A few hours before.
With a new-found purpose, Darryl got out of bed with the aim of getting dressed up to meet the solution to all his new problems. Thinking about it, Vanessa was a stubborn woman, and she wouldn’t agree to marry him in haste. The only thing he could do was to get Carolyn involved.
If Carolyn could help him talk to Vanessa, she would definitely agree with him. He fumbled for his phone on the dresser, his eyes squeezed as the bright light of the phone hit him. He found Carolyn’s contact and hit the call button.
Tangled in each other’s arms, Carolyn and Dawson’s sleep was disrupted by the loud shrill sound of her phone. With a groan, her eyes snapped open at the sound of her ringtone. At first, she thought it was an alarm, but she remembered she didn’t set an alarm for herself.
Tiredly, she fumbled for her phone to find out who the disturbing caller was.
“Darryl?” she whispered groggily as she opened her eyes well to see if she was seeing clearly.
“Darryl?” Dawson repeated her words. He was still half asleep, but he heard her voice like a dream.
Without wasting much time, she answered the phone.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Carolyn.” Darryl apologized before he could start the gist behind his call.
“You should be.” Carolyn yawned into the phone.
“You owe me a reasonable explanation for disturbing me this prematurely.”
“I need your help with Vanessa.” Darryl started but Carolyn interrupted him before he could finish up.
“What happened to Vanessa?” The remnant of sleep disappeared from her eyes as she heard Vanessa’s name.
“Nothing is wrong with her, calm down already.” Darryl grinned as he heard her shuffling sound over the phone.
“I want her to marry me as soon as possible.” He paused, searching for the right vocabulary to use.
“Are you out of your mind?” Carolyn snapped, causing her husband to wake up from his slumber.
“Can you listen to him without interrupting me?” Darryl asked her.
“Go ahead.” Carolyn could not hide her irritation about Darryl’s plan.
“I have already talked to her about it, and she has already agreed to help me,” he clarified.
“So why do you need my help?” Carolyn interrupted him again.
“No interruptions, Carolyn.” Darryl told her, causing her to hiss over the phone.
“I’m sorry. Go ahead with your explanation.” The irritation she felt was clear in her tone.
“Like I said earlier, she has already agreed to marry me, but I want to have the wedding today.” Darryl informed her.
“You are a clown,” Carolyn scoffed. “Even my arranged marriage wasn’t planned for a single day, Darryl. To start with, I am not Vanessa, so why are you telling me all of this?”
“I remember telling you I needed your help.”
“Should I help you force her to the altar?” Sarcasm laced in her voice.
“You don’t have to. All you have to do is to help me talk to her. More like convincing her to agree with me.” Darryl told her, ignoring the irritation he heard in her voice. It was no news to him that Carolyn was protective of Vanessa, so he expected her to act like that.
“Only her mother can talk her into doing things and, as you can see, I’m not her mother.” Carolyn replied, anger laced in her voice.
“Thank you for giving me a clue.” Humor laced in his voice.
“You are not welcome,” Carolyn retorted.
“Can you help me with her contact line? I will take it as a wedding gift from you.” Carolyn could tell that Darryl had a smug look on his face.
“Fine, but this will be the last help I will render to you. Don’t ever ask me for a favor again.” Carolyn snapped before tapping on the red button.
Satisfaction gnawed at Darryl as his phone buzzed, receiving a message from Carolyn. It was
Vanessa’s mother’s contact information.
Without wasting time, he dialed the line while he rehearsed the perfect speech for his future mother-in-law.
“Good morning, Clara. This is Darryl. I’m so sorry for calling you this early.” Darryl apologized as soon as Vanessa’s mother answered the phone.
“Good morning, Darryl. It is not too early for a baker to receive calls. How can I help you?” Clara replied delightfully. She had been waiting for the perfect moment to call Darryl, but Darryl beat her to it and called her first.
“I need your permission for something important,” Darryl said, meticulously selecting the appropriate words to use.
“Go ahead.” Clara already knew what he wanted to say, but she wanted to hear it from him.
“I asked for her hand in marriage, and she has already agreed to marry me, but something urgent came up, and I have to proceed with the wedding unfailingly today.” He explained.
“Correct me if I’m wrong: you asked her for a marriage contract?” Clara inquired.
“If that’s what Vanessa thinks, yes,” Darryl replied.
“What do you think? I want to hear your thoughts on this.”
With a sigh, he left what he was doing to think about Clara’s questions. Darryl had so many reasons to be with Vanessa, but he couldn’t tell Vanessa’s mother about it yet. He didn’t know if she would understand his reasons for doing it in the first place.
“I need Vanessa to pretend to be my wife, so it is also a contract on my side.” Finally, he answered her question after so much thought.
“Why did you waste time if your answers are this simple?” Clara could tell he was lying, and she would do anything to make Darryl tell the truth.
“I just need you to help me talk to her. I know she listens to you more than anyone else.”
“I might want my daughter to get married, but I am not desperate to sell her off to someone who needs her to pretend.” She sounded angry, causing Darryl to panic.
“You don’t understand.” Darryl sighed over the phone.
“Then make me understand.” Clara replied immediately.
“I need a wife, she needs a husband. I am familiar with her, and she is familiar with me too. I don’t believe in love, and she doesn’t either. We agreed to this marriage because we understand each other better. I’m not forcing her into this, I’m telling you the truth,” Darryl clarified.
“Why don’t you believe in love? Clara could not hide her curiosity.
“I’ve been hurt by the one person I loved with my whole heart. And I’m not ready to go through that pain again.” Darryl replied.
“So, both of you have unhealed wounds from being betrayed? Do you think that will be helpful for both of you?” Clara was on a part to make Darryl understand what he was up to.
“I don’t know for sure, but I will help her heal from her unhealed wound,” Darryl confessed.