The scene made me sick. I want to throw up and scream out loud. To bang the door to get their attention before slapping her so hard to bring her back to her sanity. But no, I would never humiliate myself even more. Being in this horrendous wedding was enough humiliation for a day to bear.
'I will never stoop down to their level. I would never give this disgusting pig the satisfaction of seeing me in pain, nor this two-faced bitch the pleasure of knowing that what she did tormented me and tore me into pieces. If this is the game they wanted to play, then I will play along with them. I would play my cards well and see to it that I am the one to come out victorious.'
After wiping my tears away, I loudly fake a cough to grab their attention. As if orchestrated, both of them looked at me with disbelief. Shock was written all over her face.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Have I entered at the wrong time? Have I interrupted something?" I vented without removing an eye off her.
As I got closer to them, walking with grace and poise and still managing to smile sweetly amidst the pain I felt inside, I saw how she tried to compose herself but failed to do so. Though she masked her anxiety with a firmed demeanor, unadulterated fear was still evident in her eyes.
"I see you have your ways of interrupting things. What the hell are you doing here, Angelou? Didn't your parents teach you how to respect others' privacy? You should learn that, now that you carry my name."
"Oh I didn't know I would be barging into something… Filthy. This is a public property you see. If I knew about it, then I might have knocked first before entering."
"Be an obedient wife and head back outside. I'll follow in a while."
"Oh definitely, my dear husband. But first…" I paused, eyes still glued at her as I gently placed a hand over his shoulder. Wanting her to witness the role I would portray in this game of theirs, I slowly glided my hand on his neck. A sly grin escaped my lips after feeling him gulp as it moved upward.
"Hands off, Angelou! Gabriel is mine! You're touching a private property!"
"Have I? He may be yours, but I am his legal wife."
Without leaving eye contact with her, my thumb instantly brushed off the smear of lipstick on his lips and then out of nowhere, grabbed his nape and covetously covered his slightly ajar mouth with mine. I want to anger her more by urging him to respond, wanting her to feel the intensity of pain by taking possession of the person she called hers.
"You bitch! I said hands off!" She shouted in rage, but even before her hand could grab a hold of me, I quickly retracted my pace and stepped back.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on me, Lucy! If you know what's good for you!"
"Enough! That's enough, Angelou! You're creating a scene! Stop this nonsense and go back outside!" Gabriel angrily addressed me, staring straight in my eyes as if I was the one who did something wrong instead of him.
"And what? Leave you here with her to shame both our names?"
"You sounded like a jealous wife, Angelou. Mind your own business, will you?" He added, causing me to chuckle loudly.
"A jealous wife? None of what I said screams jealousy, Gabriel."
"Then quit this nonsense and head back outside! This is none of your damn business!"
"The moment I signed that stupid marriage contract, the moment we were declared as husband and wife, you already became my business! I don't want rumors spreading that my newly wedded husband cheated on me on the day of my wedding itself! Now if you value your family's reputation so much, because I do, you should be aware of your actions!"
Without a word, he marched his way towards the door and left, leaving me alone with this two-faced bitch. I watched her like a hawk eyeing its prey and just waiting for the right timing to attack, seizing her from head to foot.
'That's right, bitch! Know your place. You knew better than to not mess up with me. I may look weaker than you physically, but you knew that I wouldn't back down without a fight.'
"You may have won this time, Angelou, but I…"
"Blah blah blah! You're not worthy of my time, Lucy. Keep your thoughts to yourself. There are far more important things to do than listen to your petty whines."
Not giving her a chance to speak back, the heels of my stilettos clicked mightily towards the door with my head held high and a victorious smile plastered on my face.
'Never again will I spare you an ounce of affection, Lucy. You had your moments, but you blew it bigtime. Now pay the price of your treachery.'
The day ended with our fathers reminding us to be in our best appearance, especially in public, so as not to ruin things for our companies' sake and our families' reputation as well. Just when I thought that I could finally rest and have solace in the comfort of my hotel suite, an unwanted figure awaited my arrival near the door.
"We have an unfinished business to settle, Angelou."
"There's nothing for us to talk about. I am dead tired and I need to rest before I fly off."
But before I could even grab the knob, she positioned herself in front of me and blocked my way. The look on her face tells me that she will never let me pass without having her way on me.
"We have lots of things to talk about and these matters can't wait."
