An Arranged Forever

Episode Two

Samantha’s POV

On hearing that he wanted to set me up with his grandson, I didn’t know whether I should be happy or sad. I thought he wanted me for himself and the thought that it wasn’t him made me happy. For the sad part, I knew I couldn’t be with his grandson. I had never seen his grandson and after I finished up with Nicholas, I would be his wife.

“Well, that’s cool,” I smiled. I saw him gazing at me more intently.

“You claimed it’s a cool idea but you don’t seem to mean it. I don’t see that look of excitement,” Andrew said out of worry. “By any means, are you married?”

“No,” I replied in a rush. “There’s no ring on my finger.”

“Then, could it be a serious boyfriend?” Andrew pursued the topic.

“I have no boyfriend,” I replied shortly.

“Then what’s the matter? Could it be that you feel like my grandson won’t be good for you?” Andrew asked and wrapped it up with a smile. “You see, my grandson is very handsome and heavily built just the way you girls like. He has devoted a considerable amount of time to the gym.”

“That’s nice!” I exclaimed.

“And he isn’t a playboy either,” Andrew replied. “He will love and devote himself to…”

“Samantha!” my father called. I stood up instantly and turned to see him. My father walked up to Andrew with a big smile on his face.

“He is your father,” Andrew guessed.

“Yes, I am,” my father replied hurriedly. He was no one to miss the chance to pitch himself. “I am Jenkins Hathaway, CEO of Bloom Holdings. I believe I know you, sir. I think I saw you delivering a speech in the business leaders’ conference held in Paris last year.”

“Oh yeah, you know him,” Andrew smiled. “I was talking to your daughter since I sensed she has quite a beautiful soul.”

“She is not on the market. Samantha is getting engaged soon,” my father replied almost immediately. I could see Andrew’s face change to a frown. He seemed unhappy about this. Seeing this, I confirmed he had been serious with the whole thing so far.

“Oh, but she claimed to have no boyfriend. Is it…” Andrew was saying before he was cut short by another businessman. I knew Andrew wanted to ask if it was an arranged marriage. Using the momentum, my father excused himself from Andrew’s presence, leaving him to chat with the other businessman. I went along with my father as well.

“Is he ready to receive me?” I asked soberly.

“I just confirmed that from his secretary,” my father replied quietly.

“What way was the private lounge? I was going to meet with him there, right?” I asked as I continued walking. Just then, I noticed my father had stopped. I took a few steps back and looked into his eyes. My sixth sense told me something was wrong.

“I think there might be some glitches!” my father told me consciously. “He will see you, but not in private. We need to meet with him in that corner. It is near the bar for premium services. He is sitting on the cushion seat over there. He is alone.”

“Alone!” I exclaimed, angry at how my father was packaging this s**t. “Look there, dad. That place is not a blind spot. Almost everyone in this hall would be able to see us from there. I still have an iota of shame left.”

“It will be fine, dear,” my dad said again. This time, I failed to reply to him. I glanced at him and almost hissed. This was annoying. “There is nothing much to do. Follow the plan and it’ll all be fine. He said we had ten minutes. I will be there with you as well.”

This was another surprise. I turned to my father but he seemed not to understand what was happening. He didn’t look brainwashed but he was acting the exact way. I was going to make him understand.

“You are going to watch me seduce a man and get him to marry me,” I went slowly. My dad closed his eyes for a second and heaved a sigh. I knew I wasn’t being hard on him. I was simply stating the facts.

“Yes, I am going to do that!” my dad replied without shame. “If that much is what is needed to revive my company, I will gladly do it. Just do your thing without caring about my presence. I will be fine.”

“But it’s not about you!” I shouted. The people near us gazed at us now. We were getting way more attention than I expected.

“Please, be careful. This is an event for international business people. Don’t be a noisemaker or the guards would drag you out,” my father reminded me. I took a deep breath with a determination not to shout no matter how pissed off I got.

“I am worrying because of myself, dad,” I told him firmly. “You have sold your soul to the devil already. All you care about is your business and not me.”

“But it’s going to be yours later,” my father replied hurriedly.

“Right, but I can survive without your company,” I replied quickly. “Sell the company for fifty million dollars and leave Ireland. Start up a business in a flourishing city and trust me, you’ll be back to this stage.”

“How long will that take?” my father asked blankly. “I built that company from scratch with my personal funds. It became one that could boast of being worth six hundred million dollars and suddenly, someone came up to destroy it all. I need to sort this out and it’s for you. I taught you so much about business but it seems you have trouble thinking. The shareholders hold fifty percent of the company. I will need over three hundred million dollars to settle them. Will fifty million dollars do the work needed? Do the arithmetic, child.”

I could still remember all of this. I had to accept the fact that my father was right.

“Lead the way, dad,” I told him. There was no other way. He walked towards me and held my shoulders.

“Listen up, Samantha,” he started. “I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt at all. Just do this and get married to him and in three months, I will get you out. I will settle the company properly and we will leave Ireland. I promise you, Samantha.”

Right after, he led the way. I was so nervous but I managed to compose myself. I followed my dad until we got to the said place. Nicholas had two bodyguards out of sight but I had such sharp eyes that I picked them out. My dad took the lead and walked towards me.

“You look handsome, as always!” my dad exclaimed and smiled at Nicholas. The latter looked at my father like he was thrash and smirked.

“My secretary told me that you’ve been dying to see me. You have sent one thousand and twenty one mails in a week,” Nicholas said pridefully.

“One hundred and twenty one, Ni-” my father stopped talking.

“I am not the Nicholas of old,” he told my father and picked up a piece of chicken. “You should address me as ‘sir’ from this moment onwards. I honor honorifics. You are inferior to me.”

“Yes, sir,” my dad replied urgently and winked at me.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them. For the first time in my life, I was going to seduce a man. I walked towards Nicholas but before I could get close. He stopped me with a hand gesture.

“Why are you getting close all of a sudden? I didn’t remember giving the instruction,” Nicholas told me shortly.

“Yes, sir, but I was going to come closer and-” I could say no more now. My heart was beating so hard at this point that I thought I would faint.

“You want to marry me?” Nicholas asked with a smirk on his face.

“Yes, sir,” my dad replied quickly. “My daughter has been…”

“Shh!” Nicholas muttered. “A lot of people came already but I was rejected already. Now that I look at it, your daughter looks so sexy, Jenkins.”

My father nodded. He must know how foolish he looked but he endured anyway.

“I love a submissive woman,” Nicholas told me carefully.

“I will be the most submissive woman in the world!” I replied confidently.

“Really?” Nicholas smiled naughtily. Now, he pointed at his shoes. “My shoes look dusty. How about you clean them for me?”

“Oh, yeah!” I replied hurriedly. I removed my handkerchief and walked towards him but he stopped me halfway.

“No, with your tongue,” Nicholas smiled. “Clean the shoes with your tongue and I might think of marrying you.”

I almost burst out in annoyance. I looked at my dad but he was pleading with me with his eyes to do Nicholas’s bidding.

“Come and look at my loyal dog, guests!” Nicholas shouted. “She is going to clean my shoes with her tongue!”