me to look into that’s why you're acting so strange?”

“No, I just want to know how you’ve been doing,” Mr. Stone answered calmly.

Cade decided to go along with it so he could head home sooner. “My life has been good, Dad.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard! So, what about your dating life? Are you seeing anyone lately?”

Surely, his dad hasn't forgotten the rule about not interfering in his personal life, right? Cade looked at his father with a blank expression. "I don’t have time for this. What’s really going on?"

Mr. Stone let out a sigh. "I want you to marry my friend’s son," he finally admitted.

Cade felt like the quiet restaurant had suddenly become noisy; he was certain he must have misheard his father. "What?"

Mr. Stone took a sip of his drink. "I haven’t seen you with anyone serious for over two years now, and it worries me."

"Worrying has led you to want me to marry a stranger I wouldn't give a single fuck about?"

"Watch your language, Cade," his father cautioned.

"Dad, I'm not getting married. Remember, my personal life is off-limits? I can find my own partner."

"Yeah, but I haven’t seen you with anyone yet. Your mom and I are getting older, Cade. We want to see you marry someone, a real person, not just focus on work."

"You both aren’t that old, Dad. I’m not getting married."

Mr. Stone let out a sigh, getting tired of the back and forth and said, "Just think about it, alright? It's not just about worry; it's also related to the Italian restaurant." This caught Cade's attention. "This marriage could really help seal the deal with my friend; like hitting two targets with one arrow." With that, Mr. Stone stood up and walked away, his assistant following behind him.

Cade remained at the table alone for a long moment after his father left, staring at the untouched glass of water in front of him. He replayed the conversation in his head, trying to make sense of it, but the more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

Marriage? There was no way he was going to consider that. Marriage was supposed to mean something. He had watched his parents build a genuine bond over decades, and the idea of reducing that to a business tactic sat uneasily with him. He would be stuck with someone he didn’t care about, especially since he still had feelings for Justin.

He had no intention of going through with it.

And what did his father mean by strengthening the deal for the Italian restaurant? The project would do just fine without tying it to a marriage. Besides, the only person Cade knew who was involved was the mayor, and a man in his early forties. Did that man have a son? He made a mental note to look into it.

Cade wasn’t planning on marrying anyone, so he decided to stop thinking about it and head home. If his dad was crazy for suggesting it, then it would be even crazier for him to entertain the idea.

He needed to move on from Justin quickly and start dating again; maybe then his dad wouldn’t come up with such wild suggestions anymore. As he drove home, he decided to call Brenon and plan a hangout just the two of them for this weekend. Not tonight, he needed his sleep.

He wasn't looking for a hookup. Sure, he had a few brief flings after Justin revealed he had a boyfriend, but those were just casual flings, nothing serious. He wanted to change that. Though some part of him, buried beneath the irritation at his father, quietly agreed that it was time for something real.

When he got home, he took a shower before calling Brenon. After several rings, Brenon finally picked up and shouted, "Hello?" Cade could tell he was at a bar from the loud music and chatter in the background.

"Are you at a bar?" Cade asked anyway.

"Yeah, man! It's pretty sick here. Want to come join me?"

"No, I just finished work and have an early meeting tomorrow. I need to get some sleep," Cade replied. Sometimes, he admired how Brenon managed to juggle work and fun so well. Brenon made sure to dedicate time for fun while he dedicated time on finding new international business partners.

"There are some cute guys here! Let’s help you forget about Justin for a bit, okay?" Brenon said with a slight slur.

Brenon was right; if Cade wanted to move on, he needed to be around attractive guys. "Alright, send me the location. I'll be there," he replied.

He got dressed and headed out. The bar wasn't too far from his place, so he arrived quickly. Neon lights spilled out onto the sidewalk, and a line had already formed near the entrance, though the bouncer waved him through the moment he recognized him.

He navigated through a crowd of people looking for fun before finally meeting up with Brenon. Just as he was about to sit down and relax for the evening, he spotted Justin and Arlen cozying up next to Brenon.

"Hey, Cade. Brenon mentioned you were coming," Justin greeted him, standing intimately behind Arlen, who was seated with his drink.

‘What the fuck were they doing here?’ Cade almost shouted his thoughts but managed to keep a neutral expression. "Oh, did he?" he replied, glancing over at Brenon. "He didn't mention you two would be here," Cade thought about knocking the drink out of Brennon's hand in frustration, but again, he remained calm.

"Let's enjoy ourselves since we're all here," Justin said, then leaned in when Arlen wanted to whisper something to him. "We're heading to the dance floor," he added, taking Arlen's hand and leading him to dance.

"What's going on?" Cade asked right away.

"I didn't remember they were here either! I only remembered right after I called you," Brenon replied, which was mostly true. His tipsy state only reminded him they were present after he hung up, and he was too caught up in the moment to call Cade back.

"What happened to calling me again?"

"It doesn't matter, man. Let's just have a good time. Besides, remember those cute guys?"

Those cute guys didn’t matter when Justin was right there dancing closely with Arlen, enjoying themselves while he sat off to the side sneaking glances at them. He couldn't even count how many times Justin had stumbled over to him, touching him before Arlen came along to pull him away.

Irritation and jealousy led him home.

He couldn’t care less about those cute guys, not with that frustrating sight of Justin and Arlen still fresh in his mind.

This wasn't going to do it. He picked up his phone and diealled his dad's number. He had made up his mind: he would accept the arranged marriage his father proposed.