Brian doesn’t utter a word to me in the car, he doesn’t mention anything to me even when we were at my house; he is so quiet all the time during the car ride that I needed to investigate into him thousand times to make sure he is here by my side. At a point, it feels like he stops breathing, how a person can be this calm? All the time I saw him from far, I never think him as a modest person, to be honest, whenever I judged of him I considered of a loudly bossy character who does nothing but order other people around.
At least that’s what I found out from my circle of people, Luke Hall mostly, my best friend also my family’s biggest enemy, after my marriage I think he will be banned from my life. The record between my in-laws and the Halls can bring blood bath to Chicago. Sometimes I think the mafias of Chicago is not that dangerous, the much McCoy’s are against Halls.
Brian opens the car door for me, holds his hands towards me. For, the first time, I look into his eyes. For the past twenty minutes I stole some glances when he was busy driving. From, time to time three lines appear on his forehead which says he was deep in his thoughts.
I think it’s because of the scene that Hazel causes back at home; I warned that girl to behave the time Brian comes, the evil smirk that she offered me when Brian’s car pull into the driveway was adequate for me to understand my little sister’s maverick nature, however, like a moron I believe in her.
“Now, twirl for me,” I ask him when we are about to make our grand entrance for the first time as a couple in the Chicago community.
He stops abruptly to look at me, the poker face that he retains the utter car ride slips away from his face. The serious face replaces with confusion.
“What?” he asks after a couple of heartbeats.
This is the first time I heard his voice from close, other time I heard or saw him speaking from a distance, maybe one or two words struck on my ears, this deep masculine voice is nothing I expected.
“I need to see if you are right-paired with me or do I need to apply my magic on your appearance.”
He continues glancing at me with no sound, this is weird. No man looks at me the way he is staring, as if he wants to consume me in his blood. I can’t make my mind about Brian yet. I am trying to understand him but I am getting anything out of him. He always carries this deadpan mask. I notice this is not him. A rare person has to be above this veil. Still, I can’t get him. Maybe because this the first time we meet that’s why with time he will be open with me.
“What are you saying?” he pretends not to understand me, so I grab his arm and spin him around to check him, I should have done this at my house but, the little Hazel made good enough entertainment to do such important work.
“You look fine.” I touch up his hair a little before slipping my hand on his arms. “My rose, smile.” He doesn’t. He frowns with wide eyes, as if I just ask his kidney or lungs. “I have a reputation in the society Brian, I am the sweetheart of Chicago. Loved everyone, that will not change just because I am marrying the supercilious bastard of Chicago.”
“You.” I cut him in middle.
“You will smile all the time, be kind with everyone, and no frowning tonight. Okay, rose.” I place his hand on my waist. God, I need to do all the works now. Does he even know anything about romance?
The closeness is what I never experience before with any man. I always wanted to have a romantic relationship but with the right man. A man who will love me, cherish me, respect me, the way men approach me at the parties they were clear about their intention. A night in bed, no promise, this is not who I am, I don’t even think I can move in my life after having some meanness sex with a random man.
Intimacy is private, an emotion that ties two people in a thread. I want that from my relationship. I want that kind of romance where my partner will look at me and could tell I am happy or sad, an attentive partner, a heart for whom I will more than enough, I will do everything he ever wanted.
I wonder, can Brian provide me with that? Even if he can’t, he needs to learn all those things, if is marrying me, he needs to change his attitude first, also he doesn’t need to think much, I am here to help him out from everything.
We enter the ballroom where the party is taking place. Music, people’s chattering comes to my ears, I change my view from Brian’s handsome face to the party.
“Smile rose,” I tell him in clenching my teeth, maintaining a smile on my face.
“Inessa, I think you need a doctor first.” He whispers.
“Don’t say rubbish, rose.”
“Stop calling me rose, first. My name is Brian, you can use that.” he irritated, God, I have no idea teasing this bitter man will be this much fun and interesting.
“From now, I will call you, rose.” I fly a kiss to him. “My pretty rose.”
“You…do your father know the problem of your head.”
As we enter the party all the eyes come and rest on two of us, the laughter dies from some people’s lips, some glance at us with shock wide eyes, suddenly the room goes mute. The pleasant party domain quickly converts into tranquility. We walk into the room and people start to chatter; they are whispering, glancing on our route, we are for sure making it on the front page of every newspaper tomorrow morning, this is a miracle, our grand entry, shouts enough to everyone know McCoy and Simmons are joining hands together. This friendship nobody sees coming yet it’s happening.
“He is too busy to know his children’s activity.” I sigh.
I know almost everyone in this room; I am part of them; I attended thousands of parties with my father from the age of eighteen to know how everyone works in this room. For example, Mrs. Murphy loves showing off her wealth, the gifts her husbands gave her to keep her mouth shut about his illegal works, Samantha Young loves bitching. She is one of Brian’s friends, his ex-girlfriend Olivia’s best friend.
