I will marry you

The children were listening to their discussion with interest "So Auntie, you and my Dad knew one another before he met Mom?" Summer asked, taking interest in knowing how her parents had met. 

Even though they had always told them they met in the university, she hadn't gotten the full story yet.

Juliana excitedly faced Summer and Winter could already deduce that both of them were alike when it comes to gossiping "Your dad and I were originally paired up together when we were younger by our parents but unfortunately for them, we became best friends instead since we had no romantic feelings for one another. Though I was friends with your Mom, she never met your Dad because he attended a different school from ours and it wasn't until we were in the university did they meet because we all got admitted to same University" Juliana paused to take a sip of her drink before continuing. 

Meanwhile, Winter wasn't interested in the story as she only focused her attention on Xander who was also listening to the story his Mom was saying. Suddenly, he moved his eyes towards her and she froze before quickly looking away. 

"Anyway, Anna had a crush on Trevor first. You know, Trevor was like the hunk of the school whom all girls were in love with but doesn't relate with any of them, I'm sure you can get the gist of the kind of person he was. I actually believed the reason Anna willingly made meals for me was because of him and I decided to help out my good friend and share the meals with him. Trevor and I were in the same department, studying computer engineering while Anna was a Chemistry student but she'll still come to our department everyday. She was really dedicated" 

Annabel grinned "What do you expect from a girl in love" 

"Surprisingly, even though Anna was literally one of the prettiest in school, Trevor didn't look at her"

"Hey, I was the prettiest" Annabel corrected her which made Juliana roll her eyes. 

"Yes you were the prettiest. Anyway, they got closer through me and only me. I was the catalyst"  

"So even a difficult man like my dad fell for delicious meals. No wonder they said the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I've recorded that, it would be useful in the future" Summer even took out her phone to write it down.

Juliana finally paid her attention to Winter who had been silent throughout "Are you normally quiet or you are because you have guests? You don't have to feel uncomfortable because of us, we are family, aren't we?"

Winter's eyes widened in surprise at what Juliana had said "I'm not uncomfortable with you here, truly. It's just that I'm not really that chatty with people I'm meeting for the first time" She explained, trying not to make Juliana have the wrong impression of her on their first meeting.

"Oh, you are the one who took your Dad's personality. I understand you, don't worry, you'll get used to us soon enough" Juliana then turned to her son.

"Xan, why don't you go out with the young lady and get to know one another?" 

"True, you both can go out to the garden and have a nice talk" Her Mom immediately supported. Winter had never felt this nervous in her life, she dreaded them being alone than anything. What if she stutters like an idiot and mess up? 

"Sis, I know you'll be fine. He looks like the type who have all the patience in the world to deal with you" Summer whispered to her because she knew her sister was having a nervous breakdown. 

Winter finally stood up and looked towards him, waiting for him to get up too. 

"We'll be back then" Xander stood up and followed her out of the house, into the garden. 

Winter walked ahead while gripping tightly unto her dress, not knowing what to do. She wasn't normally this way. She was always bold and face every problem head on. He was the only problem she had never been to overcome. For someone like her who had had a crush on him for almost ten years, seeing him just like this was a huge pressure on her.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" She heard him ask from behind her and her head immediately snapped towards him.

"No..not at all... it's just...errm..." Damn it! Stop stuttering for goodness sake! 

"I didn't get your name earlier even though I told you mine"

"It's Winter, Winter Lawson" 

"And your sister is Summer?" He asked, his eyes folding into half moons and his lips slightly curled up.

"Ho..how did you know that?"

"I guessed since you said your name was Winter, your sibling's name would probably be Autumn or Summer" He replied with a chuckle and that made her smile. 

"Finally, you smiled. I was wondering if I was so scary that you kept looking like you couldn't wait to run away from me" His statement made her look up in astonishment.

"It was obvious?"

"It was" he added a nod. 

Winter gave a forlorn look  "I'm so sorry, I just didn't know how to act in front of you"

He shrugged "No problem" He didn't mind "So, Winter, tell me about you"

She stared at him, what did he want to know "I'm twenty five, no, I wouldn't be twenty five until three months time. And I work in your company"

Xander suddenly stopped when he heard her last statement "You work at CJ? Is that why you were scared of me?" 

She hurriedly shook her head "That's not it, it's just overwhelming to have you here" 

"Oh, I understand. But you don't have to find me Overwhelming, you should feel that about Xavier because he's the boss. I'm just someone unimportant" He shrugged and Winter could hear the untold sadness in his voice. She paid that much attention to him to notice every single thing about him. 

"So which department is it?" 

"Brand management" She replied without missing a beat. 

"That's lovely, your department deals with all our products then" 

There was a deafening silence after that as they walked around the garden. He walked in front while she quietly walked behind him. 

"So, now let's go to the topic we were supposed to be discussing" He stopped and turned to her, she only stared at him curiously, wondering what the topic was. 

"I'm sure you are aware our parents wants us to get married, I believe" She nodded. 

"Actually I am not interested in marriage or being in any relationship for that matter, but I have to do it for my brother because if I don't get married, he wouldn't agree to being in a relationship. I'm sure you don't want to get married too, at least not yet or get married to me for that matter because I heard from my Mom before we came here that you always rejected all your blind dates, so your Mom had to plan this" 

Winter quietly listened to him before finally gathering her courage to speak "I didn't say that" 

"Uhn?" He was confused at what that meant. 

She looked up directly into his eyes for the first time and for a moment, she was frozen in place. He was beautiful. If that's the right way to describe a man who looks breathtaking. He looked so good without even trying. 

 "I didn't say I wasn't going to marry you" It was a matter of now or never for her and she wasn't ready to let the rare opportunity slip through her fingers. 

"You agree?" He tilted his head in question, wondering if he had heard her wrong. 

"Yes"

"Actually, you don't have to force yourself if you don't want to. I can find a way to convince our parents if you want" 

"But I want to marry you though. And again, if I don't agree with this set up, my mom would make another one. It's better to stay on the safer lane. Your Mom is nice, I know you a bit and our parents are friends, isn't that a better bet than marrying a stranger?" 

Xander thought about what she said and he agreed with her "You are right about that" 

Seeing that he agreed, she finally breathed relief 'Winter, you did well with keeping your composure' she saluted herself. 

"Shall we go back now? The night air is cold and I notice you shivering" He suggested and she agreed because she was actually feeling cold but had been pretending not to. She wondered how he noticed. 

Back in the house, their parents and Summer were having a lively discussion "You have to keep it a secret because once Win knows I revealed her secret to you, she'll skin me alive" Summer said to them after revealing her sister's secret of having a crush on Xander. She didn't even feel guilty about it. 

"No wonder she was quiet all night. It's actually nice, their marriage wouldn't totally be an arranged one, we are helping Winter realise her dream" Juliana grinned. 

"Who knew even though we weren't fated to be a couple, we were going to be family through our kids"

"It's fate playing it's games" 

Winter and Xander finally walked into the house and they all went quiet. 

"Were you all plotting against us or something? Why did you suddenly become silent?" Xander asked them because he had heard them chatting before they entered.