Present Day— Arianne

I’m getting married to Michael Kings.

The boy who broke my heart.

The man who has ruined my life.

Last week, Mama decided that I need a job to appear as a responsible girl. Since the press will soon start flooding the house upon my recent re-arrival, I have to be ready. Since the week she freed me, I’ve been forced to undergo all kinds of treatments to make me look like their ideal bride would. My hair has been treated with all sots of things to make it look rich and healthy, not starved for three years.

I get up and shower earlier today because I know it’s important. Mama had told me that she would give me a phone with the necessary information for the job- since she applied for it on my behalf.

The interview is by nine am, so by seven thirty, I’m seated in front of the dressing mirror, putting on my accessories.

As I fix my earrings, my mind drifts to Winter. Before I can get sucked into a world of shame and regret, the door to my room is slammed open.

“Are you ready?” Mama’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. My eyes drift to the reflection staring back at me. The witch requested I wear a while shirt and a black pencil skirt for professionalism. By ‘requested’ I mean it’s the only clothing she’s given me to wear, since she seized my suitcases.

I don’t bother answering her- I’ve nothing left to say. So I simply nod my head and remember to keep my gaze low.

To anyone else, I don’t look bad, with my green eyes staring back at me. But in my eyes, all I see is UGLY yelling at me in twenty seven different languages.

I truly commend my mental strength. Usually, people like me would have the jitters, panic attacks, or, just die, basically, but I didn’t feel any of it. It’s like I’m simply watching a movie where I’m the main character.

“Get up.” She orders, and I obey, slowly pushing the chair back. “Turn around, I want to see all of you.” I give her a small, slow twirl, and she sighs heavily in disappointment.

“It will have to be good enough for Adams Inc.” She hands me a black designer bag. “Hold this. It has a phone, makeup and all the things a lady would need.” She takes a step forward and grips my jaw, hard.

“Look here, Alexa. You will get this job. You will be the perfect wife. You will be of good behavior.” The sad thing is, I don’t feel the pain she’s inflicting. “And don’t even think about running away.” I can feel her spray spit on my face. “In fact…that’s where my next gift comes in handy.” She pulls out a silver necklace from the bag I’m holding, then hands it over to me. “Put it on.”I obey, moving my hair around to get the necklace on. It is more like a choker, because it has a butterfly in the middle that stops at the center of my neck. “This has a camera and audio device. If you even think about telling anyone what has happened, I’ll just press a little button I have in my room, and bye bye Arianne.”

I know she is lying, though. If she kills me, the money she’s working so hard to get would be gone. All her effort, the people she’s killed. Will all be a waste. Yet I decide to humor her, to pretend like I wasn’t able to escape.

“Got it?” She asks me, and I nod my head. “Perfect. Now, you’ll get breakfast when you get the job, so, run along. The driver is waiting for you downstairs.”

I rush down the stairs and out the door to meet Ethan, the driver. I don’t say anything as he opens the car’s door for me. We simply drive to the place without a word, and when we get there, he rushes to open the door again.

By 8:45, I’m standing at the doors of the most massive company I’ve seen in all of my life. It’s made of glass, and I can see hundreds of employees rushing around to get things done. I take a deep breath of air.

This is my life now.

I walk through the automatic doors, up to the receptionist who’s smiling at me. “Hi! Do you have an appointment?”

“Uh, yes.” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I pull out the phone Mama gave me with the information sent as a text. My eyes scan over the text and I look back up at her. “I’m Arianne Queen, here to apply for the P.A position.”

“Oh!” She gets up, leading me to an elevator a few feet away from her table. She’s blonde, I notice. And we’re wearing the same outfit, except she’s wearing silver heels while I’m wearing black. “He’s on floor seven” I get inside and she pushes a button. Before the elevator can close, she steps forward, telling me in a hushed voice. “I will tell you though, Mr Adams is a very short tempered man. If you don’t get the job, don’t take it personal. He’s had like fifty seven applicants turned down already.”

I don’t know what to say, so I nod my head. She moved back, letting the elevator close. I turned around, gazing at the world as the elevator took me higher. A soft chime came before the doors opened, telling me that the ride was over.

