Secrets of a Billionaire

Chapter 3

Amanda’s POV

I wake up to the sounds of someone messing about in my kitchen. Mark is apparently up. I don a bathrobe over my nightshirt, and decide to go find out what he’s up to.

He doesn’t even notice me at first, as he digs into boxes clearly marked KITCHEN on them, apparently trying to find something.

“What are you looking for?” I ask softly, and yet it seems to startle him anyway. He makes a strangled sort of noise, stepping back from the box he was looking through with his hands waving pathetically about in the air like I’m arresting him or something. “Everything is a mess since I only moved in here yesterday.”

“I… uh… who are you?” He asks, blushing. “And how did I get here?”

“I’m Amanda. We met at the bar down the street last night,” I try to explain. “We came back here to… ummm… anyway, what are you looking for? Maybe I can help, since I only packed all of these boxes.”

“Coffee maker? And things to make coffee with?” He asks, and I just have to laugh.

“Well, you won’t find anything like that in any box I own, since I only drink tea!” I tell him brightly. “But just give me a minute to get dressed and we’ll go grab some caffeine just down the street.”

I quickly throw on some jeans and a light sweater, slip my feet into some sandals, and run a brush through my hair. Not bad, I think, for this time of the day on a Saturday. But I’ll need to get busy soon getting dolled up for the wedding later this morning.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I really must go,” Mark says, tapping on my door. “I um, have an event this afternoon.”

“What, do you mean your wedding?” I ask, opening my bedroom door. “Surely you planned to cancel it after what happened yesterday! You wouldn’t really want a wife who would cheat on you with your best friend, would you?”

“Wait, what?” He asks, sounding confused. “I didn’t dream all of that?”

“You really did drink a lot last night, didn’t you?” I reply kindly, hoping he doesn’t break down in tears again. He certainly doesn’t look too happy right now. “Well, never mind. You’ve already got the tuxedo, and I’ve got the white dress. You promised to come to my wedding today instead, or did you forget that, too?”

Mark looks stunned for a moment.

“Yeah, that’ll work!” He says, suddenly sounding joyful for some reason. He gives me an exuberant kiss on the cheek. “Let’s go get that coffee!”

“This day is really looking up!” He tells me, almost skipping as we head towards the little local coffee shop called The Daily Grind. I get a chai tea latte and an almond scone, while Mark gets one of the seasonal coffee drinks and a bacon breakfast sandwich.

“So… what time is the wedding? And where?” He asks, as we sip our choice of caffeine.

“The ceremony starts at noon, but photos will start an hour before that,” I say, also giving him the address of the church. He looks at his watch.

“We need to be there at eleven? It’s 9:30 now! That doesn’t give us very much time to get ready,” he says, looking concerned. “Is my car still at the bar we met at last night? Please tell me you didn’t let me drive in that state!”

“Relax, the bar is only another block down the street!” I tell him. However he insists on leaving immediately, taking our breakfast along with us.

The car is exactly where he left it, and he drives me back the four blocks to my high rise apartment, giving me a kiss before he lets me out.

“I’ll be back in about an hour to pick you up!” He tells me, and then he drives off. I hope I can trust him. I really don’t want to go to my brother Derrick’s wedding without an escort. My mother the socialite would have a case of the vapors if I show up without one. Not that we’d be able to get through any sort of major family event without mother making a huge fuss over one thing or another.

Mother is a bit of a narcissist, actually, and loves to be the center of attention. But not today, she won’t hogging the spotlight from Derrick and Lindsey if I have anything to say about it! I had been keeping tabs on all of her little attention seeking ploys, and had come up with several plans along with my soon to be sister in law to minimize some of the worst things she had planned.

Mark was not wrong though, I do need to hurry! I have a quick shower, and then put on a classic looking form fitting silky wedding dress with a deep slit down both sides so that I could walk. I found it at a thrift shop. It’s a little snug fitting, but I can breathe, so that’s good. Then I begin to add makeup and do my hair, finally attaching a big floppy hat with a large crushed toile bow. It looks very classy and elegant in my opinion.

I’m just sliding into a pair of white pumps when I hear the door buzzer go off. I press the intercom and tell Mark that I’ll be right down. I grab a little white pearl studded clutch purse, which contains my lipstick, bandaids in case I get blisters, and a handkerchief. All your typical wedding essentials! Then I grab the present, and head down the elevator.

“WOW, you clean up nicely,” Mark says when he first sets his eyes on me.

“Thanks! I found this dress in a thrift shop. I was kind of going for classy,” I say, taking the hand he holds out to me. He leads me out to a waiting car, which turns out to be… a limousine? With a driver in uniform waiting to help us. “Isn’t a limo just a bit over the top?”

“Well, I had one scheduled anyway, and it was too short of notice to get my money back,” Mark explains, taking the present from me while I get into the limo. “Thankfully the company was able to change the time.”

Then he climbs in next to me. Soon we are underway.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Mark suddenly says, and begins fumbling around in one of his pockets. He pulls out a ring with the most enormous diamond I’ve ever seen, and before I have any idea what Mark is up to, he slips it onto my finger! “Your engagement ring!”

I look at the ring, confused. The rock is so big, it has to be fake. Right? Because why would a man I’ve known for literally just a few hours put a huge diamond engagement ring on my finger?

“Don’t you like it?” He asks when I don’t say anything. I’m honestly too shocked to. “If it’s loose, we can have the size adjusted.”

“I mean… who wouldn’t like it?” I finally managed to say. “But I don’t understand. What’s it for?”

“Well, we’re getting married aren’t we?” He says boldly. Did I really hear that properly? Did he just say that out loud, for real? I start to shake my head, too shocked to say anything. “That was the plan, wasn’t it? I figured I must have told you I need a wife by the end of the month… or… you… honestly don’t know anything about that, do you?”

“I asked you to be my plus one at my BROTHERS wedding today!” I inform him. “I’m not going to marry a man I only just met!”

“But… you’re wearing a wedding dress! Why are you wearing a white dress to someone else’s wedding?” Mark asks, obviously confused. And who wouldn’t be? It’s certainly an oddity.

“It’s because of my mom,” I try to explain quickly, although I could talk for days on the subject of my mother’s behavior. “She’s a narcissist drama queen, who can’t stand it when she isn’t the center of attention! And I heard all about her about her plan to wear a wedding gown months ago. So everyone will be wearing white at this wedding, except for the bride Lindsey. She’s going to wear pink!”

“Hoo boy, and I thought my family was nuts!” Mark says with a laugh. But then he sobers up a moment later. “But the thing is, I really do have to be married by the end of the month. And I can’t tell you the reason why. So I’m begging you, please! Please, will you marry me?”