Chapter 6
2095 Words
Arora wakes up to banging on her door, and she rubs her eyes before shouting that she’s on her way. It’s probably her brother, trying to get her to come down for dinner, but she is rudely surprised to find Dremon standing in front of her.
“What the hell are you doing here?!”
“Your father tells me you didn’t have dinner last night, and you are definitely… are those the same clothes you wore yesterday? Arora, what the hell is going on?” His face looks furious, but she feels confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s half-past seven… In the morning…” He lifts his eyebrow.
“WHAT?!”
“Okay, get dressed. I will make sure there is food for you when we get to the university. Meet me downstairs.”
She nods, then closes the door. Did she sleep through the night? She was dreaming… Then? Dammit! She is going to be really late! She grabs a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to put on and then rushes into the bathroom to take a shower.
With her hair in a messy bun, she comes running down the stairs and Dremon and her father are talking. She catches the end of the conversation.
“… just tired after the exams.”
“Yes, that’s what happened. Now, let’s go.” She drops a kiss on her dad’s cheek, before grabbing Dremon by the arm and rushing out the front door.
Dremon tries to speak to her on the way to school, but she simply pulls out her book and starts to read through her notes. She didn’t go through her work last night, and now she is worried about the exam!
***
The food was ready the moment they arrived, as he promised, but she will never admit to him how grateful she was. She simply grabbed the burger, stuffed it into her mouth, and rushed into the exam room.
Now, she is sitting on the bench just outside the hall, enjoying the sunlight while she waits for the car to arrive.
Dremon hadn’t finished by the time she was done, and she took the chance to just step outside and enjoy a moment on her own.
“Sleeping again?” His hot breath blows down her neck and she nearly jumps out of her skin with fright.
“NO! Not that it’s any of your business. Where’s the limo? I’m tired, I want to go home.”
“We aren’t taking the limo. I had a driver bring my car. We are going out for lunch. You need fresh air and proper food.” He grabs her by her elbow and guides her to a black mustang in the parking lot. The driver hands Dremon a set of keys, and he opens the passenger door for her.
She watches as Tricia comes running, but he shuts the door, speaks to her friend, and then slides in behind her. Tricia lowers her head and walks away without saying a word…
“What did you say to my friend?!”
“That we need some alone time.” He pulls out of the parking lot, and she frowns, crossing her arms.
“You can’t tell me who I can and cannot see! Tricia’s my friend!”
“I never said that you can’t see her. I simply told her that I am taking you on a date, and she isn’t invited.”
She pouts and looks out the window when she realizes they are driving into the city.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To lunch.” His face is stern while he maneuvers the car through the streets and traffic.
They pull up in front of a well-known restaurant, and she feels slightly awkward. She is not dressed for a place like this, but he simply takes her hand and walks in. The hostess greets him and takes them to his “regular table”.
The hostess throws her a glare before smiling brightly at him and putting her hand on his shoulder, casually telling Dremon to call her if he needs anything.
When the waiter arrives with the menus, Dremon waves them away and orders.
“Hey! If you are going to force me to eat, you should at least let me look at the menu.” He lifts his eyebrow, keeping quiet for a moment before he completes the order.
The waiter awkwardly looks at her for a second and then disappears.
“You are taking care of yourself, and until you do, I will do it for you.”
“What if I don’t like what you ordered? Or I’m allergic to something.” She pouts, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I know everything about you. You aren’t allergic to anything, you hate spinach, and you would rather drink coffee than eat a proper meal.” He winks at her and smiles when the waiter arrives with their drinks.
She is just about ready to strangle him, but her manners won’t allow her to make a scene in a public place.
“Okay, seeing as you know me so well. What is my favourite colour?”
“You pretend that it’s pink, but you prefer royal blue.”
How the hell?
“My favourite movie?”
“You don’t watch movies. Your favourite animal is an orca whale. You hate having to dress up and prefer your boots to high heels.”
She frowns.
“Why do you want this?”
“I’m hungry.” He frowns, and they stay quiet while the waiter puts their food in front of them.
That was pretty fast! Was the food prepared already or what?
“No, I meant why do you want to marry me. What are you going to gain by doing this?” She hisses at him, trying to keep her voice as soft as possible.
“I get to marry the most beautiful girl in the school. I like you.”
“That’s not a good enough reason.” She stuffs her fork into her mouth and starts to chew.
