Arranged marriage : Married to an unknown man

Ariana

The next day when I entered the office building, everyone’s focus turned to me. They all looked at me as if I had committed a serious crime. I knew why they all were staring at me. They wanted to know why my boss snapped at Sarah, his long-time friend because of me. They were murmuring that I became the reason for drift in their friendship. Although they were murmuring in whispers still, I heard all that these people were saying. I really felt bad about what happened in the interview room.

Since that incident, Xavier was not in a good mood. He was grumpier. Maybe he too was feeling the same as others that I drifted him apart from his friend? I didn’t want all that to happen. I was even unable to speak at that moment when they were arguing because of me. I was at fault too. I should have been aware of my surroundings.

When Sean and Daniel got to know about the incident, they got furious at Sarah saying how could she talk to me like that. They even didn’t listen to me when I tried to explain that I was at fault too, instead, they brushed it off and asked if I was okay.

I walked past the people who were staring at me. I was aware of every judging stare even of Katherine’s, the receptionist, still, I ignored all of them. Many of them didn’t know what exactly happened and they also didn’t know that I feel bad about that.

I entered the elevator and was about to push the sixtieth-floor button when someone shouted,

“Wait for me!” I looked at Lauren who was running towards the elevator. She entered and huffed.

“Thank you, Ariana.” She said while panting hard.

“Why were you running? You are on time.” I frowned as I checked the time on my wristwatch.

“Oh, I know that. I just wanted to ride up with you. I saw you entering the building, so, I ran to catch up with you.” She said when her rapid breathing calmed a little.

“You are weird, you know that?” I laughed.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny. I just wanted to talk to you about the interview incident. Scott told me what happened.”

Not that again. I wanted to forget that. And Scott was not even there when all that happened. But of course, he knew everything.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Lauren.” I sighed.

“Why? Come on. Don’t even think you were at fault. I am extremely happy that Mr. Knight took a stand for you. That bitch doesn’t have the right to talk to you like that.” She said the last statement with anger.

“Language Lauren. And you don’t know how guilty I feel right now for being the reason for the crack in their friendship. And she even threatened to bring down Mr. Knight’s reputation.” I said worriedly.

“Oh, come on Ariana. You don’t have to feel guilty for anything. The whole world knows that their friendship was just business. And do you really think Mr. Knight is easy to be threatened? Don’t you know what power he beholds? Cheap people like Sarah are just like a bucket of water in the Ocean. Here, Ocean is Mr. Knight; he will not care if a small bucket of water is withdrawn from him. He will still flow with the same strength, not caring about anything.”

I looked at her with wide eyes. Is this really Lauren?

“Laure, are you okay?” I asked her. She looked at me in confusion.

“Since when you started giving philosophy lecture?” I asked and she burst out laughing.

“Oh, Ariana. You know that I have taken the responsibility to teach you, right? So obviously, I have to read as many books I can to be a good teacher.” She said playfully. I shook my head and smiled. No need to worry, she is perfectly fine.

Then I thought of what she said. She was right, Xavier wasn’t the one who could be threatened by anyone so easily.

“You know, I really wanted to be there to see Sarah’s expression when your crush was snapping at him.” Lauren wiggled her eyebrows, making me blush.

“Aww…you are so damn cute, Ariana.” She laughed heartily.

“Lauren, if you won’t stop teasing me right now, I’ll not give you the carrot cake I baked,” I warned her. She instantly stopped laughing and gasped.

“You can’t do that to me! I am the one who asked you to bake it. And you are threatening me not to give it to me?” She said with horrified expressions. I gave her my most determined look.

“Okay fine, until you give me cake I won’t say anything about your crush.” She huffed.

She will never stop teasing me.

“Oh…Ariana, we’ll go dress shopping today. Be ready. Mrs. Miller will be joining us as well.” She added.

Oh, the dress for the party. I almost forgot about that.

“Yeah sure,” I replied. We then went out of the elevator on our respective floors.

After placing my belongings in my office, I prepared coffee for Xavier. I placed one of the cake containers and the coffee mug on the tray and went to his office.

When I entered his office, he was busy typing on the computer. I placed the tray on the desk. Without looking up from the computer, he reached for the coffee mug but when his fingers touched the container, he looked at it and raised his eyebrow at me.

“This is a carrot cake. I baked it. You left early without having your breakfast so I brought it for you. Umm, is it okay with you?” I asked, feeling unsure. I didn’t know if he wanted to eat it or not. I didn’t even ask him about it, I just gave it to him to eat.

He didn’t say anything, he just opened the container and started eating the cake with the fork, without breaking eye contact with me.

“At what time you’ll leave for the party venue?” He asked while eating.

“After an hour.” I wanted to avert my eyes but couldn’t do it. His gaze was fixed at me as if he was daring me to look away.

“Who’s accompanying you?” He asked.

“Lauren,” I replied to which he nodded his head and again took the bite of the cake.

“Have you arranged for the meetings that are to be held in your absence?”

“I’ll give the schedule and important documents to Scott before heading out.”

He again nodded his head. He finished eating the cake and licked his lips. I gulped looking at him. I didn’t know why my lips went dry. I averted my eyes and lowered my head to lick my lips.

