Chapter Five- Announcements are in order 1

Vanessa's point of view

"Then the person would shove the feelings down their throats and keep it to themselves"

Anthony did not wait for me, he paid for the food and left the restaurant. Even the memories that came with this place did not affect him the way it affected me. He had truly transformed from the cool charming boy I once had a crush on when I was younger to this confident man that didn't ask for anything.

Mary however was at home when I arrived, she was on the bed with the guy from the bar. And they were doing something I would rather not have walked right into.

"V, you're here" She said as soon as she heard my gasp.

She did not get up from the bed and the guy did not even deem it right to say an hello to me and stop this shenanigans. Oh, they went right into it.

My day had been quite terrific enough without any of this added to it.

"Could you guys take this to your house instead of doing it all over my bed, I had a long day today and I want to get some sleep this night" I imagined myself saying to them, my arms crossed over my chest and my face in the most intimidating form ever.

Instead I told them I would take the couch and spent the next twenty five minutes listening to various shades of moaning and cringing at how absurd everything just sounds.

The sound of my ringtone woke me up from the dreamless sleep I was stuck in. I didn't even check the caller ID before I declined the call and snuggled even closer to my pillow. Another five or so rings and a pillow to my face from Mary made me answer the call.

"What?"

"Vanessa" The person at the other end said like he was testing the name and he wanted to get it right.

Even in my sleep, I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"It's me Victor" My baby brother said "Anthony just gave me your number and he said it was okay to call you now, I didn't know what to say. I'm sorry for waking you up. I'll hang up ....."

"No don't hang up" I literally screeched like a banshee "It's so nice to hear your voice Victor, I didn't even know you were the one calling. You can never ever disturb me at any time of the day"

We spent the next hour just talking about different things that had nothing to do with the situation at hand. The call went on mute suddenly and when it was removed, I wasn't talking to Victor anymore but Elizabeth.

"I'm sure the hour you had was quite enjoyable, you did what I wasn't able to do" She paused, whispered a few words to someone with her. I could only pick out the words 'sleep' and 'no more' before she came back to me "Thank you for helping me with my son even when I didn't ask you to"

I couldn't help but ask the question that had unknowingly been running around in my mind, my eyes fixated on the white vase close to the TV with his intricate rose designs. A birthday gift from a co-worker.

"Why did you come to me when you haven't even gotten Anthony's approval?"

Silence. I almost checked if she had hung up on me.

"I don't honestly know why I did that and if that's the only question you have, I'll be heading to bed. We have a busy day today"

"We?"

"Yes we. You do need to meet your brother alongside that sister of yours and check out some wedding gowns." She stopped talking again and whispered some words to the other person again before coming back to me "We probably need to run some tests on you and my son to ensure full compatibility"

My ears perked up at those words "And if we're not compatible, what would happen?" I asked.

Elizabeth chuckled, a pleasant sound that was like melodies to my ears "I'll simply have to find a new person,won't I?"Pause for the full effect "We'll find a way to make you compatible. Goodnight"

Call ends.

"Goodnight"

"Who are you even talking to at this hour?" Mary shouted at me and then sent a pillow to my body.

******

Dressed in the fanciest cloth I owned, I stepped in front of the mirror to admire myself. The gown wasn't in anyway cheap and I loved the way the it hugged my curves and showed a little bit of cleavage. Professional enough for a fake wife.

"You're so happy" Mary said, she was kneeling on the couch and watching me with those curious eyes of her. She had questions and I knew it was only a matter of time before she asked them.

She didn't care about anything that happened last night. She couldn't even offer a simple apology.

"I am happy" I confirmed. I placed my hands on my hip while surveying the mess that was on my head. My hair was a different story on it's own.

Mary raised an eyebrow at me "Come here, let me fix that for you" She pointed at my hair but did not wait for an answer before she moved to the dresser table. She held a brush in one hand and some pins in the other smiling brightly.

Honestly, I thought she looked like something from a horror movie.

But I took the invitation because Mary was the only one that was skilled enough to handle my hair and make it into something manageable.

Some brushing here, some detangling here, some hairspray here and some pins here and my hair was maintained into this half up and half down look with some wispy hair framing down my face. It looked gorgeous.

"I'm sorry for yesterday"

She hugged my upper shoulder, careful not to rest her chin on my head and placed a chaste kiss on my cheek.

I could feel my cheeks burning up but I refused to face her gaze in the mirror, it would make me forgive her. I just gave her a 'hmm' and a 'thank you' and got up from the chair.

"You can't be mad at me forever V" She called out.

Mary was back to the couch now and she wasn't even looking at me this time, she just stared at the TV while I arranged the things I needed in my bag.

I was at the door when I finally decided to say something.

"You can't just bring your dick appointment to the house and use the bed without asking your roommate and then make me use the couch. It's inappropriate"

I didn't wait for a response and she didn't look like she was going to give me one.

Elizabeth had called me earlier in the morning to inform me that someone would pick me up around ten and I shouldn't be late. She also instructed me to be on my best behavior and then she'll take me to the mansion to see my baby brother.

The person came as expected,a tall burly dark skinned man who drove a Rover and refused to answer any of my questions. He was quite rude too.

Out of boredom, I sent a quick text to Anthony telling him to be on his best behavior.

His reply came sooner than I expected.

"I am always in my best behavior Vanessa, I'm a throbbing sweetheart with a heart of gold"

Then an emoji of the smiley yellow face with shades on.

I rolled my eyes at the text and dropped my phone down. I didn't know if I was supposed to be nervous, tired or excited or maybe just indifferent.

Perhaps this compability tests and everything wouldn't take so much time.

My phone beeped indicating a message was just received. It was from Anthony.

"I think you should be the one on their best behavior, don't allow my mother to reduce you to a mess. She has that effect on people"

I started shaking my head in affirmation before I remembered that he wasn't here and he could not see me. I sent him a quick thanks and just dropped my phone back into my bag and kept my eyes on the road.

Just some hospital stuff and then I would be free to be with my brother and ....I completely forgot about my sister but in my defense, she had said I should forget everything about Victor and stop harboring thoughts about being with him again for some time.

I decided to just send her a quick text about the situation and left it at that. Let her do whatever she wants to do with that.

The large words of the "Thorns International Hospitals" flashed in the distance making me stretch my body and smooth down my gown without thinking. Beads of perspiration were running down my face despite the air conditioner in the car. I could feel myself taking larger amount of air into my body as my chest heaved up and down.

Was I having a panic attack? An anxiety attack maybe.

"Everything will be okay"I whispered under my breath, opening my hands and turning it to a fist rapidly.

I was still doing all this when we entered into the building of the hospital and he parked the car in the parking lot. I was still doing it when we came down from the car and he took us inside the building flashing his ID till we got to Elizabeth's office.

It stopped when I was face to face with Elizabeth and her son. And when she stood directly at my front to start listing out various rules.

And that was when I vomited.