003: Decisions

IRIS

With a scowl, I shifted on the barstool and resumed contemplating my drink. Was I on the tenth or twelfth glass now? I couldn't remember. I didn't care either. I just wanted to get drunk enough to forget why I had come here in the first place. I threw back my head, gulped the drink, shuddered as it hit the spot and poured another.

I stared right into the depths of the amber liquid in my glass and wished that I could somehow drown myself in it. Thoughts of ending it have been creeping up on me lately. Oblivion had to be better than this gut-wrenching pain I had to live with daily, right?

"Hi, baby. Can I buy you a drink?" said a voice beside me.

I squinted at the stranger as I tried to bring him into focus. He was tall, dark and wearing a peaked cap that obscured most of his features.

"No thanks," I said.

He sat beside me and draped his arms around the back of my chair.

"Okay then. So what's a pretty woman like you doing alone at a club?"

I shrugged. "I'm just having a night out."

"By yourself," he said.

"Mmmm." I felt his fingers brush against my shoulder.

"You have such beautiful hair," he murmured.

He leaned in close, too close. I caught a whiff of whiskey and stale cigarettes. Unconsciously, I shrank back. Alarm bells began blaring in my head. The man was seriously creeping me out. I tried to get to my feet. The room spun, and I sat down heavily. I took a deep breath and tried again.

"Where are you going?" he asked sharply.

"I- I need to use the restroom," I said.

"You and I are just getting to know each other, so sit your ass down," he snapped.

When I tried to walk past him anyway, he grabbed my arm.

"Let go," I squeaked.

"You heard the lady. Take your paws off her," said a new voice.

The newcomer had come to stand beside me without me noticing. He was staring at the first man who was sizing him up.

"Run along, buster," said the first man. "Nothing going on here concerns you."

"It becomes my concern when I see a creep holding on to a woman against her will."

The first man shot to his feet.

"Are you calling me a creep?" he hissed from between his teeth.

The second man stepped forward until he and the other were nose to nose.

"What if I am?" he said in a voice as cold as ice.

The first man hesitated, swore softly and walked away, but not before giving him the finger. The second man muttered something about breaking fingers, then turned to me.

"Are you okay?" he said.

I didn't realise how sheer willpower kept me on my feet until he asked that question. I swayed and almost fell. He grabbed me and gently lowered me onto the stool.

"Sorry," I said. "Tipsy." He grunted and sat down on the chair the other had just vacated. "Hey. Thanks for saving me. That other guy..."

He was facing me now for the first time, but under the coloured revolving lights of the club, it was hard to make out his features. My alcohol-clouded eyes weren't also helping matters. I just got the impression that he was blonde and built around the lines of perfection. The man glanced at the empty bottles in front of me. I flushed a little at the surprise I read on his face. I felt very ashamed and suddenly felt the need to explain myself to this man.,

"It's not what you think," I blurted out.

"Ah. And how do you know what I'm thinking?" he asked in his deep voice that began to do things to me.

"Saw you-" I hiccoughed. "Staring at the bottles."

A smile touched his lips. I had the almost ungovernable urge to trace a finger around those lips to get their exact shape. Impatiently, I swiped at my eyes, but no matter how much I squinted, his face still remained mostly blurry.

"I was asking myself why you had to drink so much. Yes."

"I'm not a drunk. I caught my in bed with my husband." I paused, replayed what I had said in my head and giggled. "Damn! I guess I'm more drunk than I thought."

"Yeah, but I understood you. He cheated?"

I nodded. "He did, with my stepsister. He threw me out of the house and... divorced me."

"Why did-" he began.

He took the glass of alcohol; I wasn't aware that I was raised to my lips, away from me. In doing so, he leaned real close, and I got a noseful of his perfume, something woodsy and fresh.

"So why did you-"

"You smell... divine," I said.

"Thank you, but-"

"I don't want to talk about my problems now." I pouted, then smiled. "So what's a cute guy like you doing alone in a club with no girlfriend."

Somehow, my hand had rested on his thigh. I felt no urge to remove it even though the man was staring at it with a fixed intensity. The muscles under his thigh were very tense.

"No girlfriend," he said in a strangled voice.

"Oh."

