Somewhere Only We Know

“Ari, you look amazing” Pilar grinned as she moved to embrace the doctor. It had been a little while since she had seen Ariana, with all that had been transpiring between the brunette, Iker and her family, Pilar had been rather pushed to one side, but she was pleased to receive the other woman’s call. She had rather liked Ariana when she and Iker had made it to dinner and she wanted to spend a little more time with her.

Ariana smiled softly. “You do too Pilar, but you always do” she quipped as she moved to take a seat in the small coffee shop. It had been a few days since she had found the ring box in amongst Iker’s things and still Ariana was curious about it. She knew that it wasn’t for her, there was no way that Iker could have thought that far ahead of them already, but she wanted to know if he had ever proposed to Sara. The idea that he had worried Ariana a little and she worried that that was why it had upset Iker so much when he found out about Sara’s engagement to the man she had cheated on him with.

Pilar giggled and sat down too, sliding a warm cup of coffee over to the brunette. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure? I have to say, your call was a little unexpected” she mused as she sipped on her drink.

Ariana blushed. She felt bad, she hadn’t really made contact with Pilar or Emma since the dinner they had had as Sergio’s home, and she hoped the other women did think badly of her because of it. She had been a little run off her feet and could only apologize. “I am sorry about that, things have been a little hectic recently” she murmured.

Pilar smiled. “I know they have Ari. Sergio and Iker are like brothers so I know all about you, your sister and your parents” she enthused with a little smile.

Ariana nodded. “Sorry for not calling sooner” she apologized gently.

Pilar waved her hand. “It’s alright” she assured her with a soft smile “But I would like to know why you called now. It was a little sudden” she mused.

“I just wanted to ask you something” Ariana mused as she moved to stir some sugar into the coffee that Pilar had thoughtfully bought for her.

Pilar quirked an eyebrow. “Is it about Iker?” she squeaked “Because if it is, you’re better off asking Sergio. He knows everything there is to know about that man” she noted.

Ariana nodded. “I know that, but if I ask Sergio, then he will tell Iker and I don’t want that. He already thinks I worry too much” she admitted gently. She did worry, she worried a lot, but only because she didn’t want to lose Iker. He was the best thing she had in her life and she didn’t want to lose him in addition to her family.

Pilar nodded. “So, what do you want to know?” she posed.

“You know a lot about Sara and Iker, did he ever propose to her?” Ariana breathed.

Pilar’s eyes widened a little. “Why do you want to know that?” she posed.

Ariana sighed. “I was looking for a t-shirt of Iker’s the other night so that I could go to sleep and I found an engagement ring in his drawer. Now, I highly doubt he’s bought it for me, we’ve been dating for 10 weeks, so I wondered if he had proposed to Sara. He seemed awfully upset about the idea of her marrying the guy she cheated on him with and I wondered if that was the reason” she explained gently.

Pilar nodded her head slowly. “He heard about Evan and Sara then?” she mused.

“She was the interviewer at one of his interviews. It hurt him Pilar” Ariana insisted.

Pilar nodded. “I am not surprised. Iker really did love her and it almost killed him when he found out that she was sleeping with Evan. Evan and Iker had gotten on like a house on fire and so to find him in bed with the girl that he loved, it broke Iker’s heart” she explained gently.

“Were they engaged Pilar?” Ariana pressed a little nervously.

Pilar smiled. “No” she breathed.

Ariana’s forehead furrowed. “Are you sure? He definitely has a ring, was he going to propose?” she squeaked.

Pilar shook her head. “From what I understand from Sergio, Iker had no intention on marrying Sara when he found her in bed with Evan. He hadn’t even thought about it” she mused with a bright smile. She couldn’t believe how naïve the other woman was being, the ring was clearly for her, and Pilar was thrilled by the idea of it. Iker had never once been as smitten as he was with Ariana and it wasn’t even a shock to Pilar that he already had the engagement ring picked out that he would use to propose to her. Iker looked at his girlfriend with a look of pure love and Pilar doubted he would have the restraint to wait much longer. He seemed as though he had been waiting to propose since they had first met.

Ariana frowned slightly and shook her head. “There was no chance that he was planning to or anything like that?” she posed.

Pilar giggled. “Ari, come on, you can’t be that slow. He wasn’t going to propose to Sara, Sergio is sure of it” she insisted.

“Then why does he have a ring?” Ariana squeaked, a hint of pink on her cheeks. She knew the answer, it was abundantly obvious, but she needed to hear someone else say it. It would make it a little more real than it was.

Pilar smiled. “Because he loves you Ari. Iker’s been with women before, but never has he looked at them like he looks at you. He wants to marry you Ariana” she explained as she placed her hand over the younger woman’s, trying to assure her.

Ariana’s cheeks were red. “We’ve been dating for 72 days” she breathed.

Pilar shrugged. “No one said love had a time limit. It can happen in 72 days or it could happen in 72 years, but the bottom line is, Iker loves you and he wants to spend the remaining years of his life with you. That’s why he has a ring Ari, he’s going to propose to you” she cooed.

Ariana allowed her words to linger for a moment before she shyly lifted her head. “What am I supposed to say?” she asked gently.

Pilar tilted her head. “You don’t know?”

“I’ve never been with anyone other than Iker. How am I supposed to know whether there is someone else out there or whether he is it?” she explained gently.

Pilar sighed. “That’s a decision you have to make Ariana. Either you are with Iker for the rest of your life, or you give him up on the off chance that there is someone else, something which might be wrong and might cost you the best thing in your life. Iker’s heart is fragile and if you reject it, he won’t give you another chance with it” she explained softly before her phone buzzed. “That’s the nanny, she needs to leave so I need to get back to Junior” she explained as she pushed herself out of her seat, her eyes glancing over at Ariana who had fixed the stare of her blue eyes on the coffee cup ahead of her. “Think it through Ari. Iker’s once in a lifetime, are you really going to give that up on the off chance that there is another prince charming out there?” she posed before she gathered her things.

Ariana watched after her and fiddled with her cup. It was a tempting notion, she did love Iker and she didn’t want to let him go, but she wasn’t sure that she could give herself to him for the rest of her life without any sort of regret. Iker had been her first kiss, her first date, her first time, and the idea that he could be the last as well scared her a little. She wasn’t flirtatious, she wasn’t interested in one night stands, but she was a little worried she would miss out on something if she said yes to him. Iker would be the only man she was ever with and that was a strange thought. She had thought it would take more than one try to find someone like him.

“Stupid Iker” she muttered to herself as she wrapped her jacket around her shoulder “Why did you have to be so wonderful?” she added.