“It is, to me. Look, it’s been arranged. You may just as well get used to it. You can either take the time to get to know me or don’t. It’s up to you.”
They spend the rest of the meal in silence. After which he pays the account, and they walk out the door. She is ready to aim for the car when he pulls her in a different direction.
“Where are you taking me now?”
“You need a dress for the dance.”
“I have a dress.”
He pulls her into a shop she isn’t familiar with, and she feels as if they have just walked into a different dimension! The dresses are beautiful and most of the colours would be perfect to irritate her dad with, but a black dress catches her eye.
She tries to ignore it, but he seems to have noticed and when the salesgirl introduces herself, he immediately asks for the dress to be taken to the change room.
“I don’t like it!” Pouting isn’t getting her anywhere!
“You do, so don’t be a brat and go try it on.”
***
Sliding her hands over the soft lace bodice, Arora looks into the mirror at her reflection. The tight bodice clings to her body as if it’s a second skin. It lifts her assets, accentuating them and that might be the only thing she doesn’t like about the dress.
Well, maybe if she was going with someone else, it might have been okay.
The inner skirt comes to just above her knee, and the outer lace falls all the way to her feet. It’s actually not a dress, but a jumpsuit of sorts. The pants have been designed to look like a skirt.
She loves it! Now what? Does she pick something else? She has to look for a pink dress.
“Let me see.”
“No!”
“Arora, either you come out and show me or I will come in.” She hears him fiddling with the door and rolls her eyes.
Opening the latch, she steps out, and he whistles, making her blush.
“You look pretty.”
“I don’t like it. I want to try on that pink one.” She points at the first pink dress she can see, but the moment she looks at it, she realizes how hideous it is!
“I thought we’ve been through this already, Arora.” He steps up right next to her, grabbing her by her arm.
“I know you hate pink. We need some shoes.” He whispers, before calling the salesgirl to bring the shoes to go with the dress.
“Is this how things are going to be? You ordering me around the entire time? Dressing me up as if I’m your personal doll?”
She turns to look at herself in the mirror, and he is standing right behind her with his head next to hers.
“Until you start behaving, yes. This is the way things will be.”
The salesgirl arrives with three boxes of shoes and when she opens them, he picks a pair for Arora to try on. She rolls her eyes before sitting down, and she is surprised to find him bending down in front of her.
He slides the silver shoes onto her feet one by one and holds out his hand to help her get up.
She sighs heavily and takes his hand. Wow… She looks pretty amazing, even though she doesn’t want to admit it to him.
He lets her change while he pays and carries her bags to the car. Just as she thinks they are about to leave; he grabs her arm again.
“You need jewellery.”
“NO, I DON’T.” She shouts at him and when people start staring at them, she takes a deep breath.
“I have jewellery. I don’t need you to buy me anything. Can we go home now, please?”
He seems to think about it for a moment, then nods. She doesn’t know if he is angry at her or if he finally got the point, but he doesn’t say a word on the drive home. She was going to jump out of the car when they arrived, but she patiently waits for him to open the door when he still hasn’t said a word.
He opens the door and pulls her into his arms, looking into her eyes, when she feels a shiver run down her spine.
“Arora,” His hot breath blows down her chin and her skin breaks out in goosebumps.
“What?!” Her hands are resting on his chest, and she feels his muscles twitch.
Without saying another word, he lowers his head and his lips touched hers softly. For a second, her mind goes completely blank before she reboots and pushes him away from her.
He pulls her close again, and she slaps him right across his cheek.
“Let go of me!”
“Fine,” He lets her go, and she doesn’t hang around to wait for her bags or anything before storming into the house.
Only when she’s in her room does she realize that her backpack is still in his car, and she turns around to see if he is still there.
“You forgot something?” He smiles at her, standing in the passage with her shopping bags and backpack.
She grabs the stuff from him and slams her bedroom door in his face, locking it before he can come in and try and kiss her again.
“Don’t forget to eat dinner.” She hears him shout and then breathes a sigh of relief the moment she can hear his footsteps moving away from her door.
Why is she being punished like this? Surely what she did wasn’t bad enough that she would have to live the rest of her life in servitude to this ogre!!
Fine, he’s not an ogre, but… What would she call him? His soft lips pop up in her mind, and she swears at herself.
“Enough!” She slams her hand on her desk to try and get her mind away from him.
She has to study. Luckily, she isn’t writing anything the next day, so she won’t have to see him!
- Writer
