CHAPTER 8
The wedding came to an end after an hour and everyone moved along. Patricia walked up to George and Rachel who sat at a table talking to each other. As she approached the table, Rachel quickly stood up and greeted her. Rachel didn’t need anyone to tell her who the woman was, the resemblance between the woman and George was strong.
“Mom…” George muttered before he turned to face Rachel “… this is my mom, Mrs Patricia Anne Scott”
Rachel greeted her again. She was so nervous, plus the fact that George had mentioned his mother wasn’t in support of her being here or getting married to her son, only made her feel more uncomfortable – especially with the way his mother narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her from head to toe.
“It’s nice to see you, Rachel,” Patricia answered warmly. If there was one thing she didn’t want, that’d be making George angry by treating his ‘new wife’ poorly. She could tell her son was in love with this lady, and she wouldn’t want to be one to take his happiness away. She would do her best to treat her well. “Welcome to the Scott family. Forgive me for not coming to welcome you yester-”
“It was father, right?…” George interrupted
“What?” His mother raised an eyebrow and Rachel turned to look at him wondering what he meant.
“It was father that forced you to stay away and not welcome her, right?”
Patricia frowned. Was he really going to do this right here? It seems he wanted to make it clear to Rachel that Morris disapproved of her. He was actually right. Morris had raked on and on about how she was supporting her son in his mission to ruin their family by getting married to the daughter of a drug trafficker, and making people suspicious of them. He yelled over and over until she screamed ‘enough’. Patricia had finally decided to just cooperate with Morris and stay away. She ignored George’s question and remained silent.
“Even if you don’t answer, I know he’s the one,” George said flatly. He reached for Rachel’s hand and turned back to his mother “Now that you’ve seen her, we’d like to get going if you’ll excuse us”
“We’re to have lunch together as a family in thirty minutes time…” Patricia responded, not looking at him. “…. to welcome and celebrate the new bride of the Scott family”
George stood still and clenched his jaw. This should be Judith’s work – his evil stepmother, she wanted to frustrate his new wife, Rachel. They hardly ate together as a whole family, and now, a family lunch together…to celebrate his new bride, really? Why did his mother agree to it? His father had probably persuaded her to convince him and of course, his mother would do anything to make Morris happy. Anything at all.
“Tell them we’re not interested” George replied, getting annoyed by the minute.
Rachel, who had been standing quietly beside George – watching the tension and hearing the conversation between mother and son, believed that she had to find a way to maintain peace with her ‘new’ family. She nudged George’s hand and when he glanced at her, she whispered “It’s still the first day of our marriage, I wouldn’t want to give a wrong impression to your family…”
“You really don’t have to go there. They won’t like you no matter what you do” He remarked
“It’s alright. It will come to an end quickly and seem like it never happened” Rachel smiled at him. George thought about it for a moment and agreed.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Shrimp sauce, Chicken pie, dumplings, chocolate cake…it was all there. Rachel’s stomach rumbled in anticipation of the first taste from the variety of food that filled the table before her. The kind of banquet she hadn’t seen or eaten in years…
Morris Scott sat at the beginning of the large table, he didn’t even look in their direction when she and George walked in and occupied their chairs. Patricia sat at the right side of the table, in between Morris and George while his second wife – George’s stepmother sat between Morris and her son, James at the other side.
When James settled on his seat, he smiled kindly at her and George “Congratulations on your marriage. I wish both of you all the best”
Rachel noticed Judith stiffen on her seat. Clearly, she didn’t like her son being ‘friendly’ with her and George in any way.
What an interesting family…
Just her first day with all of them, and she was getting tired already. She just wanted to stay in George’s section of the villa peacefully and have some rest. As they all dug into their meals – eating and drinking, George noticed Rachel looking at the bowl of turkey that was far away from her, at the end of the table, so he reached for it and moved it closer to her.
“You should feed her more…” Judith remarked with a sly smile on her face “… I’m sure she hasn’t eaten something this tasty in years. She needs more meat on her bones”
“Mom!” James was mortified. What was wrong with his mother?
