There was a certain thrill that came from planning a wedding. Whether an arranged marriage, a love marriage or in my case, a contract.
Especially if the intended groom happened to own a whole lot of money.
A private chaffeur, fancy parties, trips to
world-renowned designers, all expense paid stylists, helps to attend to my every need. But, the best part–seconded by the Annex card–was the popularity.
In the weeks leading up to the wedding, my name was all over the news, bringing in both positive and negative reviews. Suddenly, everyone had an opinion they felt entitled to especially the receptionist and secretaries in Winston Corp.
I saw the questions and accusations on their faces, some felt I did not deserve it, while others asked if blackmail was the reason. Why would a billionaire want to marry an unknown face, an ordinary secretary?
If there was one thing Cole and I agreed on, any publicity was good publicity. He needed the media to see him as a humble CEO who fell for his 'number one fan'.
As for me, climbing up the ladder for three years as a receptionist with no acknowledgement, I started being seen when I became Cole's secretary, getting some credit and plenty backlash with it.
When he proposed, the whole country tried to get in contact with me. Offers began to troop in, ambassadorial deals became massive.
Now Mrs. Winston for two days, everyone wanted an exclusive with me. How did I land the number three most eligible bachelor in the country? How did I keep his past attachments and entanglements quiet? What was the next plan as the wife of a billionaire?
I chuckled as I read the entertainment section of the celebrity magazine, recalling when a reporter sent me a messsage before the wedding. "Rumours say your fiance has a baby-mama. How true is it?"
I knew the public saw me as a weak individual, easy to draw out the story from. But when I threatened to take the man to court the next day for unlawful accusation and defamement, I guess that perception changed.
Cole staggered quietly into the room, bringing with him the stench of alcohol as he fell into the couch. I sighed and got out of bed, walking over to him.
"I thought we agreed that you would not do this, at least not days after our wedding. Do you no longer want the million dollar deal?" I asked, shaking my head as I pulled off his shirt and socks.
"Back off. You have no right to tell me what to do," He slurred, weakly pushing away my hand. Expertly, I folded his hands over his head and continued with my business. The man was drunk more nights than he was sober, and as his secretary, taking care of the mess was part of the job description. Luckily, Winston Corp. paid me for it.
A bright red lipstick at the collar of his shirt caught my attention, and I shook my head in dismay, the disgust I had learned to hide away over the years creeping out. Every night was a new woman, and those investors were unwise to think marriage could stop his philandering ways.
Cole Winston had never appeared with the same woman twice for any event, instead always showcasing a new candy on his arm. Fortunately, I was the first–three events and counting–and the media would remember that forever.
Soon, I managed to undress him enough to put him into the king-size bed in the master bedroom. The room he had never slept in since the wedding.
As I cleared away his belongings, I recalled our wedding night. I was not expecting anything to happen, that part was taken care of by the contract, but I did not expect Cole to drop me off in the room and leave.
"For the sake of the helps, we have to pretend to share this room. But I'll be staying in the extra room over there," he promptly informed me, pointing to a door at one side of the huge room.
He drove off that night, not bothering to return till the next morning. I shook my head, and looked at my reflection in the bedside mirror.
My black hair still packed in a ponytail cascaded across my back, side bangs framing my face as they hid a huge forehead. The diamond earrings Cole gifted me at our engagement party sat pretty on my ears, glittering brightly. My skin never looked more supple than it did, and my rosy lips shone a bright pink.
I would get past this. Ten months was all it took.
Strings of loud chirps got me out of bed the next morning, and I forced my eyes to blink open. Pushing forward, I stretched slowly and grabbed my phone, still groggy-eyed and tired from dealing with Cole's drunken words the night before.I tapped it open, and instantly leaned forward as notifications and messages from different apps scrolled across my eyes.This could not be happening."Cole!" I screamed, rushing over to his study where he was hunched over several papers scattered across his mahogany desk. He raised his head to glare at me, an eyebrow raised."Liza, why are you shouting my name? Being married to me doesn't still give you that right," he chided, and resumed working on his papers."There's a problem. What do we do?" I ignored the jab and instead showed him the post on my Instagram feed, with over fifty thousand views.A video dated early last night of Cole, my husband frantically kissing one of his numerous flings.He stood up and grabbed the phone from my hand, repeate
In twenty-four hours, exactly three days after my wedding to the billionaire boss, my suitcase was packed and ready to go.I looked at the mirror one last time, and readjusted the black Gucci shades sitting on my face. I struck a pose and took a picture, making sure the flight ticket was visible in the mirror selfie.Uploading it, I walked out to the Mercedes waiting and joined Cole in the passenger seat. Immediately the car started, he turned his phone to me and frowned, "I see you've already started with the pictures."I shrugged an arm in response. "Theearlier, the better. Right?""Good day ma'am. We'll be arriving at the airport in approximately twenty minutes," the chaffeur greeted, looking at me through his front mirror. I nodded my head, and out of habit, signalled for him to put the partitions up. I held my leather jacket tighter against my body, letting out small breaths of air as I rubbed my palms together and placed them on my face.Cole glanced at me with an eyebrow raise
