Chapter 3: Dinner

Marigold looked at Mr.Bax and said, “Are you happy now? You’ve taken everything from me.” Mr.Bax scoffed, saying, “Don’t be dramatic, you now have a better life. Nothing was taken from you, only given to you. You should be thanking me for taking you from your pitiful life and giving you a bigger and better life. A life you can now be proud of.” Marigold said, “You’re delusional and self centered. You’re a miserable and lonely old man.” Mr.Bax laughed and said, “You say miserable, I say rich and happy. Now that you have access to all these new riches you will soon understand that money is the best thing to have in this world.” She cried, “You’re sick, sick and disgusting. I would choose to be poor any day over having all these riches.” Mr.Bax said, “Well then you’re a fool.” 

Knock, knock, knock 

The knocking at the office door silenced Marigold and Mr.Bax. Mr.Bax said, “Come in,” and a man in his 50’s walked through the door. The man wore a white button up shirt, a dark green sweater vest over his button up shirt, tan khakis, white gloves, and black lace dress shoes. The man had a stubbly salt and pepper beard and mustache, was 6’2, had his short dark brown hair styled in a gentleman’s cut, and wore circular glasses. The old man said, “You wanted to see me Sir?” Mr.Bax said, “Right on time, Carls… Carls this is Marigold Bax, Beau’s wife and I need you to take her to the guest bedroom on the 4th floor so she can get ready to meet Beau.” Marigold said, “What? I’m not meeting him… I’m not going anywhere, with anyone.” Mr.Bax said, “I had the guest bedroom stocked with clothing that will fit you perfectly Marigold. Pick any dress and pair of heels you want, and Carls make sure she’s back down here at 5. We have a dinner reservation at Vizio and I have to call Beau.” Marigold said, “Did you not hear what I said? I’m not going anywhere! You can forget your reservation and you can forget me meeting, let alone talking to Beau.” Mr.Bax said, “I’m sorry I don’t argue with people who think they have options or think I’m asking them to do something when I’m telling them to go do it.” Marigold shouted, “Tell me?! I’m not your dog!” Mr.Bax chuckled saying, "But you are my property now go.” Marigold shouted, "I'm a human being!" Mr.Bax said, "That I bought. You belong to me now and I'm telling you to get ready… Now will you be forced to go or will you go peacefully?" The man in black chuckled while saying, "Personally I love using force." Carls sighed as he saw the tears forming in Marigold's eyes. Carls said, "There is no need to use force with the child, I will take her to the guest bedroom. Ms.Marigold, if you would please come with me, I will take you to your room." Marigold rolled her eyes and stormed out of the office while Carls followed behind her. Mr.Bax said, "Leave me, I have some business to take care of, and close my door." The man in black said, "Right away Sir," and left while closing the door behind him. Mr.Bax took a deep breath and sighed while reaching down into his pocket and pulling out his 14k gold smartphone. He dialed up Beau, and Beau answered saying, "Yes." Mr.Bax said, "Congratulations Mr.Bax Jr. you are now a married man." Beau sighed and said, "Oh yeah, that's great, just amazing… So what desperate woman did you pay to marry me?" Mr.Bax said, "Desperate I would hardly say so. She may be a little on the poor side but she's very head strong and very easy on the eyes… Yes my boy I think you'll be happy to meet her." Beau said in a sarcastic tone, "Wow she sounds lovely I can't wait to stop everything I'm doing to meet her." Mr.Bax said, "I'm glad to hear your excitement and I just know you'll be even more excited tonight when you meet your wife at Vizio." Beau scoffed, saying, "I said I would sign the certificate and that's all I'm doing. I'm not going to pretend that I love or even want to be around a girl I don't even know let alone want to be with." Mr.Bax said, "I'm sending a new suit out for you to get ready for tonight and you will be ready for tonight." Beau said, "I'm not going to Vizio tonight, I have business I have to take care of anyways." Mr.Bax said, "Then give the workload to someone else. Your wife is getting ready to meet you, and you will meet her with a smile on your face." Beau said, "I'm not some servant that you can boss around whenever you feel like it, I'm your son and the CEO of this company, and I'm not passing off my work onto someone else." Mr.Bax shouted, "You will be ready for tonight or you won't have to worry about CEO duties because you won't have a company to be CEO to. UNDERSTAND?!" Mr.Bax hung up the phone and slammed his hand down on his desk saying, "My son is the most stubborn man on the planet." 

