Life is all about adjusting and sacrificing. The hard decisions we make affect those around obviously being governed by love. Love controls all; it's like a greater of us. It's spectacular, the things love does. It makes us sacrifice our own happiness just to save those we love and have them keep smiling...
I rolled over my bed while tugging the blankets closer to my body. My eyes fluttered open for a bit and I saw my alarm clock written 07:32. I rubbed my eyelids and looked more closely and it was still 7:32. Remembering the court case I had with Matt I jumped out of bed along with my blankets almost tripping in the process but I managed to steady myself. After stripping whilst running I hopped into the shower not minding the coldness of the water as it cascaded down my body.
After a quick shower I then grabbed a black dress, red blazer, and a pair of black heels from my closet. I applied light makeup, combed my hair and wore some accessories.
Having completed getting ready, I grabbed my purse and car keys and drove away from my apartment and sped off to the court where I was met by an angry looking Matt.
"Am I late?" I questioned tucking a strand of my dark brown hair behind my ear.
Matt's silence answered my question as he and the client strode into the court room leaving me even more hurt than I was supposed to be.
***
"Matt! Matt!" I called to him as he walked to his car.
I needed to talk to him about everything but he was giving me such a hard time. Yes I'd messed up but I needed a chance to explain myself.
"What do you want Lola?" he questioned quickly his tone as cold as ice.
"Matt we need to talk," I cried following him to his car. To anyone who was witnessing this they probably thought I was a love sick puppy.
"Talk," he stated more coldly while getting into his car. Scoffing to cover up my hurt I made my way to the other side of the car and got in.
"Well?" he asked starting his car so that he would drive off and I gulped not knowing where exactly to start.
"I didn't break off the engagement because I wanted to, something happened," I explained but his attention was on the road.
Turning to face him I then decided to tell him about contract. He acted neutral throughout the whole conversion and even after.
"Matt!" I yelled wanting him to snap out of it and he stopped driving.
"Lola!" he also yelled mimicking my tone which made me scoff and roll my eyes. This guy was going to be the death of me.
"I'm sorry," I told him while looking at him and he just stared at me blankly.
"I can't forgive you for breaking my heart. What do you want from me? You already have a new fiancé so don't waste your time talking to me," he responded while parking in the office parking lot. My car was already there as I had asked one of the interns at our firm to bring it for me.
I sighed and got out of the car and stopped by a café to order a burger, fries and milkshake. I walked to my office with my heels making a clicking sound on the tiled floor causing everyone in the quiet building to look up at me. Ignoring the stares I quickly made my way to my office and I started on my other cases while digging into my food but was interrupted by the phone which was ringing and I debated on whether to answer it or not but when it continued ringing I decided to answer it.
"Hello Moira, how may I help you?" I said feeling annoyed while taking a fry.
"It's Mrs. Henstridge, she wants to see you," Moira replied and sighing I told her to let her in despite not wanting to see her.
I straightened my skirt and stood up so that I could receive my future mother in law. She entered without knocking and stretched her arms for a hug. I hugged her back and she sat on one of my office sofas with a beam on her face. Her eyes wondered around the room and I could tell she didn't approve by the frown she had on her face and the creases on her forehead. She quickly masked it with a smile and I fake smiled back wanting her to be gone already.
"Hello Lola, I came here to ask for your opinion on some of the wedding ideas. As you know your mother and I are organizing the wedding so I have a few ideas I'd like to run by you first," she said slowly as if talking to a slow person making me bite my tongue so that I wouldn't verbally attack the woman.
I nodded and she passed me her iPad which had a couple of wedding venues, colours to choose from and wedding gowns. Browsing through the pictures I returned her iPad before saying, "Can you send me an email with all this and then I'll run this with Jayden before coming back to you," I stated with a smile and she smiled back before standing up to leave.
"Thank you Lola. Feel free to come to me for anything okay? I guess I'll see you in a few days," she told me giving me a hug as she was about to leave.
I smiled as brightly as I could happy that she was finally leaving. I couldn't bear the fake smiles anymore.
"Goodbye Sylvia." I hugged her back and ushered her to the door before calling Jayden who hung up as soon as he heard it was me.
I then decided to text him instead since he wasn't picking up any of my calls.
Hey Jayden
Your mum came to see me and she came to drop by a few ideas for the wedding so I'm going to pick out a few and send them to you and if you don't like them I can pick something else...
