Chapter 6

“He’s still in Italy?... He knows that you’re there, just keep him in watch… Yes, as much as possible…”

Orianne just stood at the doorway while watching Amos answer his phone. Both of them were now dressed in their rush guards and just waiting for the yacht to reach Orianne’s favorite diving spot. 

“Did you perhaps left things undone? Maybe this break is a bad idea”, she said and started walking towards the table where the wine and other bottle of liquors were placed. She sat on the sun lounger beside it before grabbing her glass of lemon juice.

Amos started walking towards her when she noticed that his other arm was a bit off. Her eyes slowly turned to slits as he came closer and her glass of lemon juice was just stuck on her lips. 

“It’s just my brother, nothing big that can make this break a bad idea”, he simply answered and sat on the sun lounger across Orianne. He noticed how she is eyeing him and suddenly became conscious of his body and face. He tried to ignore her stare and placed his phone on the table. His body jerked when she stood up after placing her glass on the table and walked towards him.

“I just remembered, mister, that you got shot and now we’re going to swim.”

It took him a while to answer. “Yes, that’s right.”

Orianne scolded herself for remembering what she did just now. 

“We can turn the yacht back and we’ll enjoy this next time. We need the wound dry for faster healing and----”

“Apologies for the interruption, Mr. A, Miss de Asis. All the hotel employees recommend this place for beginners in diving so…”, Andros trailed off after turning down their blasting music onboard. Orianne faced Andros with her left hand on her waist. 

Just like them, Andros together with the other men and ladies were onboard, obviously enjoying themselves compared to the both of them. 

“Oh, of course, they did. You enjoy yourselves then”, Orianne said before walking away from Amos and started heading to where the captain was. 

“I am fine, miss! We can…”

“We can what? I can but you can’t, mister”, she immediately answered and faced him. Her mouth just remained open, failing to speak more words as Amos is now topless and she can see a red dot on the bandage he used to cover the wound. 

“I… it’s fine. I’ve experienced something worse than this, and…”

Orianne just stood there, waiting for him to spurt out a valid reason why they should stay but he just hung his head low with his ears and neck already red. Andros with the other men, were too stunned to speak about the situation.

“No mister, we’re going back”, Orianne said her final statement before continuing to walk. Amos gritted his teeth and held his top tightly before facing Andros and the others.

“You didn’t see or hear anything from a while ago.” He just shook his head and followed where Orianne went. 

Orianne finished talking to the captain when she felt Amos was now behind her back. The yacht slowly turned around and so did Orianne to Amos. She was really dying to dive but it would be a  disrespect to the man in front her.

“It’s my fault and I take responsibility, mister. You were just so out of line yesterday that I had to do it. But no worries, we’ve still got the honeymoon and more so…”, she said and pretended not to notice how heavy and dark Amos’ stares were. She walked towards him and stopped when they were side by side. 

“I’m really sorry about shooting you, mister”, she said and tapped his shoulder. Amos could see her smile on the side of his eyes and he just bit his tongue, holding back his urge to argue more with her. He really wanted to strangle that whore to death a while ago. He blamed her for their state right now but he was also drunk last night that everything was a blur except how Orianne swept his feet and how her thighs were displayed right in front of him, and not on a silver platter but on top of him.

He just sighed in defeat and followed Orianne to the bedroom below. He waited outside as she changed in the bathroom. He had no intentions of changing his shorts and just wore the shirt Orianne bought him. 

"Mister…”

Amos looked at the newly opened door where Orianne stood.

“Hmm?”

“Really, when will our engagement be? I presume that things will be busier since the wedding will come up next.”

“Father decided to take some of my workload so I’ll be kind of free for the whole year, for the engagement party and the wedding. It’s… up to you about the dates.”

Orianne smiled inside.

“We’re already engaged so how about having the wedding tonight? You know, just us, just the genuine intimacy compared to having so many people? How about that, hmm?”

