Rejected by my ex, I married his Father

ARIELLA “Try it again,” I said quietly as I slid the card back to the cashier. At this point, I was beyond nervous. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The cashier didn’t even look at me. She looked past me with the kind of boredom that screamed a thousand shifts as she reached over to another customer’s items. “It won’t work. I have already tried it 3 times,” she said flatly. The line behind me started to shift, and I could feel people staring at me. Heat began to build up in my body, and I felt the crushing weight of embarrassment pulling me down, but I tried to keep my face steady. “There must be some mistake or something because I am sure I have money in this account. Please try again.” “Then maybe the bank disagrees with your math,” she said, not even looking up at me. “Do you have any means of paying? Maybe another card or even cash?” That was the problem, I didn’t have a dime in my person. I had rushed out of the dorm early to take a mid-term test, only grabbing my phone and card. A card that had no money in it. I heard someone from the line behind me let out a loud groan, “Can you step aside if you are not ready? Some of us actually have places to be, you know?” I swallowed hard, trying to compose myself despite knowing I was falling apart from the inside. “I…I am ready. Just…please give me a minute to figure this out.” My fingers turned white from how hard I held the cold counter. My mind began searching on who I could call for help. My mum was miles away in another country, and she barely takes my call, so that was a big no. My roommate Rory, wasn’t a bad option, but she had a terrible superiority complex , and I wouldn’t hear the end of this “help” she renders to me. “Miss,” the cashier said, her jaw was slightly clenched, and I saw how her eyes narrowed at me. “You are holding up the line, and I will need you to please move.” “I said I…” “Put it in mine.” The deep voice came directly behind me, and it felt like the oxygen in the room had been sucked out. There was a long pause, and I suddenly couldn’t breathe right for a second because I recognized that voice right away. I turned slowly and there he was, in his glory. He stood like he belonged in a top- floor conference room and not a student cramped cafe. He was tall and compared to the grace he carried, we all felt small. For a minute everywhere was quiet and I forgot about the line, the cold tray of food and even the angry cashier. “Go ahead,” he said, giving a commanding nod to the cashier. “Add her total to mine.” The cashier immediately strengthened herself, her attitude shifting from annoyance to desperate excitement. “Y..yes sir. Of course, right away.” “No, that’s not necessary, I can handle this.” My voice felt a bit shaky “It’s done,” he said, not even looking at me, and reaching for his black card from his sleek wallet, and handing it to the cashier. “I..I can pay you back,” I added quickly, hating how weak and needy my voice sounded when he said nothing back. That seemed to get his attention as his gaze dropped to mine. His eyes had this intensity to them, and worst of all was the way he looked at me, like a problem he already figured out “Can you?” he asked “Yes” I said, lifting my head to meet his gaze. “I can and I definitely will” The silence that followed was deafening. He smirked and nodded his head like he was acknowledging something. “Alright “ The cashier handed me my receipt, and the look in her eyes was something I couldn’t place. Respect? or maybe something more. I stepped back quickly, trying to calm my racing heart. “Name” I blinked and stopped in my tracks, turning back to face him “Uhmm.. sorry?” He looked at me with a cup of coffee in his hands. Something with the way he swirled the brown liquid in the cup while still waiting for me to speak terrified the hell out of me. “Your name,” he repeated, slowly this time. “I need to know exactly who is going to be paying me back.” “Oh.. right,” I cleared my throat. “Ariella. Ariella Monroe” His intense gaze held mine longer than necessary. Almost like he was committing every detail of me into memory. He nodded once, “I will remember that, Ariella Monroe.” My name rolled off his tongue smoothly, and I felt a sweet, magnetic sensation begin to rise to my chest. “Thank you again for...” I gestured towards my package, holding it up for him to see. He didn’t respond but walked past me straight to his sleek car. I caught the scent of something expensive and definitely out of my league. I exhaled slowly, the air I didn’t know I had been holding all this time. I had class to get to and was already late. My life is supposed to be about grades and discipline and continuously keeping my head down. It doesn’t matter if some grand, rich guy helped to pay for my items because I was… stranded. It was just more or less a brief encounter, and my name would just be among the many others that are long gone and forgotten. He was just a stranger helping me out and that’s it. That’s all it was. It had to be Because powerful men like him with influence and wealth did not notice girls like me. He simply forgot his phone at the cafe counter and rushed back to get it. And that’s when we accidentally bumped. But there is one thing i couldn’t stop thinking about, and that’s his deep voice and his hot breath i felt on my neck when he stood behind me. I could still feel that sweet tingle shoot all through my body, even though he was long gone out of my sight.