Chapter Sixty-Six – Belittled.
“How did he know the middle school I attended? Was he my classmate?” Arya wondered while standing outside.
The door to the hotel closed and she rushed towards it. “Okay.” was all she could reply with.
She wasn’t feeling very excited to talk anymore if he was truly someone from her past – a haunting traumatizing past that she should have gotten over by now.
Her mind kept going back to it.
She watched Master Ken curve to the reception table, possibly to get a room in the hotel. Her eyes darted around, searching for an avenue to run to her room.
Talking about her middle school was the last thing she needed now. But Ken walked back to her seconds after.
“Don’t you remember attending Melissa’s Middle School? It hasn’t been that long.” Ken asked with an eyebrow raise.
His tone was condescending and Arya frowned. “Of course I do. What do you want to know about them.”
She wasn’t happy responding but she wasn’t liking his tone either. Did he always talk in such condescending manner? How was he Damien’s best friend?
“Hmm. So it was you. Anyway, nice to meet you as I earlier said. I’m the secretary of the Wade groups. A family friend to the family.” Ken made a small bow.
Arya paused. Was that all he wanted to say about her middle school? She was glad he wasn’t talking about it more but what did he meant by ‘so it was you.’
Did he know her from somewhere? She didn’t want to bring it up again but she was curious.
During her middle school, the one thing she always vividly remembered was having a stalker. A young boy from another school who always wore a headband on his head.
She wasn’t much of a hero back then but she stopped some bullies who were trying to extol money from the boy. She had barely looked at the boy when he turned red.
Being innocent, she assumed the boy was crying so went over to hug him but he got even redder. He had gotten flustered.
They had a little chat and he said his father recently died and he ran away from home because his family wanted him to take over the company even if he was just fourteen.
That should have even their only interaction but since then, the boy kept on following her, everywhere. To school, back from school and even to an excursion one time.
It got so bad that she had anxiety and wondered if the boy was out to kill her. By the time she had made up her mind to confront him, the boy stopped following her.
It was later on that she found a letter from the boy apologizing for what he had done. It ended that way but Arya had already been scarred.
Years later, she realized that the boy may have actually suffered from a illness – yandere disease – due to the loss of his father.
She tried to forgive the traumatic experience she had undergone but she couldn’t forget.
Whatever Ken wanted to talk about her middle school, if it was a good memory they may have shared, then she’d like to know as she couldn’t remember anything good happening.
“Thanks. I’m Damien’s wife, Arya. And my middle school?”
“I only wanted to confirm you went there. I know the school, that’s all.” Ken replied immediately. “Forgive me for not attending your wedding, I had more fun things to do.”
A frown grew on Arya’s face. If he’d said ‘important things to do’, she’d understand, after all the company business was more important than a contract wedding.
But he saying ‘fun things…’ just ticked her off, even if the contract wedding wasn’t really fun. “Damien was right. We’d never get along.” She mumbled to herself.
“Now, you may be wondering why I decided to grace you with my presence…” Ken started again. “Well, it’s for one reason. Maybe I was wrong about how smart you could be.”
How smart she could be? Wasn’t that future tense? Arya folded her hands and waited for him to land.
“An unexpected marriage to a girl I’ve never heard about. That’s what I thought of the marriage between you and Damien. I never took it seriously.” Ken added.
Arya’s folded hands loosened. If that was the case, then she understood how hard that could be for a best friend. Winx would also have been stunned if she suddenly got married.
“I concluded that he may have married a nut job he’d easily control. And the marriage was also a formality too.” Ken chuckled. Arya didn’t see what was funny.
“Anyways, when he kept the marriage a secret because you wanted to. And began caring for you deeply, I got worried because I didn’t think he should be falling that fast.”
Arya’s eyes widened. Even his best friend knew Damien was in love with her? That was bad. She had to fall in love back or else these rich people could kill her.
“But with your call with him today, and how you accessed the situation, I was glad that you weren’t very much a nut job.”
Wasn’t very much? Arya shook her head. She had just been standing there and receiving underhanded compliments from the young man. “Thank you for thinking that.”
Her tone didn’t come out as sarcastic as she had wanted.
“You’re welcome.” Ken replied sarcastically. It annoyed Arya.
“I’ve said all I wanted to say to you. Goodbye. Stay inside for now as it seems you’re still the target. Let the men handle this.” Ken smirked then walked off.
Was that misogyny? Arya couldn’t believe how flawed the young man was. And she was still the target? That worried her a lot. What if this group went after her family again?
“Really, this conversation with Ken didn’t give me any gain. He just belittled me to his heart content. How is he Damien’s friend?” She scoffed, stomping to her room.
She remembered Ken saying something. About how he assumed Damien married suddenly because he wanted a girl to control. Did he think his friend was that type of person?
“Since he understood that his friend was in love with me then it means he really knew Damien. Could Damien be the kind of guy that would marry a woman to control?” Arya pondered.
She shook the thought out of her head.
That Ken was just a egoistic jerk that Damien may be putting up with because he’s a good secretary.
Arya had heard how one family has been the Wades group secretary for years. Maybe Damien put up with him because of their history together and nothing else.