Arranged for love

I walked in on my parents having a serious argument. I got curious and rushed down the stairs and that caught their attention . Seeing me, they stood upright and kept quiet like they weren't arguing moment ago and that seems suspicious to me.

"Mom, dad, what's wrong??

"Nothing" my mom answered quickly making it all more suspicious

"That doesn't seem like nothing to me"

"It's nothing serious , we're gonna take care of it" dad answered this time.

"Take care of what??I inquired getting more worked up

"Nothing you have to worry your pretty head about" my dad spoke again, but I couldn't get rid of the worry that has began to sip in

"Mom??

She signed before answering "Fine, the board members are planning to vote your father out as the chairman of the board because the company has been having some setbacks lately and they concluded that he is incapable of leading the board of directors" she finished in one breath

"How could they??Dad built the company from scratch , from nothing with his blood and sweat , how could they do that to him" I was devastated.

Dad just sighed and collapsed unto the nearest sofa .

"That good for nothing Ross incited them to gang up against me, you know he's always wanted to be chairman and has been eyeing my company"

"Is there nothing we can do?? If you are voted out , you would have lesser power on the company you built with nothing"

"I know that already and I am out of ideas, they won't even support me nor my ideas" Then he looked up at me which got me uneasy

"There's only one solution"

"What's it"

I noticed a sad look on my mom's face but I brushed it off

'You will have to get married"

"Get married ?? I asked obviously alarmed and about to raise hell on him- I mean I wasn't ready to get married -when he walked towards me with a forlorn look and the words died down in my throat.

"The only solution is that I merge my company with knights corporation" yeah, knights is a business partner but wait, was I getting married to a wrinkled old man , I haven't seen him tho but he's sure is old

"Not to him but you're getting married to his son to get the companies merged" he spoke up to clear the confusion on noticing the bewildered look on my face – don't blame me, I won't get married to an old man who's near to his grave. Well, who knows, he could be hot- gosh, I can't believe I am such thoughts.

"If you want to" my dad continued which got me to look at him. I know he wants to save his company but not on the expense of his own daughter, he was torn between saving his company and protecting his only child and I felt pity for him.

"Dad"

"yes, I know you don't want to get married now but I will make sure to fix this mess, I must find a way" he butted in not waiting for me to finish.

"What if I want to"

"Want to??Mom queried already on her feet

"You know , get married"

"No, you can't"

"But.....

"yes, I want to keep my company but I can't do that to you" he pressed cutting me off, again

"jenny, you can't , I won't allow it "mom spoke up this time

"I am doing this for the both of you and for the company you worked so hard to build , I won't let someone else take it. If getting married is what it takes to keep the company , so be it"

"Dear, you haven't thought about it yet"

"There's nothing to think about, my mind is made up already, the company is yours and should remain yours" I won't let someone else to take the company away from my family even if it means getting married to an unknown man, I don't mind and that Ross need to be taught a lesson.

"I don't wanna force you to do this, you have your own life ahead of you"

"Dad, you're not forcing me to do anything , it's my duty as a daughter of this family to protect our heritage and this is my life also". I noticed my mom on the brink of breaking down and I felt my heart break .

"Mom, don't cry, I will be fine"

"You can always change your mind, you know that right?? That was my dad

"I know but I won't, so stop sulking. I need to head out now

Bye"

"wait, where are you going"

"To the café.

I Walked to the café surprisingly happy, the marriage long

forgotten, maybe it was because it was rainy, a nice weather for me though.

Splashing through the deep puddles of rain water that has began to form,

getting weird glances from the people taking cover from the rain , don't judge

me , I love rain and it was a perfect weather for me , maybe I was the only one

enjoying the weather as I see people around were scampering to take cover and I

was the only idiot standing in the rain.

"Hello there" I greeted my one and only best friend and the

closest person I have to a sister.

"Jennifer , how many times do I have to tell you to always

bring an ......." Of course, how could I forget I was gonna get scolded.

"I brought an umbrella with me" I cut her off not ready for

an earful.

" Nevertheless, you shouldn't come out in the rain , you

could get sick and I am too busy to tend to a sick friend"

" Yes, mom, I understand" I teased earning an eye roll.

"So, how are you doing ?? She asked as I took a seat

opposite hers. Now she remembers to ask for my well being after scolding me,

how lucky I am to have such a friend.

"I'm cool and tell me you kept my ice cream pudding"

"of course I did, I don't want you stomping your feet on my

new flooring which cost a lot money" I rolled my eyes because I wasn't that

dramatic over an ice cream, maybe I was but just a little bit. Wait, did she

just acted like we both didn't co-owned the café .