I walk into a a corridor, with another smiling receptionist. I walk up to her, and tell her I’m here for the job, and she leads me into a huge room. It’s practically empty, almost bare. But there is a mahogany table further into it with papers scattered across it, and two swivel chairs. A trash can filled with empty cups of coffee, too.

“Mr Adams will be with you soon.” She says to me after I sit down on the seat in front of the desk. I hear the door close after she walks away. A few minutes later, I hear the door open again.

This time, I know it isn’t the receptionist. The smell of Axe and peppermint fills my senses, and it reminds me of home.

My home, with Winter.

My gaze is low, and I stare at my feet, listening as he makes his way to the table and settles down.

“And you are…?” He picks up a file with my name on it, and pauses. There is nothing but silence for a while. If not for the soft ticking of a watch I’m see is his, I would believe I’d gone deaf. Then he whispers the last part out with a shaky voice. “Arianne Queen.”

I know that voice. I could recognize it even from the murky depths of hell. For the first time in three years, I look up to meet his gaze.

My breath catches in my throat. It can’t be him. I’ve got to be hallucinating.

But I’m not.

Staring back at me, are the gray orbs that I missed more than anything in the world.

“Winter.” I can’t even hear myself say it. We’re staring at each other, neither of us wanting to be the culprit of ending the moment. His eyes show confusion, but most of all, they show hurt. I want to go over and hug him, tell him that everything is going to be fine. But in the end, I can’t. There are forces that stood talk between us, and I don’t want him getting hurt because of me.

What is he doing here?

Slowly, the gears in my brain start turning, and my brain finally connects the dots.

Adams Inc! Damon Adams! This is the company his father used to run that Winter always complained about!

I look beside his head, and a few seconds later his eyes turn cold. “So what position are you here for? I think it’s safe to assume you didn’t come here for a friendly chat.”

“I’m here for the Personal Assistant position” I say quietly, fidgeting in my seat. He nods.

“Well, to be my personal assistant, I have to be able to trust you.” He starts, standing up from his seat. I exhale shakily because I know I deserve what he’s doing. “You have to be reliable.” He walks out from behind his table, adjusting his suit, and my eyes follow him and take opportunity to drink him in.

It’s weird seeing him in formal attire. He has a black suit on, a white dress shirt and black trousers. I can tell his shoes are expensive from the way they reflect the light. He moves behind the seat I’m on, and places his hands on the back. My heart pounds as he leans in to whisper in my ear.

“I have to know that if I’m sleeping you’re not going to pack a bag and run away.”

I can feel the hairs on my neck stand. His lips brush my ear so subtly, it’s almost like it didn’t happen. But with the way my body is heating up, I know I’m not imagining it.

Winter.

My breathing is coming out in pants. The tension in the air is so thick I can almost taste it.

“Tell me, Miss Queen” he moves back, returning to the chair behind his table. “Where are you from?”

“I’m originally from England.”

“Mhm.” He nods his head a few times, thinking. “Okay, this interview is over.” I get up, thinking he’s rejecting me. Then he stretches out his hand for a shake. My fingers fit into his, as he smiles at me. “Welcome to Adam’s Inc, Miss Queen.” He says.

***

Three hours later, I’m on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

There’s a huge commotion down stairs, and I can hear Mama screaming her lungs out, ordering the maids around. She hasn’t called for me so I can’t come out, but I wonder what it is.

My mind travels back to Winter. He’d looked so different with a scowl etched on his face, instead of the sunny smile I’m used to. But the question comes up…Why is he working at his father’s company instead of doing what he loves?

Adams Inc. is into the hospitality business, with hotels scattered across the globe. So why?

I decide that I have to find a way to communicate with him, tell him everything that has happened. I can’t torture him by not giving him the closure he deserves. I nod my head to myself, satisfied that I have a plan to hold on to. I get up from the bed to look around the room.

Something feels… off.

The drawers are neatly put, the bed is still made. But something is off about the room. Like it was rearranged. Like someone had searched through it. I didn’t have any clothes except the ones Mama gave me, and I had nothing else but toiletries.

So who would come here?

I sit on the mattress, and I hear the crumpling of paper. My eyebrows furrow. Before I can kneel down to look at it, the door is flung open.

In a few seconds, I’m staring back at the eyes that haunt my dreams.

Michael.

Then the memories start flooding in.