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome onboard Flight 2Y7 with service from San Francisco to Maldives. We are currently second in line for take-off and are expected to be in the air in approximately five minutes time. The approximate time for departure is 10:15am, and we are expected to arrive the Maldives at 16:30pm tomorrow. We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts–""Why didn't you say you felt cold?" Cole asked me immediately I held my jacket and fastened my belt.I raised my head to meet his eyes but even as he waited for my answer, his eyes were glued to the retreating figure of an air hostess. I shook my head and cleared my throat noisily.He glanced back at me, blatantly oblivious to his errors. I gave a soft sigh and answered, "I always say it, but you like setting the temperature low. Also," I gestured at the lady and continued in lower tones, "it would be very advantageous to us if we try to pretend to be in love during this vacation.""Of course, I know that," he responded.Th
In the middle of my third episode, Cole tapped my shoulder and motioned for me to pause the movie."Do you need anything?" I asked, removing the headphones from my ears as I leaned forward. Involuntarily, I grimaced feeling pain settle in my back from sitting in one position for three hours at a stretch."Yes. Did you bring those documents I was working on yesterday?" He questioned, a frown on his face."What documents? I do not know anything about them," I responded, covering my mouth to stifle a yawn. I needed to stretch my body or walk around a bit."Meaning what?" Cole raised his voice, now glaring at me. "How am I supposed to work on the proposal then? Why are you so incompetent?"I stared at him and began to flare up, but when he sighed and ran his hand through his hair, I took in a deep breath and responded,"Cole, you relieved me of my duties as your secretary when we signed the agreement. Besides, you did not inform me about any proposal nor any documents. Also, will there be
"There are a lot of people here," Cole commented immediately we stepped out of the tour car."It is the largest island in all of Greece, so it is expected."I put on the mittens I purchased as soon as we landed at one of the shops located in the airport, and shrugged as I walked forward into the heart of the crowd.The first thing I noticed in Crepe was the contrasting landscapes. Somehow, the scenery combined expansive coastlines and rolling mountains with lush greenery and rocky terrains. I could not resist taking a picture of the beautiful wonder.Like us, most people in the crowd were tourists and most of them stood huddled in separate groups. On one side, a tour guide hurried through his English as he described the exotic parts of the town to a majority to the crowd while on the other side, a family of seven took a picture sitting under a huge tree."Is this the Old Town?" Cole came up beside me and asked, showing me a picture of our location on the internet."Yes, it is. Have yo
I dabbed a tear from my eye, sniffing noisily when another tried to escape. How did him turning into a zombie and then dying make any sense in the storyline?"You should stop watching those Korean dramas of yours, Elizabeth. They give you false illusions about love and make you look silly," Cole complained into my ears just as the episode credits began to roll."Good morning Cole," I responded sourly, the sarcasm evident in my voice as I turned to face him. He shot me a sharp look in response before stalking off into the toilet. By the time he got back, the flight attendant–a middle-aged man this time– was done serving the breakfast and I had begun to dig in.He glanced at me and asked, "Did you make an order for me?"I nodded my head, my mouth full of food, and pointed at his seat where a dish was covered with cutlery and a serviette by the side.I watched as he opened it and raised an eyebrow turning to me, impressed. "How did you guess?""I worked with you directly for years, Si–Co
"Why did you pack so much?" Cole complained, even as he stood watching the driver load our luggage into his boot.I glanced at them and folded my arms as I responded, "They are not plenty, Cole. Besides, we are staying for two whole months. I do not want to run out of clothes."Men never understood our plight. While he could carry one box and fit all of his necessities inside, I had to have one large suitcase for my clothes, a medium sized box for footwear, make-up and jewelry, then a handbag for my body care products."What's the point? You'll still end up buying more anyway," he said and opened the car door for me."Still, you can never be too prepared. Anything could happen," I argued back, seeing the driver glance between us and give a short smile. The man was enjoying our banter, and I could bet he supported Cole."If you say so."I nodded once and looked outside the window as the car started to move forward. Long coconut palms spanned along the sidewalk, swaying from side to sid
"This is not my kind of scene," I shouted into Cole's ear, trying to drown out the thrumming beats of the music. We were squeezed together on the couch, and the unwelcome scents, loud noise and smoke were beginning to give me a headache.Cole laughed out and offered me a glass, shaking his head. "But I'm having fun."I looked around, still surprised by his definition of the word. We were sitting directly behind the blasting sound, numerous people grinding and gyrating to the awful beat as they passed cups filled with alcoholic content to each other. The disco bulbs shone different colours of light into my eyes. The whole scene reminded me of a high school party, and I felt disgusted.One girl stumbled towards us and tried to flirt with Cole, but I shot her a glare and she quickly walked away. He made a face at me and pouted, the dark shades covering his eyes, "Why did you do that?"I shook my head and groaned. Gods, the guy was totally wasted and we had not even been here up to two ho