NOVEL WEB Chapter 6: WEDDING BELLS
MATTHEW'S POV
It hasn't even been ten minutes since they came in and I am already having a migraine. My father and Gina's father decided to barge into my hotel suite this fine evening to ruin my mood and talk about the merger of their empires. I was just having a quiet time, going through a men's underwear catalogue and feasting my eyes on the good things life had to offer when I heard the doorbell go off. My father, Malachi and their secretaries walked in after I had opened it up for them. God, the front desk really needs to be warned about who gets to come up and who doesn't.
"You guys have been stalling on this wedding and we would like to hasten things up," my father says. No "Good evening, how are you?" from either of them. Just straight to the reason why they came here tonight.
"You and my daughter have been engaged for almost three years now. I think it is time to get married."
A cold shiver runs down my spine. I have always thought that if I can postpone the wedding long enough, it will never happen. I have managed to keep them at bay for three years and when I thought I had finally succeeded, they came up with the idea to announce our engagement to the public. Now they want us to officially tie the knot. I am so not ready for this.
"But we just announced the engagement last week. We can't possibly get married right now," I say in a feeble attempt to dissuade them. My father snaps his finger at his secretary and he finds his way to my wine bar, carefully selects my best whiskey and pours it into a glass for Malachi and my father. I am left out of the alcohol distribution despite the fact that it is mine.
"All the more reason why it should be now. Better to strike while the iron's still hot." I want to ask if we are getting married for the public's sake or for our own happiness but I don't. Why bother when I already know the answer to that question?
I watch as Malachi pulls out his phone and calls someone. It doesn't take me long to figure out that it is Gina. The phone is on speaker mode and she sounds a bit irritated at having been called out from her girls' night. I know she is with Freya because she called me earlier before leaving to cancel our dinner plans.
Malachi doesn't relent and demands that she comes to my room in the next thirty minutes. She arrives in twenty.
"This better be important or I'm smashing your car." I have always admired how Gina speaks to her father. She may be a rude, spoilt brat, but you have to admit, she has balls. I can never stand up to my father the way she does. I'm pretty sure if she isn't all that interested in marrying me, this arrangement will not have survived the three years it did.
"It is my dear. It's about your wedding. We want to move it up." Her countenance changes completely at that. For some reason I had hope that she is going to refuse it, argue that there isn't enough time to make the wedding of the century happen, but she disappoints me by squealing in excitement.
"Oh my God! That's the same thing Mattikins and I were talking about." I grimace at the stupid nickname she insists on calling me. I swear, it's like she and Jacob both met up and decided to come up with ridiculous nicknames just for me.
Jacob. Jacob D'Artagnan. Jake…
I shake my head quickly at the thought of him, feeling my lower body region tingle when his name popped into my head.
What is wrong with you, Matthew? Get it together.
The thought of Jake has me so distracted that I almost forget the last words Gina uttered.
"We were?" I ask, sounding so surprised. I cannot remember talking about moving up the date to the wedding with Gina. In fact, whenever she brings up the wedding, I try my best to not be a part of it. I am so detached from the wedding arrangements I'm surprised Gina doesn't already think she's getting married to herself.
She ignores my exclamation and carries on. "I have always thought that getting married at the end of next year is just too far away. I believe I can plan the perfect wedding even if I have just a few months to do it."
"How few?" I hear myself ask. I am already shaking internally, praying silently that she doesn't say something insane. She does.
"Three-four months. That's more than enough time. Besides, I already have my dress."
The fathers of course agree with this. I am left alone as always, wondering to myself how I got into this mess.
I believe it all started after Gina came back from Europe and decided she wanted us to be friends again. I admit I missed her a little while she was away, but I missed her how a friend missed another friend. She was one person whom I could talk to about things, although I didn't quite feel confident coming out to her. I should have known when she hung out at my place a lot and texted me non-stop throughout the day, and asked me tell her what she looked like in a bikini that she wanted to be more than friends. I should have even figured it out when she told me she really liked me and even kissed me. Why my stupid brain interpreted it as a drunken mistake is beyond me.
If only I had come out to my father then, or Gina. If only I hadn't been so scared and worried what his thoughts about me being gay were. If only I was as brave and confident as Jacob…
Jacob D'Artagnan. Jake. Jacob with the handsome face. Jake with the killer body…
When I feel my groin stir and my dick begin to stiffen a bit, I just know I have wandered into dangerous territory. I would love to figure out why my body keeps reacting to all things Jacob D'Artagnan, but unfortunately, I am not that blessed to have any alone time.
