Chapter 25

Song: Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift ;)

---

3 Years Later

"I still don't get why you wouldn't let me see those jewellery designs," Heather said, rolling her eyes.

Alejandro smiled. "You'll get to see them very soon."

Heather folded her arms and leaned back on her car seat. "That's what you said the last time I asked, and that was three weeks ago."

Alejandro smirked. "Patience, mi amor."

Heather simply pursed her lips and turned her attention to the view outside the car window instead. Alejandro gazed at her, and couldn't help the light chuckle that escaped from his lips. She's so cute when she's like that.

"Sir, Ma'am, we've arrived at the destination," their driver announced several minutes later.

"Thank you," Heather and Alejandro both replied.

They had just arrived outside the Four Seasons hotel. To many, it was simply a hotel but to them both, it was also known as the place where they had shared their first kiss three years ago. And the place where their official relationship had began. A warm and fuzzy feeling blanketed Heather just thinking about the memory.

The next moment, Alejandro took a deep breath and straightened his red tie. He opened the car door, got out and then reached his hand out, with Heather taking his hand and following after him. Stepping outside, they both took in the cool fresh air and glanced around their surroundings, where other cars were also pulling up and where a group of reporters were gathered on a red carpet leading to the hotel lobby.

Heather straightened her dress; it was her favorite formal dress, a wine red midi dress with a cowl neckline and split on the side. It was also her lucky red dress, which was why she decided to wear it to tonight's Annual Canadian Jewellery Business Awards. Not that she needed luck though, Heather was feeling confident that Illuminate would be taking away the prestigious award this year.

Alejandro held out his arm, and Heather instantly and instinctively looped her arm around his. They then walked together in perfect sync across the red carpet.

"And up next is our favorite power couple, Heather and Alejandro!" a reporter gushed as she held the microphone in their faces. "How are both of you feeling tonight?"

"Quietly confident," Heather replied.

"Grateful and content," Alejandro answered.

"Great answers! Well good luck for tonight!" the reporter smiled.

Thanking the reporter, Heather and Alejandro made their way inside the hotel and the room where the awards ceremony was taking place. They took their seats in the front row and made casual conversation with some of the other attendees as they waited for the event to officially begin.

"Welcome...to...the 25th Annual Canadian Jewellery Business Awards!" Chris spoke as held onto the microphone in one hand and made dramatic hand-waving motions with his other hand.

Heather rolled her eyes. New year, same Chris.

There were a few speeches and presentations throughout the evening which Heather and Alejandro both didn't really pay attention to and then it was time to announce this year's winner.

"And the winner of this year's 'Best Jewellery Business' is and the recipient of the one million dollar prize is..." Chris began.

Alejandro instinctively took Heather's hand and held it in his. Heather held her breath and tightly laced her fingers in his.

Chris continued to pause for dramatic effect and then smirked as he stared at the cue cards he was holding in his hands.

"Enchanted Jewellers! Congratulations!"

Heather bit her lip as a polite round of applause echoed in the room, disappointment filling her stomach. She had been genuinely confident that this year, Illuminate would win the award. She felt Alejandro's grip around her hand only tighten and she turned her head to see him giving her a tight, reassuring smile.

Whatever, Heather thought to herself. It's fine. It's totally fine. I don't need an award-

"Just kidding!" Chris then suddenly smirked. "This year's winner is actually Illuminate Jewellery! Congratulations on your first win!"

There were some immediate loud gasps from the audience. Heather's eyes widened as she shifted her gaze back towards the stage.

"Screw you Chris!" the CEO of Enchanted Jewellers scowled.

"Sorry," Chris smirked, his smile all kinds of evil.

"Chris you psycho and jerk!" Heather yelled from the audience. "You don't joke about this kind of stuff!"

"Are you going to come up to collect your award or not?" Chris scoffed.

Heather rolled her eyes. Ugh, they seriously need to find a new host for the awards next year.

"Come on, mi amor," Alejandro gently whispered.

Heather took a deep breath as she stood up and straightened her dress. She then linked her arm in Alejandro's and together, they walked up onto the stage.

Some loud cheering and applause in the audience followed.

Once they were both on the stage, Alejandro immediately gestured for Heather to take the microphone. "The floor is all yours, mi reina," he whispered.

