Spaces in Between

Chapter Two: Adrianna

“You’re not even the tiniest bit excited?” Lily asked once I finally parked the car. We drove in silence the entire way from Manhattan to the Hamptons.

I glanced at my parents’ house, the huge white house sending back nostalgic memories from my childhood, “I’m meeting my fiancé, who happens to be a guy that I don’t even know. How can I be excited?”

“But he’s gorgeous!” Lily whined while trying to fix her make-up. She had fallen asleep in the entire car ride since she got in late last night and had to rush into a meeting this morning, even when it was Sunday, “He’s the James Parker. You have to consider yourself lucky.”

“A gorgeous face and a sexy body don’t guarantee that he won’t be a jerk.”

“And giving you thousands of compliments and being sweet to you yet ultimately leaving you don’t guarantee that he’s still the man of your dreams,” Lily deadpanned before getting out of my car. I groaned and hit my head on the steering wheel. I knew in my head that they were probably right but my heart still believes that Adam’s coming back. And I’m still pissed at Dad for having to sell me off to someone who I don’t even know. He might be a r****t or psychotic for Pete’s sake. And even if Dad promised that he’s not, I refused to believe it.

I followed Lily who just casually entered our house and called out that we have arrived. Since we were both born New Yorkers who went to New Haven for college, every time we went home, we had learned to grow accustomed in each other’s families. The moment I was in the living room, Lily was casually lounging on our sofa, leaning onto my twin and casually flirting with him.

I rolled my eyes. It was a normal sight. Justin was, still is, a pretty boy. He was fairly popular in high school and with the ladies. Lily and he were on and off back then, her being the head cheerleader and miss popular and Justin being the quarterback. They were a match made in stereotypical heaven. But after graduation, Lily was going to New Haven and Justin was staying in New York.

Why you may ask, did I mention that Lily and I weren’t besties back in high school? As I said, she was queen bee and I refused to be a part of the stereotypical drama they held every day.

“After all these years, you two flirting still gets on my nerves,” I mumbled before plopping in between the two of them.

“Oh, sweetie, you don’t want us making out now, do you?” Lily asked sweetly. I made a gagging sound and threw a throw pillow at her while she snorted.

Justin chuckled, “As much as Lily is a great kisser, I’m kind of tied up with Jen right now. And I have to pick her up.”

He gave me a kiss on the cheek before waving at Lily and heading out but not before my best friend called out, “Say hello to Steven for me!”

When Justin left, I gave Lily a look. She shrugged and stood up, heading to the kitchen no doubt going to fetch herself a glass of wine. I trudged to my room, completely leaving Lily alone to fend for herself. The Parkers would be arriving in half an hour, and I needed to pep myself to the big reveal. Which would mean James Parker.

“Sis!”

The room of my door opened and revealed my little brother. He looked completely sweaty and disgusting, “Drew, you look like hell.”

He rolled his eyes and plopped himself on my bed, “Great greeting.”

I giggled and then pushed him hard enough for him to fall on the bed, “You stink. Go take a bath.”

He sniffed himself and smirked at me, “That’s the stench of rock and roll.”

I wrinkled my nose and moved away from him. He laughed and then stalked off to his room. Andrew was the youngest among us. He was only 22 whereas Justin and I will be 27 in eight months. But even if he was the youngest member of the family, he was never treated as such. I was the one treated like the baby. And now I was the one who was going to be sold to a complete stranger.

Ugh.

I closed my eyes for a moment, wanting just 90 seconds of peace. But then someone came barging in my room again and the shrill voice made me already know who it was, “He’s here! And he’s perfect!”

Lily looked like she would start jumping on my bed. I sat up and stared at her. She was blonde bombshell and I wouldn’t be surprised if James ended up liking her. Actually, that was one of the reasons why I didn’t hesitate on letting her come with me. I belonged to Adam and Lily was hell-bent on finding her Mr. Right and well, it might be James.

