Marriage by Law

"No, interval break," he said.

"What? Since when do we have interval breaks?" I muttered. They would be so handy in normal movie places, especially when you were busting to go to the toilet but the best scene was on.

"Right, I'll be back then." I urgently needed to pee-pee.

I got up. All the seats to my left were with the high school boys and they must have gone or left so it was easy to walk without falling over someone's feet.

I walked past the drinks area and to the bathroom. Washing my face, I stared in the mirror at my sleepy eyes. I really needed to get a good night’s rest. There are only four more days for Darius and I to bond and so far it was not in any progress. One second he was all nice and then he was like a cold-hearted bastard the next.

I walked back to my seat, passing the teenage boy who let out a slow whistle. I shot him a glare and he winked back. I sat back down, taking off my jacket. It was getting a bit too hot in here.

The movie continued and I tried to concentrate on the movie and not on the teenager’s hand that was inching way too close to my armrest. I moved toward Darius more. I kept my eye on the guy and glared at him but he seemed not to notice as he leaned a bit more to my side.

I was ready to confront him when Darius stretched his arm, draping it over the back of my seat. The teenager looked at the hand and moved away and I bit my lip trying not to smile or show that I noticed as I watched the movie.

As much as I tried to concentrate on the movie, my eyes kept drooping and I felt my head sway. Did you ever have those moment when you want to sleep on the train or the bus and the movement kept making your head droop and you got embarrassed? That was what was happening now.

My head kept drooping and swaying and I kept opening my eyes, trying to concentrate. In the end, I gave in and closed my eyes, leaning back into the seat. It was warm and hard and I pulled up my jacket.

I had to say, these seats smelled damn fine. The cleaners did a good job.

Chapter TWELVE


6 Months Ago

Walking into the shop, I looked around at the rows and rows of white dresses and stopped. Why does someone have to wear white? I mean, it signifies purity and innocence but when you think about it, what is so pure about a marriage?

That being said, it was only family members invited, and just about another twenty or so people, so why does this wedding need to be so lavish?

"Hello. Can I help you?"

I turned around to see one of the sales representatives smiling. Another assistant was behind her holding a bottle of champagne and glass and I looked back at my mother with her private assistant going through the dresses.

"Um..." I said, looking back and forth. I looked over at my mother who pulled out a long white dress with a trail probably bigger than the aisle itself and a corset that looked like it was going to make me four sizes smaller.

"Yea, do you have any dresses in orange?" I asked with a smile. Orange is such a nice color, so bright, so orangey, so...bright.

Isn't it a lovely color?

Present Time

Something shook me. It wasn’t an earthquake. And if it was, too bad I was going to sleep right through it. I was way too comfortable to move. There was a rougher shove and I groaned. Okay, maybe this wasn’t as comfortable and I slowly opened my eyes, waiting a few seconds for my eyesight to adjust.

"Wake up, sleepy head," I heard a voice say. I blinked back the sleep and stared into a black sleeve shoving me and I glared at it, making it go away with my stare.

Only then did I realise that the sleeve I was staring at belonged to a body, the same body I was using as a pillow. I sat up straight away, putting as much distance between us as possible and rubbing my head. Actually, I’d rather be in that earthquake.

"Is it over?" I asked awkwardly, surprised that he even let me lean on his shoulder.

"Yes."

Darius stood up while I groaned and leaned back into the seats that were too soft now. Damn, that was the best sleep I had gotten in ages. I yawned again. I felt his shadow over me and peeked to see that he was standing with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Still sleepy? You just slept through the whole movie," he said, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"A girl needs her beauty sleep, okay. And it wasn't the whole movie, more like the last five minutes," I said with yet another yawn and a wave of my hand.

"Oh really? What happened in the movie then?" he dared, propping himself against the seats behind him and crossing one ankle over the other. I was just waiting for him to lose balance and fall backward; it didn’t happen.

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