Beauties and their Besharams

10. Where it all began

I never knew what it felt like to be around a guy and I never had the nerve to fall in love. But lying beside Noah Martin, thinking about the feeling that I had and failing to recognize it was messing up my mind. I was more or less concerned about the future ahead of us but if I considered this moment as the start, I knew it was promising enough to be beautiful. It wasn't just me confused about our relation, or maybe it was just me. Noah seemed too sorted, even my sudden return had not caused him to panic, rather he acted as if he was prepared for it for a long time.

I turned to face him while he rested peacefully closing his eyes. He looked like a little baby free of all the worries. How was I suppose to keep my eyes off him anyway?

"Stop staring. Else your luggage will be shifted directly to this room today itself." He warned calmly.

How can someone be so calm while threatening? I bit my lips getting up, his gaze followed me until I walked to the washroom to get freshen up. I washed my face with hot water to melt down the weird tensions formed up in my muscles due to the stunt that Noah had just pulled on me and pulling my hair into a tight bun walked out.

It was shocking to see him behave that way. I was more or less expecting him to be angry, but he was being too polite. Why was I treated differently from the others?

By now, he was gone or at least I thought so. I sighed and took a deep breath only to be mesmerized by the sweet aroma of rain coming from my left. I reflected it as my head swirled and my lips spread themselves from ear to ear, letting out the widest smile possible.

There it was, a picture of the day that brought me here. He had a picture of our wedding day in his room. He really did keep it! But why? 

I glared at the picture, me in the diamond white gown, holding on to his chest while gazing at my face intensely. I must appreciate the photographer who was able to hide the cold war we had been practicing all through the wedding.

The picture had my left hand leaning on Noah's chest right beside my head, while it didn't capture the arm wrestling I had been doing with my right hand against his left hand. The gaze was not from love or compassion, but from pain, because I was using all my long nails to hurt his skin— so that he would let me go— so that he would listen to me.

"Miael!" My mother's voice brought me out of my dreamland and I joined them for food. Noah was still missing and soon Liam sensed my restlessness.

"Brother has been summoned by our mighty dad. He'll not be seeing you off, I will." He said teasing me. I was taken aback. How could he just leave like that? And Uncle Martin? Why was he not at the family dinner? Even my father was MIA.

We all chatted for a while and luckily the topic of me moving into my In-laws house never came up. That was the only best that had happened all through the day.

"Pass me the meatballs," Liam asked Riri who was busy fishing on them.

Her fingers held a toothpick to carefully as she tried to pick one of the balls, it would easily drop before reaching her plate, "I'm busy." She hushed him away.

"You're just fooling around." Liam rolled his eyes, "why don't you just use a fork instead?"

"Because that's not fun." She replied still concentrating. "Besides, you have got a lot on your side as well."

"Fine, you asked for it!" Liam yelled slowly standing up from his seat, picked up a toothpick himself, almost leaned on the table, pulled up a meatball and lifting Riri's head with his hand forcefully fed her the meatball. "Now stop bothering me!"

All of us ignored them as the dear God had forgotten the art of making these two idiots settle peacefully.

"Liam Martin!" Riri wobbled trying to bite the entire meatball. "I'm going to kill you!"

And that is how we concluded our dinner while allowing the street cats to fight all night till Liam dropped us back home. I was glad nobody asked me to stay, not even Jade. He left soon after having dinner making me feel contended.

Back at our place I finally rested peacefully snuggling in the pillows of my bed, glaring at the beautiful picture of my wedding day. So, mum had put one in my room as well. This one was so much prettier. It was the first kiss!

All of a sudden I jolted out of the scene I was about to enter when Riri walked into my room, balancing her laptop in one hand while dealing with the door with the other, "Are you sleeping?"

"Not yet," I replied curling back into the bed.

"Good, because I have news for you both!" My ears alerted on hearing Mimi's voice while she stayed invisible. It had been a while for this affair as well.

"Mimi?" I looked behind Riri in confusion.

"I'm on a video call with her," Riri jumped placing her laptop on my bed.

"Oh, okay," I said snuggling into my pillows again.

"Guess what? I got myself into Merchant Navy!" Mimi exclaimed.

My eyes widened hearing her words as I jerked my spine sitting erect on the bed, "What?"

Is she crazy?  Why would she be happy about that?

Riri repeated my actions, "Are you insane?"

"I know right? Anyways, everything is done, I just need to get my no marriage certificate and I'm off to the Pacific Ocean." She sighed peacefully, clapping her hands in excitement.

Oh damn! What the hell has she done?

"You chose a company that has being unmarried as one of the eligibility criteria? If you pick it as a career, you'll have to remain unmarried for more than half of your life." I scolded her.

"I know, and I'm glad. I'll not have to deal with all those stupid relationship things. I don't want to be like you, married at 19." She said crinkling her nose. Well, she was right but...

"As much as I don't agree with Mimi, I can't contradict you on the fact that 19 is not the age to get married." Riri pouted rolling her eyes at me.

Yeah right!

"Seriously? We have better things to worry about now." I said standing up.

"No! You hated marriage the most among all the three of us. How did the wheel of relationships turn upside down for you? How did you end up marrying Noah?" Riri questioned holding my hand?

I thought over her words for a while strictly considering every single second of the struggle that I had gone through while failing miserably to come to any conclusion about how did it actually happen.

"How did you end up married at 19? C'mon sissy! Tell me!" Riri asked repeatedly. She wasn't at the wedding, her curiosity bomb was supposed to he exploded long back, yet she had been holding it quite well.

"It's not a long story. I met Noah 3 times before the marriage and it all started when I was backpacking around the valley of ten peaks..." I said sitting beside her, hugging my legs.

