Chapter Five — No Way Out

I stepped out of the car, letting out a breath that I didn't even realise I was holding. I watched as Bill, the driver Brian had sent to pick me, drove off after letting me know that Brian was inside waiting for me. I took in another deep breath and exhaled before walking into the place that already screamed, super expensive. Eating at fancy restaurants wasn't anything new to me but after getting into college and meeting several people from several backgrounds, I noticed that my taste had changed and I stopped obsessing over anything fancy.

"Welcome Madam," a voice greeted me and I noticed that a waiter had appeared in front of me. "Your date has asked us to guide you to the VIP lounge, so please come with me," the waiter said and I mentally rolled my eyes as soon as I heard him mention a VIP lounge.

I didn't bother responding and instead, I just followed behind him slowly. While following, I decided to look around for a bit and honestly, the place was exactly how I had expected it to be. Lavish decorations, romantic lightning, fresh flowers that were supposed to add to the aesthetics and also make the place smell delightful but instead, it did the exact opposite and made me feel nauseous and irritated.

The only thing I love about the place was the artwork that was hung around. I was so busy mentally judging the place that it took me a while to notice that other than the few waiters that I happened to see, the entire place was literally empty. There were no customers at all on sight and the entire place just felt almost lifeless.

"We've arrived Madam," the waiter informed me and I didn't realise when I heaved a sigh of relief. We were in front of a door and just looking at the door, and the wordings on it, I knew that we had really arrived at the VIP lounge and that behind that door was my soon-to-be husband. "I'll be leaving you now Madam. If you or Mr Huxley need anything, you'll be immediately attended to by my colleagues. Have a good evening," he added with a bow before turning and walking away, whilst I stood in front of the door and tried contemplating on whether to walk in or just bail on all of this and head home.

I took a deep breath and knocked gently on the door after making up my mind that the former was the most reasonable option. "Come in," the familiar voice of Brian invited me in and I slowly turned on the doorknob before pushing the door open and walking into the room as confidently as I could.

My eyes met with Brian's as soon as I walked in and I kind of froze for the first few seconds. He had stood up as soon as I walked in and to be honest, I could not deny how breathtaking this man looked right now. I may not like him for anything else but for his looks, he was very much way above my usual standard.

"Good evening Emerald," he greeted, and hearing him call me by my name was something that I couldn't deny I found very attractive.

"Good evening Brian," I replied with a small smile and he helped me pull out my seat, gesturing for me to sit down. "Thank you," I muttered, taking a seat.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me Emerald. I really appreciate it and once again, I apologise for what happened yesterday," he said as soon as he went back to his seat and I quickly dismissed his apology since that was the last thing I wanted from him.

"I didn't exactly know what you liked so I decided against ordering anything on your behalf. You can go ahead and order whatever it is you'd like, I already ordered for myself," he told me and I nervously picked up the menu, scanning through it for something that I find easy to swallow. I couldn't imagine eating anything heavy, especially not when the man in front of me made me so uncomfortable to the point where I had the urge to throw up. I already expected the awkwardness between us but I didn't think I'd find it this suffocating. It already felt like I was having dinner with my boss, instead of my soon-to-be husband.

"Have you made up your mind?" he asked in a somewhat impatient tone and I couldn't tell whether he was actually hungry or he was running out of patience. I'd like to think it's the latter though, judging from the impression that I have of him so far. He definitely seemed like the very impatient type.

"Yes I have," I replied and he immediately called in the waiter and asked that I point out my order on the menu. I did as told and almost immediately, the waiter turned to leave, leaving myself and Brian alone, again. For the first few minutes, we both said nothing and because it felt awkward, I tried distracting myself by looking everywhere else but at him. I could sense that his eyes were on me and this only made me more uncomfortable and self-conscious.

Why ever did I think that accepting to go on a date with this man would help me get to know him? Right now, I regret not staying back home and refusing to partake in this madness.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked suddenly and I'm forced to look back at him. I didn't exactly want to lie and deny the fact that I am uncomfortable, so I simply kept my mouth shut and nodded as a response.

"I would apologise for that but then, I don't think it's right for us to start off our agreement with nothing but apologies. Listen Emerald, just like it's awkward for you, it's also very awkward for me. I thought this would be easy to handle since I already did a check on you but, knowing who you are and doing research beforehand doesn't exactly help much. Instead of making this night go horribly wrong, how about we just introduce ourselves the right way?" he asked and this had to be the longest time Brian has spoken to me without sounding as robotic as usual.

It did bother me though that he did a check on me and referred to it as 'research', but then again, I shouldn't be surprised since it was to be expected.

"So what exactly do you suggest we do?" I asked.

"We don't have to do much Emerald. Since we're still partially strangers, we're going to take baby steps to becoming cordial. We'll start by reintroducing ourselves briefly and from there, we can get into questions that we're curious about. Sound good?" he suggested and I definitely agreed with him since that would help things between us be less awkward and suffocating.

"That sounds good enough Brian. Will you start or should I?" I asked.

"I'll start," he replied. "Well, as you already know, I'm Brian Huxley and I guess you could say I'm a businessman. I'm thirty-two years old and pretty much basic information about me. I'm 6ft3, blood type O and just so you know, my black hair is dyed and I'm a natural blonde. I also don't eat spicy food, at all," he said and I almost laughed out how random he was even with a straight face.

"It's nice meeting you Brian. My name's Emerald Katherine Dawson, I'm twenty-seven years old and I'm a critical care nurse. I'm 5ft8, blood type O and I actually have natural black hair and not brown. I eat spicy food but I certainly have my limits and I'm allergic to roses," I replied and I could have sworn that I heard him chuckle but seeing how his face didn't move, I probably heard wrong.

"I appreciate the fact that you played along to that Emerald. I'm aware that this whole marriage situation might still be unclear to you and that is why I postponed the wedding for another week because I wanted to give you the opportunity to digest all of this and come to terms with it. You may find me a little uncomfortable to be around and that is very understandable since I'm practically a stranger to you but, I'd like to believe that you'll eventually adapt to the awkwardness since I'm not exactly the most approachable person," he said and I immediately knew this was my chance to ask the question that made me actually agree to come here.

"I appreciate the fact that you were thoughtful enough to postpone the wedding but, may I know why we're getting married in the first place? You don't exactly seem like the type that'd just marry just anyone," I said, hoping I didn't sound offensive in any way.

"Didn't your father tell you anything?" he asked.

"He did but I also wanted to hear from you," I responded, not wanting it to be obvious that I was completely clueless about why dad wanted me to marry him. I wouldn't want him to think I'm foolish for not knowing what I'm getting into so I decided to pretend instead.

"It's just collateral, Emerald," he said and I frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, wondering why he'd use the word collateral in this conversation. Was he actually referring to me as one?

"It's nothing Miss Dawson. Whatever it is you've heard from your father is exactly how it is. This marriage agreement has to happen and unfortunately, it's not something that you have a say over. Worry not though, cause it's not going to last forever except of course, if your family decides not to do their part," he said and I have never been more confused in my entire life.

T

he fact that he just told me to my face that I'd have to marry him whether I liked it or not, scared the living daylights out of me and hearing that it wasn't going to last long as long as my parents did their part, made the entire conversation even more confusing.

"Now that that's settled, how about we get into a proper agreement in order to keep the peace between us in the near future?" he added and judging by the ice cold look on his face, whatever it is he's about to say, definitely wasn't going to sit well with me.