Their Forceful Marriage

Another encounter

Three days have passed by since Kennedy’s encounter with that mysterious arrogant man and so far, she hasn’t experienced anything unpleasant since then, much to her liking. As soon as she told her decision to her parents about the marriage, the first thing that her mother discussed with her was wardrobe. 

Kennedy had to admit, she lucked out in this family. Her father being well-known and respected by all along with her two brothers while she and her mother, Katrina, were battling their way into the fashion world. But, of course, her mother was already on top. She’s the one who still had to do the battling.

Her mother, Katrina Silverling-Pierce, was known almost around the world even when she was still Katrina Silverling. Like her husband, Katrina came from a line of generations that had been known for their artistry. Katrina got her love of art from her father.

Kennedy remembered the stories her mother used to tell her. Apparently, it was her grandfather who inspired her mother to pursue the arts and advised her to transform it into something the world will remember. And Katrina did just that.

Katrina imparted her talent and passion for the arts through fashion. Truly enough, her creations were elegant and intricate, turned them into something that will certainly be remembered by all. She had made a name for herself flawlessly.

It’s one of the things Kennedy loved about her mother. Being lost in the world of doing what you love. The passion that her mother carries everywhere. It’s probably why she chose to be like her mother or anything close to her, that is.

Presently, Kennedy was in her walk-in closet, looking for something simple but elegant enough to wear to the so called dinner. If she doesn’t find anything that her mother approved of, they’re gonna have to shop for something and believe or not, she didn’t like shopping one bit. It’s so tiring with all the walking that has to be done for hours on end. Although, she’d have to get used to the thought of walking around and shopping if she wanted to become a fashion designer but for now, she has her mother to thank for doing all the shopping. And since her mother was a famous fashion designer, there was no reason to worry.

Aside from looking for a dress, she was also looking for something she could wear tonight. The girls invited her for dinner then drinks and truth be told, she needed to wind down and relax before the dinner this weekend.

Skimming through her clothes, she found a snug fitted pair of high waisted jeans, thought it over and grabbed it. Going across to her tops and blouses, she took out her silk beige tie front long sleeve cropped blouse. She decided to pair them with her beige Louboutin heels and a simple clutch to go with it. After picking out her outfit, she went out to her room and laid the clothes on the bed. She looked at her phone. No messages. She looked at the time, it was 5:00 pm. Drinks with the girls was at 7:00. She dropped her phone on the bed and went about to get ready.

On the other side of the city, Killian was getting ready, too. Hanging out with the guys, that is. Warren called him up a while ago and told him reservations were already made and all he had to do was show up. Obviously, he obliged.

Too lazy to choose something specific, Killian just went with something simple. Skinny jeans, long sleeve button down, and suede boots. All black. After taking a quick shower, he got dressed, fixed his hair up, put on his accented Cartier watch, took his keys, and out to drive to Warren's place.

After some time, Kennedy finally arrived at the place she was texted. It was the new bar and restaurant that had just opened recently called "Chateau Destiny". After giving her keys to the valet, she went to find the girls.

She went inside into the foyer and there they were, standing and chatting like the girls that she remembered from college. One of the girls, Clarisse, turned and as soon as she saw Kennedy, her eyes widened and immediately gave out a hearty scream which made a few heads turn, including the girls'. Then suddenly the screams and gasps were followed by the others, Marissa, Natalie, and Stephanie.

Clarisse rushed her way to Kennedy and gave her a tight hug.  

"Oooooh my god, I missed you! We literally haven't heard a thing from you in the last month. You owe us a lot of details." Clarisse rambled as she pulls away from Kennedy. 

Kennedy went around and gave all of them a hug.

"It's so good to see you, girls! First two rounds of drinks on me!" she offered.

"That's my girl!" Stephanie cheered.

"Let's go! Why weren't you seated yet?" Kennedy inquired.

"That's actually our problem." Clarisse pointed out.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Well, since the place is so new, it's literally packed and we didn't get a reservation."