"I'll get the invites ready. I am so excited to be marrying you, Mattikins. Are you?" She doesn't give me enough time to respond before ambushing my lips with hers. Whatever pleasurable path my mind was on earlier quickly cleared up and my penis was back to being flaccid. After a couple more drinks and more talks about the wedding, the two fathers alongside their secretaries leave for the night. Gina however decides to stay back.
"I was thinking babe, what if I spent the night?" Oh, she is using that seductress voice of hers that I'm sure many other men who aren't me will find pleasing. I try to not wince, to not laugh or gag at the sound and just remain cool.
I have always been able to ward off spending the night with her because I know she'll want to have sex and I did not want that at all. Tonight however, I don't think my excuses will work out in my favor. She seems to be in a celebratory mode and frankly speaking, she seems half drunk too.
"I think it'll be best if you went home tonight. You need to sleep."
Oh, what I'll do to be able to say something once and be heard. It's like everyone in my life sees me as this timid little guy who should be walked on and not taken seriously.
Gina moves closer to me and places her hand on my shoulder. Her other hand trails south of my body. If she succeeds in reaching her destination, she will be really disappointed. Her eyes dart to my bed and she sees my magazine. Before I can reach over and grab it from the bed, she takes it in her hand and looks it over.
"This is an underwear catalogue for men." I may be putting too much thought into it, but her tone is a little condemning and disgusted. Panic ceases me and my lying brain kicks in with another life saver.
"It's Anna's. While she was arranging my things earlier, I guess she left it behind. Silly girl."
"I don't like that Anna girl. I see the way she looks at you all the time, like you're something to eat. You should get a new secretary," she says as she marches over to the trashcan and dumps it in. I sigh in relief, glad she buys it. Gina gets a message before she can assault me with her body again.
"Son of a bitch!" she swears angrily. "Bitch!" She mumbled something about Freya being a sneaky B and then grabbs her purse.
"I'll call you later babe, bye."
She has no idea how glad I am to see her walk away. If only it is forever.
***
When Anna marched into my hotel suite this morning, I had high hopes. But the look of dejection and dismay that she sent my way immediately made that hope dissipate. Five minutes later, I am sitting in my hanging chair, trying hard to understand the words she just spoke to me.
"What do you mean the prince isn't staying with us anymore?" I believe I didn't hear her clearly, or that she didn't understand what his handler said when he called. Maybe she doesn't understand it when people speak with British accents.
"I got a call early this morning. I have been working ever since to try and handle the situation. The prince's handlers aren't responding to any of my calls and the emails I sent them haven't been responded to either."
"But why would they change their minds at the last minute? They were the ones who called us, not the other way round!" I hate yelling, especially at Anna, but I am so frustrated and confused that I don't know what else to do. She is obviously just as frustrated as I am. Anna that is usually well dressed with her hair up in a tight chignon is now looking haggard and stressed out, tresses of her hair falling on all sides.
I sigh and sink back into the chair, trying to think of a solution to the problem.
If my Maldives resort isn't on the line, I would have let it go. But Jacob D'Artagnan doesn't look like the kind to back out of a bet just because I beg him to and I am not in the mood to relinquish my ownership rights to that resort. My dad and sisters already tried to take it from me, no way am I giving it to my worst nemesis. Somehow, I know that he is the one that made them change their minds. I just don't know how he did it.
"Anna, we cannot let them stay at Jake's hotel, we just can't." Her lips quiver as she parts them to speak.
"I don't think there's anything we can do about it, sir."
"Well, find something! Find out how Jacob convinced them to stay at his place. We can do the same, even double it. Just…I am not losing my resort!"
She flinches as I scream out that last part. Without saying another word, she leaves my room. My body seems to be on fire – right from the top of my head to the sole of my feet. I can hear my heart racing erratically against my ribcage and the blood vessels in my head are throbbing a great deal.
The image of Jake laughing and smiling like all is well in the world crosses my mind, but instead of me to be enraged by it, I am oddly comforted by his handsome face. I shake it away, telling myself that I am only like that because I haven't had sex in a while and so I find every man, including Jacob D'Artagnan, to be handsome and alluring. It doesn't help at all that he gives off an intense sex appeal.
My phone buzzes and I pick it up. It's an unknown number. I ignore it and go back to thinking of Jacob…I mean my resort. A few seconds later, a message comes in:
Unknown: Pick up, Pretty Face. We need to talk about my resort in Maldives.
Son of a b–