After Olivia’s death, I saw them making out at a party. Samantha was naked, sitting on Brian’s lap while Brian was fully dressed. I quietly left the place, after I come back I never saw them at the party, they never come back, I let my imagination run wild that time, however, right now it’s an unsettling feeling, my stomach is lace in hundreds of knot. I witnessed my fiancé bonking another woman. My throat goes dry, I can’t think of anything, my mind is blank.
“Then I should inform him about this.” Brian touches my lower back gently “Are you okay?”
“I need something to drink.”
I walk towards the bar at first, but I need some air to breathe, this place. The unknown feeling is strangling my throat.
“Inessa, why are you with that asshole?” Luke asks.
He stands beside me, in his white shirt and black pants he looks glamorous as usual. His black hair is a little mess, so I guess he directly comes from the office.
“We are getting married,” I answer after inhaling the much-needed deep breath.
“Is this a joke?”
As expected, he is angry, his voice is higher than usual tone. I am friends with Luke Hall for five years now, he never got angry with me, nor did raises his voice. I am not surprised at all; I knew from the beginning he will behave like a wild animal, and somehow I can justify his rude behavior.
“Nope. Next week, on my birthday we will get engaged.” I sigh.
“God.” He shakes his head in disbelief. Luke pulls me close to him, my eyes are on his chest, he places a finger under my chin and lifts my head to his eyes. “Are you okay?” he whispers.
I nod without thinking. Tears escape from my eyes. I don’t know if I am okay. One minute I am positive to work everything out, the other moment I am doubting myself, this engagement, remembering Brian with Samantha burns my heart.
Luke embraces me in a tight hug without saying a word, I let him hold me, whispering comfort to my ears. He feels safe to me, my friend is always a safe place for me.
“Take your hands off my fiancee.” A roar jerks us apart. I look at Brian, his eyes are red, his hand is clutching into a fist, he is looking at Luke like he is about to split him into two pieces.
God, I am not going to be the reason for McCoy and Hall to fight once again, it will be déjà vu, for a woman they fight again.
“Let’s go inside.” I try to push Brian out of the balcony. This man is solid, tough, he doesn’t even move an inch from his place. “Please,” I beg.
He glances at me. After a few heartbeats he grabs my wrist and marches onto the party. He doesn’t say a word after that. The fun teasing, chatting that was happening between us some time ago is vanishing, the playfulness is gone. We talk with some of his business clients. He discusses something with them while I stand close to him with a smile hanging on my lips.
Then we move to his friends, they are all at the corner of the room; I know all of their names and family status however, I never will associate with them. They are not bad influences or anything, it’s just I am way too different from them.
Brian introduces me as his fiancée to his friends, they all congratulate us, I know Erin Jenkins; he hit on me a year ago. Evan Thomas flirted with me some time ago, the girl Natasha Stone slang off me in a bathroom with her other friend Betty at a party. I heard all the things she said about me. I was inside the toilet stroll when they were discussing rumors and lies about me.
Brian sits on the couch and pulls me on his lap as I am a whore, I say nothing, for now, I don’t want to embarrass him in front of his friends, however; I am not going to give him the rights to insult me this way again. So, take this chance to taste him, his own medicine.
“My rose, I will blow you after this party, or do you want now, my sweetie pie?” I am batting my lashes. “Don’t be so angry, my sunshine.” I set my hands on the nape of his neck and bring his face close to my breast.
All his friends around us in shock, some cough to fill their discomfort, some are looking at us with open mouths, my fiancé is red with embarrassment. And trust me, this the lifetime opportunity for me to see this, I think once in the lifetime thing it is.
“Inessa.” He warns me.
“We will have fantastic sex after this, my rose.” I wink at him.
The party is fun, sorry, more than fun, I love the night, enjoy every bit of the second, did whatever I wanted to, say all things I wanted.
“You are mad, absolutely insane,” Brian says as he drives the car outside my house.
“Sweet dream too, my rose.” i get out of the car without giving him any explanation or a lucky chance to talk. I hear him calling my name, but I don’t give a damn to him at all, get into my house and lock the door.
I guess we will have a pretty entertaining marriage after all.