Taking a deep breath I hit the send button before returning to my work and cold fries. I looked over my cases and wrote a couple of notes down. I made sure I chose what I wanted for my wedding having received the email from Sylvia and I sent the email to Jayden who'd double check them if that's what he wanted as well deciding to take the rest of the day off. As I was heading out I was called by Moira, my secretary.
"Yes Moira?" I questioned standing over her desk.
"A parcel was sent in for you by a Jayden Henstridge," she told me handing me a small gift bag.
I thanked her and opened the gift bag and noticed there was a small box that contained an engagement ring. I smiled at the 'thoughtful' gesture and slipped the ring on reading the note that read I thought you needed this to pull off the contact, Jayden.
As I walked out of the building I heard my name being shouted by the paparazzi who were asking questions about Jayden and me. I was confused at how they knew I was engaged but that was a question for later, now had to escape all the reporters who kept screaming my name.
I put my hands to my eyes so that I could shield them from all the light while I tried to push through the swarm of reporters surrounding me. Suddenly a Lamborghini Veneno parked in front of me almost running me over and when the window was opened I noticed Jayden sitting inside wearing a pair of black sunglasses and a black jean and a black top that traced his muscles. Smiling gratefully I opened the door and he drove away quickly much to my appreciation.
"Thanks for coming to my rescue even though you almost killed me in the process," I stated as I relaxed into the comfortable seat but he just scoffed and ignored me.
"Did you get my message?" I asked him as I turned to face him and he nodded which made me want to wring his neck.
"Do you like the ideas I picked out?" I pressed and he nodded again pushing me to the edge.
"Did I get engaged to a mute?" I asked again and he just looked out of the window with his jaw clenched. I laughed knowing I'd annoyed him and he just clenched his jaw even more.
I scoffed and ran my hands through my hair and that's when I realized we were on a road I hadn't been on before not that I travelled much. Wanting to ask I decided to shut up because he wouldn't answer anyway. He stopped driving when he came to a castle, okay maybe castle was an exaggeration but it was a huge mansion. It was peach-ish in colour and I later learnt there was a linked in swimming pool, two tennis courts, a Jacuzzi, gym and well the list goes on and on.
"What are we doing here?" I asked when he had parked the car and we had both gotten out.
"I bought you a mansion with 3 kitchens and eleven bathrooms plus nine bedrooms," he stated leading me inside the mansion.
"Wow, thank you but why so many kitchens?" I questioned with genuine curiosity and an amused smile thinking he was at least making an effort.
"Well then we have three kitchens so that we never have to see each other unless we have to," he responded a smug smile on his face making me clench my fists and take deep breaths.
I acted as if his comment didn't hurt me at all and continued exploring the mansion and after an hour and a half I came to the staircase where Jayden was waiting for me while typing something on his phone and leaning against the stairs. I took time to admire the staircase with marble floors, too many chandeliers to count and a glass fountain in the middle.
"I like the house a lot," I told him and he smiled, fake of course before saying, "I had someone pack all of your stuff from the apartment so after the interview we were invited to you can move in."
I felt euphoric when I heard him say I could move in as soon as possible. The mansion had a couple of Jacuzzis, an indoor and outdoor tennis court, two linked swimming pools, a gym, two home cinemas and a huge library plus bedrooms that made you want to sleep all say. I mean who wouldn't want to move in a house like that? Still not registering that I would be moving I jumped on Jayden screaming thank you over and over again before suddenly realizing I shouldn't have done that. As soon as I touched him he tensed and his face became scrunched up in disgust. He detached me from him with a quizzical expression making me quickly apologize before heading to the car making me immediately realize my place.
I hadn't expected my future husband to be disgusted at contact between me and him but then he did and that told me something. I couldn't just ignore it and allow myself to be vulnerable and at his mercy, I was better than that. I was snapped out of my thoughts by Jay who got into the driving seat with a loud sigh making me frown and roll my eyes while mentally roasting him.
"Wanna go shopping for the interview with Gloss up channel?" he asked and I nodded solemnly angry at his reaction towards me and the rude awakening that came after.
"How did the press find out about us?" I asked him glancing at him from the corner of my eyes as I looked forward after a few minutes as we drove out.
He mumbled something like Cecelia had tweeted it. I should have guessed it was her, she'd do anything to make my life miserable; that miserable unmarried hag.
