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, some say this woman is the cruelest among the McCoy) came. Even Brian looks a saint in front of her.) Owen (Today is the first time meeting him, he gives me a tight smile and nods. It’s safe to say he is the same as his older brother. All Browns, except Lyra, the youngest of all, got fixed in my papa’s study room, they remained there until dinner was ready.
I was surprised to see how Viola and Rose are so involved in the family business, how much women were valued by the men of their family, which is totally opposite to my family. While my father loves to take control of every situation, lead everything by himself, in McCoy’s everyone’s offer is equally welcome.
Lyra and I chat all evening, we clicked instantly, and I knew we will be great friends. Hazel retired to her room after the ring ceremony was over, she frowned throughout the commemoration, it’s better that she stayed out of all the drama. Sometimes her rebellious attitude scared the life out of me. She is still a child; I didn’t want her to pull in the mud where I am going to crawl for the rest of my life.
I will make myself survive through this. I know I will.
Lyra is way different from her siblings, where all of them are heavily business-minded people, Lyra is more like a poetic one. When everyone was engaged themselves in business, share, board meeting conversation, she sat at the corner of the room quietly, it’s hard to say she was even there.
Unlike Viola, who is well-regarded and appreciated among the public, no one really knows about Lyra. She feels like a secret that McCoy’s are hiding.
Lyra and I bond over our love for food, she is the one who prepared it while I am the one who consumes that.
“So, you are a chef?” I ask her.
“Yes, I am working as a sous chef at a downtown restaurant.” She smiled.
I liked her at that very moment; she was different from the other McCoy, definitely the sun and moon difference between her and Brian.
That moron man didn’t call me the entire week after the gala night. I was the one who kept in touch with him; could put all my efforts that I should have invested in some noble cause or my charity that will help people, but no, I gave my precious time to that man, who didn’t even have the courtesy of asking how I was doing when we met. I need to work with him a lot. This man lacked in so many areas.
If he thought, he will marry me and tossed me to one of his homes while he enjoyed his life the way he wanted, let me tell you, this man was living in a delusional. I am going to kick his ass if I find out something like this, he will work on our marriage no matter how busy he was with his work, I don’t give a shit.
“So, you cook, and I inhale them like a pig.” I folded my hands over my chest. “I guess we are going to match up quite well.” She smiled.
We talked about school, music, our favorite show “Friends”, “The Office”, talking to her was the only blessing of the night, otherwise, everything went downfall in my eyes.
Brian and I didn’t say a word, we both sat beside one another, but he was too busy with work that he ignored me the entire dinner.
After dinner, Brian and I took a walk in my garden. The whole time we were alone, the first five minutes we were quiet. I was not in the mood to make a conversation with him after his rude behavior tonight, also the night a week before.
“You look beautiful tonight.” He sat beside me on the swing.
I looked at him with wide eyes; he was there next to me, very much present, complimenting me, for a second it gave me a heart attack. I was happy, but I didn’t show that on my face; I kept that wrap under my sudden excitement.
“Thanks.” I smiled at him. “You didn’t call me the entire week. For a few seconds, I thought I was free from this marriage.”
“I was busy with work, Inessa.” He sighed. “I flew to London the next morning of the gala night, stayed there three nights before flying back to Chicago, had a meeting as soon as I landed. New clients come out, needed to give extra time for that, finished the work piles, I was too busy to breathe, honey.”
Honey, my heart stopped in that one word. He didn’t even give a second thought to calling me honey; however, my stupid romantic heart melted for him. So very much I was about to put my red lipstick on his cheek. Thankfully, I controlled my over-hyped heart.
We sat in silence, slowly Brian placed his hand on mine, a smile bloomed on my face, I was supposed to be angry with him. The way he treated me at the gala night was outright offensive, I wanted to lash out at him, but I forgot everything. We held our hands, sat and talked.
“Do you work a lot?” I asked him.
“From the moment I wake up to the second before I go to bed.”
