Daring to Love

*** The room was a flurry of activity, everyone rushing in the last minute to get everything set up. I could not count the number of times that my hair had been touched, my nude lipstick had been applied, and my dress had been adjusted to achieve the perfect look for the photos. I was moving on auto pilot, focusing solely on the image of my grandfather’s smile. I am doing this for him…and for Santi. For our family. I also love Rickon, so we’ll be happy… I reiterated the last part, a mantra that had been in my mind for the two months leading up to this moment. Today was my wedding day. I would be marrying my boyfriend. A man who also happened to have been one of DC’s most eligible bachelors before he asked me out two years ago. Dating Rickon Saint James was not part of my plan. Dating anyone really hadn’t been on the cards for me. I wanted to focus on my career and on my family. My heart just wasn’t in it until Rickon managed to somehow convince me to go on a couple of dates with him. Two dates turned to more. He was charming and charismatic. He was also the heir to Verizon James Banking Limited and a multitude of other businesses. Not that I cared a lot about his background back then, but his influence had become my saving grace. He has become my family’s savior…And for that, my love for him has grown… Their old money circles and connections propelled them into Upper Society, placing them at the pinnacle. He had been exactly who I needed by my side to ensure that my family survived the storm we were in. A brutal storm that had almost taken everything from us. Rickon’s marriage proposal had come out of nowhere. It was too soon. Our relationship still felt so new but the urgency of the situation around me and the promises he made had pulled an answer out of me. Marry me, Fernanda. Let me take care of you and your family. I’ll do everything I can to help you get through this… How could I say no when the answer to my desperation was staring right at me. I wanted to help my family and marriage was clearly the best way. And so I said yes, silently musing that I had become exactly what I never thought I would be. Marrying for the sake of business empires and uniting families was common in Upper Society. I just never thought I would be one among the many who had taken that step. Just like my cousin, Gianna Maximiliano…well, she’s now Gianna Aleksandros. I wonder whether my story would have a happy ending, just like hers… I had resigned to be a good wife to Rickon. To take care of him and perform all the duties required of me as part of the Saint James family. I would love him as much as he clearly cherished me. I had no doubt in my mind that Rickon loved me. He had made it clear from the moment we met and every day after that. I’d had so much guilt for being unable to show him just as much love for so long. But that had all changed from the moment he had taken up Zephyr’s crisis as his own. Our family’s business , Zephyr Airlines, was an Aviation Giant in its own right, rising through the ranks from the moment my great-grandfather had established it. We were a household name, known across the world for top class service and more. Everything had, however, come crashing down around us when a financial storm hit us, one that rivaled any that we had ever had. And it was mainly due to the sudden accident of the CEO - Santiago Ferreira - my older brother. Our stocks had plummeted once the Press ran the news before our PR team could prepare an adequate response, sending not only Zephyr but all our subsidiaries into a tailspin. Shareholders had gone wild, the COO had quit suddenly and, for a time, our fate was uncertain. All eyes had turned to me for a solution. One that I did not have. Although I had gone to MIT Business School- MIT Sloan School of Management - like my brother before me, as was tradition in our family, my dreams had taken me down a different path. Music had always been my first love and I had immersed myself in it after obtaining my MBA - emerging as one of the most sought after Pop stars of the age. To the rest of the world, I was the multiple award-winning singer, songwriter, producer and musician, Fern. But that’s not who Zephyr needed in this crisis. No, it needed Fernanda Ferreira, heiress to the Aviation Industry giant, to hold the company together whilst its actual heir fought for his life at the hospital. And so I took the position of interim CEO, if only just to calm the shareholders down and stabilize our image before the world. I had dealt with the most urgent situation at hand by sanitizing our image, but the main issue was still present. Our financial crisis was still looming, threatening to destroy us. In essence, I had put a band-aid over a gushing wound. And so, despite my urgings otherwise, my grandfather had canceled his retirement and returned to the fray once more - ignoring the health concerns that had pushed him into retirement and pulled Santiago into the CEO position earlier than intended. Granted, that was five years ago, but the doctors had been adamant that he stay away from high pressure situations that included the management of Zephyr. His stroke all those years ago had petrified both Santi and I. We couldn’t afford to lose him, the man who had raised us after our parents' death. Augusto Ferreira had become our guardian one fateful night after the call came in of the plane crash that had taken our parents from us. He had been broken by the death of his beloved son and heir as well as the daughter he never had in our mother. But his grief had taken the back burner as he focused on raising a twelve-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl - his beloved grandchildren. Although my Aunt Elena Maximiliano and my grandmother Nina Maximiliano had offered to take us in, the old man had refused to give in. How could he let go of the only connection he had with not only his son but his beloved late wife… We were his greatest treasure, which was why news about Santiago’s accident had shattered him. But he refused to stay down. He was a fighter, through and through, choosing to focus all his efforts on bringing Zephyr back to its feet. He chose to protect the legacy that he left Santi and I…and I have chosen to protect him and my brother - just as they have protected me all my life. A partnership with Verizon James Banking would inject the funds necessary to put Zephyr back on its feet. And as partnerships went in our world, marriage was probably the strongest foundation to unite major corporations such as ours. Rickon and I were, at least, in love, which made it easier to accept what we were about to do. This partnership would also allow grandfather an easier time as he managed the company on my behalf. He couldn’t fully return as CEO, not with the common knowledge of his health issues. The shareholders needed to know that the future of the company was stable and having me at the helm was best for the moment as we awaited Santi’s return. And so my wedding day was here, a massive event that had pulled big names from Upper Society and had the internet buzzing for months since our engagement was announced. Karen and Robert Saint James had spared no expense in ensuring that the event was a lavish affair. After all, ninety percent of the guest list was theirs. Not that I minded the ten percent. Seeing as we moved in the same circles, grandfather’s friends and acquaintances were within the Saint James’ ninety percent. My ten percent was reserved for family, friends and for someone I had managed to convince myself was part of the family and nothing more… ***