Chapter 05

Arielle Walton

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"I will not marry him!" 

"You have to Ari, it's part of the agreement" my father spoke very calmly and me on the other hand is like my head is on fire.

"No Dadda, you don't understand I really don't want to marry that jerk."

"jerk?, why do you say so ?"

"just cause.." I struggled to find words to describe him as a jerk, I can't tell him that I dated this man in high school.

Sighing I told "I don't know, I just don't like him"

"You know Ari, I won't let you do it if I know that he is going to harm you in any way."

"Yea bu-" 

"No buts young lady get ready to meet him for lunch oh and did you contact the wedding planner?"

"What! Why?  should I meet him again for lunch?"

"To obviously talk about your wedding, he's the man you're marrying, not yourself and what did the wedding planner say ?" 

"She asked me to stick with a theme and I honestly don't want to even participate in the planning its not like I'm marrying the love of my life" saying I shrugged my shoulders

"What theme would you like to go for ?" Dad she asked me ignoring what I just told him

"Umm probably a vintage theme I guess." saying I stood up from the chair indicating to him I am done with the conversation.

"Alright then, make sure you meet him at 1 for lunch" I just hummed at him. 

This must be the restaurant, well it's an Italian cuisine hopefully I'll find something good to eat because I am starving. There he was sitting and looking devilishly handsome while narrowing his eyes at his phone.

"Mr Ruffalo?" he looked up at me giving me a small smile and stood up to draw the chair for me to sit, what a gentleman. As soon as I sat he kept his eyes locked in mine which sent chills down my back.

"Did you order yet ?" I asked him, that's like the only thing that came to my mind. He's making me nervous with just the look of his eyes.

"No, not yet just something to drink"  he ordered me a fizzy drink,  a much needed one in this  weather.I held the straw and started to sip on it to quench my thirst, I could hear him chuckle. I narrowed my eyes and  asked "What are you laughing at ?" Does anything look funny to him? It might be the way I'm drinking but I can't help it. He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject by asking about the wedding planning. But I don't want to talk about it, it just takes me back to all the memories we used to share back in high school.

"I'm not very sure, can we talk about it after we order something to eat"  I took a good look at the menu but they were all written in Italian, Oh good Lord.

"Uhm sorry yes, do you have anything in mind ?"

"Umm not really since this is an Italian cuisine."

"Can I order for you?" well since I don't have choice I had to agreed with a sigh 

"Go ahead but make sure there are no peanuts in it" I am heavily allergic to peanuts.

"Yea I remember" my eyes lit up, does he remember that ? No Ari, don't get ahead of yourself you know this man's intentions. 

"Right so about the venue, I really don't mind anywhere since I have no specific requirements other than my dress of course" he nodded his head in approval while twirling his wine glass  

"I get it but what did the wedding planner say?"

"She told me to stick with a theme and she'll do the rest of it and I realised I'm not getting  married to myself but you so people told me take your opinion as well."

he gave me a huge grin once I said it, I wanted to provoke him not make him smile.

He rested his elbow on the table and had his fingers rubbing against his chin,

"How about we go ahead with the Vintage theme?" I was doubtfully surprised, did Dad tell him by any chance I really don't think so.

"Okay then" I gave him a nod, I am not sure if my voice came out loud it was barely audible. Since we are having an Italian wedding there's some certain rituals in their family which I am not quite familiar with. "Are there any specific rituals that we should follow?" 

He kept his fork down and had a sip of wine "No not really, but after the reception ends we need to have a painter draw a portrait of us, it comes down in the family" I nodded my head in return.

The food came right on time since we didn't have to sit there in awkward silence. I honestly don't think he feels it but I do because my hands are starting to sweat. 

"It's carbonara, have you tried it before ?"

"Yep,maybe once or twice" I grabbed the fork and twirled the pasta and brought it to my mouth, the blast of flavour in my mouth made me sit back and relax with a satisfied smile.

"Is it that good?" he asked while I could only give him a nod since my mouth was filled with food while he smiled back in return. In no time our little wedding discussion was over

"Did you drive here ?"  He asked me 

"Nope I walked here , since our office isn't that far." 

"Get in, I'll drop you" he insisted

"No it's alright I can just walk it's not that far"

"Get in the car Ari" he said sedately demanded while opening the door to the passenger seat. 