'The nerve of her to even approach me after what she did to me. I never imagined that she would have this thick face to even show up here after ruining everything for the both of us. If I were in her shoes, I would never show myself and hide in shame.'
"Alright. Speak then. And when you are through, fucking leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you anymore. Ours was over. It ended the minute you decided to betray me."
"Gabriel loves me and it will never change even now that you are his wife. He only did what he had to do, which is to be stuck with you, because he was forced to do it. His father mandated him before he could get hold of their family's assets and before he could take full control of everything. He did everything for me, sacrificed everything for his future and mine."
"Anything else? You're saying nonsense, Lucy."
"What you have with him is a fake marriage, all are just part of a stupid play that will soon have its end. None of these are permanent, Angelou. You are his wife in papers alone. So don't ever assume that he will care for you or there will be any affections involved during the duration of your contract marriage, because that will never ever happen."
I felt every ligament in me clenching as rage once again devoured my system. My hand almost landed on her cheek this time but castigating myself, thinking of the security cameras scattered around.
"Let me clear your wayward mind, Lucy. I will only say this once, so better stick it in that thick skull of yours. I am fully aware of what I put myself into. I already knew everything you said. It had been shoveled in my face months ago. You are the one who is assuming things here, not me. You are the one whose mind is gloomy, not mine."
"But he will never be yours! You have him in papers only! You bear his name in papers only! Gabriel is mine, Angelou! He is mine!" She screamed, agitated as desperation unravels her true colors.
"Who said I even wanted to be his? Have you heard me mention any earlier? Weren't you even listening to my argument with Gabriel earlier when I caught you both? My oh my, Lucy. Don't tell me your horniness has gotten the best of you. Don't be so overreacting and humiliate yourself further. I didn't even want this freaking marriage to take place, nor be in the same ground with him if given a chance. A man of his caliber wasn't the type of man I loved to spend my whole life with. He didn't even pass my standards, although yours did. I should have known way back then that his type was your kind of a man."
"Whatever you say or think about me now, the fact remains that he is mine! You are just his pretend wife!"
"One year. Just one year, then both of you can rot in hell for all I care. You can have him all by yourself then, I wouldn't mind. Besides, that's what best friends should be doing, right Lucy? Giving what the less fortunate one doesn't have."
After emphasizing the word best friend, I pushed her aside and immediately opened the door. But before I could finally close it behind me, her final words were loud and clear like crystals.
"Married or not, you are Gabriel's wife on papers alone! Bear that in mind, best friend!"
GABRIEL
"I suppose you are done with your dramas."
Surprise emanates from her features after minutes of soberness with what happened outside just a while ago. But in a split-second, she regained her composure. Unleashing that lioness in her once again and bringing back the coldness in her eyes after seeing the vulnerable side of hers I always imagined she possessed. This ability of her to swiftly shift emotions somehow intrigues me.
'Very impressive, Angelou. Very impressive indeed. I have never encountered such a counterpart who can be in multiple personalities all in one shoe with just a blink of an eye. These characteristics of yours somehow impressed me, my dear wife.'
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your suite instead? We should be meeting tomorrow morning for our flight, not now."
"There are a few things we must discuss. I need to clarify things to you first before we even fully indulge ourselves in this marriage for convenience."
"Oh dear Lord, not again. Let's discuss this matter tomorrow instead. We have all the time needed to discuss everything when dawn breaks. I am drained and dead tired. I wanted to rest, for Pete's sake. Can't we just deal with whatever it is you are about to say first thing tomorrow morning? Spare me even a few hours to rest please."
"That won't do. We must tackle everything now before we could even get out of the country. I will be busy tomorrow after we reach our destination. So everything must be done tonight. I don't want you confusing yourself with what needs and not to be done" I pointed out authoritatively.
"But all had been explained to me by my parents. I already knew what needs to be done, all had been clarified to me. What else do I need to know?"
"A lot more."
"Fine! Let's get this done and over with so I can have the peace I deserve! Go ahead, spill the beans and make it quick." She exclaimed exhaustedly, slumping at the cushion nearest to her.
'What a bitchy impatient woman! Be thankful I needed you more than you needed me, because if not, I wouldn't let you speak that way to me!'
Starting with the obvious matters, I ran through the details of our contract while looking outside the window where city lights filled the vast area. I discussed everything meticulously, leaving not a single matter untouched, only to be stopped midair the minute I turned around and saw her sitting tamely with eyes closed and breathing calmly.