"Did you try asking about the reserved tables?"

"No."

"Okay. I got this. Don’t worry."

 Kennedy then made her way to the receptionist.

"Hi." she greeted.

"Good evening, Ma'am. How may I help you?" the receptionist asked politely.

"I was just wondering if there are tables that already cleared up?"

"I'm afraid not, Ma'am. The only cleared tables are the reserved ones." he informed.

"All reservations have been claimed?"

"Yes, all but one. They're running late, actually."

"Oh. Is it possible for me to acquire that reservation? If they're running late, then that means the reservation's void. Right?" Kennedy questioned.

"Yes, we do have that kind of policy but, they'd have to be 30 minutes late and it's only been 20 minutes." he reminded her.

"So, you agree that within 10 minutes, if the person or people with that reservation fails to come, you give it to me." she stated. 

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Ma'am." the receptionist differed.

"and why is that?" she questioned, raising her eyebrow.

"Because the table has already been paid for." he reasoned nervously.

"How much?" she asked.

"4 000 dollars." he answered.

"Alright. If the reservation stays open within the next…" glancing at her watch before turning back to the receptionist "6 minutes, you give that table to me. Double the price. I'm sure you don't have a problem with that. Do you?" she asked confidently.

The receptionist gulped nervously. 

"Of course not, Ma'am. I'll let the manager know right away." he murmured and rushed away.

"Thank you!" she said loud enough for the retreating receptionist to hear.

She went back to the ladies waiting for her.

"Alright, girls. All set. Well… almost." she followed.

"What does that mean?" Natalie asked.

"It means there could be an open spot for us in the next 5 minutes if the last reservation will not be claimed. And judging by our surrounding…" she turned back, glancing at the crowd, looking around for rushing people. When she didn't see any, she turned back to them.

"They're not gonna show up. On time, that is." she shrugged.

After 5 minutes of waiting and seeing that there are no newcomers, Kennedy walked back to reception.

"It's been 30 minutes. I think I'll be taking that table now." she stated.

The receptionist only nodded at her.

"Right this way." he said as he gestured for her to follow him.

Kennedy waved at the girls, signalling them that they have a table.

They get seated at the table and went to order their food and drinks.

Kennedy felt proud of herself. Nothing was gonna go wrong with her night.

… right?

Meanwhile, in the middle of the road, Killian was on the phone with Warren. For some reason, his car's battery decided to get drained tonight, of all nights. Now, he's there, waiting for someone to come pick up his car so he could fetch a cab on the way to where Warren and the guys were.

"Why would you drive your car if you knew it was about to go low? It's been 45 minutes, man!" Warren ranted.

"Yes, Warren. I know! Alright? I still have to wait for my car to get picked up." he informed him.

There was a pause, then he hears Warren cuss.

"f**k!" 

Then he hears Warren back on the phone.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well, now because of your ignorant ass, we're all late! Damn receptionist just told me he gave my reservation away." Warren grunted. 

"Hey! Don’t blame me! I didn't even plan to go out tonight." Killian reiterated.

"Whatever, man! Just get here as soon as possible. Maybe we can still do something about it by then." mumbled frustratingly by his best friend.

"Fine!" then he hung up.

Back at restaurant, the girls were having the time of their lives catching up, having drinks, just plain old having fun in each other's company. Little did they know that something was afoot.

The same receptionist from earlier had returned to their table and caught Kennedy's attention. The receptionist signalled to her that he needed to talk to her. Kennedy excused herself and followed after the receptionist.

"What is it?" she inquired.

"Well, the thing is…" he hesitated.

"What? Spit it out." she demanded.

"They came."

"Who?"

"The one with the late reservation? They're here." he explained.

"Well, what did you say?" she asked.

"I explained the situation and I did remind them about the policy we have around here but, he insists on talking to "the one who stole their reservation". It was the guy over there who said it, not me." he lightly pointed with his thumb to the man he was talking about, whose back was facing them.

