A Blind Marriage On Paper

Chapter 4

The next morning, Ingo arrives at his parents' house for breakfast with his father. He is met at the door by his mother. “Young man, you have managed to tick your father off in a huge way this time. He’s waiting for you on the side patio. Good luck,” Coleen said You’re going to need it.

“Mother, is father that angry?” He’s looking in the direction of the patio.

“Yes. Now go on. Don’t keep your father waiting. It would only make matters worse. I’m headed to the city to do some shopping. Coleen walks out of the door thinking, “I don’t want to be here when he hears the news.”

Raziel is looking across the yard when Ingo speaks to him. He doesn’t look at his son and points to a chair. “Sit down, son.”

Ingo sits down and looks at his father sitting across from him. “Son, I have decided not only about the company but also about your future."

“My future?” Ingo looks at him, confused.

His father is drinking his coffee. “Chamblee DePaiva and I are planning to merge our companies. Not only the companies, but you will marry his daughter Jurnee.”

Ingo jumps up. Hell, no, I'm not marrying anyone. Especially a woman that I haven't met or haven't slept with. Father, I can’t do that. No way, no sir, I can't do that." He's shaking his head repeatedly.

“That’s what you think. Besides, your future wife will be living in Paris. It’s not like you have to look at her every day or even meet her. If you decline this offer, I'll have no choice but to remove you as CEO.” Raziel is looking at his son, pacing.

“This is madness. Either way, I'm in a losing situation. Fine, I’ll marry this Jurnee DePaiva. She’s probably ugly as sin, and this is the only way her father could get her ass a husband.” Ingo walks into the house.

Raziel smirks. “Call it whatever you like. Just as long as you do as I say.”

****

Jurnee arrived home a few minutes ago. She’s looking at her and Salman’s pictures, which they had taken on their vacation in Puerto Rico a few months ago. Jurnee runs her finger over his face. Then there was a knock on the door. Jurnee knew it was Cisley, her assistant. She opened the door and burst out crying. Cisley hugs her and walks into the entrance. “Things will get better. I’m sorry. I’m here; cry all you want, and get it out of your system.” They sit on the sofa.

Cisley and Jurnee met two years ago and became best friends after Cisley started working for her. She knows everything about Jurnee. She can’t believe King Muhammad pulled that crap on Salman and Jurnee. A little over an hour has passed, and the two women are still hugging.

“I’m good now. No more tears,” Jurnee wipes her face with her hand. “This is going to take some time to get used to. But I’m good. Do you have any idea what my father has to talk to me about that is urgent? I know we had a problem in the media department, but I thought I had handled that.” Jurnee is playing with her ring finger. She realizes what she’s doing and picks up a stack of mail on the table.

“Nope. At first, he had planned on flying in tonight. But he said you talked him out of it. As for the media department, there are still a few problems. I didn't want to tell you while you were in Riyadh.” Cisley is making them a cup of tea.

Jurnee is holding her head. I need something for my headache. I have had enough bad news to last me for a lifetime.” She’s answering her phone. It's her father calling her. First, her father consoles her before he hits her with the marriage news and the company merger. Jurnee's mouth is wide open.

Cisley looks at her, wondering what her father said to her. “What’s wrong?” She mouths but doesn’t get an answer.

“Father, hold on for a minute.” Jurnee put her phone down. “One man won’t allow me to marry the man I love. Now my father wants me to marry a man that I don’t know. What is going on with men in the world?” She pours a glass of brandy and drinks it. Jurnee gets strangled and pats her chest. Jurnee isn’t a drinker. She’ll drink a glass of wine every once in a while. The brandy is her father’s whiskey.

Cisley keeps mumbling, “Marry. Marry who?”

Jurnee takes a deep breath before she picks up her phone. “Father, I understand about the company. I can’t marry that man even if I don’t have to look into his face.” She’s shaking her head while listening to Chamblee telling her to take a few days. Then they will talk about it again. Jurnee hangs the phone up. “What is going on in the world? Have all the men, including my father, gone mad?”

“Marry who? Cisley yells.

“Ingo Vaughan.“ Jurnee picks up her and Salman's picture again, holds it against her chest, and closes her eyes.

*****

On the way to the office, Ingo called Faun, his assistant, and had her cancel all his appointments for today. Then he called Griffin to meet him at his penthouse. Ingo replays his father and his conversation. He can’t believe that his father blackmailed him into marrying a woman that he doesn’t love.

Maci and Imelda were surprised when their boss walked through the door. Ingo didn’t speak as he normally does. Instead, he went into his office and closed the door. Both women were wondering what happened since he left home earlier. Imelda figured that it had something to do with that wild woman, Brynn.

Griffin arrived at the penthouse about five minutes later, acted the same way as Ingo, and closed the door, but this time the door was locked. Imelda looked at Maci. “What has that woman done now?"