Heather smiled as she grabbed the microphone from Chris and cleared her throat. "First of all, thank you Chris, for the heart attack you almost gave me just then," she sarcastically spoke as she shot a death glare at Chris.

"You're welcome," Chris smirked.

Heather scoffed whilst there were some laughs in the audience. Shaking her head, she turned to face the audience next. "Now those who know me know that I'm definitely not a cheesy person, but I think tonight I'll make a bit of an exception..."

"On behalf of Illuminate, it's an honor to be the recipient of this year's award. Thank you to the award sponsors for your generosity. Thank you to Illuminate's amazing customers for your ongoing support; Illuminate started off five years ago as an online jewellery store and today we also have physical stores in Canada and the US and will also be expanding to other countries too. As cliche as it sounds, we definitely wouldn't be here without you."

"Of course, a huge thank you must go to my incredible team, you all know who you are, but tonight there's a few people I want to shout out in particular..."

"Sierra, my secretary; she's the longest secretary I've ever had and although I've never admitted it before, thank you for putting up with me," Heather said as she let out a tiny laugh. "I know I can be a bit...particular sometimes but I know I can always count on Sierra to be there with her energy and can-do attitude."

"Go Heather!" Sierra squealed in the audience.

"Cody, Illuminate's Strategy and Operations Director," Heather continued as she smiled at Cody who was sitting next to Sierra in the audience. "Cody stepped into this role three years ago and he's proven that there's no other person I'd rather have in this position. Thank you for all that you do."

Sitting in the crowd, Cody shed a tear. "I never thought this day would come."

Heather then turned around to briefly face Alejandro, a shy look on her face, before turning back to the crowd. Alejandro smiled and gazed lovingly at her. "And last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my partner, Alejandro. He's not only my business partner but also my partner in life and there's no one else I'd rather be doing this with; thank you for being my co-captain and joining me along in this crazy adventure. Thank you for being you and for always being so supportive, amazing and the best partner I could ever ask for. I love you."

"I love you too," Alejandro called out. Heather gave him a playful smirk and then turned her attention back to the audience.

"Moving forward, I'm excited to announce that we'll be using the prize money to set up a charity dedicated to women's health," Heather continued. "And further to that, we will also be-"

At that moment, there was some sudden loud squealing and cheering in the audience, promptly cutting Heather off.

Heather narrowed her eyes at the crowd. Rude much? "Okay, I know my speech is good but I haven't exactly finished yet-"

"Turn around!" a voice in the audience called out.

Heather frowned, but she spun around and immediately froze at the sight in front of her. "Oh my god," she whispered, as she put a hand over her mouth.

The microphone in her hand promptly dropped to the floor, causing a loud thud to echo in the room.

Alejandro had gotten down on one knee, a dorky smile on his face as stared into Heather's grey eyes and held out a tiny box with a stunning rose gold diamond ring inside.

"Heather Kasuga, you are the spark of my life," Alejandro began in a gentle voice. "You bring color to my black and white world and every day, every moment, every second I'm with you I remind myself of how lucky I am. And if you'll have me, there's nothing more that I'd love than to spend the rest of my life as your husband, your lover, your partner in crime, your business partner and your biggest cheerleader and supporter. Will you marry me?"

"What is he saying?" Sierra squealed in the audience as she cupped her hands together and watched Alejandro speak. "Someone give him the mic so I can hear it too!"

Back on the stage, Heather felt her entire heart pounding. This is really happening. It's not a dream. He's proposing. To me. The man of my dreams is proposing to me.

"Yes," she squeaked and let out a tiny nod.

The dorky smile on Alejandro's face only widened; he felt his heart melt with happiness and he was screaming on the inside. She said yes.

There was some cheering and applause in the audience, but the two of them felt that at that moment, it was only the two of them in the room right now; no one or nothing else mattered.

"Now do you know why I wouldn't let you see those jewellery designs?" he whispered as Heather crouched down and as he gently slid the diamond ring onto her finger, his hands slightly shaking. "I worked with our best jewellery designers over the past few months to design this ring. A similar design will be going into Illuminate's next jewellery collection, but I want your ring to be the only one in the world-"

Alejandro was cut off as Heather promptly closed the distance between them with a short but passionate kiss. She didn't even care that they were in front of other people right now.

The kiss was too short for Alejandro's liking but he knew that they'd make up for it later.

