The Forgotten Heiress

Chapter Four: Dearest Stranger

Initially I wanted to kick start with an introduction, tell her who I am, where I am from, why I came to Russia, and the truth – why I need to marry her as soon as possible.

However, my statement made her choke on her coffee.

I don’t say a word. I just watch her gather herself after the fits of cough I caused.

“What, what did you just say?” she asks this time around giving me all of her attention, the cup of coffee on the table, her hands folded on her chest, and her eyes staring deep into mine.

“I said, let’s get married.” I repeat each word gently and slowly.

“You really are something else. How do you ask to marry a girl you don’t know?”

“Who said I don’t know you? You are Brown, you have brown eyes, you like taking strolls in the evening, and coming to Blooms’, and you evidently enjoy reading. That is more than enough info I need.”

I dare not tell her that I made my assistant run a background check on her the minute I left Blooms’, the first day I saw her. I am pretty sure I know things about her that she doesn’t even know.

But I can’t tell her that, I can’t afford to lose her just before I have even gotten her.

“Explain ‘you are brown’,” she is staring at me while sipping her iced coffee. I am yet to touch mine.

“Your name is brown.” She nods at me, silent for a minute.

“So why should I agree to marry you, as far as I am concerned, you are this mysterious man that just appeared at Kuntsevo on a random afternoon, doing a ..”

I don’t let her finish because I know what she is implying, “I am Xavier William, an Italian model. I came to Moscow to clear my head then I came across Blooms’. I just knew I had to get a shoot here. That was the day I saw you. And yes, I am the first child. I have a younger brother, Lorenzo. Is that enough information?”

I lied. I didn’t come to Moscow to clear my head. I left so I can get space from my father. He has been on my neck for about three months to get married.

He went as far as threatening me – he gave me a deadline to which if I don’t bring home a wife, he will find me one.

“That doesn’t automatically mean you are not a stranger. Do you think marriage is a child’s play?”

Now she is raising her voice at me, evidently getting angry. Before I can say a word she is already on her feet about to leave.

“Can you just sit let’s talk.”

“There is nothing to talk about dearest stranger, and don’t you dare follow me again.”

Now she was throwing daggers at me. If eyes could burn, I’d definitely be ashes now. I breathe in and out, a failed attempt to calm my temper.

People don’t raise their voices at me, especially not a lady. If we were in Italy, she won’t live to see tomorrow. I definitely won’t let this slide I will come back to it.

“Lily......brown.” she slowly turns around clearly surprised that I know her name. She never told me.

“How do you know my name?” I look around us only to notice that we’ve attracted the attention of the people seated close to us.

“It is getting stuffy in here, do you know a place close by, a beach or a garden we can go to?”

She hesitates for a moment. I can see her doing some mental calculations, probably trying to calculate what this is worth. After a while, she gives in. I am certain curiosity got the best of her.

“Follow me.” That is the only thing she says before she turns around, walking out.

She doesn’t say a word to me. She doesn’t even bother to wait for me so we can walk side by side. She had gone a little far from the Cafe by the time I came out after paying for our iced coffee.

I had to jog to catch up with her. “You know Brown, it is common courtesy to wait for your partner.”

As expected, I don’t get a reply, she doesn’t even acknowledge my presence.

We walk side by side in silence till we reach a garden that has benches for people to sit. She walks to one of them and sits down.

“Mr Williams, how did you know my name?” she asks me immediately I join her on the bench.

“It is William, without the s.” I say that in an attempt to lighten the mood, but instead she just keeps her headphones on her lap and starts to play with it.

Just as I am about to explain how I knew her name, she replies, “I don’t care, I will call you whatever I dim fit.”

“Alright Lily, I am sorry. The day I saw you at the Cafe, I was immediately smitten. It is not often I come across extremely beautiful ladies that don’t know me. I admit I was surprised, but perhaps that pulled the strings in my heart harder.”

I stop talking to give her the room to say something, but she doesn’t say a word. She is still staring at me with all of her attention on me, a little pout on her mouth.

“I have a personal assistant so I asked him to get every bit of information about you because I didn’t think I will see you again.” I add.

“You don’t know if you will see me again yet you know that I love taking strolls?”

“I am staying in Russia longer than I initially planned that is why we are able to cross paths again.” I lie, again. I don’t have a fixed date to return to Italy.

“Why didn’t you just approach me and ask all you wanted to know?”

“You are one fierce lady Brown. It takes a lot of courage to be able to approach you. I had to tell myself that the least that will happen is you give me a blow on my mouth.” I wink at her while touching my mouth faking a wince.

She tries so hard to stop her laugh but she couldn’t. Finally, I am able to break through her wall.

I turn around now looking at her face to face, I grab her hands and intertwine them, rubbing her thumb gently. She is also looking at our intertwined hands.

“Let’s get married, Brown.” She looks at me with a soft gaze, her eyes are moist like she is about to cry and there is something else I can’t quite say what it is.

She clears her throat, abruptly removing her hands from mine. “Why should I accept your proposal?”

I am beginning to lose my patience, just how many times are we going to go through this back and forth. “Because I love you and you need me.”

There’s a surprised look on her face, she is about to talk but I don’t even let her. I am not interested in hearing what she has to say.

“Look, I know you lost your job at the bakery and you want another job because you want to be financially independent. And I admire that about you. I can give you that in an exchange for the marriage. If after 5 years you don’t feel an iota of love for me which is impossible, you can request for a divorce and we terminate the marriage. I am in no rush to have kids so they can wait till after five years.”

“You are the craziest person I have ever met. I agree I am in a quest to be financially independent, but I am not desperate.” She spat, every single word laced with venom, certainly the most poisonous. She also flings my hand. That is her own way of letting go of people’s hand, weird.

“Are you sure you aren’t desperate Brown, I see desperation in your eyes and I saw the glimmer of hope in your eyes when I said I can make you financially independent.”

She doesn’t say a word. She turns away from me and put her headphones back to its place. Her silence just confirmed my suspicion. She is contemplating my proposal.

“I will take my leave now, I have your contact already but here is my card. Whatever you need to know about me, you can always ask me or you check the internet. I will be waiting for your approval, and please let’s be in touch.”

She doesn’t collect the card, heck she doesn’t even look at my direction so I just place it on her laps and leave.