Kennedy gave out a small sigh and patted the receptionist's shoulder.

 "It's alright. I'll talk to them. Thank you…" she paused as she glanced at his name tag "John. I'll leave you a nice tip, don’t worry." she assured, leaving the receptionist with a smile and went toward the group of guys who were late to their reservation.

Their backs were facing her so she decided to clear her throat, getting their attention. They turn around.

"Warren?"

It was Warren, one of the many friends that her brother, Reece, goes out with when he needs some down time, maybe even to pick up a girl to get laid with sometimes. In short, her brother's a man w***e and apparently, so is the guy she's standing in front of at the moment. Good thing Reece was busy or else he would've been with these guys tonight, getting drunk and flirting with girls, which to Kennedy, was not a pretty sight.

Glancing at all the guys standing a bit behind Warren, turns out she knew all of them. Reece hung out with all of them.

"and no surprise, you're with Michael, Keith, and Gabriel. Hello, boys." she flatly greeted with a grin.

 She was greeted back with "Hey, Kennedy!" and "Sup.", nodding their heads at her.

"Kennedy! I should've known. We both know how cunningly smart you are. But come on, 8 000 dollars? That's a bit much, don't you think?" Warren teasingly shook his head at her.

 She smirked at him "It got me and my girls a table so, I'd say it’s money well spent." she concluded.

"I bet!" he agreed. Then Warren looked at her from head to toe. He was checking her out.

"My eyes are right here, Warren. Don't even think about it." Kennedy warned. She was used to this, Warren flirting with her every now and then though, she doesn't mind. He's harmless, comes with being a man w***e, she guessed.

Warren raised his hands in mock surrender.

"What? I was just admiring how beautiful you are right now." he tried to compliment.

"Mhmm. Whatever." she shrugged. Truth be told, if Warren wasn’t a man w***e, Kennedy would've thought it was sweet of him but, since he is one, she knew he'd say that to every girl he tries to pick up.

Warren just smiled at her.

"You wound me, Kenny." he teased, putting his hand on his chest and clenching on his shirt.

"Yeah right. Don't think I can't see right through you because I can." she assured.

He chuckled at her.

"Of course, you do." he concurred.

"So, how do you wanna go about this? The girls and I are already settled, please don't take that away from us." she lightly pleaded.

"Tough luck! And where the hell are we supposed to go?" Warren questioned.

Kennedy sighed.

"Alright, how about this, the table you reserved occupies 10 people. There are 5 of us and 4 of you guys. I'm assuming it's just supposed to be you guys and the extras were for the girls you supposedly picked up?" she asked confidently, knowing that that's exactly the reason why.

Warren shrugged casually and grinned "Maybe. Why, you jealous?"

"No. It just proves I'm right." she sarcastically smiled.

"and it's actually 5 of us, too. The other one got stuck on the road, got car problems. That's why we were late. We're supposed to meet up at my house, get some food before coming here but, then the bastard got late so… here we are." he explained.

"Well, since you reserved the table and we got here first and I paid double for it, why don't we just share? You get to talk to my girls and all our problems are solved." she proposed.

He shrugged "Cool."

"Cool."

Warren turned back to the guys, told them the situation then turned back to Kennedy, urged her to go so they can follow her.

As they near the table, the girls got confused as to why Kennedy was being followed by a group of guys.

"Uh, okay. You're all seeing what I’m seeing, right?" Natalie asked, eyes still on the group nearing them.

"Can't say I'm complaining. Those guys are hot!" Stephanie whisper yelled.

"Let's just wait for Kennedy to explain. Chill, ladies." Clarisse pepped the girls as Kennedy and the guys reached their table.

"Sorry it took so long. A bit of a twist to our plans, ladies. We have company." Kennedy gestured to the guys.

"Oooohhh. Where'd you find these guys, Kenny?" Marissa asked, already eyeing one of the guys.

