Chapter 5 Real marriage

Jade liked to pretend that her life was going to stay completely the same. But when she woke up the next morning she was greeted by her mother's big grin while she walked into the bedroom with a tray filled with breakfast treats. It was terrifying, really. She liked to think her mother had been the best mother ever as she was growing up, but she knew better. Her mother always had been busy with other things, things she thought were more important. Like having tea with her so-called friends and going to meetings of all the charitable causes she supported.

Not once did she bring her breakfast in bed. Instead of waiting for her mother to approach her, Jade rolled out of bed and reached for her robe on the empty one-seat, quickly wrapping it around her.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"Thought I'd treat you to something nice to celebrate your engagement."

Jade forced a smile upon her face, "Mom, we already celebrated my engagement last night."

Walking into her bathroom Jade did her morning routine, brushing her teeth and taking a shower. She heard her mother move around in her bedroom as she was drying off and slipping back into her robe. Pulling her hair up she pinned it in a messy bun on top of her head and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Jade, eat up. Breakfast is getting cold." Her mother pointed to the one-seat, "I've laid out your clothes for today. To save you some time."

She knew not a lot of people would appreciate it, but she knew her mother had a sense of fashion. And she purposely didn't buy pieces of clothing which would make her look like she was wearing a Sunday outfit. She only had her PJ's which consisted of joggers and tees most of the time. So not even a four-year-old could mess up an outfit when they were going through her closet.

"Thanks, mom, I appreciate it."

She smiled, "Don't be silly. I have all the time in the world now."

Jade grabbed clean underwear from her closet, reached for her outfit which her mother laid out on the one-seat and walked back to the bathroom. She left the door ajar so she could continue her conversation with her mother. She knew her mother wanted to talk, get things off her chest.

"Mom, you're doing a lot of charity work, right?"

"Most of them told me it was better if I resigned for the time being. They don't like to be associated with Arthur, you know."

She could imagine why people were reluctant to let her mother help their charity. It was a PR thing and she got that. But it also meant that her mother indeed had a lot more time on her hands now. Her apartment wasn't big enough to entertain her mother for a long period of time.

"I don't know what to say, mom."

"Since I have a lot more time on my hands I thought I could focus on organizing your wedding instead."

Jade nearly tripped over her own feet as she slipped into her pale blue pencil skirt, "W-What?"

"Well, I'm assuming neither you or Mark are paying much attention to planning a wedding."

Jade slipped into her short-sleeved white blouse and straightened her outfit, checking in the mirror to see if everything was in place. Once she was pleased with how she looked, she slipped her robe back on and tied it around the waist, heading out in the bedroom again.

"Mom, Mark and I haven't discussed the wedding yet."

Jade took a seat on the bed and started with breakfast. She had a little over an hour thanks to her mother. She really did appreciate it, it was the first time she actually felt like her mother did a genuine thing. Something she always wanted to remember.

"So all the more reason for me to step in, don't you think? You two are both busy with work and since I have nothing better to do for the time being I can focus on planning your wedding instead."

"We haven't discussed the wedding, but what I'm certain of is that neither one of us want a big wedding. We'd like to keep it really simple. Small and intimate."

"Mark has a big network, honey, I'm sure he doesn't want to keep it that intimate."

"Yes, he does."

"Honey, you haven't dated a guy like Mark before. He has a public image he needs to maintain."

"That's his social life." Jade wasn't letting her mother walk all over her, like hell she'd let her wedding which would mean the end of her life turn into a big media circus, "I'm his private life. I think I know him better than most people. This is a special moment for us. We're keeping it small and intimate and if you can't deliver that we'll actually hire a wedding planner to get things done."

That made her mother shut down and take a step back again.

"You're right, honey, you do know him better than most people. I can do small and intimate."

"Good." Jade finished up her breakfast and got back to her feet, "I'll tell Mark. We're eating out tonight. So don't wait up for me. I'm getting my hair and make-up done and then I'm leaving."

"Okay. Tell Mark I said hi."

"Sure."

She'd do that after she told Mark about her plans for their wedding. Apparently, they were having a small intimate wedding which her mother organized. She wasn't sure how he'd take it, but now they had to go with it since she made that decision for them.

***

After a long day at work Jade was ready to go home, but then she remembered she had to be social for a bit longer. She was meeting Mark at a rather fancy restaurant and she had to be there in like half an hour. She was going to be late. Rushing to get there she almost tripped over her nude pumps, the waiter helped her steady herself and offered to walk her to her table. She refused though, she didn't want to embarrass herself or Mark. Instead, she took a calming breath and with confident strides walked up to the table where Mark was currently sitting. He had a menu in hand while he had his phone in the other, scrolling through it.

