Arranged

III

"It takes grace to remain kind in cruel situations,"
- Rupi Kaur

I swear she was trying her hardest to kill me.

I stood still, Kai was all I could focus on. His pure hatred towards me radiated off of him in waves.

I wanted nothing more than to melt into the floor. Why did he loathe me so much? I've barely even spoken to him.

It took everything in me to cross the white linoleum, and greet my unwanted guests.

"Oh Rowan dear you look absolutely beautiful," Mrs. Parker smiled.

I thanked her with a small smile, and bowed my head slightly.

My eyes again met Kai's. His Irises a were a deep brown, almost red.

I gulped. Look away.

My mother interrupted the tension between us by grabbing my shoulders and giving them a tight squeeze, "my Rowan is just ecstatic that you're all here, she couldn't wait to see Kai again."

Speak for yourself.

"We are just as delighted to be here," Mrs. Parker grinned at me. It seemed as if Kai was getting angrier the more our parents spoke for us. I don't blame him, neither of us wanted to be here.

My father interrupted the awkward smiling back and forth between the Parker's and my mother and I, "dinner's ready if you're ready," he gingerly stepped behind my mother and gave a pleasant gesture.

The Parkers nodded and followed my father into the dining room. Kai's glare never left me, I could feel his eyes burning into my back as I walked. My skin crawled, and I began to internally panic. God why can't I just leave?

Once we sat down, my mother got right to talking. Now that our marriage was final, all my mother wanted to talk about were the plans for the wedding and ceremonies.

I kept my eyes down for most of the dinner only occasionally answering questions Mrs. Parker asked me. I knew that if I looked up, I'd be met with Kai's disgusted face.

My cheeks were blotched with red as my mother began steering the conversation towards me.

I hated when she did that.

"Rowan, wouldn't you like to discuss plans with us? You've been very quiet most of the night."

Picking at my feta pasta, I gently shook my head, "I trust your judgment with the decisions for the ceremonies," And I don't care.

My mother gave me a slight glare. If Mrs. Parker hadn't of been smiling at me from across the table, I would have rolled my eyes and probably said a few choice words under my breath.

Mrs. Parker spoke up and gestured to Kai, "I think you both need to go out on a date before the wedding. I think you'll get to know each other a little better that way," she said in between bites of food.

I could feel the tension grow between my "fiancé" and I. Fear caught in my throat and I could only sit and try not to choke.

Both my mother and father agreed, "that's a splendid Idea Lillian, Rowan isn't that a wonderful idea?" My mother chirped.

I nodded my head, "perfect!" I tried my best to sound as enthusiastic as I could, but there's a reason I wasn't a famous actress, I couldn't even pull off a lie.

"And what about you Kai?" Mrs. Parker asked.

Kai looked at me, "perfect."

I leaned into the back of my chair, his icy response clearly giving me the memo. It was far from perfect.

"Then it's settled! I'll bring out the wine," my mother clapped.

As our parents were steadily getting tipsy off of watered down grape juice, Kai remained stone. I wanted so badly to fake a sickness or even ditch the dinner altogether. Instead I did the brave thing and stayed seated watching the people before me.
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A short chapter
I'm sorry guys, I've recently been diagnosed with severe SAD and Depression so I've taken a small break to work on myself. I'm going to try to make the chapters longer when I have the time. Again I apologize for being so late in updating.

I've received a few book covers for Arranged from two extremely sweet individuals. Both of their edits are phenomenal so I'll be switching up the covers each week so you all can see how beautiful they are!! This week's cover was made by @-miawrites!!

I should be updating a way longer chapter by the end of this week :) thank you all for understanding.