Chapter Ten: If it becomes real.
Arya ran to the standing mirror with the wedding gown, that had just been delivered and checked on it. She made a spin and smiled.
“This is pretty.” Her smile fell. “And also very familiar.”
She had seen a sample at the boutique, was the dress in trend? Perhaps when Damien shopped for it, he saw it and liked it. Her smile returned. At least, they had similar tastes in clothes.
“What are you doing? Thinking of you two being compatible? Forget it, it’s a contracted marriage.” she dropped the gown to the floor.
Why was Damien being so kind to gift her a gown? Did he know that she didn’t have a single coin with her to buy anything?
“Arya! That dress belongs on your body and not the floor!” Anna shouted, entering her room.
Arya picked it up hurriedly and threw it on the bed, she rushed to her sister’s side. “You said he called? What for? About me or something?”
Why was she curious? Anna wondered. “He called to ask how my marriage plans with Jim are going. Jim is still in base for the mean time so that’s on hold.”
Arya nodded, withdrawing.
“Now, you’d be getting married before me, I need to give you some tips.” Anna dragged her up from the bed.
“It’s not an actual marriage.”
“Stop saying that. Who do you want to get married to then?”
Arya pouted, she didn’t have an answer to that but she didn’t also like the idea of her first marriage being arranged, it lacked the love and dramatic love proposal she wished for herself.
The words of Damien while he was her marriage counselor came to her mind.
“… the part about your marriage being arranged. I just wanted to add that, as long as the man you marry isn’t abusive, it’s not big of a deal. To add, back in the days, arranged marriages were a norm, like blind dates now. And they had been very successful and stayed strong.”
With what she knew about him from her sister, and her own experiencing him as Mr. Wade, he seemed like a genuine man who could care about someone.
“But I’m still going to see this as a contracted marriage. Who knows? Maybe Seth will break up with Edna one of these days after knowing the kind of slut she is.” She said.
“And then? You’d try to date him or only cheer in the sideline and watch some other slut take him.” Anna looked at her sister.
Who gave no response.
“Don’t you even see? Sluts are his type. He acts like a clueless shy boy but sexually active girls are his to-go. Please.” She sighed, and walked into the kitchen.
Arya rolled her eyes at the disrespect. Seth had been her shy clueless boy since high school, he was only deceived into loving the wrongs ones. She went into the kitchen with her sister.
“Anyway, Damien is visiting China this week. Our wedding is the next week. Could you ask that since next week is the summit, he’s a speaker and I’d be attending, let’s not be having a marriage the same week?” Arya pleaded.
There was silence.
“And why?” Anna didn’t look up from the vegetables she was chopping. “So your friends won’t know you married CEO Damien of Wade groups of companies. I think it’s a flex, no?”
Arya pursed her lips. Group of companies? How wealthy was this man? “No… it’s not about anyone but I’d like to be in good state of mind, preparing for the summit.”
“So do you want the wedding after or before the summit?” Anna asked.
“Before.” Arya replied.
“You know he’d be travelling to China, right?” Anna asked again.
“He could have someone stand in for him.” Arya shrugged. “It’s just a contract marriage, right? Anyone can stand for him!”
“You wouldn’t mind or you are looking for a way not to see him cause you’re still embarrassed about the romance counselor thing?” Anna asked, with a frown.
Her sister nodded. “Yes and yes but also because I need to be in the right state of mind before the summit. Help me here. Just ask him.”
“It’d hurt his feelings, you know.” Anna sighed, washing some cucumbers to cut.
Arya narrowed her eyes. “Why? He just needs a contract wife.”
Her sister pointed the knife she was holding at her and said.
“Yes, his parents forced him to get a wife but it doesn’t mean he won’t want to keep her. I know he agreed that you could leave but you shouldn’t make him fall in love with you, or it’d be hard to do.”
The nineteen year old Arya didn’t think of that, she rubbed her head, feeling sweat beads grow on them. What if Damien falls for her? It’d be painful for him if she left.
Anna, seeing the effect her words had on her sister, smiled to herself. “Anyway, I’d tell Damien about your decision. He’d do it if you want him to. He’s that thoughtful.”
Arya nodded with a small smile and walked out of the kitchen.
She fell on her couch and whipped out her phone. The past few days, she was wondering how to act like a wife to him, just to fit the role.
She never thought if he’d be thinking of acting like a husband, or actually being a husband.
“I’d leave that to when we get married then we’d have a serious talk about that.” She finalized, trying to dial her best friend, Winx.
“But won’t it be conflicting since I made it feel, during the romantic counseling, that I wanted to love the man I was marrying? This is so messed up.” She added, with a sigh.
Winx answered up. “Hey, girl! How are you and Damien going? Have you guys met up and get to know each other yet?”
“No.”
“What? Girl! Take it like a blind date. No pressure. That guy is hot!” Winx gushed on the phone.
“How’d you know?” Arya chuckled, she knew Winx was right.
“Um… he’s one of the speakers at our summit. The youngest. His picture is there and half the girls, even non engineers, are coming for the summit just to see him.”
Arya raised a brows and changed the ear she was listening with. “That’s sick! I guess I should brag I am his wife there.” She said that sarcastically.
“Yeah… I’d be bragging my bestie is his wife too!” Winx cheered.
“I was joking, don’t do that.” Arya warned, dropping the phone on her laps and then putting it on her ears again. “Do you think contract marriages becomes real?”
“Many times they do.”
“You think?” Arya sighed.
“Times it won’t be real is if both parties get to lose if it becomes real. Like say, the girl married the man to pay her debts while the man only wanted her to bear him a son. After that, they go their ways.”
Arya nodded at Winx’s words. “So how she pays her debt to him is bearing him a son?”
“Yep. She can still have rights to the child but she’d cease from being the man’s legal wife.” Winx replied.
“Okay. But now, Damien and I’s contract will be weird. No kid involved, I owe him no debt but he helped pay mine. Why’s it even a contact marriage?” She rubbed her temples.
Winx hesitated. “Maybe, it’s because there’s no love between you two?”
Arya nodded but then stopped. “And if they is?”
“It becomes real!” Winx cheered again.
As blissful as that sounded, it still scared the crap out of Arya.