Mr. Sullivan, I agree to marry you. Before making the call, Sonya Ella downed half a bottle of vodka, the kind that burned going down. There was silence at the other end. Then, she heard a gravelly voice laced with undisguised irritation. Clearly, he was roused from sleep. Do you have any idea what time it is?
Sonya hadn’t checked. She glanced at her phone. It was 2:30 AM. Sorry, I’ll call you tomorrow. Okay. Huh? But I’m leaving for a business trip overseas tomorrow. I’ll be back in about a month. We’ll get married then. Fine. Hanging up, Sonya felt dazed. Two weeks ago, her aunt Millie Williams, back in her small hometown, called to set her up on a blind date. Millie described the guy as the grandson of Mrs. Alice Sullivan, their neighbor.
Apparently, he was a straight-A student, graduated from a top university in Chicago, landed a high-paying job with great benefits, and even got bonuses on holidays. She’d verbally agreed, intending to blow it off later. But that night, he called. He said he didn’t have time for dating, and even less for a relationship. If she agreed, he wanted to skip all that and marry her.