Unconsciously, I moved my hand up his thigh. I heard his sudden, sharp intake of breath. He held my hand and, to my surprise, pushed it further up. He leaned close again until our foreheads were almost touching. Blue. Were his eyes blue?

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"Yes."

In a flash, he had gotten to his feet. I had trouble getting out of mine, but with his hand on my waist, I succeeded in making it out the door and up the street to a hotel around the corner. All I could think of was tracing his lips. I proceeded to do that with my tongue the moment the door of the hotel room shut behind us.

The man clasped me in his arms and kissed me long and hard until I felt my toes curl with pleasure. As he pulled me to the bed, I could subconsciously feel I wasn't doing the right thing, but I didn't care. I wanted to feel something other than pain and to silence the raging thoughts in my head.

*******************

A phone rang somewhere in the room. I turned, opened my eyes, and nearly had a heart attack when I saw a man sitting up in bed and staring right at me. I looked down at myself, the realisation that I was naked hitting me like a train, and I almost screamed.

For a moment, I wondered what I was doing in a strange man's bed; then, I slowly remembered the events of last night. Fuck! I wrapped myself in the bedsheets and shrank back.

"Hello," he said quietly.

I sat up slowly and clutched the sheets around my naked breasts. How could I get him out of the room so I could get dressed and run away? But I was distracted for a long moment by my first honest look at his face. With blonde tousled hair and piercing blue eyes set in a perfect face, he looked... breathtaking. A phone, probably his, buzzed, and I regained my senses. Embarrassingly, I realized I didn't even know his name.

"Umm. About last night... I don't generally behave like that-"

"Marry me, Iris," he said quietly.

I nearly fell out of the bed in shock, which soon gave way to fear. Was he some sort of psycho after all? And how the hell did he know my name? I surreptitiously glanced around the room for a weapon I could use to defend myself if he chose to attack. It was too bad that I would have to pass him on my way to the door.

"I'm not crazy, I promise," he said like he was reading my mind.

"How did you know my name and- and-"

"Why did I ask you, a stranger, to marry me? Sit down, and I'll explain."

I hadn't even noticed that I was on my feet already, but there was no way I would sit back down until he made this make sense. I told him so.

"Fine," he said. "I suppose I was too... abrupt. It's just that I like the direct approach. I find it saves time. So you had a text message this morning, and I saw your phone's lock-screen wallpaper. It was of you and Ollie, my cousin. I’m Carter, his elder and only cousin.”

"Your- your cousin?"

"Yes. It wasn't hard for me to piece everything together. I know he had gotten married to a woman called Iris, then cheated and eventually divorced her. This tallied with what you told me last night."

"Oh. But why-"

"Did I ask you to marry me? Because my grandmother is threatening to leave everything to Ollie if I don't get a wife in less than a month. Now, I can't have that. Also, think about what marrying me would entail. You'll have lots and lots of spending money, and you'll be getting back at Ollie, who loathes me, by the way. When he sees I'm married to his ex-wife, he'll lose it, trust me. And after our contract ends, you'll receive fifty million dollars as compensation. So, are you in? Will you marry me? I will get my lawyer to draw up a contract between us immediately.”

“I still love my husband,” I admitted. “I can't just marry you after a day of divorce. What if he changes his mind?”

“Really?” he corked an eyebrow. “He is marrying your step-sister to please my grandmother and get the company. He won't change his mind about the divorce. I'm sorry, but he doesn't love you like you think.”

“And what would your grandmother think of me? One of her grandsons just divorced me, and the other wants to marry me. Do you think your plan will work?”

“The only plan I have is to get married to someone. I can help you get revenge on Ollie and your step-sister. They've hurt you, and they deserve to be punished.”

As he continued to speak, his words faded behind my thoughts. I realized Ollie had considered me useless, so he chose to marry Charlotte. He didn't love me at all, and there was no use waiting for him to change his mind. That would only make me stupid. Marrying Carter, on the other hand, was a power move. I could get Ollie to regret leaving me and fifty million dollars at the end of the day. But how could I marry my ex-husband’s cousin?

“How long will this marriage last?” I finally asked.

He shrugged. “As long as it takes to convince my grandmother that I deserve the company. Within the time frame, you'll be properly catered for.”

I sighed and went over my options for the last time.

"I'm in," I said firmly. “I’ll marry you.”