“Thank you for the cake. It was…. Delicious.” He praised and it made me look up at him. Now he had the coffee cup in his hand, still looking at me. Why was he looking at me like that? I wondered why he never asked about the change in the taste of his coffee.

“Is there anything else I can help with?” I asked.

“For now, No. I’ll ask for you when I’ll need… anything.”

“Umm…so can I leave now?” I asked.

“Yes you may,” He said.

I was about to turn to leave when he stopped me again.

“Wait! I forgot to ask. Have you bought a dress for the party?”

Why does he want to know that?

“No. But today I will.”

“Okay,” He said and picked his wallet from the desk, pulled out a card, and slipped it towards me.

“Take this.”

I picked it up without knowing what to do with it. “What is this for?” I asked.

“It’s for your dress.” He announced which made me look at him with wide eyes. For my dress?

“No, no, I don’t need this, I have money to buy the dress.” I placed the card back on the desk.

“Did I ask you if you have money or not?” He asked calmly. I looked down and shook my head lowly. I had savings, I could buy a dress with it. And I didn’t want him to think of me as gold digger; he had a suspicion about it.

“I know you have money of your own. But I am giving this card to you because I want you to use it to buy a dress. So pick it up.” He urged me to grab the card.

“But-”

“Ariana, I won’t repeat myself!”

I reluctantly grabbed the card because I knew he would not back down.

“Good. And don’t look at the price tag of the dress, just buy it.” He said and turned his focus back to the computer screen.

I nodded my head. I will not swipe his card, I’ll buy it with my money and give his card back to him. He won’t get to know about it, right? Perfect, I’ll do this.

“One more thing before you leave. Don’t even think of not swiping the card. I’ll know if you don’t swipe it. I want the message on my phone.” He said not looking up from the screen.

How does he know I was thinking that? And of course the message! How can I forget that? Obviously, he’ll get the message when the card will be swiped.

Here goes my ‘perfect plan’.

I exited his office and released the breath I didn’t know I had been holding.

I reached Daniel’s floor to give him his morning coffee, but before going to his office I went to Scott’s office.

“Good morning, Scott. Here’s your coffee.” I placed the coffee mug on his desk.

“Why did you make it for me?” He was surprised.

“Scott, you came early in the morning and I know you haven’t had breakfast. So, I made coffee for you too. And this is a carrot cake I baked. Enjoy.” I slipped the cake container on his desk.

“Ariana, you didn’t have to.” He added.

“Come on, Scott, it’s just a coffee.” I smiled.

“Thank you, Ariana. You are so sweet.” He smiled as well.

I exited his office and went to Daniel’s office.

“Good morning, Daniel. Here’s your morning coffee.” I chirped happily.

“Thank you, Princess. I was wanting for it.” He immediately picked up the mug and sipped the coffee and moaned in delight.

“Here’s one more thing.” I placed the cake container in front of him.

“You baked it?” He asked with wide eyes as he smelled the aroma of the cake.

“Yep. And this is the biggest piece of cake out of others.” I said happily. He immediately stood up from the chair and engulfed me in a bear hug.

“I knew it, you love me more Princess. You are the best sister in the world.” He kissed the side of my head.

“Okay, now eat your cake. I’ll go and give coffee to Sean. He must be waiting for me.”

“Yeah sure.” He went back on his chair and eagerly started eating his cake.

I then went to Sean’s office.

“Here’s your coffee Sean,” I said as I entered his cabin after making his coffee.

“Oh. Thank goodness you are here. I was wanting for it. I was beginning to get a headache due to the endless meetings I have been attending.” He picked up the mug of coffee took a sip and then took a bite of cake.

“Ariana, your coffee is to die for. And this cake is simply awesome. Thank you for this.” He smiled.

“You’re welcome. Okay, so you continue with your work and I’ll continue with mine.”

Saying that I exited his office and reached mine. I collected the documents I had to pass to Scott that was needed for the meeting. I went to Scott’s office but I didn’t find him there. I called him and find out he was in with Daniel in his office. I waited for him outside Daniel’s room.

“Hey, Ariana.” He said as he came out of the office.

“Scott, here are the documents. I have arranged them in separate files so you won’t get confused. And this file has Mr. Knight’s schedule.” I said, passing him the files.

“Okay, I’ll take a look at them. And Ariana please come inside Mr. Adam’s office. He’s asking for you. He’s actually in a dilemma which I am unable to solve.” He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“What dilemma?” I asked.

“Umm.. a strange kind of dilemma? Maybe you could solve that.”

I entered Daniel’s office with Scott only to find Daniel sitting on his chair lost in his thoughts.

“Sir?” I said.

“Oh, here you are. Pri…Ahem… Actually, I needed your help with something.” He said.

“Yes?”

“Actually, I was confused about whom to bring as my date at the party?” He asked.

I almost laughed at him. Seriously? He was worried about that?

I looked at Scott and gave him a confused look, he just shrugged his shoulders.

“This is your problem, Sir?” I tried not to laugh.