“Let’s go!” Lily said enthusiastically, “And why didn’t I ever realize that Andrew is such a hottie now.”

I glared at her, “It’s bad enough that you flirt with Justin every time you’re here when Jen’s not around and that you used to hit on Nick when he wasn’t married but now you’re taking a liking on Andrew? What the hell is wrong with you, woman?”

She shrugged and sighed, “Well, excuse me for being enthusiastic in the male specimen but I haven’t been in a relationship since graduate school!”

“You could’ve been a fashion designer, Lil, or an actress but you chose to be a lawyer,” I reminded her.

She huffed, “Stupid brain for being so damn reasonable and dang smart.”

I laughed at the irony of her statement and we made our way to the living room. Andrew was already there, decked in pale blue chinos and a dark blue button-down shirt. He looked freshly showered; I could still smell his aftershave. There was no trace of a rocker in his appearance and although our father supported his music, we all knew that he would rather have him managing one of our business.

“You ready for this?” Mom asked, moving me to the side.

“Even if I’m not, I don’t have a choice,” I said sighing.

She smiled apologetically and kissed me lightly on the cheek, “He’s a wonderful young man, Aide, I’ve met him before. You’ll like him. You know in your heart that your father would never sell you off or agree to this if he didn’t know that James is a good guy. He always has your best interest at heart.”

Keeping my mouth shut, I grudgingly followed as she made her way over to Dad who was animatedly talking to Will Parker. I could still recognize him. A handsome face like his was hard to forget. His wife was standing next to him and she looked so lovely. Her caramel colored hair was cascading down her shoulders and her blue eyes were friendly.

“I’m sure you remember Adrianna, Will, Liz,” Dad said smiling brightly, “Adrianna, the Parkers.”

“Yea, I still remember them from the White Party, Dad,” I said politely and shook Will’s hand and gave Liz a kiss, “It’s nice seeing you guys again.”

“And it’s lovely to see you,” Liz stated, “We’re glad that you agreed to be engaged with our son. His father just can’t seem to shut his mouth up. And thank you for helping us.”

“James, son, where are you?” Will called out.

And my eyes zeroed in a gorgeous male specimen.

Gorgeous would actually be an understatement.

His blonde-brown hair was styled neatly, brushed up and not messy like the trend. His jaw looked strong; his face looked like he was sculpted into perfection. He was gorgeous, truly. And when he looked at me with his blue eyes that were the same color as the ocean, I swear, if I wasn’t in love with someone else I would’ve fainted.

“James,” he said to me, extending his hand, “I’m sorry for putting you into a compromising position.”

Beside me, Lily squealed at his choice of words and I narrowed my eyes at her before turning back to him and shaking his hand, “Adrianna Stewart. And it’s not like I have much of a choice.”

There was a moment of silence as his blue eyes regarded me coolly. I could’ve squirmed under his melting gaze but my brothers suddenly appeared, both with their significant others and I was tackled by my 3-year-old niece, Michelle. I grinned and squatted down to her level so she could properly hug me.

“I’ve missed you Chelly,” I said in a tiny voice, “You didn’t visit me as you promised.”

She pouted, her brown eyes wide with guilt, “I’m sorry Auntie Aide, but Daddy and Mommy were busy.”

Before I could go and chide Nick for not letting me have his daughter’s presence, I felt someone squat beside me. Michelle’s eyes widened and she moved closer to me, almost burying her face on the crook of my neck, “Who’s he?”

Beside me, James had a smile on his face. It was a smile that could melt any girl’s heart, “I’m James.”

Michelle looked at me, “He’s pretty. Is he your boyfriend? You always get the pretty boys, Auntie Aide.”

James chuckled and then carefully took Michelle from me and then stood up, with her in his arms, “I’m actually going to marry your Aunt, is that okay with you?”

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at me, “Like Mommy and Daddy? But I just met you.”

I raised my eyebrow and James looked at me. I shrugged, “Kid’s on my boat.”

