6. A LIABILITY

"I should ask you that because I am not a stranger here." Liam lowered the briefcase in his hand on the couch and extended a hand to Orla. "Who is this Angel?"

Orla quickly stared at Callan who was oblivious to Liam's presence. She wasn't certain of the response to give him, she didn't know if she should tell Liam she was Callan's prospective bride or one of the seven daughters of the great Arnold Sullivan's family.

Rosa stepped in and gave the measuring tape to Liam. "She's the Boss's wife-to-be, you should take her measurements now, there is a dinner she has to attend with the Boss." She said sternly, but her stony expression was replaced with a smile when Liam flirtatiously smiled at her.

"The bride?" He took Orla's hand again and assessed her. "I didn't know that Callan had eyes for very tiny women like her, I thought he only go out with… My bad, my bad," he chuckled when he saw Callan standing next to Orla, he wondered when he got there.

"Liam!" Callan cautioned.

"Callan," Liam smiled causally. "You bad man, what's your plan this time?"

"Get her a dress for tonight's dinner and a good one for our wedding," Callan responded, folding his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"Wedding?" Liam asked, befuddled.

"Don't act like you are surprised, I overheard Rosa telling you about it. Do what you have to do and come over for a drink when you are done with her." Callan avouched.

"Oh, I see. So, when are you going to introduce me to your beautiful bride-to-be?" Liam asked playfully, but he was largely snubbed by Callan who didn't wait a second later to listen to his friend's harangues. He knew what was in store for him after Liam was done with Orla and he was very well prepred for them all.

"What colour do you like to wear to the dinner?" Liam swivelled back to face Orla who was having a difficult time deciding what she wanted. No one had ever asked her what she wanted, everyone she'd met just enforced things on her and it never mattered to them if she liked it or not, but Liam wasn't like that and she was impressed with him.

"Red will do." Rosa cut in when Orla was taking too much time to decide. She nodded her head In agreement with Rosa's words. 

"Then let's go for red." Liam snapped his fingers and genuflected. "Maybe you haven't heard about me, but I will do a quick introduction now. I am Liam Ferguson, the most talented stylist in town, a best friend to Callan Barlowe. I am very much single and won't mind having you as mine if Callan misbehaves." He giggled, causing Orla to briefly smile. "Okay, that was a joke, I won't take what belongs to my friend." He smirked at Orla and pulled her closer. "Stay still and let me measure the most beautiful girl in the world, Ma'am." Smirking, he rolled out the tape rule and began to take her measurements.

-

-

Callan was busy attending to a series of phone calls on their way to Elizabeth's house, Orla stared outside the window, lost in thoughts of her crumbled world. No words were said to each other throughout the ride, Callan didn't acknowledge her presence, and he didn't give a damn about her, she knew that and maintained her lane.

David halted the vehicle after driving into the garage, he turned to Callan and informed him of their arrival.

Callan nodded, he looked at Orla and said, "Come with me." Pulling the door, he walked out of the car, leaving her to find her way.

Orla hurried out of the car, trying to walk quickly but the low-heeled stilettos she wore deterred her from moving fast, she wasn't used to that kind of shoes. Sandals and slippers were what she wore until Callan decided that she should be dressed up for dinner. And dressing up meant that she had to don a long red dress that had a slit running from her both thighs down to her toes, exposing her toned legs, a silver heel to match and light makeup for the evening, all courtesy of Liam. 

When he was done with Orla, she was convinced that he really was a professional because he transformed her from the lowly girl she was to a hot chick that men would chop off their heads to have, but even after all that, Callan still didn't look her way to compliment her, not that she needed it anyway.

They were welcomed into Elizabeth's expansive living room by a maid. She widely opened the door, ushering Callan and Orla into the living room with a smile on her face.

"Welcome here," she greeted, taking Callan's blazer from him.

"Where is my mom?" He asked the maid with a bored expression on his face. His phone chimed, he took a cursory glance at it and tapped the screen to type in some messages. When he was done, he looked at the maid and urged her to go on with what she was saying.

"She will soon be here, Sir. You can head to the dining room while I inform her of your arrival."

"Sure," Callan led the way to the dining table and Orla followed behind like a puppy. She wondered if he even knew that she was right next to him. They settled on the chairs that surrounded the huge dining table. 

