Jake Cross stood rooted at the entrance of the hall, unsure as to why he had changed his mind at the last minute, and decided to come to the church to witness the old man get married again - for the third time.
He had ended his meeting hours ago and if he had left early enough, as soon as he was done with the meeting, he’d have arrived at the church on time, way before the ceremony started, but then, he chose to remain at the office pretending to work while thoughts of his mysterious blue-eyed goddess plagued his mind. After a while, he'd decided to go home but found himself driving toward Southwark where St George's cathedral was located and where his father's third wedding ceremony was taking place and most likely reaching the end. He parked his car at the church's parking lot. He sat there holding the steering wheel and brooding, contemplating if he should go into the church or just reverse his car and head back home. After a while though, longer than five minutes he decided on the former and now, here he was standing at the entrance of the church staring at his father and his blue-eyed goddess, his father's bride-turned-wife in the next couple of minutes. He watched as the couple stood a short distance away from each other on the altar, his father wearing what Jake would term a stupid smile and the bride's face hidden behind a transparent veil. 'Dear brother, are you here to stop the wedding?’ the priest asked, directing his question at Jake who still stood by the door, utterly stunned as the congregation all had their heads turned towards him for his intrusion. 'No, he's not. He's here for the wedding.’ His father's voice cut through his thoughts, making him jolt out of his reverie and walk self-consciously, turning heads with many eyes peeled on him to join the pew where the Rollins family sat. Mary and Daisy, his two youngest sisters who sat at the far end of the pew, shifted out of their seats to wave at him. He smiled at them, acknowledging them. He took a seat and turned his attention back to the altar, nodding slightly at the priest to go on with the program. ‘Since no one is against these two joining in holy union, in the name of the father, of the son, and of the holy spirit, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.’ he encouraged Mr Rollins, who pulled his wife closer and placed a short simple kiss on her tightly closed lips. Sheena had not recovered from the shock of seeing Jake at her wedding……her wedding to his father! She was too shocked to resist or avoid the kiss Mr Rollins placed on her lips, not like she could in front of all these many people, and given the situation, it was her wedding after all. Yet, as light and simple as the kiss was, it repulsed her. Jake grimaced and growled inwardly in anger as he witnessed his father kiss the lips of his blue-eyed goddess. The same lips he had ravaged and nibbled softly on only last night while she lay peacefully in his arms after their delicious romp. Soon, it was time to sign the marriage register that would legally bind the couple as husband and wife. Mr Rollins quickly signed the document to cheers from the guests around them and passed the pen to his bride, Sheena to do her part and seal the agreement between both families. Sheena held the pen loosely between her fingers as she stared blindly at the document in front of her. Just beside the line marked for her signature, laid Mr. Rollins's impeccable signature, his name Rollins spelled in italics, with a long wavy line connecting the “R" to the “n". Sheena kept staring at the long line, imagining it to be the long two years she would have to spend as Mrs Rollins, Mr Rollins' wife, Jake's stepmother. She tried to recall why she'd agreed to this in the first place. To save her father from going to prison, to save their house and the memories of their mother that come with it, to save their dying shipping company, to pay off the huge debt they owed the bank and other people their father loaned money from…… A long list she admitted, but was it worth the sacrifice she was about to make, trying to console herself or more, convince herself she was doing this for the greater good? Sheena turned to glance at her family. Elena, her sister, had a worried look etched on her face. She felt pity for her sister but was also worried about the amount of time she was taking to sign the document and get this over and done with. Sheena's father had a “What are you doing Sheena!” look on his face. His eyes questioned her "What the hell are you waiting for?" She smiled ruefully at them and turned to her side to steal a glance at Jake. She caught him staring intensely at her and their eyes locked at that moment. They held onto the look for a second but it felt like a million years to the both of them. Jake's face was expressionless and Sheena's had a look of defeat and resignation. Pulling her eyes away from Jake's, she turned back to the document and… ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ Whilst the church wedding was small and filled with only the family members and a few friends of both families, the reception on the other hand was grand. There were over 250 guests present in the huge Rollins mansion where the reception was held. Sheena felt uncomfortable at the number of people present. She sat alone at the special beautifully decorated table in front of the hall, meant for the couple. Her husband had excused himself to go discuss something with some of his business associates. Sheena's eyes searched the hall for Jake, but instead, her gaze settled first on her sister, Elena. She caught Elena sitting beside their father with the blond-haired guy from the club seated at the other side. He and their father seemed deep in a conversation. Just then, Elena raised her head and locked eyes with Sheena who pleaded with her eyes for Elena to come over to her table. Elena excused herself from the table she sat with her father and went to sit beside Sheena. ‘Hello, married woman. How's marriage life?’ she joked as soon as she sat down. Sheena rolled her eyes exasperatedly at her sister. ‘How and why is Blondie here with you?’ She questioned, changing the topic abruptly. 'Blondie? Oh you mean Damian.’ Elena offered. 'Damian? So you already know his name? How? ‘Well, after you went awol on me at the club, Damian walked up to me and we talked. Turns out he's the lawyer to Rollins. He was invited to the wedding too. He's a great guy.’ Elena smiled shyly as she said the last part, stealing a glance at Damian. 'Oh!’ was all Sheena could mutter. She could tell her sister was smitten by the Damian guy, but that was the least of her concerns right now. She was disturbed with thoughts of Jake and she'd been wondering if he was present at the reception. 'Have you seen Jake?’ she asked Elena, her eyes scanning the hall for him. ‘Who is Jake?’ Elena asked, perplexed. ‘The guy at the church. The one who interrupted the ceremony at the last minute.’ 'Oooh! That's right, what's the deal with him? His entrance was so grand and theatrical. Who is he?’ Elena inquired, her eyes held curiosity. 'My lucky handsome bloke’ Sheena blurted out absentmindedly, her eyes still roaming the room in search of Jake. Elena's eyes grew large like saucers at Sheena's revelation as the realization of her words hit her. ‘You dawg! So you did it last night didn't you!’ she screeched and poked Sheena who wasn't paying any attention to her anymore. Curious to know what was taking Sheena's attention, Elena turned and followed her gaze, to see the very handsome olive-skinned man from the church earlier. With a glass of wine in one hand, Jake approached their table with such enigmatic charisma that had even Elena swooning over him. 'I'm going upstairs to retouch my makeup.' Sheena spoke to Elena but her eyes never left Jake. 'I need to get out of this gown too and I'll need your help. Please meet me upstairs.’ Sheena muttered hurriedly to her sister. Jake was getting closer to their table. Sheena feared meeting with him. She quickly stood up from the chair, scampering towards the stairs just as Jake reached. 'Meet me upstairs!' She muttered in a whisper.Sheena paced the room haphazardly, unable to stop her heart from racing.She felt uncomfortable and unnerved by the intense look Jake had given her as he sauntered confidently to the table where she and Elena were seated.Sheena stopped to look at the wall clock. It's been five minutes since she got to her room, Elena should be here by now and she wondered what was keeping her sister.She had her back to the door with her muddled thoughts, when the door to the room opened, ushering in an intruder.‘Oh God, Elena! What took you so long?’ Sheena queried, with her back still facing the door.‘I need help getting out of this gown, please.’ She shifted her hair which she had let loose to the side to allow Elena to untie the strings and undo the zipper.As the figure got closer and slowly pulled down the zipper of the beautiful strapless gown, Sheena froze. The familiar green citrus and fine cedar wood scent she has come to know too well wafted into her nose. She knew right then it wasn't
Jake and Sheena froze in their act. They turned to the door left ajar but no one had come through.Sheena quickly drew up her dress left in a puddle around her feet, covering her nakedness. She secured the dress to prevent it from falling.Jake flexed his shoulders regaining his composure, moved away from Sheena and placed his hands into his pant pockets. The duo peeled their eyes towards the door awaiting the entrance of the intruder. Just then, a maid entered, struggling with a basket of clean laundry. The maid gasped upon seeing Jake and Sheena in the room. 'I'm sorry.’ She apologized shyly and turned to leave but was stopped dead in her tracks by Jake's commanding tone.'Come in.’ he ordered, gesturing with his hand for her to enter.The maid turned to him, still skeptical if she should enter the room. Jake noticed her hesitation and nodded his head towards the bed, encouraging her to carry on.The maid walked with trepidation into the room and went about her business briskly. S
Sheena didn't go back downstairs to join the reception party after her confrontation with Jake. She had been too distraught with what had happened.When Elena finally came upstairs to meet her, Sheena made Elena excuse her by saying she was indisposed. Elena had come back saying Mr Dominic didn't like the news but he allowed it because he had guests.Sheena remained in the room pitying herself till the end of the party. With Elena gone, she had a lot of time to sulk. Just when she thought the day couldn't get any worse, Mr Dominic appeared.'Why didn't you come back downstairs?' Mr Dominic asked Sheena, his eyes glaring daggers at her, his voice as cold as ice.Sheena was instantly filled with fear upon hearing Dominic's cold voice. She hadn't noticed when he entered the room as she was absorbed in the disturbing thoughts in her head. She remained seated on the mattress, knees drawn to herself as she brooded. She raised her head to him to respond to his question. His look sent fiery
