CLAUSE SIX

2- EVELYN

The usual creaking sound of my door woke me up as my mother rushed into my room and pulled the curtains open, and the sunlight blinded me. “A good morning to you, too, Momma,” I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes and stood up to walk to the bathroom, my mother hot on my tail. “Enough of you sleeping in, all of that has to stop after you get married.” She scolded me; I rolled my eyes as I sat on the toilet seat. “Well, in that case, I don’t think I have to worry about that for a while,” I concluded.

“Honey, you’re getting married next week.” She deadpanned. My head whipped up so fast, my spine almost cracked. “Who’s getting married?” I questioned as I proceeded to wash my hands, “And when did my non-existent boyfriend propose to me?” I added with a chuckle. She tutted at me and said, “Your father mentioned this to you a while back, that your marriage will ally our families.” The toothbrush fell out of my hands as I grabbed my mother by the shoulder. “He wasn’t joking?” I panicked, she reached out to hold my face, but I jerked back. “How could you let him do that?” I whispered.

She looked at me and started, “Honey…” I rushed out of my room and barged into my father’s home office. “You’re marrying me off over a business deal?” My father was on a phone call, which he ended immediately. “Evelyn,” he said. I started to shake my head in denial. “His name is Nicholas Olsen. He’s the heir of The Olsen Group, this marriage creates a united front for both families.”

“Did you stop to think of how I might feel about this?” I asked him, and a laugh escaped from my lips when he didn’t reply. “Of course, you didn’t, all that matters is the company and not your daughter.” I spat at him and walked out of his office. I walked back to my room expecting to see my mother there, but she was gone too. I sat down at my dressing table and opened my laptop. I typed his name, ‘Nicholas Olsen’, into the search bar. My jaw dropped when I saw his image pop up on my screen.

God, why did he have to be this beautiful?

It was a picture of him and his grandfather at the opening of a new branch of their company. All 6 feet of him stood tall and mighty beside his agile looking grandfather, his gaze was fixed on the camera as if he was staring directly at me. His stormy grey eyes complimented his golden toned skin, they had such intensity and an emotion I couldn’t quite place swirled in them. A small smile played on his perfect lips, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

There was something about the way he stood, like how owned the room. His suit was tailored to perfection. I didn’t know him…at least not yet, but in that moment, staring at that photo, I felt a pull to him, one that I couldn’t resist.

I sighed as I shut the laptop, I crawled back into bed and willed myself to sleep.

Once again, my sleep was interrupted by my mother. She sat at the foot of my bed and smiled at me, “My little one,” She started, “We’re having a meeting later today with The Olsen’s, it’s time to get ready.” It still felt surreal, I was getting married to a drop-dead gorgeous guy who I had never met before.

I got up and walked into my closet to pick out an outfit. My mother had purchased a new set of dresses for me, unbeknownst to me, it was for this purpose. I wanted to make a first good impression, I mean, he seemed like a good guy, so this marriage could have been a good thing that happened to me.

I applied the last layer of red lipstick on my lips, I stepped back to look at myself in the mirror. I looked pretty; the red dress I wore hugged me tightly in all the right places. My hair was put in a sleek bun and my brown skin glowed. I smiled at myself before heading out.

“You’ve got this.”

I sat in the car with my parents in silence as we drove to The Olsen Group building. I was in awe of the giant building that stood before us, we were ushered in and showed to the board room. I held my breath as we walked in, I scanned the room and froze when I my eyes zeroed in on him. He was breath taking and was oblivious to my attention to him, he was on his phone. I snapped out of it and walked to my seat which was conveniently opposite his. I exchanged greetings with his grandfather and looked at Nicholas.

He looked up at me for a split second as I sat down, I frowned at the exchange. He had managed to make me feel small in the few seconds we had shared, and I hated that. I wasn’t sure if it was the indifference in his gaze or the way his lips were pressed flat, but something about him unsettled me. Not in a dangerous way- but in a way that made me want to prove myself, to be seen.

A cough from my father pulled me back to reality. I turned to my father who gave me a reassuring smile. The lawyer came in shortly after, “Thank you all for coming.” He said as he took a seat, “We’re here today to finalise the terms of the corporate-marital alliance between the Olsen and White families.”

Now, a copy of the contract laid on the table in front of me and the reality of how utterly f****d I was started to dawn on me. This was real and I had no say in it.

I looked at him, his face was still indifferent. He turned to me and this time he paused to look at me. Heat started to creep up my cheeks but he looked away before it could be evident. The only evidence of the effect he had on me was my rapidly beating heart.