Chapter 6

Carla

I looked at the door one last time before ringing the bell. I brushed my dress down and looked up.

The door flung open revealing a smiling Sarah. The smile wasn’t a happy one, it was rather sad.

“Hello,” I greeted her when she stepped aside and let me in.

“Hi,” she said. 

“What’s wrong?” I couldn’t help but ask. 

“It’s mom,” she said and I frowned.

“Where is she?” I asked and she told me she was seated on the back porch. I beelined straight to the porch without giving anyone or anything a glance.

“Hi, Mrs. Beckett,” I greeted her. She stopped reading her paper and turned behind.

“Have a seat dear,” she said. I sat down next to her on the wooden chair.

I realized soon enough that her gaze remained fixed on something else. I followed her eyesight to see her looking at Pearl and Aeden.

“I hate that bitch,” she scoffed. It took me some time to register she was talking about Pearl.

“Don’t say that, she did nothing to you and can’t call someone names without knowing them,” I said. 

I like Nina but right now, she was being unreasonable. She can’t judge someone like that. I didn’t speak to Pearl but I’m no one to judge her based on her looks or the way she comes out.

“You know she is a bitch,” she said and I rolled my eyes.

“Anyways, tomorrow, we are having lunch together.” She said with excitement. Wasn’t she sick?

Yesterday when I asked her to come and meet me at the firm, she said she was too sick and weak for it and now she was ready to go for lunch?

“Aren’t you weak?” I mocked her. 

“Oh forget about weakness, tomorrow lunch 12:30 PM at one of our hotels, I’ll ask someone to give you the address,” she said and I just nodded.

“Wear something nice and bonus, Pearl is not invited,” she said with a sly smile.

“Why isn’t she invited,” I asked with a frown.

“She isn’t family, dear,” she smiled, and for some reason that was unsettling for me.

I knew she wasn’t invited because Nina didn’t like her but I looked at her and Aeden who were far away in the garden, looking so happy. He doesn’t deserve me. He should be with the one he loves. 

I admired the way he laughed so carelessly around her. He wasn’t cold or anything like he’s with me.

“Okay,” I just agreed to whatever Nina said as I didn’t want to fight with her over someone.

After some wedding discussion, which by the way Nina practically shoved the conversation my way, I walked out of her mansion tired. I was hella tired.

I showered and drifted to slumber as soon as I crashed on the bed.

I woke up the next day and decided to give my friend a call. I was not great at fashion. I knew I could get my way around formals for work but, not sophisticated family dinners.

She lived down the street and didn't take long for her to come. She rang the bell three times in a row, something she does extremely often.

I opened the door and she pushed me aside. She was holding a bag of gummy worms and stuffed a mouthful of them into her mouth. She never stops eating. As a matter of fact, I’ve never seen her not eat.

“What do you need?” she asked as she slumped on the couch, took the remote controller, and switched the channel to a music one.

“Can you stop that Kiara? I need some fashion advice,” I said as I snatched the controller away and turned the TV off. 

“You, my friend, are the most boring person I’ve ever met,” she said as she stood up and moved towards me.

“Kia!” I yelled in annoyance.

“Alright alright! Geez, you are so boring,” she sighed again as she walked to my room. She opened the doors to the closet with one of her hands as the other one still had the bag of gummy worms.

“Let’s see?” She murmured to herself while assessing my clothes.

She picked out a few and tossed them on the bed, while I stood at a distance watching her. No matter how much of an annoying ass Kia can be, I’ve got to admit that she has the best fashion taste. 

There was a time when me, Kia and Stella were really good friends but then Stella, well she slept with my boyfriend. And I haven’t met or made efforts to see Stella and my ex-boyfriend Jack. They did try to contact me several times but I cut’em off.

“This,” Kia said bring me back to reality. I looked at her holding a beautiful blue dress. I bought that dress months ago but never wore it because it was too revealing for my style.

“Please not that one,” I said looking at her. It was way too revealing. It was a beautiful dress no doubt but just not for me.

“Yes and you are only going to wear this dress,” she said and dumped my other dresses into the closet. I cringed when she gathered everything and dropped it in my closet. It took me really long to arrange it neatly.