“That’s a lot.” I sighed. “" Will it stay like this after our marriage too?”
“Maybe.”
“Stop. I know what you are doing." I told him.
“What?” He sighed.
“You are trying to have my mouth on your dick, that’s why you are playing the sympathy card.” I leaned on the swing. “It’s not going to happen. I am not that much into you, so you can only dream of my mouth and all the magic it can do.”
“What?” he sat straight, my words redden his face with embarrassment. I took my phone and clicked a picture of him.
“My new wallpaper.”
I showed him the picture, I took it, but his eyes were on me with wide-open eyes. He was not used to my unpredictable nature and smart mouth yet, it sometimes surprised me myself with the lunatic words that came out of my mouth. He was new to this voyage; I didn’t blame him at all.
Luke choked on his food after hearing my rubbish once. Another time he almost experienced a minor heart attack.
My friends can’t put their minds to my nonsense, how will he? He doesn’t even know me. I doubt that he if knows my middle name.
“You surprised me every time you spoke. Just when I think you can’t talk more nonsense than you did a second before, you prove me wrong saying something utterly rubbish.” He was in awe.
I threw a kiss in the air towards him; he didn’t move or flinch as he did during the gala night; I think he was coming to terms with my lovely character.
Before leaving Matthew McCoy, my soon-to-be father-in-law announced the wedding takes place one month later.
One thing I notice McCoy’s aren’t affectionate at all, all of them are robots, one is different from the other, or functions in a different way, but they are all the same. Expect Lyra, of course.
Here I am talking with the wedding planner about the arrangements with Brian by my side. He is sitting on the couch right beside me, his one hand is holding my hand while the other is on my waist, keeping me close to his as fit as a fiddle torso. If anyone sees us this way, they will think we are in love, we can’t stay away from one another. However, the reality is far from this visual, don’t worry, very soon the madly in love part will come true.
“I want pink in flower arrangement all around the hall of our reception with white, of course. Brian is wearing a blush pink bow tie. I want to match that with the décor.” Brian squeezes my hands lightly, I know why he did that. The pink is bothering him, I let him die in his misery for some more time.
“Sure. I can do that. I will call you for the flower selection then.”
After, our meeting with Whitney, our planner, who is going to make this wedding the most exquisite one for people to remember. Brian amazes me asking if I want to have lunch with him, well, the man is making some progress, I happily agree. Before we go to eat, he stops in his office to pick up some files that he has a meeting later in the day.
This is my first time going into the McCoy Industries building. The twenty-five-floor rock pile is covered with blue glasses all over from the outside. The inside is way more sumptuous.
Brian holds the elevator door for me, I get up and he puts his hand around my waist, all of a sudden this touchy behavior of his confused me a lot. I don’t know why, but I guess that we are getting married now, and he is trying to break the surrounding ice.
Of course, we need to talk a lot to understand one another, as I heard all these years from people and also Luke. I know we both are two different individuals in every way possible.
From our lifestyle to the way we approach things are different. After our wedding, I need to compromise a lot to fit in his world.
I saw how he and Olivia were, every now and then their vacation, parties, pictures used to be published on paper, they lived a very exotic life together which was so much unlike my religious life.
If you ask, I am the boring one. Maybe I attended all the parties, talked with everyone with a smile, I love to be with people. I rather live in a crowd of a thousand people than alone.
We come to the top floor of the office, Brian intertwines our hands and starts walking, we enter a room which I guess is his office.
“Give me a few minutes.” He says.
“Sure, rose.”
Half an hour later we sit in an Italian restaurant for our lunch. This is the first date that we are having before our marriage, this also happens to be my first date.
“Where are we going for our honeymoon?” I ask. He may have no interest in this marriage, but I am going to enjoy every second of this ceremony, and I want a proper honeymoon too.
Brian looks at me and smirks after seeing how eager I am to know about our honeymoon.
“London.” He rubs his temple. “I have a business meeting to attend.”
