6. LET'S MEET UP

"Meet me at Rocky restaurant at eight, wear a nice dress. Benhail." Emery read out the text that popped up on her screen a few seconds ago. She looked at her sister who was sleeping on the hospital bed and sighed. Thinking through it, she knew she just had to go.

She went to the Doctor's office to plead that someone should come to stay with her sister in the ward. The Doctor assured her that Amery would be fine, they'd given her sedatives that would last until midnight.

With the assurance that her sister was good, she left the hospital.

 As she rambled the streets of Texas in the cold night, she made a mental note of all the questions she would be asking Benhail tonight.

Firstly, this date or whatever he called her out for wasn't stated in the contract and she didn't understand why he would call her out at that hour of the night.

She stopped a cab,  gave her house address to the cabman, and hopped in. Clutching her coat tightly to her body, she stared out the window and let the breeze of the cold night ease her worries. She would have loved to take a walk home but she was exhausted and needed to get ready for the dinner date she had with Benhail.

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Emery stepped into the restaurant, her eyes scrutinizing the room. The mild lights that beamed from the chandelier made her vision vague, she hissed as she searched for Benhail's table. 

Chairs were arranged scantily yet they looked so elegant. She stopped at an alcove of the restaurant and pulled her phone out of the purse to call Benhail, he picked it up, and through the descriptions he gave her, she quickly recognized him.

She walked slowly until she got to where he was seated. "Good evening," she greeted in hostility.

"Did you get my text?" Benhail's green eyes dilated and they rested on her. He jiggled his head as his eyes ogled her body.

"Yes, I did and that's why I am here." She responded, wondering why he was asking that question. Emery avoided his eyes, but she secretly studied him; he had a great taste for expensive tuxedos. His hair was properly trimmed with tendrils falling at the front, his well-chiseled jaw clenched as he stared intently at her.

"And you wore this?" He asked, moving his hand up and down.

"Wore what? Excuse me?" Emery scoffed. "What's wrong with my dress?" She looked at her body to be sure she didn't have a wardrobe malfunction. Her long black gown seemed perfect and the low-heeled stilettos she wore still fitted her legs or was it her face? Maybe she should have applied some makeup. "What's wrong with me?"

"I made it clear that we are meeting at a restaurant for dinner, not a funeral. For crying out loud, you are wearing all black and there is no make-up on your face." He complained.

Emery chuckled, "really? That's a problem for you?" She glared at him.

"Not really, I just feel you will look more beautiful if you had some make-up on your face." He cleared his throat.

"Beautiful?" Emery smiled. Did he just call her beautiful? It was strange, no man had ever complimented her that way before.

"You heard me right. The waiter is coming, go through the menu to make an order." He said to her.

"I don't know if this is necessary, this is not even part of the deal. I didn't read that I have to go out on dates with you in the contract. At least, I have my copy of the contract and there is nothing like this in there." She heaved a sigh and leaned forward on the couch. "It's no problem though, at least I will get to eat some good food." 

Benhail chuckled, he found her amusing. He was bored at home and felt it was better that he invited Emery to a restaurant for dinner and to get to know about the woman who was going to carry his child.

"Good evening, sir and ma'am. Have you made your orders yet?" The waiter asked when he got to where they were seated.

"Yes, sure," Emery pointed to what she chose, he wrote it down on the pad and did the same to Benhail.

He left to get the orders. Emery's eyes darted around the room, she nodded her head and smiled. She knew well that there was no way she was ever going to afford to eat in a place like this if Benhail hadn't invited her over.

"How old are you?" Benhail's deep voice echoed in her ears.

"Twenty-four, do you have a problem with my age?"

"No," he retorted.

"And you, how old are you?" 

"Ten years older than you, you can do the math." That was all he responded with. Emery furrowed her brows and looked away from him. "Is there something about you that I should know before we start living together?" He asked.