“Come,” she said and pulled me towards the bathroom. She removed the tie around my hair which secured the bun around and let them fall. 

“You need a shower,” she said and walked out before I could even protest. I sighed in defeat and stripped myself out of my clothes and turned the faucet on and stepped in.

I was midway through my shower when I hear the bell. “Kiara, can you check who’s at the door?” I yelled out to her but I got no response.

“Kiara?” I yelled again. When she didn’t reply, I turned off the faucet and got out, and wore the robe that was in the bathroom. I tiptoed to the door. It may be the cutlery I ordered online a few days ago.

I opened the door and froze and my mouth hung open in disbelief when I saw the person standing in front of me. 

Aeden!

He stood there and looked at my face before moving his gaze downwards. Blood rushed my cheeks in embarrassment. I could feel his penetrating gaze all over my body.

His eyes traveled down my body, assessing the valley between my breasts before traveling down to my legs. The robe barely covered my inner thighs and you could practically see everything if I bent down. His eyes ran up and down the length of my body. His tongue ran over the seam of his lips and ever so slowly licked his upper lip.

He halted when his eyes met my snake tattoo on the inner side of my left thigh. He gulped visibly and audibly as his eyes remained glued on my thigh. Wrong place for a tattoo? very much. But I had to be a rebellious teenager and get a tattoo on my inner thigh!

His eyes ran up to my lips and stayed there a little longer than they should have. I involuntarily licked my lips, which seemed dry all of a sudden. I was dripping wet. The carpet around me was drenched in water that dripped down my body and hair.

Aeden continued assessing my body till we heard Kiara’s annoying voice. “Who are you?” She asked bluntly.

His eyes sparkled with a very foreign emotion but before I could read them, he blinked and turned away.

“Umm... I’m Aeden,” he said still looking away. 

“I’ll go get dressed,” I said and ran inside to save myself from the embarrassment.

I wiped myself down with a towel and dried my hair with the towel first, then the hairdryer. I was such a mess! What was I thinking? I stood there still instead of running. Actually, on that note, it’s Kiara’s fault. If she was here and hadn’t disappeared, I could have saved myself from this. 

I was fuming, more at myself actually. And to top it all Kiara, entered the room eating. She pushed the door closed with her leg and plopped on the bed.

“Your fiancé is hoooooot!” She said dragging 'o' from hot.

“Where were you? If you weren’t eating away somewhere, I could have saved myself the embarrassment!” I practically yelled at her.

“Get dressed, you are getting late,” she threw the dress towards me and I caught it. She walked out leaving me alone.

What was he doing here? Did he really come here all the way to pick me up? 

I wasted no time and dressed up immediately. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked hot but the dress, not my taste. It ended just above my knees and it was completely exposing my back and shoulders. It exposed too much skin and I wasn’t comfortable with that.

“No no,” I said and walked towards the closet to pull out another dress but stopped midway when someone held my wrist. 

“You look hot,” Kiara said and dragged me out with her. She had specifically asked my hair to be open considering its only shoulder length and completed the look with black strappy heels and a golden crossbody bag.

I stumbled while walking as she was fast because she knew that if she released my hand, I would run to my room and change. And before I knew it, I was standing in front of Aeden. He stood up from the couch and looked at me. 

I hadn’t noticed he was wearing a grey suit that made him look devilishly handsome, like when isn’t he handsome? His hair dark hair was combed neatly and he didn’t wear a tie.

“Here she is,” Kiara chirped and I averted my gaze from him. Hope he didn’t catch me looking at him like a maniac. 

“He’s taken remember?”

A voice in my mind mocked me and I reminded myself that this was just a sham. No matter how much I was attracted to him, I should stay within my limits and away from him. He loves someone else.

“You are?” he asked extending his hand towards Kia. “Kiara, but you can totally call me Kia,” she beamed.

“Very well, nice to meet you,” he said and looked at me. My heart almost skipped a beat when he turned towards me with his crystal blue eyes.

“We are late, Miss. Ray,” he frowned looking at his watch and I forced a nod.

“Good luck,” Kia whispered in my ear and I shot her a glare and all of her smiles vanished. 

