Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

ARIANNA

I have grown to love spending my school breaks in Honeyville, especially now that my best friend is there. When I first met Bella at the bus station two years ago, I was filled with a mix of emotions, seeing her face and neck covered in bruises. I could only imagine how much more she had on the rest of her body. I was burning with rage! I wished that I had the person who hurt Bella in front of me so that I could put a bullet through his head! Whoever did that to her could not be referred to as a human being. Both my dad and brother would never lift a finger to harm a woman. My mum and I are treated and recognized by them both as the Queen and Princess in our home. Living in a very competitive business world in the city, my dad and brother have ensured mum and I attend self-defense classes as well as being well trained in handling a gun. The days and weeks that followed during my summer holidays in Honeyville, I found Bella to be one of the most unique and amazing people I have ever met. Having faced so many trials and tribulations from such a young age, she maintains a positive outlook on life and can turn the most sad and depressing moment into a happier one. She soon became my inspiration, my 'pick me up' person and best friend. And soon...well, if all goes well with my plan, Bella and Jacob will become part of my family. I am so excited and wish I could just fast forward the next few weeks and be in Honeyville already. "Who's the beauty in the pic with you, Princess?" Gabriel had come into my room to "catch up" as he'd like to call it. I had printed out some of the photos I had taken in Honeyville on my last trip there and was busy choosing the ones to go up on my Memories wall when he came in. I was taken by surprise at first when he asked the question as he never took or showed interest in any of my friends. They just never grabbed his attention no matter how hard some of them may have tried. Even though I may never admit it to him, my brother is very attractive, and many, including my friends, refer to him as "eye candy," "Greek god," and other gross names. Life is such that there will always be gossippers and haters, too. Being an attractive, successful businessman will definitely get tongues wagging even more so that he is a bachelor at the age of 27. Some call him a "Billionaire Playboy", well perhaps if he was still in college, that title would have been fitting, but he had passed that phase awhile back. He had been in a serious relationship for many years, but that skank chose to hop into bed with one of my brother's then colleagues while he had gone on a business trip. He was heartbroken and thereafter just threw himself into work. That skank came crawling back, begging and pleading for forgiveness, but Gabriel wants nothing to do with her. Yep! She is still trying to crawl her way back into his life!

"Gabe, that's Bella, my bestie from Honeyville. You should know her by now cos I am always talking about her, and I thought you would have seen pics of her ages ago. Look at my wall, I already have so many up there," I told him as I pointed to my wall. "Princess, that wall is in a mess! There's waaày too much going on there. You may need to start up on another wall or pack away some of those pics," he laughingly pointed out. "Whatever!" I said and caught him staring at the pic he asked about. I noticed a sparkle in those deep green eyes of his, which I hadn't seen in a very long time and Excitement started brewing inside of me, and the match maker spirit in me came to life. Why did I not see it before, Bella and Gabriel would make the PERFECT COUPLE. Since the day Gabriel questioned me about the pic, I could not stop bringing Bella into all our conversations. Dad and mum were probably starting to think that I am losing it or that I had fallen deeply in love with her and would be announcing her as more than just my best friend soon cos I would speak about her at breakfast, dinner or just about when ever we were all together. Gabriel, on the other hand, did not seem to mind. He was all ears to every conversation about Bella and would encourage me to continue should mum or dad try to cut me short. I could not keep my plans a secret anymore, I felt like I was going to explode from all the excitement I felt. I had to speak to Mum and Dad and let them in on my plans. Even though they didn't say it, I knew that they both really liked Bella after speaking to her over our video calls a few times. Somehow, Gabriel always missed those. After hearing me out, they agreed that Bella and Gabriel are perfect for each other, and we are going to help bring them together. My parents became just as excited as me, and we started brainstorming ideas to get Bella and Gabriel to meet. My bestie felt safe in Honeyville and is not confident enough to leave there just yet. I had tried many times to get Jacob and her to come visit us in the city, but she always refused. No matter how hard I tried convincing her that they would be safe in our home. So, the only way would be to convince Gabriel to go to Honeyville, and dad came up with the perfect excuse to get him to go. As much as Gabriel showed signs of interest in Bella, we knew that he would not give up his work time to pursue a relationship that may or may not work out. Our family owns the mall in Honeyville, which Aunt Brie's family oversees on our behalf. Dad said that he was going to put forward the idea of expanding or giving the mall a bit of a 'face lift' and Gabriel will have to go through to meet with Aunt Brie's family and work on a way forward. It was decided that he would accompany me on my next trip to Honeyville. I can't wait to see my bestie, now more than ever! The last time we'd spoken, she mentioned she had a surprise for me and refused to give me any hints no matter how hard I tried to get it out of her.