"Sorry, I'm late." She told him quietly as she took a seat across him.

"It's fine, I got your text so I knew you'd be running late." Mark looked up from his phone, his eyes showing how surprised he was when he actually saw her, "You never fail to impress, Jade."

She tried to act cool as he complimented her appearance once again. He wasn't greedy when it came to complimenting people. She actually liked that about him. He told people straight out what he thought, no going around in circles. Yet he was also a man who knew how to play the game.

"My mom decided this morning that she is going to plan our entire wedding. Just to let you know." Jade reached for the menu a waiter dropped off and flipped through it, "I also asked her to keep it small. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Mark told her, "I'm actually surprised you're moving forward with this."

"Why?" She looked up from her menu, "I've accepted your offer. I'm not breaking my word."

"I don't know, maybe because it's not like you've always imagined it would be. Women always have a dream guy in mind they want to marry and spend the rest of their life with. Do the house and two point five kids thing with. You know."

She could lie and tell him she had no idea what he was talking about, but she did know. She wasn't one of those women only because very early in life she learned that the perfect life didn't exist. She learned that everything came with a price. If something seemed too good to be true, it almost always was.

She had women around her who did dream of marrying the perfect guy and have two point five kids with. Living in a family house with a white picket fence and a dog. It didn't sound like a bad fantasy but she knew that for most people it always remained a fantasy.

"I've always known I'm not going to end up marrying Prince Charming. So instead of analyzing my character how about we skip straight to the rules, you wanted to discuss? I assume there are a few."

Mark ordered them a healthy juice because they were both driving home. She went for chicken with green veggies while Mark went for the fish and green veggies. Placing the napkin on her lap she smiled when Mark did the same. They were quite the pair. She knew if she looked around she'd notice that they fit right in. Most couples around them dressed the same way they did. As she scanned his face she had to admit to herself that he was a handsome guy. He was much older than her, but he never treated her like she was a child. Ten years, it was quite a gap.

"Before we start with discussing our marriage I'd like to know if you have certain expectations."

She reached for her glass of strawberry mixed with orange juice and took a sip to get rid of her parched throat, "I just want you to keep your word and sign the house back to my mother."

"Are you sure that's the only thing you want from this?"

"And I'd like to keep my job."

Mark looked confused, "I wasn't planning to ask you to quit your job."

"Really?"

"Really." He assured her, "I don't expect you to sit at home and knit me sweaters."

She smiled, "Most women in our environment sit at home and maintain their priced garden."

"That would be quite a task for you considering I'm living in a penthouse."

"No balcony?"

He shook his head, "No."

"Guess I just have to stick with my job."

Mark's eyes softened, "Seems like a good idea to me." They thanked the waiter when he placed their plates in front of them and continued their conversation, "I'd like you to end your lease and move in with me as soon as possible. We're engaged and believe it or not but there are actually quite a few people who are interested in my private life. I'd like to maintain the image of us getting married because we're in love rather than closing a deal."

"Moving into the penthouse."

"Yes, as soon as possible."

"I can do that."

"Let's say by the end of this month."

Jade agreed, "Gives me plenty of time to pack up and end my lease."

Mark seemed very pleased with her not protesting. But she was well aware that he did have an image to uphold. There were people who were very curious about his life. Even the girls she was working with kept asking about him once they figured out who he was. It was like she was marrying the hottest Hollywood star. If she wasn't so stressed out with her family's situation she would have laughed it off.

"The last thing I want out of this marriage is it being real."

"Excuse me?"

He didn't blink once as she looked at him like he lost his mind, "There won't be other men for you and I'll promise you the same." His lips curled up, "Well, no other women for me."

Again if she hadn't been freaked she would have teased him for having a weird kind of sense of humor. But right now she couldn't laugh. He was talking about an actual marriage. Them doing things married people did.

"Are we talking about two point five kids and a dog?" Jade asked to clear things up.

"Eventually, yes."

She didn't understand why he wanted that. She thought that her father being locked up in prison and her marrying him was his ultimate revenge. She never assumed he'd want more than that.

"I don't understand."

"What part?" He asked her.

"The part where you want us to be real. Like behaving like an actual married couple. Thought you just wanted to marry the daughter of the guy you screwed over."

"I wouldn't say it quite like that, but that was my intention, yes." He never wavered as he admitted to her what she already knew, but it was still making her heart squeeze painfully hearing him say that out loud, "But I realize that we have potential, Jade. So why not give it a try since we'll get married anyway?"

"So we're doing the whole couple thing?"

"Yes."

She wasn't sure about it, but she figured they had time to figure it out. She'd be moving into his penthouse in three weeks. The wedding would be months away so they had plenty of time. Maybe by the time they were signing their contract Mark had changed his mind about the whole real marriage thing.