Charlotte:
Anthony Crosswalk is meticulous in everything he does. From what he eats, to the way he chews, to choosing a wife for his son.
I watch him cut his food into neat little cubes. As I chew my own food, I count the number of times he chews the food. I'm not surprised to count thirty two. Of course he chews his food thirty two times.
"Charlotte, how's business going?" My father snaps me out of my counting.
"Business is going great, father." I put some roasted carrots into my mouth, hoping he doesn't berate me.
"She doesn't want my diamond business, Anthony. Can you believe that? My billion dollar business."
"Charles..." My mother tries to stop him.
"No, Elise. She has everything handed to her on a silver plate, and yet she just doesn't want it. She goes and opens a boutique, something that's only good as a hobby."
I put some mashed potatoes in my mouth and find it hard to swallow. Well, there goes my appetite. I sip some water and remove the handkerchief from my collar, wiping my mouth with it.
"Well, I've never had that problem with Sebastian. He was eager to take over the company from day one. Sometimes, they rebel just for the fun of it. For attention."
A spark of anger shoots down my spine, before I snuff it out. How can a man who doesn't understand his own son understand a complete stranger?
I stay silent. As I always do. My mother looks at me with the same sympathy in her eyes as she always does. My father levels me with a hard look, as usual. The only new addition here is Anthony Crosswalk. Who looks at me like I'm way beneath him. But, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what he thinks about me, because it's not him I'm marrying, it's his son, who, from what I've seen, does not like his father.
"Where's Warren?" I ask my mother, referring to the boy who used to landscape our garden, AKA my childhood crush.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Warren doesn't work here anymore. Do you know Accelerate?"
"Those gyms?"
"Yes dear. Well he's the one who owns them."
I gasp. "Seriously?"
She smiles at me and nods. She'd found out about my crush in its early stages. God knows how.
"He used to be our landscaper." My father fills in the blanks for Anthony.
"How does he concern you?" Anthony asks me and I'm stupefied by his audacity.
"He's my friend."
When it's time for the Apple Pie, I know I don't want a piece, so I excuse myself from the table and go inside, up to my old room.
Everything is still the same. It looked uninhabited before and it looks uninhabited now.
Gold and white accents, with a queen sized bed on a raised platform in the center of the room. Lustrous gold curtains hang in front of the windows. Often, the room made me sick. The gold was too much for my eyes. I'd often change rooms when I was a kid, to one with purple accents instead.
Looking at the room still makes me feel sick, so I go to the purple room, which feels like me. There's even a fireplace in this room. It was one of my favorite things about it.
The mantel is still lined with my knick-knacks. The night dresser still has my floating moon lamp and my mini Big Ben clock. I would have expected my father to throw all this out, but perhaps he hasn't even been here to notice.
I toss myself on the bed, reveling in the amazing feel and close my eyes.
I might have fallen asleep because when I open my eyes, it's thirty minutes later. I get up and go into the attached bathroom to wash my face. I dry it with one of the hand towels and go downstairs to find everyone in the family room.
"Where have you been dear?" My mom asks me.
"Just took a little nap. What did I miss?"
"Nothing yet. We're just about to discuss the dates."
The thought makes me go pale. I always knew my father would arrange my marriage to someone of his choice. Perhaps, that's the reason why I've never bothered giving any importance to my love life. Still, it's intimidating to marry a complete stranger.
"We'll hold the engagement next week. The wedding will be within the next two months."
The words make me queasy and I fall into a loveseat.
"No. No. No." I keep chanting. My nerves are all over the place and my stomach wants to turn in itself.
Everyone looks at me strangely. Me! When they're the ones who have gone completely insane.
Anthony crosses his arms over his chest.
"I don't see a problem here."
"I can't plan a wedding in two months."
"You don't need to. All you have to do is pick out a dress. I'll take care of the rest."
"But, I'm not ready." I say this on a whisper.
"For what?" He asks me.
"To get married to Sebastian."
"What is it that scares you so much?"
I think about it.
"For sharing my life with him."
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. How is it so different from living by yourself? The only difference being, you'll have company. You'll even love our house. You can go to your boutique as you wish. We even have a cook, Julia who prepares all the meals. I'm not even home most of the time, so you won't have to worry about that. If you have any problem, you can always tell me or Sebastian. We can even get you your own driver."
I digest all his words and surprisingly, they make me feel much better. Everything he said sounds appealing, and Anthony Crosswalk seems like a man who keeps his word.
I nod, even though I'm internally searching for any holes in his words. It sounds easy enough, but I'm still a little nervous.
"Now that that's settled, I'll have to get going now. Charlotte, will you be joining me?"
"Yes. I'll be right back."
I change into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and say my goodbyes to my parents.