" I don't just understand your weird combo and I don't think

I will ever do" she continued.

" Well, if I can't choose one flavor, why not have them all,

right ??

" You're weird"

" And you like me"

"do I have a choice" she said looking at me and we ended up

bursting into laughter.

" oh shit, why am I so forgetful"

"what is it" I questioned clueless.

" I got a contract to prepare a wedding cake for my client

and I've got to do it tomorrow but you are gonna help"

Of course marriage, I forgot too soon.

"What's with the look?? She queried pausing my train of

thoughts.

"what look?? I asked oblivious to the fact that the word

wedding has soiled my mood.

"The sullen look on your face like you lost something, you

did something bad, didn't you??oh my God , you had a one night stand with a hot

stranger, did you get pregnant ?? Seriously, pregnancy, she's crazier than I

thought .

" First of all, eww second of all, I didn't lose anything

nor did I do anything bad, not a one night stand with a stranger and before you

ask further, I am fine" I answered , stopping her from babbling about how she's

gonna be a great godmother to my non existent babies.

" spill" she demanded this time.

" Spill what ?? I asked in pretense of not knowing what she

was talking about , making it more obvious by avoiding eye contact with her.

"you obviously know what I am talking about, I saw like

thousands of emotions across your face moment ago, so spill"

She's exaggerating right, I don't have thousands of emotions

right now on my face.

" I don't know anything" I answered still denying, I am a

bad liar, I know.

" okay cool, if you don't tell me what's bothering you, your

ice cream pudding is gonna suffer for it" she threatened.

Oh , she didn't.

"You wouldn't dare"

"Try me" she challenged .

She's damn serious and when she's serious like this, she's

dangerous. But, she doesn't have to involve my innocent ice cream. Gosh, she's

scary with her eyebrows raised up in expectation.

"Fine, I might likely get married" I blurted out.

" WHAT!! She screeched spewing the drink in her mouth on my

dress.

"eww, Sarah "

"Sorry" she mumbled sheepishly handing me a tissue .

"I want the tea"

"what tea?? I deadpanned oblivious to the pun and she gave

me the " are you really serious right now" look. Oh, she wants the full story

and I narrated it to her.

"So, technically you are likely getting married to one of

the knights. Since there are only two and you are not gay, you're getting

married to ... HOLY SHIT !! Again ,why the hell is she screaming a lot, at this

rate, I am gonna have an ear bleed.

" what?? Am I getting married to a mob boss, I don't even

know anything about him other than he is a Knight".

" You're getting married to Alex". Oh that's his name, what

kind of bride doesn't know the name of her supposed future husband , well that

kind of girl is me.

"I guess, maybe"

"You guess?? Have you seen him!!

I'm sure my ears are bleeding already.

" No, I haven't" I answered .

" we can do some

research about him, what do you say?? She said obviously not asking and doing

that weird wriggling of her perfectly arched eyebrows which makes her look

cool, I tried doing that many times and I looked like a clown, whenever she

does that, it's not always good.

" No, no no no" I refused immediately not like I wasn't

curious, I know Sarah would do more than research and I don't want to stalk the

poor guy .

" Oh, come on, we are not doing anything bad, we are just

gonna do a little background research on your future husband".

Few minutes later, I found myself sitting beside Sarah with

her laptop open staring and her drooling at the image of Alexander Knight. How

she convinced me , I don't know, maybe curiosity got the better of me. His eyes

were captivating and he's not bad, at least he's not a mob boss.

"I am not gonna lie, he looks good" meh that's me.

"Just good?? This guy is smoking hot , wealthy and one of

the top eligible bachelors and you're just going to say he looks good"

I shrugged.

" puh-lease , he looks cold and uncaring to me, maybe even

arrogant and egoistic"

" my dear Jenny, women are more interested in men who are

cold, arrogant and uncaring especially those who are appealing and wealthy,

alpha males like your husband" she expressed drawing out the husband word on

purpose and poking me while giggling which was getting me annoyed.

" He is not my husband"

"Yet"

" Enough with the marriage talk, I am already unhappy as it

is, so don't remind me, let's change the topic"

" Oh I am sorry, my bad, I forgot that part"

" let talk about the wedding cake" I changed the topic on

noticing the look of pity on her face, I don't want her to pity but I am

definitely sure she's worried about me.

That worked as she began to talk animatedly , she's so much

in love with her choice of career. As she was far away in her imagination, my

mind unconsciously drifting off to a certain brown eyes.