“Yes, and it’s serious. See, I know Sean will have Lauren accompany him because she is his P. A and Xavier might ask you. But who should I bring .. Scott?” He pointed at Scott.

Why would Xavier ask me to be his date? He would bring someone else with him.

Would I be okay with that? Well, I had to, as I was just an employee for him, nothing else.

I brushed my unsettling thoughts off and looked at Scott, I almost laughed at his horrified expressions.

“You don’t have any girlfriend, sir?” I asked teasingly.

“No!” He straightforwardly denied.

“And I don’t want to bring just anybody with me who will cling to me all the time for no reason.” He grumbled annoyingly.

“Sir, I have something in my mind. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong…” I looked between Scott and Daniel.

“What is it?” Daniel said.

“Okay, so answer my questions. This is your success party, right?” I asked him.

“Yes?” He replied questioningly.

“You are the host of the party. Right?” My next question.

“Yes? What are you getting at?” He asked.

“I am getting to my point, just one last question. You’ll be busy entertaining your guests. Right?”

“Yes!”

“Now, my point is, if you’d be busy entertaining your guests and will not be able to focus on your date then why bring one with you? You know, it’s not good to bring someone with you and not give your attention to them. Right?” I said cautiously. I may be wrong but what I feel is… never bring anyone with you to the place where they’ll feel left out.

Daniel looked at me in shock. Then I looked at Scott, he too had the same expression. I think I gave a bad idea.

“God, you are awesome! I was thinking so hard but wasn’t getting any solution. But you? You just in a matter of few minutes solved my dilemma. Even Scott here was a thinking mess. He was just giving me the names of who I should bring with me to the party but even he didn’t catch the point that you did.” Daniel said excitedly, standing up from his chair. I knew he wanted to hug me but stopped because of Scott’s presence.

“I just stated the fact.” I shrugged and smiled.

“Thank you for your help,” Daniel said.

“No problem. Umm, do you need help with anything else? If not then can I leave; I have to be the party venue” I asked politely.

“Oh, sure.”

I left his office and went to see Lauren who had been waiting for me at the building’s main entrance. I didn’t know that Lauren had asked Kevin to join us. Three of us hailed the taxi and went to the party venue.

At the venue, we separated our ways to look at the preparations. My focus went to a girl who was one of the crew members of the decoration team. She was trying to fix the twinkle light behind the white curtain. Though she had a ladder to fix the light, due to her short height, she was unable to do so. No one was there to help her. I approached her to offer my help.

“Hey, let me help you with this,” I said looking up.

“Oh, thank you. But ma’am it’s my work, I’ll do it.” She said politely.

“Oh come on, no need to be formal. Besides, no one is here is help you with this. And I am taller than you. I can fix it properly.” I said.

She hesitated a bit but agreed. I passed my phone to her and climbed the ladder with lights in my hand. I was fixing it when my phone rang, she passed it to me. It was Xavier.

“Where is the file of Mr. Hamel’s contract?” He asked before I could say ‘hello’.

“Oh, I forgot to give it to Scott. I’ll just call Mrs. Miller, she’ll bring it from my office to you.”

“No need for that. I am already in your office, searching for it for the last five minutes. Just tell me where it is.”

“It’s the black folder placed on the first shelf in the cabinet to the right of my desk,” I said, putting my phone between my ear and shoulder so that I could fix the light with my hands.

“Hey, Ariana, this is the map of tables placed in the hall. Lauren asked me to pass it on to you. And what are you doing up on the ladder?” Kevin asked from behind. I looked at him and before I could say anything Xavier’s voice interrupted me.

“Who was that? And what the hell are you on the ladder?”

“Umm, I was just helping the girl fix the light,” I said softly, holding the phone in my hand.

“There are other people to help her. Your work is only to supervise the preparations. Climb down the ladder right now.” He said sternly.

“Okay.” I glanced down to take a step down when Kevin approached me.

“Here, hold my hand and climb down carefully.” He said, giving his hand for help.

“Who’s that?” I almost forgot Xavier was still on the line. But before answering him I reached for Kevin’s hand and climbed down the ladder.

“Thank you, Kevin,” I said, my phone still attached to my ear.

“I asked you something, Ariana. Who was that?” I excused myself from the girl and Kevin and walked aside to talk to him.

“Umm, He’s Kevin,” I replied.

“Who Kevin?” He questioned.

“He works in the marketing department in the company,” I said softly.

“What is he doing there with you? You said you were going with Lauren. Why did you hide that from me?”

“He’s here to help. And I didn’t know he was joining us. Lauren asked him to join us. I didn’t hide anything from you.” I replied. I heard him sigh.

“Okay. Don’t get involved with anyone. Just do what your work is. Stay with Lauren and maintain your distance from…others.” He said and hung the call.

What had happened to him? What did he mean by ‘maintain distance from others? I myself was self-conscious and had already been maintaining distance from unknown people. Sometimes I don’t understand him. Well, many times.

I walked back to Kevin, the girl who I helped thanked me and went back to do her work. Kevin and I walked back to Lauren and started doing our work. Then we went to a restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we decided to go shopping. Lauren asked Kevin to stay back at the venue to supervise stuff until we come back from shopping.