Marriage By Law

Chapter Thirty Five

"God, Ivory, do you always have to be a messy eater?" I admonished myself as I turned on the hot water tap. If I thought it was just cream and it would come off, I was wrong.

The food color from the ice cream stood out against the dark jacket. I grabbed some soap, placed the jacket under the running water and rubbed at the stain. 

"Damn it," I muttered, pausing as I got out of breath.

I had removed most of it but the blue was still there. It was like it was etched onto the fabric.

Drastic measures call for drastic time. 

I looked under the sink and found a spare toothbrush. I hope it's not someone's. I placed some of the soap on it and rinsed it under scalding hot water before I rubbed it violently against the patch of stain.

"Go, go, go!"

It didn't do anything; there was still some stain left over. I stopped, leaning against the wall feeling like I ran a marathon. Man, this was like a cardio workout and all I was doing was intense scrubbing.

I looked at my hands that were red from the water but that would go back to normal. I wrinkled my nose at all the soap around my ring and pulled it off, rinsing it under the tap. I turned it around looking at the massive stone, hating how big it was. It was beautiful but it was too big, and impractical for everyday wear.

If I had to put a wager, it would be that my mum bought this or chose it for the wedding. It was a large diamond that was surrounded by more diamonds. I placed it on the counter. The ring was sharp and I could see the imprints of some of the small diamonds on the side of my other two fingers.

Whenever I slept, the ring would turn a bit and dig into my skin, like now.

I turned the water to ice-cold, wringing my fingers under it. It was still a nice stone. I'm pretty sure every other lady would love to have a ring like that.

I looked in the mirror at the dark eyes that stared back at me. They looked... happy? I waved my hands in the air and pulled off my towel, letting my long black hair fall down my shoulders. It looked like most of the orange had gone since I couldn't visibly see any powder left. 

I ran a hand through my hair, letting it spread so it would dry faster. 

I looked down to see I left the tap open and swore, hurrying to shut it off. 

"Nice one, Ivory," I muttered, turning it close when my hand accidentally hit the ring, sending it tumbling into the sink.

"Oh shit, no!" I slammed my hand down the sink but the ring just slipped under my fingers.

"Shit," I muttered, looking up only to stare at horrified eyes staring back at me. 

"Oh my god, oh my god, I'm going to die," I chanted as I shoved clothes on as fast as I could and ran a hand through my hair.

I opened the door looking in. Silence, nothing.

Thank god he wasn't back yet. 

I stepped out of the bathroom, running to my suitcase and grabbing flats out and shoving them on.

"What do I do?" I know. Notify hotel stall for a wedding ring. Perfect. Genius, Ivory.

I pulled the last flat on, rushing to the door and opening and was running out when I slammed into the chest of someone standing outside. I looked up as I rubbed my nose.

"Ow," I exclaimed as Darius looked down at me in confusion. He was holding his key card in his hand.

"Oh, you're awake," he said.