short drive, we drive down a semi private road and come to a gated community, manned by a security guard. Caroline stops at the gate and speaks to the guard. Moments later, we’re able to drive through. The houses on Star Island are more beautiful than I could ever imagine. This is where the crème de la crème live. Mansions with beautiful views of the Biscayne bay. Most of them have guest houses, pools, and boat slips in their back yards. I think I might pass out at the sight of the house we’re going to look at, as we pull into the huge circular driveway. We get out of the car and I take in the enormous pale yellow mansion with a deep red roof.
Caroline walks up to where we’re standing. “This is the first house we’re looking at. It’s got twelve bedrooms and eleven bathrooms. It’s 11,000 square feet and fully furnished. I’m just going to go get the key out of the lockbox,” she says, walking toward the front door.
It’s almost ridiculous how big the thing actually is. I know that this is where some of the most famous people in the world live but it’s just excessive. I pull Victor’s hand and he comes to a stop in front of me. I shake my head at him. “Babe, twelve bedrooms? Seriously? What do you need twelve bedrooms for? You’re one person.”
“It’s not for me, Ellie, it’s for us. For me and you to escape to, whenever we get tired of Jersey.”
There are too many things in that statement for me to wrap my head around. I don’t know which one to tackle first, tired of Jersey? He lives in New York. “For us? What do you mean for us?”
He tilts his head and stares at me for a moment. “Come on, Love, are we gonna do this back and forth shit forever? Only spending weekends together? Eventually, we’re gonna have to make some decisions. I’ve told you that my penthouse is not a home to me, it’s a place I sleep. I don’t wanna stay there forever. As a matter of fact, I’d like to get rid of it sooner rather than later.”
“Well, what are you gonna do when you get rid of it?” I’m confused. Is he planning on making Miami his full time residence?
He chuckles at me. Apparently I can’t see the bigger picture. “Babe, I’m hoping that when I’m homeless on the street in a few months, that my beautiful girlfriend will take me in. I’ll move to Jersey, get the fuck out of the city, settle down with you and live my life in peace without fucking paparazzi constantly taking my picture. I mean, that’s if you want me to,” he says, sounding unsure now.
It finally hits me that he’s talking about us living together. “You wanna move in with me?”
He smiles at me and tugs at my hair. “I mean, it’s the logical next step right? We love each other, we want to be together, so why not move in together? I want us to build a life together, Babe.”
My heart feels like it’s about to explode. The idea of building a life with Victor is a dream come true. “In my little two bedroom shack?”
“I love your house. I guess we can expand when the time comes, although that would pretty much kill your backyard, or we can buy a bigger house. We can get a house on the beach if you want, that’s your dream right?”
“When the time comes?”
“Yeah, we may need to have an extra bedroom or two when we have kids, right?” I may just pass out from all of the information that’s being thrown my way. It’s not that I’m not happy about it, I am, it’s just that in my wildest dreams I never imagined that any of it would be possible for me. Here he is telling me that not only is it possible, it can be a reality, all I have to do is make the choice to accept it.
“I guess I’m not opposed to selling my house eventually, moving to a bigger place if we need to. But this…” I say motioning to the monstrosity of a house in front of us. “This is a bit much, especially for a house we’re not even planning on living in full time.”
“Okay fine,” he whispers in my ear. “But let’s at least look at it. The poor woman brought us out here, the least