“James, Aide, dinner!”

We looked at each other and then I led the way to the dining room. Everyone had their eyes on us when we entered. When I looked at Lily she had a smirk on her face that I just so desperately wanted to wipe away. I sat across from her as Michelle scampered to Andrea’s side. Mom told James to sit beside me which ended up as the two of us being the last ones on seated on the table, with Lily and Andrew across from us.

So much for this dinner being about the two us.

A few pleasantries were exchanged and then finally, Will cleared his throat, “Adrianna.”

I looked up at Will and tilted my head to the side slightly, indicating that he should continue with what he was going to say, “When your father called to tell me that he wanted to set you up on a date with my son, it was also around the time that I dropped to the press that my son was engaged. They were asking so many questions about my business, about my family, about James that it just came out.”

“You were supposed to just date,” Dad added softly, looking at me, “But when Will told me that, I thought maybe you could fake being his fiancé and maybe sometime in between you’ll fall in love and go through with an actual wedding.”

“And when the jokes about merging the companies came up, I broke down and told Collin what I was going through,” Will said with a sigh and I saw how defeated he looked, “I can’t lose the empire my father built. And I’m sorry that you have to go through with this but this is the only way that we can get out of the questions the press would throw, marriage was the easiest loophole.”

I closed my eyes. The truth was ringing behind his words and it was suffocating me. I was really going to marry someone I didn’t even know. I didn’t dare glance at James because I didn’t want to see him looking smug or triumphant because that would confirm my thoughts that he was a bad guy. Biting my lip and pushing my plate slightly away, I rose from my seat.

“May I be excused?” my voice didn’t even sound like mine, “I need some air.”

I quickly retreated outside, following the path at the backyard that led to the beach. I sat on a sand dune, images of my relationship with Adam flashing in my head. If I was to marry James and he comes back, he’ll be crushed to find out I married someone else. We had plans for a future already, plans that became my dreams.

“Hey.”

The deep baritone was unfamiliar so when I looked up, I was struck by the most bluish of eyes, “Hi.”

“Mind if I join you?”

He looked hopeful. His brown-blonde hair was almost a pale yellow due to the moon’s glow and his blue eyes were dark, almost unnoticeable, “They sent you?”

“I came on my own free will,” he said quietly and then sat beside me, “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

I sighed, “You say that when this is about bringing up your business.”

“I chose basketball because I decided to halt that part of my life for a while,” he said and I looked at him confused, “Right after college, I was supposed to manage the business but I refused. I didn’t like the stress that it brought. I wanted to learn it before I jumped on the wagon. I’m still learning right now, but my focus is on my team.”

“So you don’t have a choice on this too?”

He sighed, “It broke my father when I told him I didn’t want to take the business from him right after college, that I wanted to learn the works from the bottom to the top, that I chose basketball above all. Doing this is sort of an apology for disappointing him and making him wait.”

I looked away from him and to the dark ocean. I felt him shift beside me and then covered me with his jacket. I glanced at him, “Thanks.”

“I’m not just doing this for the business, you know,” he murmured, “I want to help you.”

I let out a humorless laugh, “I don’t need your pity.”

“This isn’t because of sympathy,” he said softly, “I lost my best friend because of a broken heart.”

I bit my lip and looked back at the ocean, somehow willing a boat to appear and Adam is the one on it, “He’s coming back.”

“Adrianna.”

“He’s coming back!” I said loudly, wanting him to believe me, “And if we’re married by then, I’ll choose him. I’ll always choose him.”

“Adrianna, he left you.”

“You don’t even know what happened!” I said, my voice raising, “So don’t you dare comment on something that you have no idea about!”

“All broken hearts heal if you let it,” he said after a while, allowing me to calm down before he spoke, “I would explain to you about tissue repair but it’ll ruin the moment.”

I managed to crack a smile and looked at him under my lashes, “It kind of already did.”

He smiled, “Just let it, Adrianna. I’ll help you through it.”