Amos grew silent since he wasn’t prepared at all. He’s still amazed at how Orianne is willing to do everything, how she’s not being aggressive at all. Maybe like him, she knew it was how things are supposed to be so she’s just embracing it. No escape, no freedom, just them being together because of their family names.

“I’ll call for a judge, then, miss.”

“Sure, sure. I hope it’s okay if we do it by the shore. The staff are already used to rush weddings so ours won’t be a hassle.”

“Anything the miss wants.”

Orianne smiled and thought about how both of their families are going to react. A grand wedding would be what they want but that will take too long and this was not going to go her way. 

They reached the dock and immediate actions were taken after they announced their wedding. The family judge was on his way, the staffs are stumbling to look for the best decorations for their young miss’ wedding and Amos’ men were trying their best to help.

“I have been bumping with these giants since a while ago. When did Orianne hire these humongous people?”, the short-haired woman mumbled while picking up some flowers she dropped.

Andros, with his animalistic hearing, looked back while still holding the beige cloth being styled by one of the staffs. He saw a girl picking up flowers from the ground and he knew that she was the one who bumped into him since he almost pushed the arch being decorated.

“Are you done?”, he softly asked the female staff and she just nodded and went down the ladder. 

“Thank you.” With that, the female staff left while Andros faced the woman who was still picking the flowers. She stood up and fixed them in her hands, knowing that the man in front is now staring down at her. She cleared her throat and proceeded to the group in charge of the tables when a hand gripped her shoulder. She was wearing an off-shoulder and the sudden warmth in that place of her body shook her soul that she immediately used the bouquet of flowers to hit the person behind her. The flowers’ petals fell while some flew in the air.

“Oooh”, the other men teased.

“Oh”, Orianne said after arriving at the scene. 

Andros withdrew his hand from the woman’s shoulder and wiped his cheek.  A thorn from the roses pricked him. 

“Oh”, the short-haired woman finally said before fixing herself and checking the bouquet she was holding, all destroyed and ugly. 

“Kalaki-laki naman kasing tao at paharang-harang pa”, she mumbled that made Andros raise an eyebrow.

“Excuse me?”

Orianne just chuckled before going near them. 

“Madam.”

“Andros, this is Hiraya, a Filipina cousin of mine. She happens to be here in Russia and specializes in flower arrangements so I just took the opportunity to hire her”, Orianne said as she nudged Hiraya to hand out her hand for a handshake but she just widened her eyes at her, meaning “no”.

“And this is Andros, one of my husband’s friends. They are also in a vacation at the time”, she once again stated and nudged Hiraya for another time to hand out her hand.

“Ayoko nga”, Hiraya answered with gritted teeth. “Baka patayin ako niyan.”

“No, he won’t.”

Now they looked weird mumbling to each other while Andros is in front, tending to his bleeding cheek. 

“Hiraya.” 

She had enough hearing Orianne mention her name over and over again. 

“If you could come with me, Mister Andros”, she briefly said before turning her back and started heading towards the hotel. 

“Excuse me, madam.”

Orianne just nodded and watched the two walk away with a heavy atmosphere around them. She looked at the venue of their wedding and imagined the faces of their close relatives after knowing that they got married without them knowing.

“Don’t worry, I just need to do some things quickly and even a grand wedding after this is all fine with me”, she thought and looked at her side.

“The judge is already here”, Amos, who just came, said. 

“Hmm.”

“If only I could marry you, Mr. Hachatrjan without all these preparations, then we could already be signing those marriage certificates. But no, I would only be digging my own grave if that is what is going to happen”, she thought while staring at her husband.

“Yes, miss?”

“Nah, just in awe since I’m going to marry a Hachatrjan. The odds”, she said lovingly, as if this was her long-time dream and finally living it.

Amos didn’t say anything further, just ignored her gaze and watched the people in front of them doing the preparations.

“You are right, miss. The odds, indeed.”