Maci shook her head and looked back at the door.

“All I’m going to say is you better hope Mr. Vaughan doesn’t get wind of you conspiring with that calculating woman. If so, you will be out so fast. Just because I don’t say anything doesn’t mean that I don't know what’s going on.” Imelda points at her and then walks into the kitchen.

“Brynn Ackles didn’t give me a choice,” Maci is thinking.

In the office, Griffin is taking in that his friend is getting married to a stranger. The two men sat there quietly, sipping on whiskey.

“Look on the bright side. You'll still have the freedom to come and go as you please. The marriage will be in name only. The company will be out of financial ruin. The best part is you don’t have to worry about having s*x with her." Griffin refills their glasses.

Ingo turns the glass up. "Believe me when I say that my wanting to have s*x with my future wife will never happen. Not in a million years."

*****

Brynn had been looking for Ingo all morning. She asked Faun where he was. Faun picked up the phone and pretended to be talking with someone, but was looking at her. Brynn stormed off to Griffin's office but was stopped by his assistant. Penna informs her that Griffin will be out for the rest of the day. Brynn walks away, talking to herself.

She is so distracted that she hasn’t been helping Maureen and Faron. Neither one is happy about working with her. Brynn never does any of the work. She only barks out orders. But when it's time to present to Ingo, she has to do that task and takes ninety-five percent of the credit. Brynn has also been known for bullying her coworkers.

“Carry on. I have a meeting with an important client.” Brynn rushes out of the room.

Faron looks at his watch. “Fourteen minutes. Her ass was in here longer than I had given her credit for.”

"Yesterday, she had Heddie, a new hire, in a corner in the break room. Faun said she walked in on her and threatened the young lady to stay away from Mr. Vaughan. The poor girl was crying when Faun asked what was going on. Heddierans out. Brynn said it was nothing, but she resigned a few minutes after that incident." Maureen is turning the projector on.

*****

Coleen couldn’t get her mind off her son and husband’s meeting. So, she cut her shopping trip short and stopped by the company. She wasn’t shocked when Faun told her that Ingo had canceled his appointments for today. She knew that he wasn’t taking the news of getting married. Coleen and Faun are talking when Brynn walks into the office, demanding to know Ingo’s whereabouts. Faun tells her she doesn't know and barges into her office again.

Brynn folds her arms and gives the woman a stern look. “You will be the first b***h I fire once I marry Ingo. I see you have one of your low-class friends visiting you today." She looks at Coleen and rolls her eyes. “Fake brand-name clothes to make yourself look important. Brynn smirks and walks out of the office.

Faun apologizes to Coleen for the way Brynn treated her.

"Don't think anything of it." Coleen waves her hand and walks to the door. She’s looking at Brynn walking into the office next to her son. “Be honest. Is my son f*****g that disreputable woman?” She slightly turns to look at Faun.

Faun takes a deep breath and nods her head. “Yes, he is. But the trollop hasn't been able to hook him as he wants. Believe me. She has tried everything in the book.”

“I see. Faun, I want you to do the same with my son as you did with my husband. But with her, I want to know daily. Today's generation of sluts seems to be bolder and more cunning. Also, I don’t want her to know who I am. At least not yet.” Coleen looks back at Brynn’s door.

*****

Jurnee is sitting in the middle of her bed, replaying the request that her father has asked of her. She started to call her friends in New York, but she knew they were all at work because of the different time zone. Jurnee picked her phone up to call Salman, but put it back on the nightstand. She's so used to talking to him whenever something is bothering her. “No, Jurnee, you can’t do that. Salman is off limits.” She hugs herself. “I wish this were a dream. But it’s real. I know that for sure since I have the marks on my arms from pinching myself to wake up.” She picks up the papers that Cisley had left, hoping that reading them will put her to sleep. All it did was confirm that the company was in more trouble than she imagined. "I'll have to focus more on the issues. I'm not marrying Ingo Vaughan. He is probably an arrogant man w***e. Tomorrow is a new day. I’ll go to the office and whip it into shape.” Jurnee’s phone rang. "My Sal," she answered the phone. At the same time, Cisley is calling her home phone. Jurnee ignores Cisley's call and mumbles, "I'll call her in the morning.

Salman tells her that his mother called him to let him know that his father and grandfather have chosen him as his wife. He doesn't know her name, and they are to be married in two months. He wants to be the one to tell her. He didn’t want to hear about it on the TV. Jurnee freezes for a few minutes. Before she thanked him for telling her, he said he was sorry for breaking his promise to her about being together forever. Jurnee lets him know that she doesn't blame him for anything. They confess their love to each other again before ending the call.

She lies down. “Sazin must have had ass hidden already there.”