Anthony:"I do not want a wedding ceremony. Forcing a woman upon me wasn't enough for you? Putting my signature on the papers is the most I can do. The only wedding I ever wanted was with Adeline, and you so selfishly robbed me of that. Only Adeline will ever be my bride. So, if you think I'd even attend my own wedding, you're poorly mistaken, father dearest."It takes all my effort to push down my anger. What the fuck is that bitch Adeline doing to him? "Crosswalk Industries and Daymond Diamonds. Both of them Fortune 500 companies. You expect us not to throw a grand wedding? That's what your future wife does for a living, mind you""I don't give a shit about her, least of all, about what she does. You can throw the biggest wedding ceremony you want.""Thank y-""But the groom won't be attending." He finishes with a smirk and leaves. As soon as he closes the door to my office cabin, I launch a dart. Bulls eye. I continue to throw more darts till I've expelled all my anger. Just the
The engagement party is way sooner than I expected. It does make me nervous, but Anthony's words keep replaying in my head and to some extent, they still reassure me. The engagement is going to be held at their house and Anthony told me he would send a driver, but I declined. Franco can drop me off. It's quite odd that Sebastian has not even spoken to me yet. It may become problematic in the future. A shriek causes my spine to snap up straight. I'm immediately held in a chokehold. "You look so fuckable right now."I laugh and turn to hug Fiona. "Thank you."The glittery gold bodycon dress attracted my attention as soon as I saw it through the display window. I knew I had to have it, so I bought it. The fuckable comment is probably because of the slit that starts at my thigh, extending all the way to my ankle. I look into the mirror and weave some golden flowers into my French twist. I put in some chandelier shaped earrings, clasp a gold chain around my neck and turn to look at
Sebastian:She doesn't hold a candle to Adeline. She's ugly. Her face is ugly. Her shoes are ugly, and her style is ugly. She gives me a smile, but I ignore it. I can be civil to the parents, but to her? All cards are off the table when it comes to her. She's the wall standing between me and my Addy. A wall I'll go through any lengths to destroy. My father goes onto the makeshift podium to deliver a small speech, which I tune out because I'm focused on Charlotte Daymond, thinking of all the ways I can make her miserable.She must sense some malice in me, because she looks at me again, but this time she holds my stare. A nudge to my elbow brings me face to face with my father. His speech was over quick. He hands me a ring box and gives the other to the Daymond bitch. I open the box and see a simple gold band encrusted in small diamonds. I bet he picked out the rings himself. He seems more invested in this sham of a marriage than the groom himself. Why can't he marry her instead? The
The 26th arrives sooner than I expected. So here I am, in the courthouse, in a white lace dress, all alone, rocking back and forth on my heels, tossing my bouquet from one hand to the other. "Why aren't they here yet?" Fiona whispers to me. I shrug. "I swear if they ditched you, we're getting on the next flight to Vegas."I hold a finger up. "I do not object to that decision. At all.""Are you sure the date is today?" The official asks me after one hour, not including the 40 minutes I had waited before that. "Yes, I'm sure." He looks skeptical, but doesn't question me further. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Come on Char, we're going." I grin at her, despite the weight in my chest. I don't know why my heart feels so heavy, I should be happy that I'm not getting married. Maybe it's just the feeling of not being enough weighing me down. I throw my bouquet in a nearby trashcan outside the courthouse and loosen my hair from its updo. "That's right girl. Get ready to get wild in Ve
My favorite part of Casa de Crosswalk is the abundance of palm trees. We all get out at the same time and I marvel at the black rose bushes once again. The black SUV goes into the right garage and I ask Sebastian, "Which garage is yours? Right or left?"There's a long pause before he answers."Left." It's grumbled so low that I almost hadn't heard it. Of course the SUV belongs to Anthony. I stand in the foyer and take in my surroundings. To my right is a wide marble staircase which leads to the second floor and to my left, two wide archways lead into the hall. Sebastian just storms up the stairs, leaving me and Anthony to stare at his retreating form. "You'll be sharing the same room as him. As you are, after all, husband and wife now."I clear my throat and nod at him. I expect him to leave as well, but he looks like he wants to say something. After a beat of hesitation, he looks straight into my eyes with his hazel ones. "If Sebastian gives you trouble...you can tell me."I d
I carefully tiptoe down the stairs, hoping no one is awake at this time of night. The loveseat in the bedroom is not so comfortable to say the least. Sebastian thought I would want the bed and was in a sour mood, but I told him I'd take the couch. But, even with that, he had a problem. "You're just saying that on purpose.""Saying what on purpose?""That you'll sleep on the couch.""I don't understand.""You'll just nag about it to my father tomorrow and then what's he going to do? He's going to go on and on about how I should be a better man...because of you."The man child finally relented after thirty minutes of placating him. I blow out a breath as I descend the last stair. Talk about him not being immature. I silently pray no one sees me like this. I could be practically naked with what I'm wearing. The pink lace slip dress falls to my knees and leaves little to the imagination. There's only one person responsible for this and it's Fiona. She replaced my comfy pajamas with the
I immediately fall in love with the ambience of the 25th floor. Dark wood flooring, cream colored walls and soft golden lighting. It's rather romantic in my opinion. But, the word romance and my father in law should be nowhere near each other. There's a huge oak desk right in front of the elevator, and it seems as if no one is there. But, as soon as I step out of the elevator, an older lady with purple framed glasses looks at me questioningly. "May I help you?""Yes, I came to give breakfast to Mr. Crosswalk."She raises an eyebrow at me. "Do you have an appointment? Because you don't look like a delivery girl." She narrows her eyes at me and gives me a once over. My cheeks heat in response. "Anthony is my father in law.""Ah, so you're Sebastian's wife.""Yes.""Hmm...maybe you're not keeping him happy enough."My eyes widen in anger. How dare she? "I don't see how that's any of your business."She huffs and points to a room. I observe the cream leather chairs to the far right a
When I enter into my room, I see Sebastian is still awake, typing away on his laptop. He glances up at me. "I didn't want to call you. I had to do it because my father just wouldn't quit asking me why I wasn't calling my wife. Fuck, I'll never see you as my wife. You're just an obstacle to me. Anyways, I don't care how late you are or what you even do. You can be fucking someone else for all I care. Just don't let your schedule disrupt mine. Am I clear?""Crystal." His eyes narrow on me, but my eyes drift to the box on the couch. Ah, those must be the pyjamas that I ordered this morning. I don't see any scissors anywhere so I take out the switchblade I always keep in my pocket and rip open the tape. I take all the clothes out and drop the box on the floor. I check whether they're the ones I ordered and remove them from their packaging one by one, putting them up in the closet. I take a pair of loose pants and a shirt with me to the bathroom and take a shower. I don't prefer to we