I scoffed loudly before checking my phone for any updates. There were hundreds of messages from my fans demanding to know what the hell was going on between Jay and me. I scrolled through the different messages and comments before I put my phone in my purse when we arrived at the mall.
We made our way into one of the clothes and I picked a red dress with a couple of pleats in the front and black heels. I wore the outfit in the dressing rooms while Jayden paid for the things. As much as people claimed that you should do pay for your own things people like Jayden didn't deserve that courtesy hence me not even offering to pay for myself, it's simple reasoning really. After I was done Jayden and I drove to the Gloss up Channel office with me humming a random tune as I played around on my phone. When we arrived Jayden opened the door for me like a gentleman and he led me to the shooting room where we were going to give Gloss up an' exclusive scoop' according to them.
"Lola and Jayden," the presenter whose name was Kerry stated while giving us both hugs which we returned with huge beams on our faces which were very fake might I add. Already she'd introduced us so now we were just going to dive into the interview.
"Hello Kerry," we greeted sitting on our designated places.
"I guess I am quite good despite having to hear the big news from other people," she responded while dabbing her eyes with her hands. We just laughed while feigning sympathy making her join in our laughter as well.
"So Lola is it true you are engaged to Jayden here?" she asked with a smile and I nodded before replying yes while showing her my ring finger with a grin. Immediately she gushed and started squealing before continuing with the interview after commenting on my very expensive ring.
"How did you two meet and how is it that you kept the affair a secret?" she continued while looking at Jayden.
"We met about five years ago when I crashed her car and then we met two years later at her mother's charity auction and I have to say we fell in love. We dated after about a year but we both didn't want everyone to know about us so we kept it a secret until just recently," he replied with a smile and I smiled too as if the story was real. Jayden then reached for my hand and kissed it while I blushed like I was a love sick puppy when in reality I wanted to glare at him and snap something sassy.
The only real part was we had met five years ago and he'd crashed my very beautiful car which had awakened my crazy side and well I'd smashed the windows of his car. When he realized what I'd done he'd threatened to make my life a living hell, I couldn't blame him though. His car was really nice and sleek.
"Oh my God that is just so cute. When is the wedding?" I looked at Jayden who also looked at me with a look that said 'do you know the exact date of the wedding?'
Smiling at the camera we answered in a few days and she seemed pleased with the answer. She continued asking questions which we tried hard to answer truthfully and by truthfully I mean not adding any more lies to the lies already there. After the interview we hugged and said goodbye before heading to our mansion or my mansion, it was bought for me wasn't it?
"That went well right?" I asked as he drove and he just nodded while continuing to drive.
I silently nodded back before going back to minding my own business feeling angry at my sacrifice. When we arrived at my apartment I ran inside and started throwing all my possessions in my suitcases that I had dragged from my closets. I let out all my frustrations as I threw all my clothes into the suitcases. When I finally gave up throwing my clothes my hands were tired and I suddenly felt my eyes sting. I let all the tears trickle down my cheeks as I slumped down at the edge of my bed. What had I done to deserve everything that was happening to me? I despised Jayden Henstridge and now I was being forced to marry that bastard. As I was silently sobbing, my body shaking and heaving with anger I felt someone wrap their hands around my shoulders. I tensed thinking it was Jay but relaxed when I looked up and saw Matt smiling while resting his head on top of mine.
"I got you," he whispered and i gave him a watery smile even though he couldn't see it whilst sniffling. He had me and I knew it'd be long before he let me go...
***
Something about today made me feel happy, I felt hopeful and merry as I skipped down the stairs before heading to the dining room. The mansion was hard to get used to but I would get the hang of it soon. I arrived in the dining room and Jayden and some guys probably his friends were halfway through breakfast. Something about one of the guys whose back was turned was familiar like I had seen him before. Shrugging the feeling off I sat down opposite Jayden while waiting for my food to be brought to me. Realizing that Jay was in a deep conversation with his friends I decided to check my social media and there were fewer insults and more congratulations messages.
My food was brought by one of the maids who was tall and beautiful with black hair. She was also curvy and I later learnt her name was Eva. I shot her a smile before serving myself some toast, scrambled eggs and bacon while she busied herself with adding more food on the table. As I was sipping my orange juice I looked up at the guy I had a funny feeling about; I dropped my glass on the floor when I realized who it was.
"Chris?" I stated in shock and he opened his eyes wide before running his hands through his hair while mumbling something incoherently.
Vote, comment and share...