2 years back:

It was around the time of late fall, I was busy waiting for my crew to arrive. The breeze was all chilling and wet while the lazy sun was hiding behind his lovers. Most of the crew members were in couples and they sure were enjoying themselves. That was the first time it occurred to me that life without a partner could be happy but who knows if it's fulfilling or not? I had been traveling all my life and yet nowhere felt like home, not even the lap of my mother.

I tugged myself in my portable bedding and luckily, there was a good network on my phone. I wanted to talk to someone but being the old lady I was, I fought the urge until the news of the hour caught my mind. "Jackson Renaldi to lose his share of Linkton High!"

That news was like a morning alarm that just kept on repeating itself every five minutes even after I turned it away a hundred times until I abruptly ended my trip and rushed back home. Why was it that whenever I ran away from home, Dad would get caught in serious trouble to invite me back?

I knocked at the door and as I had expected mum unlocked after making sure it wasn't the police. The matter had gotten worse by then.

"When were you planning to tell me this?" I asked storming inside with the daily newspaper that reported my dad being arrested. So, as if the bankruptcy was not enough, now he was also sued by one of the Bennette boys.

Mom hesitated before hugging me and crying her eyes out. "I have no idea how did the situation get this worse. Your dad was doing just fine." She said between her sobs. I wiped her tears and decided to look into the matter myself.

"Explain everything," I asked. She drank a glass of water before finally speaking up.

"Your dad borrowed some money from Linkton High's credit before you were born. Ralph Bennette somehow managed to hold it till today and now that debt has got multiplied by 80%. We tried all the legal ways to cover it but the case went all blurry. Yesterday, Ralph removed your dad from his post, got him arrested and decided to auction our 20% share of the school. If he somehow ends up buying it, he is going to make your dad pay all the money again." Mom explained still crying. I felt a little sensation of fear run down my spine on realizing how terrible Ralph Bennette and his sons were. And I guess, it took me two days to reach home, I had asked Pete to help me solve this crisis without realizing he was actually one of the people involved in the plotting of my family's downfall. I gave all the information that he asked, my father's origin, our family hierarchy, Grand father's business, his will everything. I wasn't a fool, I was just scared and I trusted Pete. So, I became a fool after he broke my trust. After he betrayed me.

"What did Martin uncle say?" I asked impatiently. Uncle Martin was our last hope and I knew he wouldn't let us down, no matter what.

"He wants to help your dad but it's not that simple. Even if Uncle Martin buys the share, he is allowed to buy only 10% because of the equal share partnership contract between him and Ralph Bennette. Anyhow both of them will end up with 50%-50%. Bennette will never let your father go and would never give up on the loan even though Martin tries his best." Mom sighed putting her head down on the table.

"But if somehow we prove that Martin's and Renaldi's family are related and that Renaldi's are willing to give their share to the Martin's then there's hope. Then Uncle Martin will have 60% ownership and will be superior. He'll also be able to free our loan and get Dad out of jail." Mimin said walking down the stairs. She looked paler than I had left her. Her crimson hair was all messed up while her caramel eyes looked wasted.

"And so he proposed a marriage?" I asked laughing faintly. I had guessed it earlier. Why was my life no less than a Korean Drama?

"Yes, he proposed marriage and I agreed to marry his eldest son," Mimin said proudly faking a smile.

"Marrying the elder brother of your archnemesis to find a chance and murder him silently, I love your plan, dear twin." I teased her. She really was brave to think I would let her do that.

"I'm serious Miael. Do you see any other option?" She asked.

"Yes, and it involves hierarchy. I'm the eldest and I prefer to be married first." I offered.

"It's not that easy. You're a free soul and I don't want you to waste your life in such stupid decisions. Besides, I have already agreed to marry Noah." She sighed.

"Noah is mine, so back off!" I declared dialing Martin Uncle's number.

"Hello?" He answered in his cold, deep and non-apologetically dense voice.

"Martin uncle, this is Miael. I just returned from my trip and found out about the stupid promise my little sister made to you. Don't worry, I'll still keep it. I'll be the one to marry your son. Everything will go as it was decided except for the bride. I hope you don't mind but I can't let my sister make this mistake. Noah is mine." I stated before hanging up the phone.

I was in the junior year of my graduation and I had never dared to attend any classes ever. My attendance was always dealt with by my dad while my exams were never a headache too. But since the tables had turned now, I had to begin attending school too. It wasn't a very exciting thing because I preferred exploring and living freely more, attending a school, where I had almost grown up was more like a headache. I'll have to reunite with friends I had not been in contact with for a while, I would have to begin to feel and flaunt like a strict Renaldi again, Above that, I didn't even know for how long was I going to be a Renaldi, to begin with.

I hugged my mother trying to give her some hope. Mimi went to bail out our father while I went on the blind date that these people had arranged. I got down the bus and began to walk towards the coffee shop we were to meet, which was a few blocks away. I kept on pacing up looking at my feet denying to think on my decision because I had to do it and there was no chance I could begin to regret it or think of running away. Somehow, the problem got to this extent because I helped Pete unintentionally. 

I walked stepping on the adjacent brick blocks crossing the road, tap, and tap, 

left foot- right foot, 

jump and tap.

I didn't know where I was going, I was just so lost and unfocused I couldn't hear anything going around me. 

It was when I began to get blurry visions and the noise of a car honk became too loud, I realized the reality but it was too late. The world in front of me had already darkened and my feet just gave up as I fell down on the roads after getting hit by a car. I heard a lot of people yelling out loud, the trembling voices of people calling out for ambulance, the agony of pedestrians cursing the heavy vehicle and the siren of police cars. It was then I realized life was too short and it always had its own plan. Noah Martin was the guy every girl had eyes for and I had just demanded him from destiny to help my family but was he really this easy to get?