“Sir, all the information about Miss. Inessa Simmons.” Linda places a brown envelope on my desk.My head is in grief because of that girl, she is the genuine pain in the ass; I don’t even understand how she got under my thin nerve so smoothly, which is rare. I don’t get hyped up so quickly but this girl succeeds to do that within five minutes of our talk last night.Although I will not give her the whole credit to vex me up, her siblings helped her a lot in that area. Hazel especially, that girl made me resentful and dumbfounded at the same time, the rest her sister did all by herself.All night, I couldn’t sleep. She is the reason. The seeds that she spilled at the party in front of my friends were the main reason for my sleepless night. All my friends called me last night to know if I was in bed with Inessa or not. Those assholes kept calling me until the four of the morning. I am sure madam was enjoying her
I see a gigantic white gold hola shape diamond in the middle of three bands with small diamonds all around the three bands is shining on my ring finger; I am engaged. Last night it took place, the moment everyone in Chicago was waiting for finally came to life. Too bad others can’t witness this epic engagement as it was between merely two-family, more like a hush-hush ceremony. I knew it was coming; I saw this ceremony taking place yet; it shook the hell out of me when Brian put the ring on my finger. Two of our families gather under the same roof. The middleman played my house on this occasion. All the McCoy’s and Brown that is Brian’s aunt’s household came to our house, this is the first time I saw all of them simultaneously. This was supposed to be my twenty-year birthday party. Instead, instead, it became a business meeting, Brian put the ring on my finger, then all the McCoy (Brian, Matthew, Viola, one of Brian’s sisters, she means business only,
I stand on the alter, this is the d-day, even now all the nerves of my body are restless, all of them are telling me to run away before you regret this stupid decision. However, my heart is at peace. I feel a slight expansion in my heartbeat, that’s the thrill of getting married, I don’t think so. Seeing Inessa again yes, maybe.Moreover, I am fucking wearing the pink tie that she chose for me. This is the first and last time I am wearing this kind of bullshit. After tonight I am going back to my black suit. Robbie, Owen, Viola, Lyra, all my friends, even my dada laughed loud when they saw me in pink.We connected the whole three weeks before the wedding through texts and calls. I needed to take off to London once again for a week. Inessa was busy with our wedding arrangement. That’s the reason she didn’t have much time to annoy me with her gibberish. It was peaceful weeks, the closest I have to have this woman stroll into
I love to think of myself as a cool woman. There are a few times in my life when I felt obstreperous. Papa always said being nervous is a sign of vulnerability. I think it’s trash. If I am having a particular feeling inside me, I think it’s sensible to express that. What’s the point of denying emotion that is messing with your peace of mind already? And how that sensation becomes our weakness just out of my capability of understanding.I don’t know if I believe that or not, but most of the time I am tranquil. I don’t want other people to pick out any of my things and go with that. Even though I do nothing, I am the constant subject of debate at parties among both men and women.Sometimes these disputes turn into denunciation and bitching, which I don’t need that in my life.Ton points at everything from my hair to my toe, my lipstick to my shoe, dress to the pouch.That’s the reason I go har
“I will tell you everything later.” Inessa is standing in front of the window, a white shirt is concealing her pale naked body, which was underneath my torso for the most part of the night.I open my eyes a little bit more to see her properly; she is talking to someone on the phone, explaining our marriage. It’s still dark outside, I think it is not more than 4:30 in the morning; I wonder who the hell is calling my wife at this inappropriate time.The only name that comes to my mind is Luke Hall. Whether it’s he on the other side of the phone or he is the one who is calling her at this time of the night, I am announcing war against him. I can easily chew him away.“Bye.” She cuts the call, runs her hand through her long hair.She stands a bit longer near the window, admiring the view before coming to the bed.Without making any sound, she lies down on the bed again; I roll over to her and p
It’s a two-hour and twenty-minute flight from London to Olbia Coast, Italy. When we arrive at the airport, a car is standing by for us at the airport. After thirty more minutes of driving, we got to the resort where we will stick around for the next week. We check in to our room and immediately both Briand and I fall on the bed. This has been a tiring trip.I have always wanted to visit Italy for the summer. Last year Veronica and I planned a trip to Italy, then my papa’s fourth marriage happened. His wife, Genelia, is not someone I count on. I will never depend on her with my pet, let alone my siblings.She is the most reckless person I have ever encountered. Seriously, sometimes you require to be vigilant, but she is consistently lost somewhere, and that somewhere is not the place she is present in. I could have left them on Maria, but Genelia always kept Maria busy with her unnecessary work.She didn’t take no from any
I stay all day away from Inessa. The itch that I feel for this woman is evident, the fire of passion is flaming too high inside me, notably around my dick.The way I want to get intimate with her is new to me. It shocks me too. This animalistic hunger for a woman is like a new world to me. I never feel this kind of raw desire for Olivia or the prostitute I was with, with them it was straight to business.Olivia and I were more like fuckbuddy, I don’t think we were ever lovers. What is the definition of lovers? I googled it “A partner in a sexual or romantic relationship outside marriage”. If this is the true meaning, then sure, we were lovers. I mean, we were sexually active. Every time we were together, we banged one another like a psychopath, but there was no romance between us.We both met in a bar. I was there with some Chinese investors celebrating a deal that I signed five years ago. A small pub a few blocks away fr
“You should keep your mouth shut sometimes, Inessa. Your bold over-smart mouth will ruin you one day.” My papa’s word. For a long time, I neglected these. I don’t really give a damn what my father’s say as I don’t think him someone honorable to heed attention to.Everyone knows how obnoxious Andrew Simmons is. No one wants to be close to that narcissist man if it’s not demanded. All my siblings, even our maids, tried to stay away from my father’s judgemental thoughts.But right now, I wish I could keep my mouth shut, like the woman who talks about her husband’s mistress on their honeymoon. I don’t know if he has someone to warm his bed other than me. In the past, of course, he definitely had a parade of women in his life. I don’t know if he cheated on Olivia or not.Still, I don’t think it’s right to bring that woman on our honeymoon during this romantic dinner t