While Mr.Bax was in his office Marigold was following behind Carls. Tears dripped down her face onto the hallway's red wine colored carpet floor. Carls glanced back to see Marigold looking down, crying. He sighed and said, "Please excuse the master's harshness. He can be uptight and rude sometimes, so please pay him no mind." Marigold mumbled, "Your master stole me, this goes far beyond just being uptight, he's a criminal. A thief that took advantage of greed and bought me." Carls looked down and said, "This home now belongs to you, so any request you have please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm the head butler and I will see to it that you have everything you need as soon as possible." She mumbled, "I want to go home…" Carls said, "I see… Well if I must say… Maybe your previous home isn't the best place for you right now… If the master bought you then you didn't really have a home…" Marigold glanced up looking at Carls. He stopped in front of a redwood door that had a copper handle saying, "We're here. Come Ms.Marigold…" He opened the door and Marigold walked inside of the room as he followed behind her. Inside the 3,000 Sq ft room were stacked shoe boxes full of designer heels, gold clothing racks full of designer dresses, a rose gold body mirror, a gray colored wood vanity, built in glass shelves full of expensive perfumes, a bay window, a gray bed that sat on top of a circular platform and had gray silk sheets and a gray comforter, built in lights in the ceiling, a light gray leather loveseat, a white fireplace, and gray bedside tables that sat on either side of the bed. The colors of the walls were a cool gray and the floors were white marble. She looked around the room as Carls said, "The master had everything ordered in today for you, so the room may not be up to your liking but I hope everything that you do have is to your liking." She touched one of the boxes and said, "This room looks so empty…" He looked down and said, "Please choose whatever you want to wear, I'll be waiting outside for you…" He left Marigold in the room, closing the door behind him as she heard the door close her tears flooded her eyes. She walked over to the bay window looking at the view of the 1 acre back yard thinking, 'Why was I chosen… Why couldn't they just leave me alone… I have all these things and still feel like I have nothing all at the same time. I lost… Everything…' She dropped to her knees and pressed her face into the bay window's cushioned seat crying into it.

An hour flew by and Mr.Bax stormed down the hallway up to the guest bedroom door seeing Carls standing outside of it. "Why haven't you brought her down yet," Mr.Bax shouted. Carls said, "Please Sir the child is trying to adapt, give her some time." Mr.Bax shouted, "I'm done waiting, she needs to come out now, my son is waiting for her." Mr.Bax pounded on the door shouting, "Are you done we have somewhere to be!" She opened the door wearing a white knee length sheath dress that had pink flowers on the bottom of the dress. She also wore black wedges and had her long hair done in a low bun with a twist. She looked down, grabbing her arm and mumbled, "I'm ready…" Mr.Bax said, "There she is looking beautiful… Beau won't be able to keep his eyes off of you Marigold… He sure knows how to pick them… Now Marigold, we must leave." Mr.Bax grabbed Marigold's arm while saying, "Carls go home for the night and rest up for tomorrow." Carls said, "Okay Sir," and Mr.Bax led Marigold outside to a silver Porsche. He opened the door, putting her inside the right back passenger's side and closing the door behind her. He got into the left back passenger's side and the driver took off. Mr.Bax looked over at Marigold and said, "I know you aren't accustomed to fancy dining but Vizio is one of the top restaurants in the country. Vizio is very expensive and very high class so mind your manners and just look like you belong." She looked down saying, "But I don't belong…" He grabbed her arm pulling her closer to him and said, "You belong now because you're married into the family. Look happy and don't ruin this dinner! You will put your feelings aside and enjoy the night. This is everyone's dream so stop acting so miserable." He let go of her arm and she put her hand on her face and started to cry. He said, "You better get all those nonsense tears out, I'll have no crying at the restaurant." Tears dripped on her dress and he said, "You're gonna stain your dress if you don't stop all the crying, look presentable Marigold, this is your Cinderella moment." She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and thought, 'I can't show weakness, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and find a way out of this mess. I'll just do what he says now until I can find a way out of here.' She held her head up, holding back her tears and said, "Okay Mr.Bax."