Emery thought carefully, there was a lot about her that he needed to know. Things like she didn't like to share her stuff with people; she hit her head and smiled. There was no need for that, Benhail was a man and besides, she might not sleep in the same room with him if she moved into his house. She was an avid reader and could litter the whole house with books; that detail wasn't necessary either. She's an orphan and lived with her twin sister; Emery shook her head, that would only make him pity her. She would not tell him that.

"I am a twin, I have a twin sister and her name is Amery." She said simply. "There is nothing much to know about me."

"Your parents, who are they, and what do they do?" 

Emery expected that question and now she just had to tell him. "Did you invite me here to ask about my parents?" She glared at him.

"It's not a crime to know about them. Is it?"

"No, but you do know that we are business partners and this is nothing more than business." She reminded him.

"And that's why I have to know everything about you. This is business, I have to know who you are." He averred, they stared into each other's eyes for a split second. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. 

Their orders arrived at that moment. The waiter spread the plates on the table and Benhail paid him after that.

Emery picked up the cutleries and dug them into a plate of fried rice that was in front of her, she swallowed a forkful and nodded her head in satisfaction. "I am an orphan. My sister is my only family, you have nothing to worry about, I won't renege on our agreement." She cut the chicken wings and chomped on them. She hadn't had a good meal to eat since the morning and she didn't realize how hungry she was until now.

Benhail didn't stop staring at her as she ate. She smiled as she swallowed each forkful of rice. He smiled too, he liked that she was real and didn't seem to care too much about people's opinions of her. He wasn't sure if she was that way, but he saw her differently. 

"And you? I only have your business card, know that you own a winery, I know your house too. Aside from those things, I don't know anything else about you. Don't you think it's fair that I know some things too?" She looked up at him and their gazes met. "Hmm," her phone beeped. She dropped the fork to check her phone. She stared into the screen and it was a reminder of Amery's surgery tomorrow. Emery heaved an exasperated sigh and immediately, she lost her appetite.

Her eyes remained on the screen for a very long time. Though she'd been assured that Amery would live after the surgery but she was still dead scared something might happen to her sister.

Benhail noticed her countenance but he chose to ignore her. He started with his meal of macaroni and peppered chicken. He scarfed down half of the food and Emery was yet to pick up her fork.

"Is there something wrong?" He finally asked.

"Yes, no, I mean no." She feigned a smile. "My sister is home alone, she wants me home." She lied.

He nodded his head and said nothing. "That day I came to pick you up at the hospital, what were you doing there? Do you have health issues that I should know of?" He inquired of her.

Emery rubbed her hand on her temples and stared at Benhail. "I don't have any health issues."

"So, why were you at the hospital?" He continued with the question.

Emery wanted to yell at him, tell him all about her twin sister's health and warned him to stop asking her questions that got on her nerves, but that would make him change his mind and he might just rescind the deal with her for being rude. Her eyelids fluttered shut, she breathed hard and looked at him.

"Can we just eat? In peace, please. Enough of the questions about me and my health. If you want, we can go for a check-up before we have…" She paused, refusing to agree that she would soon have sex with him.

"Sex, yeah," he completed the sentence for her. "We would do that." He said and continued to eat his food.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes at him. "Are you dropping me home after we leave here?"

"Yes, I think I know a few things about you. I will drop you at home and you will be moving into my house the next time we see each other." He finalized, digging the fork into the chicken, he shoved it into his mouth and turned to Emery.

They gazed at each other as he chomped harder on the chicken, she nodded her head in understanding, saying nothing to his words. But deep within her, she was scared, she was so scared the nightmare was about to start.

Emery knew she just had to brace herself for it, Benhail didn't look like someone who would make things easy for her and as she thought about how terrible or good living together with him would be, she also planned how to get through whatever that would come her way.

"Eat up, your sister is waiting for you." His voice jolted her out of thoughts. She smiled and resumed back to devouring her food.