Dante's Default Bride

"What do you mean by he is no where to be found..?" Sophie had that slight tremble in her voice that signaled she was at the very edge of panic.Marko shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying to avoid the intense searching gaze of Sophie Gonzales. She had always had that intimidating look about her.That serene almost hostile air of an aristocrat who wasn't used to unpleasantness, but her emerald green eyes had never held so much fire as it did in that moment. Atleast not when directed at him.And he didn't blame her... Not really. She was living every bride's nightmare; a missing groom.To be fair though, she was taking this quite well for a woman In a situation like hers. Better than most. But what did he know..? She could be building up to an eruptive volcano for all her calm was worth; He didn't trust it one bit. And he was just so unlucky as to have to be the one in her direct line of fire. Damn you Sebastain! He cursed inwardly at the missing groom. Marko had been despera

The wedding reception had scarcely begun, when Dante Castillo gave into boredom and started plotting the fantasy of his exit. Atleast, that, he supposed, was something he had in common with his new bride; The desire to be as far away as possible, from this elaborate spectacle they had unfortunately become an object of.It was a peculiar kind of torture, continually having to endure the patronizing manner and speculative glances on the faces of the wedding guests, most of whom were only seeking to glean some bit of gossip in the guise of wanting to say their congratulations. Their intrusive curiosity was amusing, if not annoying.It was therefore, no wonder why Dante had never cultivated any interest in socializing from the onset. He did not know exactly what people called him behind his back these days for his anti-social behavior, but he was sure that whatever it was, was worth the peace that came with exempting himself from their shameless subterfuge and vile gossip. The socialit

One last dance and she would be free. One dance, and then she could close her eyes to this nightmare. It was all Sophie told herself as she went with Dante to lead the customary opening dance.But when they stood to take their positions, Sophie was a bit intimidated. She was wary, but Not so much as because of the height difference as it was owing to the fact that she had noticed the new edge of indifference in him. Almost as though he had added several layers of ice since the last time she they spoke, Which of course was at dinner. He hadn't spoken much... well, infact, he hadn't spoken at all. Not since their last squabble at the table, where he had teased her, then sort of threatened her right after in not so many words. She wondered what was up with him. She had hated it when he teased her and urged her to speak up and act more lively, but his silence bothered her most. His face was closed off. Almost hostile, and she couldn't read him at all. It made her terribly nervous. And

The sun was high on the eastern horizon by the time Sophie deigned to arose her self from the blissful abyss of sleep. The sun was steadily and determinedly making It's energetic ascent in the sky, It's gentle rays shyly peeking through the slightly open shutter windows of the bedroom, thus letting in slanted bursts of gold tinged lighting that illuminated the room and positively settled upon Sophie's sleepy face with a rosy blush.She was feeling peculiarly lethargic and couldn't decide whether to allow herself come into full consciousness or to just simply let her body slide right back into sleep. However, the puzzling feeling of certain things being strangely out of place, distracted her long enough to allow her make the subconscious decision of coming into full wakefulness.She couldn't feel the extra silken layer of her eye mask on her face, so she wondered, for one, how come she appeared to have fallen so easily asleep the previous night without her eye mask, and why on earth wa

"Where are we heading to..?" Sophie asked of the elderly looking gentleman who had earlier received them_Dante and herself_ at the air space moments ago, shortly after their safe landing on the helipad.He had come along with Alberto Sanchez, Dante's much younger PR manager, and had introduced himself as Jethro Gibbs, Dante's professional Chauffeur. Jethro was quite a dependably agile sexagenarian, with a full head of silver tinted greying locks and an amiable smile that bespoke of a certain ancient, but once admirably youthful charm.He had an easy manner of speech that was placating and an air of assurance that was welcoming.Perhaps that had been the reason why Sophie had not been particularly difficult when he had directed her towards the black Mercedes which was to be their lift, right after Dante had simply instructed him to; "..take her home."Dante had said it then as though he were some weary guardian who couldn't wait to get rid of his infinitely troublesome ward.Sophie ha