"You know, I feel like I kind of deserve another thank you here too," Chris suddenly scowled once Heather and Alejandro pulled apart.

Alejandro turned to look at him, confused, whilst simply Heather rolled her eyes.

"If I remember correctly, you two both went through the Chris McLean Young Business Leaders Program three years ago, and I paired you together for the team activity," Chris continued, adding extra emphasis on his name.

"Ah, and it was love at first sight," Alejandro smirked. "Although we did meet before that."

"It was most definitely not love at first sight," Heather corrected. "I'm pretty sure I wanted to scoop his eyeballs out every time I saw him."

"We've come a long way," Alejandro proudly stated.

Once they walked off the stage, Heather immediately took a photo of her ring and sent it to Courtney.

Heather: He proposed!!!!!!!!!

Courtney: AHHH CONGRATS BESTIE <3 WELCOME TO MARRIED LIFE

Heather: You're going to be one of my bridesmaids 😉

Courtney: Can't wait! ❤️‍

Heather smiled and put her phone away. She would definitely have to ask Courtney tips on wedding planning, seeing as Courtney and Duncan just had their own wedding only four months ago.

After the awards ceremony officially concluded, Alejandro and Heather were immediately bombarded with words of congratulations from various people in the audience.

"Congratulations to my favorite couple!" Sierra squealed.

"Thank you," Alejandro grinned proudly.

"Thanks Sierra," Heather laughed.

"If you guys are getting married, does that mean we all get time off work?" Cody asked, a toothy grin on his face.

"Nice try, but no," Heather replied, rolling her eyes.

"It was worth a try," Cody laughed.

"Come on, Codykins, let's get food," Sierra then said, dragging Cody away with her. "Bye guys!"

Heather waved to them as she watched Cody being dragged away. Some things never change.

"Congratulations," a new, calm voice from behind Alejandro suddenly called out. "Very exciting news for you both."

Alejandro and Heather instinctively spun around to see Javier walking towards them.

"Gracias, Papá," Alejandro grinned.

"Welcome to the family, officially," Javier smiled at Heather.

"Thank you Mr Burromuerto," Heather said, returning the smile.

"How's the search for the new CEO going, Papá?" Alejandro asked.

"I have a few candidates in mind but I decided I'd delay my retirement for a few years," Javier chuckled.

"Maybe you could still train Carlos up once he retires from soccer," Alejandro smirked.

Javier patted Alejandro's shoulder. "Perhaps in an alternate universe your brother will have an interest in the business."

"Who knows," Alejandro lightly chuckled.

"Well, I'll leave you both to it," Javier said. "You guys are the celebrities here tonight. I just wanted to pass on my congratulations but I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you both around soon."

"Talk soon, Papá," Alejandro nodded.

"See you, Mr Burromuerto," Heather politely added.

"Massive congrats, you two!" another voice suddenly called out. "And on the win as well, it was very well deserved."

Heather and Alejandro turned around to see Patricia. Since the incident three years ago, Heather and Patricia had also formed a close friendship. Patricia had recently stepped into the role of CEO of Luxe Jewellers, and Heather liked that Patricia was also determined and confident, like herself. Whilst Heather had always been a competitive person, she also felt happy seeing other female leaders succeed and thrive, especially in the cut-throat business world. As the years passed, she had come to realize that the two did not have to be mutually exclusive.

Sixteen year old me would never, Heather thought to herself as she let out a smile. But I'm no longer the sixteen year old girl from high school.

"Thanks Tricia," Heather said, as she leaned forward to pull Patricia into a hug. She then paused for a moment. "I'd love for you to be one of my bridesmaids too."

"I'd be honored," Patricia smiled back.

At that moment Patricia's cell phone lit up with a text notification. "That's Jacob," she said, referring to her boyfriend. "He's picking me up. I'll see you both soon!"

"Bye!" Heather waved.

"See you Patricia," Alejandro politely smiled.

Heather hummed in content. She suddenly found herself thinking back to her old self again. Once upon a time, she had truly believed that she was unlovable, although she had let go of that belief three years ago. And tonight, seeing all the love that had been thrown toward her way, she knew that the person who had ingrained that belief in her could not be more wrong.

As if on cue, she suddenly heard a text notification from her phone.

