10

  

Jane's p o v

" Who's he? "

" Hmm? " Emily mumbled and turned to me. Then she followed my gaze as it went up the stairs at the man that had disappeared over the landing tread and his footsteps sounded over the next stairs above now invisible.

" I don't know. " She says dryly and we continue along the hall.

" You mean to say you had not seen that young man which we just walked by? " I would never believe it even if she answered in the affirmative.

" Oh. . . " She whispers and faces the front door which we were headed to. " Yeah. . . I think I saw him. "

Why was she acting all kind of weird? There was no way she could have passed by a person along the stairs so close and claim not to remember or be conscious of her meeting with the same person.

" He's El jefe's younger brother. "

" Oh. . . " I look back to the step which was now far behind us as if I could still see him there. " I see. " I mumbled when I turned back to the floor in front of me which I walked through shakily. 

As we reached the front door, we were approached by two men who were sternly still. It was impossible to see El jefe's men without their suits and glasses. He was very wealthy to have every single one of them in such rich looking suits. While in truth, he was just using the dressing to hide the truth about what they truly were; his gang who ran his dirty stuff for him.

I recognized one of them as the driver who had brought me here pretending to be working for Fernando.

I felt the chills by seeing him again as the image of that evening flushed back into my mind.

While he just stands with his hand folded in front of him, Bruno was standing with his hand stretched forwards to halt my step and Emily's.

While I'm now facing both of them, I feel Emily stepping backwards and when I look to see her, I am drawn back to them when I hear him speak.

" We will now be taking you madam. "

" To where? " I had to ask with an uncertain frown even though I knew very well where they were talking about.

" To the church where you would be wedded. " He continued. " We'll ensure your safety and comfort till you get there. "

My neck moved as I swallowed hard and followed them out of the house.

I stood clutching the knees of my white gown as the door to the royal blue Limousine was opened for me. Supported by holding on to the guard's arm, I stepped into the car and sat at the back in my private space.

I was separated from the guards who drove at the front. 

I shivered within as I sat here all by myself in the chilling sensation of the air conditioner and strong tobacco vanilla fragrance that filled the car's passenger compartment.

The cream colored seats were hard and comfortable. There were two other seats and a small black table made of hard glass. On top of which there was a bottle of liquor and two glasses having their rim down to the rectangular tray. 

As the car started moving, fear creeped back into my heart. A renewed kind of apprehension now eroded my heart as the beating rose.

I had told myself a few minutes ago that I was ready to accept Quinn Enricho.

But what if he made advances towards me after our wedding? What if he wanted to sleep with me at all costs? He has clearly made advances towards me before of which he forced himself to stop claiming he would get married to me first.

That clearly meant he was waiting for us to get wedded before he made further advances towards me. What if I refused? What would happen? 

I could not contain the shiver I felt again and once again, my apprehension and fear of this man was again restored and I was left anticipating how my life was going to be from now.

"Come on, Jane. You're not scared of him. You're scared of no one. " I assured myself.

I flipped the curtain aside and looked at the street. The car was moving rather fastly. What if this was my chance of escaping by the way?

I could just act like I was sick, fake a diarrhoea and have them take me to the hospital. Maybe that way I could get help and run. That didn't sound so hard in my head.

First I gripped my belly in practice of how I would start my feigning. Just as I was about to stand up, I heard a voice from behind the partition.

" We're almost there now, madam. " 

This forced me to sit back and stare on like a fool. If not for the air condition, I was sure I would have been sweating profusely by now. Not out of heat but fright. Even still, I felt very hot inside.

When I stepped into the church, I was stung back with a renewed fit of uneasiness. 

I saw the aisle before me and the moment I stepped in, I was faced with images of people rising up from their seats to my arrival.

The aisle in front of me led to the altar that had a man in long white garment standing there.

It felt as if I was staring at a very long path to my destruction.

I took a deep breath and took another step as I went forward.

As I walked through, it felt as if I was leading myself to a slaughter spot. I had already gotten to the middle of the aisle when I reached the people whose gazes were hooked on me.

There were only a handful of people there. If I took my time to count, maybe they would be less than twenty.

Most of what I saw on my right hand side were men in suits.

Maybe just about three people separated to stay by the left benches. I was beginning to panic as to why there was a church full of only men until I saw a headdress sticking out behind the men to my right so I concluded I may have caught sight of another woman beside her.

I take another deep breath and My heart races as I diverted my attention back to the altar which I had become very close to by now.

I saw the elderly priest clearly now standing at the left side of the altar. Quinn was not there though. 

As I stood there facing the old priest, I was left wondering whether there had been a change of plan and I wasn't getting married to Quinn anymore.

I noticed the look of displeasure in the priest's face and my heart began to pound as I searched through the faces of the people seated. I could pick indistinct whispers of gossip from the women and murmurs of impatience from the population of men.

I saw the ladies stealing glances at me and my eyes rolled around searching for a particular person. I believed that perhaps the guy I had met earlier at the stairs would be here among these men.

While my eyes were moving from head to head, I suddenly jerked to the sound of the side doors parting open.

My eyes rolled up at the figure standing in between the natural light that sipped in through the door.

The first thing I looked at was his face, raised and tightened, his eyelids bent sideways covering most of his blue eyes. His hair was neater than it has been, less curly but curves over one side of his forehead from a single parting.

His upper lip was held by the lower as his eyes aimed at me.

I lowered my eyes from his and the bouquet he held instantly caught my attention.

I identified the neat and beautifully arranged pack of lavenders, orchids, and sunflowers.

It was the first time I saw the combination of such flowers together and it looked so nice on his hands.

As if after having observed the place to his satisfaction, he steps down the elevated slab and walks past the seated people towards the altar.

His demeanor was relaxed and yet that of dominance. He walked swiftly with his eyes cracked, he appeared very mature in the double breasted navy blue suits he wore .

When he finally reached the altar, he lowered his head slightly in respect and apology to the priest. He raised his head and I found myself willfully turning to face him as he got closer.

For that split second, my fear seized and as I gazed at his perfect masculine looks, I let myself fall into the fantasy that I was actually having my dream come true wedding with my dream come true man. 

It almost felt real and perfect until I began to feel his eyes getting heavier on me. His hand stretches and in reflex, I grab the bouquet from him and my gaze returns to him.

For a moment I tried to imagine how sweet it was that he brought my flowers for me. So that is why he was late; to get me flowers? 

I bring myself back to the physical world when I see the parting of his lips and I eagerly wait to listen to what he has to tell me.

" I wanted to make sure you had the flowers. . . "

I was clueless. What did he want me to say 'thank you?' 

" . . . because you always talked about how badly you wanted them at your wedding. "

My eyebrows start to curve in frustration as to his words.

" Remember these three were your favorite?. . . “