"No it's alright don't bother yourself I can just walk just like how I came"  He shut the door closed and took a long strides towards me by trapping me against the car and his body, he hovered over and came closer to my ear

 "Of course I'll be bothered when my future wife is walking on the street with no one by her side" I could feel the heat coming up to my cheeks, the makeup isn't doing its job by hiding it. He took a step back "I'll walk with you as well then, lead the way" my body isn't exactly cooperating with my brain, I just stood still leaning next to car for f*cks sake get to your senses Ari. "since you insist, will go in the car" he gave me a satisfied nod and opened the door for me. The car ride back to my office was silent until I thanked him for dropping me off "Wait, give me your phone" 

"What for ? " I asked him all confused

"To give my phone number, we'll be needing it in the future" I shuffled through my bag and handed my phone over to him. He called his phone number and gave it back to me 

"Call me if you need me" I mumbled a small okay and got out of the car, he didn't leave until I was inside the building. Weird that he's already acting like my husband. 

Focus Ari, focus you have things to do don't think about that man I tapped my cheeks to focus better. Reading through the criminal law cases and the pile of papers, unknowingly time has passed, dad informed me that he will be flying to Miami tonight for certain business deals and probably my two brothers will be out clubbing as well.They are no exception, they love to party.  It's almost midnight, so I packed up all my belongings and headed to the underground car park. Coming out of the elevator something around me didn't feel right. I scanned the area, no one was there to be seen since the car park was empty except for my car that was parked. You are probably sleepy Ari, stop jumping into fake scenarios.

I got into my car strapped my seatbelt in and pushed the button to start the car, taking in a deep breath I started to drive out of the car park with my tires screeching as I turned my vehicle. The roads were lonely, no one in the streets suddenly smashed my brakes because a black car just ran across the street.

"Stupid cat" I mumbled to myself and started driving again, after some time the speedometer started increasing even though I was not stepping on the accelerator. I pressed on the break over and over again but it didn't stop. Please don't do this to me, I'm too young to die. F*ck It's moving at 100 miles per hour and I have no control over the speed, only the steering wheel  works. The sharp bends made me lose control over the steering wheel due to speed. Thinking fast Ari, dad is in the flight and they are in the club they won't answer but I tried to ring their phone it was useless, at this point I started to tear up I didn't know whom to call. Nic ! Nic spaces his number on my phone, the rings went on. Please answer Nic, please answer.

"Hello?"

"Nic it's me ,Ari. There's something wrong with my vehicle the breaks aren't working and it's going  at high speed" I said choking on my own words "I didn't accelerate but it happened and I don't  know what to do" 

"Calm down Ri, tell me which road your currently in" I could hear him rustling from the other side of the line 

"The road which leads to lake" 

" I'm coming baby, wait for me don't cut the line!"

"You won't be able to make it on time!" I said sobbing, looking at my rear mirror I could see a car flashing its headlights at me 

"Nic... there's a car  following me" I told him panicking that I couldn't even hold the steering wheel straight. 

"F*ck baby, calm down I'm com-" his line got disconnected .I could see the dead end of the road that faces the lake. I can't jump into the lake, I just can't, I unfastened my seatbelt and tried to put the window down but it wasn't working and I tried to open the door but the handle broke and fell on to my hand . I reached for the cabihall  and grabbed the window breaker by possibly having my eyes on the road and shattered the glass by hitting it a few times. Either you jump or die Ari you have to do it. The car behind is still tailing me, the car is almost on the edge. 1,2...3! jump Ari. I dived into the lake before my car exploded.

Diving in all I could see is a pitch black and nothing else, my mouth opened releasing half of the air I was holding in. Something hard hit my head which made my head twirl from the inside and loose half of my consciousness as I closed my eyes  certain images kept popping in my head all I could see is the water gushing and coming back up to breath but I couldn't breath.... "mama don't please don't drown me", I struggled to  say it clearly. The feeling of burning sensation in my lungs being filled with water and my head pushed to water again. Another piece of metal knocked on my shoulder which made me come back to my senses I opened my eyes and saw two men approaching me with a shiny knife on his hand, I worked on all four of my arms and legs to swim above to get on the plank. I came out of the water panting and looking for the plank to get on, that's when I saw Nic frantically searching and calling my name. I wanted to tell him that I'm here but nothing came out of my mouth instead I made noises by splashing my hands against the water that's when his attention came to me I was the ten feet away from the wooden deck  he was standing on.

"Come on tesoro, grab my hand" my  arms and legs were sore but I pushed myself to grab his hand I was inches away but someone grab my leg from underneath the water which made me leave a little scream before I was dragged

• there are few mistakes here and there don't mind it.

• happy reading :)