(Page 1 of 17) Once a Dream Did Weave- EXCERPT by William Hrdina
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SUMMARY: The first 7 chapters of my latest novel- available NOW on Amazon.com!! Just search "William Hrdina"1
"Julia, Will you marry me?"
"Are you serious?" Julia Aimes asked, her brain seizing in surprise.
Or rather, her mouth said the words. Julia herself, barely even knew she was talking. Her head felt like it'd been shoved into a snow bank. She wasn't expecting this- wasn't ready for it. She'd only known Benito DeMorgan for three months.
He was being a tad hasty.
In lieu of a response to Julia's incredulousness, Benito conjured a ring box from his pocket. He flipped open the lid to reveal an enormous, almost obnoxiously big diamond sitting in an elegant white gold setting. The diamond was so big- Julia couldn't help considering the idea it was a fake.
A small army of miniature guys with little vacuums went to work in Julia's mouth- robbing it of all moisture. Everything in the room felt encased in a combination of lime Jello and Lucite. For some reason, she found her attention focused on a dull pink scar on Benito's wrist instead of on the massive rock affixed to the ring. The scar looked like an upside down number 4. For some reason, she'd never noticed it before.
She said, "That's a big diamond."
Again, Julia's mouth did its thing without her consent or involvement. In her mind, Julia was thinking she should've seen the proposal coming. But it was so soon, so sudden- it was absurd. Wasn't it?
Even before he picked her up, Julia knew Benito had something special planned. There was a giddiness in the way he asked her out for this particular date. But, she thought he was going to suggest they live together- at the most- and when she considered the possibility- she'd decided to tell him it was too soon.
When they initially made their plans, Benito asked Julia to wear a dress because he was going to take her out to a nice dinner. This was a real treat for Julia who came from a lower middle class family- fancy dates were few and far between. So far, all of her dates with Benito had been the kind middle-class people go on- walks, picnics, movies- standard stuff. A ‘night out' was going to the Riviera to see a band or to a bar.
Still, Julia wanted to look as elegant as possible, so she put on the nicest, most fashionable dress she owned, one she knew made her butt look fantastic. She plopped herself down in front of the make-up mirror and spent an inordinate amount of time skillfully applying it with the kind of care she hadn't bothered taking since she was 16. At that age, no matter who she was dating, he was the most awesome boy in the history of the world- that week.
Her cellphone beeped. Julia checked it and there was a text, from Benito. It said, "I'm here. Please meet me downstairs."
At the time, Julia thought this was very strange- they were far enough along in their dating where he felt comfortable sitting around her apartment while she got ready. Besides, he always came up. Thinking maybe he couldn't find parking, Julia hurried to get finished and rushed out the door.
When Julia came out onto the street, Benito was standing in front of a limousine. And not just any limo- the stretchiest limo she'd ever laid eyes on.
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