Desire Play

I have a feeling where I am not sad, but my life feels empty. Do you know this feeling? From outside my life might look like all rainbows and unicorns but inside it’s crumbling and I have no power to make it correct. This is Evangeline, aka Eve. The only heir to a huge empire, but literally on knees pleading for life. Long story short, my father, last year, died in a horrible accident. I was miraculously saved in the same accident, only to die like this everyday. My mother is trying hard to run the company, but she is also a human going through grief of losing the love of her life. And then there’s these vultures circling, like a curse, making impossible for our company to regain its former glory. But after mom’s heart stroke, we lost all hopes. Mom is bedridden and I am by her side. Company is now in the hands of old trusted employees. Dad trusted them with our lives, and I trust them too. But they are also abandoning the sinking ship. Of course, why would you stick with a company which is going to be doomed in a couple of months. Our advisor Martha, and mom’s confidant, suggested a merger, and it looks like our last option to save the name of Smiths. With this merger, Martha is confident that she will be able to secure seats for us in the Board of Directors and a good percent of share in our names. But there is a catch in this. There is always a catch in oh-so-simple-looking-answers, isn’t it? The catch here is I have to marry this guy, Andrew. Silver lining, he is filthy rich and handsome. I see no gossip for him in the tabloid, maybe he is clean or he is capable of shutting bad press too. This is no relief to me, I am indecisive. I have been asking time and delayed the inevitable for 3 weeks, but today is the last day to either accept or reject. Sitting here in my mom’s room, looking at her hooked up to the machines and the only noise is the beeping of the machines. I am contemplating my decision, am making myself familiar with every pros and cons, every step that can go wrong, every minute details that can be missed. I am fussing over details when my heart is not ready. I have a desire that someone will cherish me. That someone cannot come from an arranged marriage. If I agree, effective immediately I have to accept there is no prince charming coming to sway me. I am 22 years old, I want to experience life, I want to travel. I have been in short relationships, one can call them flings, nothing serious. But getting married as an arrangement to save one world and enter another world, gives me jitters. With knocks on the door, I looked up. This is it. Martha is here to know my answer. “Yes” Only one word left my mouth. Accept the fate and let’s see what is in our store. “Bless you child, you are the sweetest girl. Do not worry about things. I will make an excellent prenuptial. I will always be there. Your mom would be happy to know your decision. I will inform the party and yes be ready at 5 PM we will meet them officially.”Martha cheered me. This could go wrong in so many different ways. I have cleared an obstacle by accepting the offer now I have to wait till evening and meet this guy. I have seen him many times in social gatherings when dad was around. Dad loved barbecue and when the season started, he would start rolling the invitations off and people flocked to our garden and pool side. Now our garden is enjoying alone time, probably sipping tea in the beautiful sunset. It is late afternoon when my racking nerves made me leave my mother’s side and rush to my room. I settled on the bed with a pillow under my head and shut my eyes for a few minutes. It is not even five minutes and I hear noises coming from the living room. I ignored the noises but now the noise has reached my door and knocked. “Go away.”. “Not today babes, not happening.” This is not the time I want to meet her. Meet my best friend and literal pain in ass, Tia. “Tia go away” I screamed. “Are you opening the door or not? Shall I take it down?” She said in a teasing tone. She is my best friend, partner-in-crime, my confidence, and my eternal sunshine in darker days. I groaned and opened the door for her. “Hey Princess!!! I love you too and since you have decided to break my heart I am here to give you my best wishes.” Tia giggled. Her smile is infectious. “ You pest, you wanted to meet Mr. Hottie alone. Did you forget about me already? I rolled my eyes, sometimes her role playing has no limits. “ Can you please give it a break, I am tired.” I told her and she scoffed. “You are born like this. I made your life interesting.” Tia beamed. I have to suffer this torture until she gives up. I smiled and played along. She hugged me back and I felt like my tears were on the verge of spilling. “Hows Aunt?” Tia enquired with genuine eyes and sweet smile. I looked up and met her eyes. She understood that I cannot say she is doing great but the time is a killer machine. She immediately hugged me “You always have me babes” I could not speak , too many emotions engulfed my throat and I managed to just give a nod. “Let’s get you ready and presentable.” she deadpanned. I do not want to get dolled up for a convenience called marriage. I am not hopeless romantics but yes I do have desires. Dating, expectations, dates, weekend getaways no hearts and flowers but genuine care and comfort. Is it too much to ask? I guess, yes. “It is of no use” I said absentmindedly playing with the fabric of my dress. “It is important darling. You have to give your efforts if you want this marriage to work. Everything is not taken care of under prenuptials.” I wanted to roll my eyes, these prenuptials, again. “A relationship that needs prenuptials as an arrangement to kick off a marriage is not worth my time. But it's indispensable.” I let her know my feelings. Tia cannot sit quiet “Look, this might be an arrangement but take this as your destiny. He might be your prince charming in disguise or in black suit with a tie.” she started wiggling her eyebrows and gave me a penny for my thoughts. Can I really try my luck in this marriage? Can he be my prince charming? We have to deal with what we have, dad’s one-time rule. Sure he married his childhood sweetheart. I might get lucky, only time will tell. Time was running fast and in this chatting maid came in to inform us that guests have arrived and Martha has also joined. “Show time, cheer up.” Tia giggled. I was fidgeting with my fingers. As if reading through me and looking how nervous I am Tia poured a little enthusiasm in me “Enough already. Chin up, smile and let’s go”. I gave her a weak smile. Inside am chanting “I am confident.” My knees feel like jelly. This affirmation is not working. Tia went to mom’s room and took stairs to descend to the living room. Living room looks lively, Martha is sitting with our lawyer. Lawyer Johnson, he is an old trustworthy employee of dad. He looks at me and gives me a nod. I returned a small smile as a kind gesture towards all the stuff they are taking care of, for us. Then the other side sits Andrew, impeccable in a grey suit, on his phone typing something. He is handsome, straight jaw, tailored suit makes him look like a real prince charming. He does not look that old to have a big empire. I rolled my eyes inwardly, how inappropriate. With him there is another man sitting and sipping coffee and looking at some papers. He peered at me over the top of his thick glasses. He muttered something , inaudible to my ears but Andrew looked up and our eyes met. This is the moment when I first saw into his eyes, I was speechless. It was filled with emotions, I could not understand and like a flash it was gone. He gave me his thousand watt grin and my knees could not support me anymore. I diverted my eyes to Martha and she motioned me to sit beside her. “Let’s begin,” Johnson’s words caught my attention. “So as you all know we are all gathered here ..” but he was cut abruptly by Andrew. “I want a few minutes alone with Evangeline”.