The Arranged Marriage

The Big City

Quinn woke up early to the sound of her stomach growling. She then realized that she hadn’t eaten in a couple of days. Olivia made it a point that she didn’t want her to eat too much, with the idea that she would gain weight and not fit in her dress. She got dressed in some black leggings and a black sweatshirt. Black was her favorite color, and she wore nothing but.

Quietly looking out the door, she noticed that Jake was no where to be seen. He wasn’t there.

Quinn looked at her watch again and saw that it was almost 5:30 in the morning. She began to wonder where he would have gone so early.

Without thinking about it too much, she went to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge. She found that there wasn’t much besides the basics.

Once Quinn decided to make breakfast, she took out the bacon and eggs, placing them on the counter with the bread.

As she began to familiarize herself with where everything was in the kitchen, she noticed a note left on the counter.

‘I had to go help a friend this morning, here is my number. I want you to contact me if you need anything at all.’ Was what was read from the paper. It contained Jake’s name and number on the bottom. Quinn hesitated for a moment before pulling out her phone and sending him a message, giving him her number.

Once she was done cooking, she sat at the small dining table and ate while scrolling her phone. Although she never talked to anyone or had any friends, she still enjoyed looking and seeing how life was going for others. Most of her class mates from school were on her social media platforms.

Before she could get too into her phone, she got a message from Jake.

‘What do you have planned for the day?’ he asked her. She was surprised that someone was wanting to have a conversation with her. She messaged him back as well.

‘I’m going to fill out job applications and hopefully do interviews today. Then I might find a gym that is close to home.’ She didn’t have too much planned for the day, and she wasn’t sure what to tell him. After all, she didn’t want to ask Jake about his whereabouts and doings. With the way that he told her the boundaries last night, she felt that she didn’t have a say.

After finishing her breakfast, Quinn quickly got to work and went back to the bedroom. She sat on the bed as she scrolled through job applications. Her degree from college was in graphic design. With her ability and skills that were shown in school, she was one of the top students in her class. With her living close to Sisco, she could travel to and from work on a bus or taxi.

A few hours passed as she worked on her resume and sent one to each company.

Looking through the applications, she knew just about every company and who they were. She applied for almost every company. Once she finished sending in her resume’ to multiple companies, she closed her laptop and scrolled through her phone.

Quinn noticed that she got an email from one of the applicants. She opened it anxiously. It was from one of the largest and fastest growing companies in Sisco, the Akira Corp. It was asking her to come in for an interview that day.

She immediately got dressed and did her hair and makeup before heading out and going towards the city at the bus stop down the street.

The neighborhood that they lived in now wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst part of the suburbs, either. However, Quinn felt like she was being watched as soon as she stepped out of the house. She looked around and didn’t see anyone. She brushed off the feeling as she walked onto the bus.

Before she knew it, she was standing in the middle of the lively city, people and cars passing her everywhere. Buildings that looked like they could touch the sky towered around her. However, her lingering feeling of being watched stayed with her.

She scoped the area and saw a car that was sitting across the road from her that looked familiar from the previous bus stop. It was a black car with tinted windows. It was as if someone was watching her behind the glass but couldn’t figure out or see who.

Quinn turned and started walking. She would glace behind her multiple times and notice that the car is slowly creeping up towards her. When she reached the corner of the street, the car stopped her from crossing and the window rolled down. It was Lucas.

“Where are you off to? I saw you leaving your new home this morning!” He said, a smirk across his face.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than harass me?” Quinn said in a stern voice. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with her family anymore. Lucas laughed.

“Your new family and in-laws still owe us their end of the deal. They aren’t contacting us back either,” Lucas spoke as if he wasn’t there to play games all day. He didn’t want to deal with Quinn for long.

“I can’t help you with you or our parent’s s**t, Luke. I didn’t have any part in it.” Quinn was becoming irritated. Lucas then stepped out of the car and walked over to her. He was standing over her, inches away from her face.

“You became a part of this the moment you walked into that church yesterday.” His eyes were cold, and his tone was harsh. “My friends and I will be visiting you often until your husband’s family brings up their end of the deal!” He said before getting back in his car and speeding away.

Once he was gone, Quinn brushed off what he said and kept walking.

After a short walk, she made her way to the Akira Corp. building, where she stood in front of it in amazement. It was one of the tallest buildings and looked brand new.

The company had only been around for 4 years, yet it grew and expanded quicker than most companies. It was one of Quinn’s dreams to work for this company.

She walked in and the lobby looked like it was pure luxury. Standing in amazement, the receptionist near the door greeted her and asked, “How may I help you?” Before long, Quinn sat in a waiting room.