“I’ll do that…” George replied calmly, staring at Judith straight in her eyes “…. Make sure you take more elegance classes. You’re still as unrefined as the day you came here” He put more turkey pieces in a shocked Rachel’s plate and focused on his food.
Judith’s mouth widened in disbelief, and she eyed Patricia who chuckled for a moment. She adjusted on her seat and cleared her throat “You must think you can talk to me anyhow because you’re the CEO of this company. Well…” she pointed a finger at George and Rachel “… Both of you actually fit each other. One is a gold digger and the other is a burnt sacrifice”
“Mom, stop it already” James nudged her, as she sat beside him. Why did she enjoy causing trouble?
“Watch your mouth Judith!” Patricia thundered, fixating her angry eyes on her “… I will not have you talk to my son and daughter-in-law this way.”
“So what are you now? A caring mother?” Judith retorted back. “Stop acting like you want her here, It’s not like you are in support of their marriage.”
Patricia had taken enough – of her lunch and Judith. This woman in front of her was completely crazy, they couldn’t even eat their food in peace!. She stood up from her seat and leaned against the table, staring down at Judith.
“I am the woman of this house…” Patricia stated firmly “… and you are nothing but a stupid mistress who is simply taking up space in this villa, with nothing to your name. I believe you should know your place. We are not the same”
And with that, Patricia picked her bag, excused herself and walked out. Judith watched angrily as the maids bowed in respect when she walked past them. They never bowed to her, not even once. Obviously, they knew the truth….
She was a mistress who had nothing to her name and she hated Patricia so much.
~~~~~*~~~~~
George had lost his appetite, he was so irritated by Judith – and not just her, but his father who kept quiet all through, showing he was fine with her making Rachel uncomfortable.
He excused himself and left with Rachel, going back to his section of the villa. As they walked back together, Rachel couldn’t believe what she had just experienced. How did something that was meant to be a simple lunch party turn into a mini war zone? She must have been crazy when she signed the marriage contract.. just the first day together with his family and she was losing her mind.
“Are you alright?” She had been quiet for so long, he wondered what she was thinking. Was she regretting marrying him already?
“Yea…” Rachel glanced up at him and laughed “… now, I know what you meant when you said your stepmother is an angry woman”
George sighed in relief. They reached his villa and an hour later, Rachel stood inside his bedroom – now hers, wearing pajamas. She couldn’t believe she had to share a bed with this man for the months to come. She walked over to the right side of the bed, shifted to the edge and laid down just as George walked into the room. He halted a few steps away from the bed…
“What are you doing?” George bit his lower lip, holding back his laughter “If you turn just a little, you’ll fall off the bed”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. I don’t roll in bed”
“Seriously…” He joined her on the bed and quickly pulled her to the middle. Rachel stiffened and her eyes widened, George was directly above her, his face hovering just a few inches above hers. “… I won’t bite you. At least, not in the wrong places” He winked and Rachel pushed him away. She could hear his laughter…
Crazy man. That was her new name for him. And why was she blushing? Shouldn’t her hormones be cooperating with her? Ugh!!
“Just sleep in the middle of the bed” George whispered , a mischievous smirk on his lips “I’ll sleep on my side. It’s a very big bed, if you don’t want me to touch you, I won’t. But if you want me to -”
“I don’t want you to.” Rachel rolled her eyes as she settled comfortably in the middle of the bed, feeling a bit tired. It had been a busy day.
“Are you sure?…” He continued “… You don’t want me touching you in the right places? Your brea -”
Rachel quickly moved and covered his mouth with her hands. “What is wrong with you?” She whispered
“Can you Kiss me goodnight?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me..” Rachel laid down on the bed
“Can we cuddle?”
“There’s no need, I’m fine. Goodnight” She closed her drowsy eyes and gave in to the rest her body craved.
Whatever her future in this villa held, she would face it. Including finding a way to live with this crazy man that lay on the opposite side of this bed. He had been good to her so far. She wasn’t sure how long things would remain this way.