Half an hour flew past and the Porsche pulled up to a black 1 story building. She looked out the window to see a Vizio sign glowing on the center of the building. He said, "Good we're here." He got out of the car, walked over to Marigold's side, opened the door, and put out his hand saying, "Let's go." She grabbed his hand as he helped her out the car. She looked around seeing a line of people waiting to get in, and a man dressed in a black suit standing behind a gray podium. Mr.Bax whispered in her ear, "Don't embarrass me and my family." She looked down saying, "Yes Mr.Bax." They walked up to the man behind the podium and the man came from behind the podium stuttering, "Mr-Mr.Bax w-what brings y-you here? I-I mean I-I kn-know what brings y-you… U-uh right th-this w-way S-S-Sir." They followed behind the man and the man said, "Who is this lovely lady here with you?" Mr.Bax said, "She's my daughter in law, and she's also quite nervous… It's her first time here so I expect the best." The man said, "Right sir and might I say she is beautiful." She mumbled, "Thank you." They walked inside Vizio where they saw in the 19,000 Sq ft restaurant a gray podium for the host, 30 circular dark brown wood tables with 4 white chairs sitting at each table, a wall to wall rectangular aquarium fill with beautiful different colored fish, different modern paintings that went together cohesively, shiny dark brown floors, dark gray walls, and circular glass lights that hung down from the ceiling. The restaurant was dimly lit and slow classical music played throughout the restaurant. The restaurant was also quiet with each person talking loud enough only for the people at their table to hear them. The man said, "Your wife is already at your reversed table." The man escorted them to the table where Mrs.Bax sat. Mrs.Bax stood up as Mr.Bax walked up to her greeting her with a kiss. Mrs.Bax wore a solid light green shift dress and white heels. She had her light brown hair tied up into a high bun showing off her large pearl earrings. Around her dark brown eyes were crows feet and around her red lips were laugh lines. She looked at Marigold and smiled, saying, "Who is this beautiful woman?" Mr.Bax said, "Angela I want you to meet your daughter in law Mrs.Marigold Bax." Angela walked up to Marigold, held her hands, and said, "She is beautiful, like a porcelain doll." A soft smile came to Marigold's face and she said, "Thank you Mrs.Bax." Angela looked closely at Marigold's face and said, "So stunning and not even a drop of makeup. You are a beautiful girl, my son is lucky you even agreed to be his wife." Marigold stuttered, "Th-thank y-you." Angela walked Marigold over to a chair at their table and said "Come child sit, I want to get to know everything about you." Marigold sat down at one of the seats while Mr.Bax and Angela sat at the other seats next to each other. Angela said, "She carries herself with so much Grace doesn't she Nathaniel?" Marigold looked at Angela and said, "Mr.Bax's name is Nathaniel?" Angela said, "Yes, he doesn't look much like a Nathaniel does he? He-he I use to tease him all the time before we got married." Angela held Nathaniel's hand saying, "I use to think it was such a funny name now I just think it's cute." Nathaniel's face turned red as Angela giggled. Angela said, "Nathaniel where is our son, I swear that boy is late to everything." Nathaniel muttered, "He better be here soon or he'll lose the business." Angela said, "Oh Nathaniel threatening the boy is never going to get your way. Every single time he does something you don't like you always threaten him with the business, you know you'll never take that business away from your son. I would never let you do that, stop being so cold towards him." Nathaniel said, "The boy needs structure." Angela replied, "The boy needs space." Angela looked up to see Beau walking towards the table. She smiled and said, "Ah there he is, right on time too." Angela walked over to Beau and hugged him as he kissed her on the cheek. Nathaniel mumbled to Marigold, "Look happy, do not ruin this night." Marigold nodded while looking down. Angela walked Beau over to the table while he said, "I'm sorry I'm late. I had to tie up some loose ends but everything should be going smoothly now and production sales should be up by 20%." Marigold's eyes widened as she thought, 'That voice," Nathaniel patted Beau on the back and said, "That's my boy always expanding the business, making it reach its full potential." Beau pulled out his mother's chair and Angela sat down looking at Marigold. Beau sat down at the seat next to Marigold not realizing who she was and Angela said, "Oh my dear, you are so shy. You don't have to be shy around your own husband my dear." Beau said, "She's probably not use to being in places like this." Marigold gripped her dress and Nathaniel said, "There's no use in being shy now, you two are already married, the least you can do is look at Beau." Angela said, "Oh don't rush the girl, if she's shy she's shy let's not make a big deal out of it." Beau said, "Hmmm shy what a great choice…" Marigold squeezed her dress even harder as Nathaniel glared at Beau and Angela said, "What do you mean?" Beau said, "Oh nothing Ma I'm just happy to have such a timid wife." Angela said, "Oh stop teasing the poor girl, leave her be." Marigold looked at Beau as he looked back at her and both their eyes widened and Marigold jumped in her skin. Beau stuttered, "Mar-rigold?"