“So what? You put me up to get married to their daughter?”
“The marriage has been agreed since you were a child.”
“Then why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”
“You were impossible,” he said. “You raised hell; you ran around; you shirked your duty. We were waiting for you to get it out of your system, to finally come to your senses at some point and settle to your duty.” There was that fucking word again. Duty. To hell with duty. I didn’t do anything that I didn’t want to do. There was no reason to lift a finger in the name of my family when the only use they saw for me was a vector for their name and money. Why did I owe them anything? Why would I give up my choice and life so that their old debts could be paid? What about me? When did what I want start to matter finally?
“I’m not marrying her.”
He completely ignored the statement. “You're meeting her tonight. Don’t be late.”
“I said I’m not marrying her.” He heard me but it didn’t matter. Nothing I wanted ever mattered to him. Trying to argue wasn’t worth it. He gave me the address and told me that she was going to be expecting me. I showed up because I wasn’t rude enough to stand the woman up with no explanation. She and I were in the same boat. I didn’t know the specifics but both of us were being forced into this marriage situation without having even met each other. I wasn’t unreasonable. I would meet the woman, discuss what was going on, apologize if her expectations had not been met and wish her luck finding someone else to marry because it was not going to be me.
It wasn’t. That was the long and short of it. I didn’t care who she was or what prestigious family she came from. I didn’t want to be with her. I didn’t particularly want to be with anyone.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. My memory flashed back to that morning. I did want to be with someone but that someone was acting strangely. It was bad enough that I had had to meet my father that day. Waking up alone and then finding out that Eddy had basically lied to me about being single again had put me in a foul mood already. If I was going to pick anyone it was going to be her, but clearly, she had other intentions. She would have stayed if she felt the same way as I did. Clearly, she didn’t. That was fine. I wouldn’t forget but at least I could leave. The next thing that brought me back to London was going to have to be a funeral. I was ready to leave and never look back. This trip had been a failure in every way.
“Well then, soak it in. It only happens once in a blue moon,” I told Dirk.
“I’m glad you could make it. It’s been a while.”
“Right, right. Happy birthday,” I told him before he wandered away to talk to the rest of the people in attendance. I threw back my drink and made my way back to the bar for another. I was ready to leave. All I needed to do here in the first place was talk to the woman, Lisbeth. I walked away from the bar through the living room looking for her. I had been given some photos to be able to identify her.
A tall, thin blonde with brown eyes. Pretty, to be sure but not my type. I liked a woman with a more generous figure. I sighed thinking about it. My father; arranging a marriage for me without even taking into account what I liked in my partners. The woman who was talking to Dirk matched her description. I wasn’t close enough to hear their conversation but heard her laugh. It was like nails on a chalkboard. I cringed at the thought of talking to her. She was wearing a slinky red dress, pawing at Dirk as they talked. Was she drunk? Great. I walked over. Dirk was reinforcement. It would be a smoother introduction with him there. I went over to them and Dirk spotted me walking over.
“Well, well, speak of the devil,” he said. Lisbeth turned her large eyes to face me and smiled in a way she probably thought was alluring but did nothing for me.
“Is this him?” she asked.
“Depends on who you’re looking for,” I said.
“Niall Bridges. We were just talking about you,” he said. I was sure that they were. How random was it that I was supposed to meet my supposed new wife at the birthday party of a random childhood acquaintance? Not random at all. I felt my stomach turn. Just how much of this arrangement had taken place without even a word in my direction?
“Niall, pleasure to meet you,” Lisbeth said. I offered a hand for her to shake but she leaned in and kissed both my cheeks instead.
“I’ll leave the two of you to get better acquainted,” Dirk said. He slid away. Planned, it was all planned. If I hadn’t walked over, they would have found a way to lure me in. It didn’t matter. We were here now; I could say my piece and leave. At this point, I could be back in New York by tomorrow.
“Lisbeth, it’s a pleasure. I have to talk to you. I’m sure you know…”
my eyes wandered and landed on a head of auburn hair in the crowd. I completely lost my train of thought. I stared at the redhead in the crowd, watching her walking the floor with a brunette. It was Eddy. She was here. What the hell were the chances? Twice in a row, I ran into her in London in places I didn’t want to be. She and the woman were talking to Dirk, handing him a wrapped birthday gift.
“Yes?” Lisbeth said, in front of me. I belatedly remembered she was still there. I grasped for the words, but they wouldn’t come. Seeing Eddy again was too much of a shock. I felt a hand on my arm, Lisbeth’s.
“You were saying something? That our fathers know each other?” she asked. That wasn’t exactly where I was going but I would have gotten there eventually. I was going to tell her that we were told to be in the same place under false pretenses. I just nodded, distracted by Eddy. She was in a red dress too. The front of it gathered around her chest, beautifully framing her gorgeous breasts and skimmed over her hips and thighs, hitting just below the knee. I was hard just looking at her. I didn’t even have to remember our night together.
“Don’t you think so?” I heard Lisbeth say suddenly.
“What?” I asked. I worried whether she heard the annoyed edge in my voice. She was officially in the way. Between her and Eddy, I would have much rather been talking to Eddy.
“Come on,” she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the open French doors that led out to the garden. I let her pull me with her. I still had to talk to her. Once I got that out of the way, I could go and talk to Eddy. We walked out onto the garden following a stone path. I pulled my arm away from her grasp. She stopped.
“Lisbeth, I’m sorry we’ve met under these circumstances. My father alerted me that there have been arrangements made concerning the two of us.”
“My father warned me that you might not show up to the party.”
“Well, I’m here. We have something very important to discuss.”
“I’m so happy we’re finally meeting. I’m so pleased you came,” she said. Oh my god, why wasn’t she keeping up? Was she purposefully trying to stop me from telling her what I was trying to say?