"They're Reece's friends and more importantly, they're actually the ones who reserved this table. So, to prevent anyone from leaving, I asked them to join us since we had a lot of room. I hope you don't mind." Kennedy informed them, still standing up.

"By all means, boys. Take a seat." Marissa offered, gestured for the guy she's eyeing to take the seat next to her and the guys followed after.

Kennedy proceeded to take a seat only to see that Warren was pulling out a chair for her.

She sat down and muttered a "thank you" to Warren as he turned to sit next to her.

For a while, everything was going well. They were all comfortable, talking to each other here and there. Everything was good until…

"Finally!" Warren exclaimed to himself.

"What is it?" Kennedy turned to him, who was looking behind him around the crowd.

"The late one. He's here."

Kennedy turned to where he was looking and soon enough she felt her mood change to 180.

He didn't see her yet as he made his way over to them but, as soon as his eyes met with hers, everything changed.

"You!"

"You!"

They exclaimed at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" the arrogant man questioned annoyingly.

"I could ask you the same thing! I was here first so you don't get to ask questions, okay?" Kennedy retorted.

At this point, both of them were standing up, not caring about anything else.

"Unbelievable! So now, I don't get to ask questions? What else am I not allowed to do? Hang out with my friends?!" he whisper yelled.

Before Kennedy could answer, Warren decided to interfere mostly because people are starting to stare. If this hadn't been in a restaurant, he would've loved to watch everything unfold.  

"Okay, guys! Wait, hold up!"

They seemed to have heard him and looked at him.

"You two know each other?" he pointed at the two back and forth.

"Yes." 

"No!"

Kennedy scoffed "No? Really?!"

"Yes! Really!"

"Alright, guys. Can you just take it outside? People are staring." Warren whispered to them.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

The agreed immediately and went back to the foyer in the corner.

"Alright, what is wrong with you? Really?" Kennedy initiated the conversation.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?!" the man answered.

"You asked me why I was here. Well, why are you here? Are you following me?"

"Wow, lady. You've got some nerve." he breathed.

Kennedy just raised her brows at him.

"In case you haven't figured it out, Warren invited me here. Now, I don't go around asking people questions like you but, out of curiosity, how do you exactly know Warren?" he asked irritatingly with a hint of sarcasm.

"He's friends with my brother, thank you very much!" she whisper yelled.

"Well, I don't care! You know, it may be obvious by now but, we both know that I can't stand you." he panned.

"Well, I can't stand you, either!"

"Good! So we're agreed. You leave, I stay." he concluded.

She gaped at him.

"Excuse me?! I don't think so. If anyone has to leave, it should be you. And I wasn't the one who's late." she pointed at him.

"For your information, my car had to be picked up in the middle of the road. I had my reasons." he retorted.

"Ha! It seems that karma's been a b***h to you. How does it feel?" she boastfully asked.

The man in front of her glared at her with his jaw clenched.

"You think this is funny?" he annoyingly asked.

"No. I just think it's interesting how my car is in perfect condition and now, you're the one with the damaged car. Huh? Go figure, right?" she victoriously smiled.

"You're an irritating piece of work." he fiercely muttered.

"And you're a huge pain in my ass." she spit back.

"If I recall earlier, Warren was the one who reserved that table. So, leave." he emphasized.

 She rolled her eyes.

"Oooohhh, yeah. Duh, how could I forget? You weren't here earlier. Let me put you up to speed. You see, things have changed. I wanted that table so badly that I actually paid double the price Warren paid for. And seeing as you guys were late, I felt bad so instead of making them leave, I invited them to join me and my girls." she stated slowly and confidently to him, smirking victoriously.

The man suddenly fell quiet, not knowing what to say.

"It seems you're not the only one with money, huh?" she asked innocently.

He scoffed and glared at her.

"You can join us if you want. There's one seat left." she nodded at him, smiled sarcastically, and walked back inside to their table.

And the man was left staring at her retreating form. She left him seething… again.

What a night. he thought.

That oughtta show him. Well, this is fun. she thought.