Elaine: saw the news on TV, congratulations Heather

Heather was surprised; it had now been awhile since she had last heard from her mother. She hesitated for a few moments, staring at the screen, but then chose to put her phone away. Maybe she'd bring herself to write a reply at some point later, or maybe she wouldn't, but right now she would only focus on what was most important to her, or more specifically, the person who was most important to her.

"Everything okay, mi amor?" Alejandro asked.

"Yes," Heather nodded. "Everything's perfect."

She then tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "When you proposed, did you have a feeling that I'd said yes? I mean, if I had said no, that would have been pretty embarrassing in front of everyone," she said with a laugh.

"I was confident the moment you turned around," Alejandro smirked.

"And why is that so?" Heather playfully challenged.

"Because when I looked into your eyes, I saw sparks fly," Alejandro huskily whispered.

"I-" Heather opened her mouth to say something but stopped as she felt her cheeks turning a bright pink color. Here we go again, me and my stupid cheeks everytime Alejandro says something that just causes butterflies in my stomach.

Alejandro chuckled gently. "So, mi amor, where would you like to go now?" he then asked as he put an arm around her. At this point, most of the attendees from the awards ceremony had exited the room.

"I don't know," Heather pouted. "Anywhere with you. I just want to be with you."

Alejandro smiled as they walked the room, and then back towards the hotel lobby.

Stepping outside the hotel, they noticed that the evening temperature was significantly cooler and that light rain drops were falling from the sky. With no jacket, Heather felt shivers throughout her body and she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. Alejandro immediately took off his suit jacket and draped it around Heather's shoulders. She smiled at the gesture, feeling a warmth both physically and on the inside.

He then hailed a taxi and took hold of her hand as they stepped inside the cab together.

"Good evening Sir and Ma'am, where is your destination tonight?" the driver said as he greeted them.

"Home," Heather answered.

The driver raised a brow. "Could I please have an address?"

Heather leaned back on in her car seat, whilst Alejandro let out a chuckle and gave the driver the address to their apartment.

They say that home is where the heart is, and whilst Heather was certainly not one to believe in cliche sayings, she understood what people meant when they say that.

Anywhere with Alejandro was home.

And as she sat in the car watching the view outside, she knew that a new chapter in both their lives was just beginning to write itself.

But whatever would be written in the books, she knew that as long as she had her home, the pages would be filled with words of courage, determination and love, regardless of what curveball or plot twist life would throw at them.

Sneaking a look at Alejandro, she saw the twinkle in his emerald green eyes as he turned around to meet her gaze and let out a smile.

He was her home, and she was his.

Because they saw sparks in each other's eyes when they smiled.

And because sparks really do fly.

The End

--

A/N - and that's a wrap!! It's so insane that we're at the end of this but it feels like we've come full circle <3

I'm emotional now that this story is over but hope you enjoyed it as much I did writing it :)

A little nugget - in chapter 4, Alejandro says that if he had one million dollars he would dedicate it towards setting up a charity for women's health and it's happening now!

A massive thank you to everyone who's read, commented, voted, added this story to your reading lists etc etc and followed along on this ride <3 I honestly didn't know what to expect when I posted the first chapter but I'm so so grateful for all your support xx

Any final thoughts??

***

And now, revealing the title, cover and synopsis for my next Aleheather story, 'The Jerk Next Door'!

Synopsis

Life is going well for Heather Kasuga, an associate at a prestigious consulting firm - she's just purchased her first apartment, and she's on track for a managerial promotion at work. But an unexpected twist arises when she meets her new attractive next-door neighbor, and let's just say 'friendly neighbors' doesn't quite describe the two.

Life is also going well for Alejandro Burromuerto - he's recently landed a new job as a manager at a prestigious consulting firm, and for the most part, he's content with where he's at in life. Yet when his new neighbor and co-worker refuses to give in to his ways, he finds himself feeling more and more intrigued by her.

What happens when Heather learns that Alejandro is not only her neighbor, but her new manager who's just joined her firm too?

Neighbors and coworkers; it's like twice the fun, twice the charm. There's chaos, there's banter, there's a war of words, but underneath it all there's chemistry too...

This story is going to be a very different style and vibe to Sparks Fly!

I don't know when it will be out yet but I will update here when the first chapter's out :)

Lots of love hehe xx