“God.” I groan. “You are going to ruin my honeymoon” I point the knife at him. He raises his eyebrow in amusement, a side of his lips turns into a smile. The evil one, if you ask me.
“Okay, boy, I will give you a blow job. You don’t need to be so adamant about that. If you want that all you need to do is ask.” I put my hand in the air as if I were surrounded by his demand, which, by the way, he never did.
“You are the most bizarre animal I have ever met in my life.” He sigh.
"He sighs. I know. There is no one like me. I am the best, don’t you pay attention to the gossips. I am everyone’s favorite.” I lean on the chair. “By the way, how lucky you are to get the opportunity to become my husband, I am sure you are over the moon.”
“Oh, what do you know, mum? I am doing charity work by marrying you to the Chicago.” He smirks.
“Meaning?”
“I am saving all the other gentlemen from your lunacy. Someone needs to take the lead to protect my beloved Chicago. Looks as if I was going to be the hero by saving others from you.”
Oh boy, I like this; he is adapting. I must say this is his first comeback to all the jab, tantrums, mockery I did to him, and I am impressed with this. He can be more innovative with these insults, but as a newbie, this is not bad at all. I am cheering for him and looking forward to hearing his smart, savage mouth more and more.
“Ouch. Touche.” I put a hand on my heart. “You almost killeded me, rose.”
“Don’t be a chicken, talky. Expect greater things from you.”
Talky, he is giving me a new nickname. This guy has some great potential to become my desire husband, I am so much into this.
“By the way, I am not wearing bloody pink on our wedding day.” He sips his drink. “I hate that color. It will be nowhere near me.”
“Okay, I will change our home into pink after marriage.” I take a small piece of the steak in my mouth, this is heaven, the perfect medium-rare, juicy, perfect piece of meat.
“Seriously.” He snaps. He can’t win with me, he needs to know when to give up, I am simply teaching him the lesson.
I nod. “A few hours with a bow tie at our wedding or a lifetime with pink, you decide rose.” I smile.
“Fine, I will wear the pink.” He growls. “Nobody forces me to do the way you are doing.”
“Welcome to my world, rose.” I take a sip of my cocktail. “Also, someone needs to make you soft, looks as if I was the one taking the lead on that.”
He groans, and I smile.
I am changing my mind and heart, marrying Brian McCoy will be the most entertaining thing of my life. If these ways we communicate after our wedding, then I must confess we will have a hell lot of fun in our marriage.
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
Olivia passed away in a car accident six months ago. I was in New York at that time for a meeting to attend with Robbie. I was there for a week. During that one-week separation, we remained connected through calls and texts. We even had phone sex the morning of her death.I cracked the deal; it was a significant one for the company and mostly for my masculine ego. We had a modest dinner with the clients after that; I went to Tiffany and Co., yes, to purchase a ring for Olivia.I had no clue what came to me that night. It just felt right. After all, she was with me all the time, she never complained, smiled every time, even the two times I brought her home for Sunday dinner. She was so friendly with everyone. So I thought the next step of marriage between us made sense, maybe.I chose a cushion-cut sapphire with small diamonds all around it for her, an emerald, and a sparkling ring. She once disclosed her love for the material, so I figured
I open my eyes and see my husband’s eyes are on me; he is peering at me, his facial expression is the same as always, the blank one. His gazes are drawing a map all over my face. Sometimes his gaze stops here and there, zone out at my eyes or lips before resuming the art once again.I don’t know what’s going on inside his head, but I know he is studying, three lines appear on his forehead and prove my assumption right. He is in deep thought. Is he thinking about Olivia or Samantha?I can understand if he is reminiscing about Olivia. They were together for a long time; they have a history, her sudden death may be left a scar on his heart, he even confessed about proposing to her for marriage. I respect that. I like his integrity towards her; I don’t want to fight with Olivia; she has a place in his heart, and I am okay with that.But if it’s Samantha, I am going to lose my mind. That girl slept with my father,