I walked behind him and he didn’t turn to look back at me. He stood in front of the elevator and pressed the button. It was an awfully long wait. I looked around and frowned when I saw him clenching and unclenching his fist. Did I do something wrong or did Kia offend him when I was changing?

But I heard the elevator's ding and the doors opened. He walked in and so did I. It didn’t take too long to reach down but today, it felt long.

As soon as we reached the ground floor, he walked ahead of me and I just followed him. I didn’t utter anything just followed him. It was already awkward enough that he saw me almost naked.

He walked towards a sleek black Porsche. He unlocked the car and held the door open for me. I sat in and thanked him. He just nodded and never did once he changed his cold scowl on his face. He isn't like this when he is with Pearl.

But here’s the catch, he loves Pearl and probably hates me because I’m coming in between the love of his life. Why wouldn’t he? I would hate the person who tried to come in between me and my love. But again, I’ll never fall or find love again.

He started the engine and buckled the seat belt and drove off. I kept looking outside because sitting next to him was too much for me to bear. I didn’t want to feel something for him. I admit I am attracted to him but I should curb all of those feelings because if I don’t this will be so wrong. I’ll be doing him an injustice. He's already my fucking contract husband.

“Miss. Ray?” I heard his gruff voice and snapped my eyes towards him. He was already out and about to my side and held the door open for me. I just nodded and unbuckled the seat belt and got out.

I looked around to see some of the men looking down at me. Too much skin! I was showing too much skin. 

Fuck you, Kiara!

I cursed inwardly and began moving ahead pretending I didn’t notice any of it. 

My breath caught in my throat when a large and callous hand came in contact with my bareback. I jumped a little and turned to my side. I looked at Aeden as he pulled me closer and held my waist protectively? His jaw was clenched and his eyes were cold and distant. 

A jolt of electricity ran through my body in excitement. My body hummed in response to his touch. For a second I wanted to give in but I reminded myself that this was nothing but a sham. My logical senses kicked in before I could lose myself to my emotional one.

Too much contact!

Too much touching!

I tried to move away but he pulled me closer and his grip tightened. He kept walking and left me dumbfounded as I walked beside him. We walked towards the table. 

Nina, Sarah, and Cliff were already seated. As soon as we entered, Nina shot up and pulled me into a warm hug. 

“You look gorgeous,” she said looking at me and I forced a smile. 

I was still wondering about the stunt that Aeden pulled. I looked at Sarah to see her glaring at me with some sort of unknown fire. It was as if she wanted to rip me apart. It was surprising because she was always nice and sweet to me. 

We sat down to have our lunch. I just ordered a simple pork belly with the side salad and others didn’t eat anything fancy until it was Cliff’s turn. He ordered so much and I knew we’ll get along just great. I tend to get along with foodies. It's stupid but true.

Nina discussed the big wedding but I didn’t pay much heed to her as my attention was completely towards Aeden. His jaw was clenched hard as he kept staring at something. He was sitting next to and to my other side was Nina.

I didn’t fail to notice the way he was cutting his meat, it was like he was trying to kill someone with the knife. What was wrong with him?

After we finished lunch, Aeden forced me into his car despite my displeasure of him dropping me back. The whole drive, he seemed angry and was driving extremely fast for my liking. Yeah, I’m one of those people who are afraid of speed.

He parked in front of my apartment and I unbuckled my seatbelt.

“Don’t wear a dress like this again,” he said looking forward and I froze.

Did he just tell me what I should wear? 

His voice held some sort of weird authority and I couldn’t help but oblige. Why? I don’t know. He gripped the steering wheel so hard and I could see his knuckles turning white. He was shaking his head slightly. I frowned looking at him. What was wrong with him?

As much as I wanted to ask, I didn’t. I didn’t want to overstep the line. I was just a stranger after all. I opened the door partially to get out but was pulled back with a force. The door closed and I looked at Aeden with a surprised expression. Why did he do that?

He pulled my left wrist and slid a tiny diamond ring on my ring finger, completely throwing me off guard. I looked at him bewildered.

“We’ll get married eventually let people think we are engaged, it will be better.” He said through gritted teeth and I just nodded unable to say anything.

I got out and he drove away without a second thought. What was all that about and why was he so pissed?