Written in the Stars

Chapter 2: A Hard Kiss

Standing at the door was an extremely handsome young man with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, and a slight smirk on his face. His navy blue suit was fitted perfectly to his sculpted build, and he was leaning effortlessly on the door frame with folded arms.

As I laid eyes upon him, I let out a sigh, relieved that it wasn't my groom that overheard my private conversation. However, I tensed up when I realised I still didn’t know who this was.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” Camilla immediately challenged him and crossed her arms?

“How rude of me. First eavesdropping, and now the lack of introduction. I hope you ladies can forgive me for my lack of manners. I’m Nico, the Chief of Security Staff of Louis Ranch, assigned to you to be your personal bodyguard from now on.” he introduced himself as he flashed a big infectious smile at all of us.

I could see Camilla visibly drooling and swooning, so I gave her a hard pinch to which she jumped and screamed “Ow!”

I rolled my eyes, and walked towards Nico, giving him a warm smile and reaching my hands out for a handshake. His hand was firm and warm. So warm that it compelled me to look up at him again, he had equally warm hazel eyes with specs of green, curtained by long black eyelashes and thick bushy perfectly sculpted eyebrows.

(Why does God always give men the most perfect eyelashes and eyebrows?!)

I cleared my throat and stepped away from him.

“Well, lovely to see you my ladies,” and he gave a pretend bow, flipping his striped purple tie forward and making us giggle. “I’ll be outside the door, waiting to escort you to your d**k in shining armour.”

We all shared a look and burst into laughter, placing fingers under our eyes so that tears of laughter don’t mess up our made up faces.

“Oh s**t, did I say d**k? I meant knight in shining armour,” he shot me a wink and closed the door behind him.

My father was already waiting for me at the entrance of the hall. My 2 bridesmaids were standing behind me on either side, and Nico, my new bodyguard, was standing just a few metres behind us all. I hadn’t spoken a proper word to my father since the day I was told I'll be married off against my will to someone I didn’t know. I felt so deeply betrayed by him. I had always had issues with my mom, but my father? He was my rock, like a strong constant presence in my life. He always treated me like a princess, and I confided in him so much. But now it feels like it was all a lie.

“You look beautiful Mia,” I could tell he was looking down at me with his loving gentle eyes, but I just couldn’t bring myself to meet them.

“Listen, Mia, I know you’re not happy with me, but I’ve explained this to you. I have one of the biggest high-end liquor businesses in the whole of the South Atlantic States of the USA. This deal was made before you were born to resolve the feud between our family and The Ranch family, and secure an alliance with our biggest rivals at the time. We were in debt, we couldn’t just be ruined. I built everything we have from nothing to give you and your sister the best life, and the competition was ruining us. How could I let that continue? I had to sacrifice.”

He turned my body to face him and tilted my head up, forcing me to look him in the eye.

“Our family- The Gonzalez family has maintained a good reputation in all the years we have lived here in South Carolina. This has always been a business of sacrifices because it is a family business, and this is your role to play Mia. I’m sorry it had to be this way, but you must know I love you so much, my princess. And I want you to have the best marriage possible.”

I wanted to trust him, and understand him. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. He had betrayed me, sent me to business school, trained me to be independent, made me think I had a life that would be my own, all just to strip it away from me. I was just his pawn in a game.

Business came first. I see that now.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes in response, and the big brown doors of the wedding hall opened as if on cue.

There was so much going on at my wedding reception. Speeches that bored me to death and cameras waiting to pick on me and my husband’s every move.

Husband. I am now a wife. Hmph.

I remember walking up to the altar to meet him, escorted by my father. I expected his eyes to be equally as anxious as mine, but I met the coldest eyes I have ever seen in my life. He had no emotion in them. His eyes were dark brown, and he had a set stoic face. I tried giving him a little smile, but he looked straight through me, and looked towards the priest and told him to “Get on with it, quickly.”

My father had sold me to a devil.

I didn't want to be there anymore than he did. I felt annoyed. From then on, the rest of the day passed by in a blur. It was like an outer body experience. Even when I was saying my vows, it didn't feel like my mouth was moving. When Louis was asked to kiss the bride, his lips were very dry, hot and hard. It was like 2 brick walls pressing against each other. The cameras around us flashed aggressively and it lasted barely a second before he pulled away, and we turned to face the congregation, who were clapping and cheering for us. I looked at my mother who looked over the moon, and was proud of me for once. My father looked pleased as he was clapping and gave me a nod of approval.

And now, here we were, at the reception, where Louis and I still hadn’t spoken a word to each other. We were sitting side by side watching everyone else celebrate for us. I could feel the tension in the space between us.

After a long while, Nico came over to Louis, to whisper something in his ear, and Louis immediately got up and left me without an explanation. The confusion was evident on my face, so Nico turned to me and said, “Sorry about that. As I’m sure you know, Louis is next in line to be CEO for his father’s company, so he is quite swamped with work and had to step outside to take an important call.” as he smiled reassuringly.

“He’ll be back soon.”

“You seem to be quite close to him, “I commented.

“Yeah, Louis and I have been friends for a really long time, I ended up as Chief of security for the Ranch winery company, and a personal bodyguard to Louis, but your father wanted to ensure your utmost security and protection so I was assigned to be your main bodyguard and supervise your safety,”

“Oh, okay, well thank you, I guess.”

“Don’t mention it m’lady. I’m at your service.”

Louis returned, seeming even angrier than before which seemed impossible. However, I was distracted by guests coming up to congratulate me.

My new mother-in-law gave me a warm hug and welcomed me to the family and gave me a kiss on the cheek, after advising me to “take care of him”, to which I promised to try my best.

What about me? Would he take care of me? How could I take care of a stone wall?

My thoughts dissolved into nothingness as my friends and sister whisked me onto the dance floor. By now, all the cameras were gone and the media had been dismissed from the hall, so everyone had let loose a bit and was dancing. I decided to stop thinking about all my problems, I downed another glass of Champagne and released myself onto the dance floor, while my husband sat and spoke to Nico in a seemingly tense manner, but I couldn't care less. I continued to dance into the night.