Orla looked around the dining room, it had almost the same features as the one in her father's house. Sighing, she flipped her hair to the side and placed her hands on her jaw, waiting for Elizabeth to show up. She tried to calm her nerves, but her heart didn't stop palpitating as she thought of the chagrin on Elizabeth's face when Callan chose her as the woman he wanted to get married to. It was obvious, she needed no soothsayer to tell her that Elizabeth didn't fancy her.

The clinking sound of heels against tiles attracted Orla's attention, she slowly raised her head to take a look and her eyes met with Elizabeth's who shot her a deathly glare before looking away.

"Callan!" She beamed with smiles when she sighted her son. 

"Mom," he bent a little to her level when she hugged him. "You look so beautiful as usual." He said teasingly, admiring the short pink sleeveless dress his mother donned. She wasn't going to get old.

"You don't look bad, son." Elizabeth pulled out a chair and crouched on it. "I see you brought her," she scoffed, her eyes castigating Orla who was almost quivering in her seat.

"You wanted to personally meet her," Callan said, bored. 

"When is the wedding?" Elizabeth asked almost immediately.

"I will fix a date when I am less busy." Callan's phone beeped and he looked at his mother. "This call is important, excuse me please." He straightened out of the cushion, heading out of the dining room.

Orla's palms turned sweaty, her eyes flickering around the room. She didn't know what to say when she was alone with Elizabeth, she didn't realise how safe she'd been when Callan was there. Now that he was gone, she dreaded this whole dinner arrangement so much.

Elizabeth stared scornfully at Orla, so bad she wanted the ground to open up and take her in. She opened her mouth to talk but the words didn't come out.

"You are Orla Sullivan," Elizabeth broke the silence between them. "How do you feel that Callan chose you out of all the daughters of Arnold Sullivan?" She asked her, her eyes firmly on Orla.

"Ma'am, ma-a, ma'am–ma'am." Orla stuttered, shaking uncontrollably in her seat. She looked into Elizabeth's eyes and wriggled her head.

"You are the unseen daughter, the forsaken one who has nothing to offer my son. I heard a few things about you from your sisters, I know that you are possessed and you bewitched my son to choose you." Elizabeth derided, shaking her head. "I made a mistake, I shouldn't have gone to your house with my son. Mia was my choice, I should have invited her over and let them meet each other."

"I–," Orla tried to talk but Elizabeth beat her to it.

"I will never accept you as a daughter-in-law, you are a big liability to my son and everyone around you. You are useless, Orla and will never be useful to anyone. So, watch your back even as my son has chosen to marry you, tread carefully because I won't hesitate to convince Callan to throw you out if you misbehave." Her words hurt Orla so bad hot tears trickled down her cheeks. She wanted to hold back her tears, but she couldn't. She looked at Elizabeth and nodded her head in understanding.

"It was a business call, I just had to pick that." Callan slid into his chair, smiling brightly. "I just nailed a big contract."

"That's very good." Elizabeth smiled. "I am always proud of you."

"And I think I have gotten a date for the wedding." Callan snapped his fingers. "This weekend is cool, I am less busy by the weekend."

Orla looked at him. He didn't even ask if she was cool with that. How could he just pick a date without considering her, it was their wedding and they should reach an agreement together.

Callan veered around to look at Orla, and in a domineering voice, he uttered. "Our wedding is taking place by the weekend. That day you will become mine and I will completely own you." Smiling, he turned back to his mother. "Common, let's wine and dine."

Elizabeth summoned the maid to serve the table. She stared at Orla who was pondering on the words Callan just said, he was going to completely own her. Those words scared the hell out of her. She looked at him grinning as he conversed with his mother while the maid served the table with different delicacies that had been prepared.

She wanted to run out of the mansion, and out of their lives. She wanted to go back home, but even there was hellish and no matter how hard she tried to think of a safe place to escape to, nowhere came to her mind, there was nowhere in the world that was safe for her. 

Tears dripped down her cheeks, her life was a mess, a total mess that was unfixable and it would continue to be that way.

"Will Arnold be attending the wedding?" Callan's question jolted Orla out of her reverie.

"He doesn't have a choice, it's his daughter's wedding after all," Elizabeth responded, shrugging her shoulders.

Orla looked at them. She wasn't sure she was a daughter to Arnold Sullivan, he had never shown her the love a father should show a child. She had never gotten love from anywhere and it doesn't seem like she was ever going to get it from anywhere.