As I silently watched her, seizing her angelic face and taking note of her mellow features, a part of me that I wanted to forget relives. A part of my past flashes back right in front of me.
Sitting meters away from her, pretending to read the book, while secretly watching her every move as always. The way she flutters her eyes, those long eyelashes that match those almond shaped sets, and how they shine to the sweet smile she exudes every time she got praised by her peers down to the way she perfectly carries herself, even with not too fancy clothes, that always made her above the girls her age. These traits of hers were the reasons why I couldn't get my eyes off her. She is one hell of a sight that any man would die for to behold.
I thought I only had a crush on her. That everything will stop the moment I see someone who is more good looking and bewitching than her. But as time flew by, the infatuation I felt blossomed. As time passes, what I feel gives birth to something I have never ever felt before. This was my first. She was the first girl who made me feel this way. Now, I am secretly in love with her.
"Are you even listening to me, Angelou? For God sake, woman! The last thing I want you to do right now is to sleep on me while I talk here!"
"What were you saying?" She gazed at me unknowingly, obviousness awakened from her short-lived slumber.
"This is unbelievable! I told you we will discuss and clarify things, but here you are sleeping on me? Now you're really making my speculations come to life! How could you be so disrespectful as a wife!"
"Wow! Look who's talking! Me? Disrespectful as a wife? How about you after that disgusting and puking stunt you did inside the ladies' room earlier? Wasn't that a more disrespectful act than what I did now?"
"What I do with my time is none of your concern! Whether I stick my rod to random girls at any random places I wish to, all of that is none of your goddamn business!"
"Yeah right! But let me refresh your memory, Mister. Since I am in this mess with you, your affairs are officially mine as well! So anything you do in public, especially obscene ones, is considered to be my goddamn business too!"
"Don't push my limit, Angelou. I might forget that you're a woman."
"Oh really now, and what? You'll hit me? Go ahead then! Hit me if you dare! I am not scared of you! I don't even feel a bit of fear at the sight of you! And don't be so full of yourself, Mr. Narcissist! Don't ever think that you can belittle me just because your family is much wealthier than mine!"
"You're unbelievable! None of these fucking make sense!"
"So what make sense to you? You being a bossy jerk?"
I moved further away from her, taking long deep and steady breaths to calm myself. I may be a control freak, but never in history did I hit any woman. After minutes of silence and finally regaining my self-control, I gazed back at her, more determined than ever.
"As I was saying earlier before the interruptions you've created, Lucy is my girlfriend and it will stay that way. So since I am forbidden to be seen in public with her now, I've requested her to come as she pleases at my home instead and granted her full access to it. I want you to take note of this since you will be living with me from now on and be totally aware of her presence. I don't want you fighting with her either, not after that heated discussion you had with her earlier."
"Can't you just allot a different place for her? For your indecent affairs? I mean, what will our parents and even our colleagues say, if any of this comes to their knowledge?"
"It's none of their business. I live my life the way I want it."
"If you are so thick faced about this and even don't care at all, then I'm not like you! I am concerned about what others will think, especially my parents, the minute they know about this!"
"I've said my piece, that's final. None of what you will say would even matter, so shut up and just do what you're told" I finished before walking towards the door to leave.
"You arrogant beast! I am not one of your employees, nor one of your mistresses, to just simply bow down and do whatever you command! We are equal in this arrangement! None of us is above the other! I also have a say when it comes to our marriage, even if all of these were meant for display only!"
Her words stopped me from opening the door. I turned back and faced her.
"Let me remind you of our status here, Angelou. I don't even care for you or your petty career. I got stuck here with you for a year and I have no choice but to bear with your presence."
"Well for your information, Mr. Gabriel Levine, I wouldn't like to be in the same place with you if given a chance either. If not for my parents' pleas and my deep respect and love for them, I would never marry you in the first place if it's the last thing I would do. And don't ever think that you alone suffer here, I am suffering too. So let us just be two civilized adults until this is all over. Then we can go on with our own separate lives and be strangers once again."
"It's a deal, Mrs. Angelou Levine. That's what I was about to say next."
Before things between us got totally out of control, I quickly stormed out of her suite, shutting the door with a loud bang behind me.
'You may be my first love, Angelou Stanford, but you can't belittle me now unlike before. Whether you like it or not, you have to deal with the new me, the new Gabriel Levine.'
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