Dinner had ended on a tense note with Sheena at the receiving end of most of it. She was grateful to return to the confines of her room. She had barely touched her food and she wasn't the only one guilty of this.Mirabel and Michelle had barely touched theirs too. They instead, fed off the intense hate glares they directed at Sheena.The day had been very eventful for Sheena. She never asked for any of this. She felt too young to carry all that life was throwing at her. At her age, she would be expected to live life, attending wide parties and having blissful sex. Although Sheena was not one to live life attending parties and sleeping with strangers she was certain this wasn't the way to live for anyone her age. Sheena's mind lingered on sleeping with strangers. She thought of Jake in that instance. How wonderful he had been to her. She had imagined her first time to be fairytale perfect and Jake made it all that.Like in the movies, meet a stranger and have wild passionate lovemaki
Jake stood by his room window overlooking the city, he stared at the view absentmindedly. The window provided its occupant a wide-range view of the city, the colorful lighting, and the people as they go about their businesses but without all the noise.He occupied the top floor of one of the most expensive condos in London. He could afford it. He was rich.He stood by the window wearing nothing but his skin. He had just finished romping with his girlfriend Annabelle. He was supposed to feel satiated, exhausted but satiated. But he didn't feel any of these right now.He was disturbed. His mind was elsewhere, wandering to a place where it shouldn't; Sheena. He just couldn't stop thinking about her.He recalled their last meeting. He could still taste her lips in his when he had kissed her. The feel of her silk molds against his hands. He felt himself growing hard again.He was still mad at her for keeping such an important detail of being engaged from him. He couldn't forget the fact th
A bright light suddenly shone from the open windows against Sheena's closed eyes, waking her up. She shifted from the very uncomfortable position she had taken on the floor.She grunted in pain. Her whole body ached. Sleep had eluded her the whole night. Only until the wee hours of the morning did she let herself slip into a conscious nap as it were.Sheena remained alert like a guard on watch the whole night. She couldn't believe Mr Dominic would let her off the hook just like that. She anticipated his return at any moment, changing his mind and going back on his word.She stretched herself, her bones popping with each movement. She yawned tiredly as she tried to locate the source of the sudden brightness in the room.Her eyes still hazy from sleep, caught the outline of a figure standing by the window. Sheena's adrenaline kicked in and she scampered to her feet immediately, ignoring the pain she felt in her joints.'Good morning ma'am!' Sheena's vision cleared to reveal the tall sl
'You shouldn't take their words to heart.' A small sweet voice spoke, making Sheena turn to see her companion.Sheena turned to see Mary, the youngest of Mr Dominic's daughters smiling down at her.After what had happened in the kitchen, Sheena had taken solace in the garden, sulking, crying her eyes out, and drowning in self-pity. She regretted ever being born.She swiped at her eyes and bowed her head to hide her teary face from Mary. She wasn't even sure how Mary knew what had happened. And like Mary could read thoughts, she answered her unspoken question.'Maria told me what happened.' Mary said to Glenda as she stooped close to Sheena, sitting beside her.Sheena sniffed. 'It's fine.' She responded in a frail voice as more tears dropped from her eyes.'No, it's not. Mirabel and Michelle can be very vicious. They are very greedy and think you're here to claim your father's wealth. Dad is not getting any younger.' Mary explained, trying to calm Sheena and excuse her sisters.'I have
Jake did not expect to see Sheena with Mary. He had called his younger siblings with whom he was closest to in the Rollins house to hang out with her.He needed to unwind and he couldn't think of any other person than Mary. He didn't want to be drowned in booze and judging and so he avoided his friends.He was glad he had chosen to call Mary because it afforded him seeing Sheena again.Jake had been unable to get Sheena out of his mind. She was "the a lot" on his mind that had prevented him from being so productive at work.He was still mad at her and kept telling himself he didn't want to ever see her again. But his heart kept yearning for Sheena. It felt like poison in his system but now, only staring down at her felt like an antidote.The sight of her was calming, soothing and refreshing. And as though controlled by an unknown force, he had extended his hand to her for a truce. And when she took his hand, it took every being in him not to pull her into his arms and ravish her.'I d