Back home , things were different

The gloomy aura was noticeable from afar off

Even the birds seem to notice my dilemma as the usual noisy atmosphere due to the birds' chirping was

Unusually eerily quiet. As if to taunt me.

I haven't seen my father for a while as he was always locked up in his study, immersed in his paperwork. I felt pity for him but I could do nothing to help..... no, I could help but I was stuck in a dilemma. I was torn between accepting the marriage be miserable for the rest of my life and choosing my happiness over everything but I have a responsibility as my father's daughter. God, making decisions is so hard , maybe because my life has always been planned out for me ever since I was born.

But I know that this was really stressing my dad out , he is always locked up in his study and whenever he comes out,which was rare, I could see the dark circles under his eyes, he hasn't really been sleeping well, this was draining him.

If I ever lay my hands on that wrinkled old man, I will...... .do nothing , my subconscious taunted me.

Even I am against my life , story of my life.

I knocked on his door with a cup of coffee placed in a tray.

"Dad, can I come in"

"uh, yes you can"

With that I entered, thank goodness, the door was unlocked because I am certainly not sure he needed a distraction right now.

"Oh. My. God" It looked like a volcano erupted in here, papers were flying all around in different angles, files were stacked on top of each other disorderly, dirty empty cups of coffee,infact, everything was in disarray.

"I know right, I have been busy lately and I haven't had the time to clean"

" it's okay, I'll clean the room for you" I placed the tray on his work table and set to work. Making little conversations here and there made the atmosphere livelier, with both of us still avoiding the marriage talk.

Until the phone rang.

"Yes, Nicholas speaking" . Business mode activated.

"what do you mean?? I thought it was supposed to take place at the end of the year 's general meeting,

The board members changed the date??, Oh God". I stood there clueless but I could clearly see he was troubled, what the hell was that phone call all about ??

Thankfully, the phone call ended but that didn't ease the sombre look on his face.

"urm, dad what's wrong?? I asked worriedly. He loosened his tie and I walked over the windows to open them for more air.

"we have a problem " he let out finally.

"what is it?! I enquired.

"The shareholders meeting is nearer than expected, it was supposed to be towards the end of the year, now , it is two months away "

"How?? Why??" I asked with confusion clearly written on my face.

"I think that son of a bitch has something to do with it" he answered clenching his fist.

"we are not sure yet, dad, we don't need to accuse ........ " I stopped realizing how stupid I sounded. I mean, who instigated the board members?? Him . Who also has the power to change the date? Also him. Definitely everything is pointing towards him.

"you don't know him like I do , Ross Avera is a devil" No argument about that.

"he definitely did this so there will little time for me to come up with any ideas, that old man, I should have kicked him out when I had the chance " my dad continued , banging his fist on his work table .

"What should I do ? What should I... ...

"What about the knights ?? I suggested .

"And what about them?? He asked confused. I was taken back for a sec because I least expected him to forget about the marriage talk so easily. This is what happens when you lock yourself in a room away from socialization.

"About that marriage thingy , you know" I deadpanned .

"No, I can't do that to you , this is my fight and I won't let you.....

" This is also my fight too " I cut him off . "I am tired of seeing you like this , I want to help and I can help, just give me the chance " I continued further.

He finally let down his guard and sagged his shoulders. He has given up.

"Fine , but if there's any alternatives, the marriage won't push through, agreed??

"Agreed" we both know there wasn't any other alternatives.

"And what are you two talking about " yep, that's my mom. " are you planning on killing me and disposing my body where no one would find me?? She gasped dramatically.

My father chuckled, " oh I have a better idea, we can just cut you into pieces and keep each piece in different places"

"or we can torture her to disclose her secret funds before slashing her into pieces, how does that sound? I chipped in , clearly joining in the fun.

" you guys are evil and here I am thinking I have the best family, I should really rethink that" she said shaking her head frantically.

" oh , you do have the best family , a daughter that loves you despite your nagging " she rolled her eyes at that

"And a husband that loves you unconditionally " my father said.

"oh, my love " my mom cooed rushing into his arms.

They had a love marriage and it has continued like that , nothing has changed.

I wanted a love marriage too but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride right?

If I was lucky, he would treat me like a human being and if I was unlucky, he will...

Nope, I don't want to think about that now, I'd rather just enjoy the view in front of me .

My father whispering sweet things to mom that I don't want to find out and my mom nodding her head.

Smiling with longing in my heart for I know I won't be privileged to have this.