An Arranged Marriage

by C. M. Bryden

  Meanwhile, the lady in question was in New York, using her natural talent for teaching, doing what she did best, training colleagues. This particular training session was one of many her sick colleague had been running for several weeks, with more weeks at different locations throughout the states still to go, when she’d been rushed to hospital and Jane had been co-opted to take over.

  Jane had no option but to manage the best she could. After the first day she knew she would enjoy the courses. They’d been so well researched and programmed it was easy to take over; Jane’s only problem was knowing Jake had another woman in his life and, being so far away, she couldn’t do anything about it until she returned home. She had to be pragmatic and soldier on, regardless and deal with his infidelity at a later date. In the meantime, he would have to take care of himself, as he obviously didn’t need her, or her love!

  Jane did manage to leave a message for her father who, to her surprise was not available for a few days, or so his secretary told her. As for Jessie, the office receptionist told her she too was on a couple of days leave, which seemed strange, as she’d made no mention of taking a holiday before Jane had left! Even Jake was still missing, gone abroad on business, so his secretary told her, she too unable to say exactly where. To Jane’s over active mind all she could think was Jake was no doubt tucked up in bed somewhere with his new ladylove.

  With the pressure of her own job to think about, she knew her personal life would have to take second place until she arrived home, hoping there wouldn’t be too many broken pieces from her marriage for her to pick up and salvage.

  Having been coerced into an arranged marriage with someone she didn’t really know hadn’t been her ideal way of choosing a husband but, until the other day, she thought she might have struck lucky in having Jake as her husband. Unfortunately, it now it looked as though her marriage might be over!

  There was no doubt she missed him. He was constantly on her mind, even though she knew she must forget him for a while as work came first at the moment. Even then, as she tried to fall asleep in the enormous hotel bed, she longed to be in his arms and for them to be making love.

  No matter that she’d seen him with another woman, her traitorous body still yearned for him, wanting desperately for him to make love to her in his own inimitable way, even if he didn’t love her?

  Chapter Eleven

  Oblivious to the problems Jake and Jane were having, Jessie was eagerly impatient as she waited for Andrew to arrive. Within seconds of him entering her flat she was in his arms, kissing him soundly, with Andrew debating whether, instead of taking her out for a meal, he should be taking her to bed! Curbing his lust for later, they went out to eat where, once they’d eaten their first course, Andrew took a ring box out of his pocket. He might have proposed to her a few days earlier, but having an engagement ring had never occurred to Jessie, until now. He opened the box, removed the ring and, with his voice full of emotion held it out to her. ‘Darling Jessie’ he said, ‘I love you so much. Will you marry me?’

  Jessie was genuinely surprised and, for a moment or two, she was speechless, words refusing to come out of her mouth. Nodding her head in reply and with her eyes shining with her love and unshed tears of happiness, Andrew took her hand and placed the ring on her finger.

  ‘If you don’t like it, we can always change it for one you do!’ He said, near to tears himself.

  Jessie was stunned, looking at the gold band with its solitaire diamond gleaming at her. ‘I’ll never change it. It’s so beautiful. I’ll wear it and treasure it, always.’ Her tears threatening to fall as Andrew leant across the table and kissed her, as overcome with his emotions, as was Jessie, both suddenly aware of the applause from the waiters and the other diners in the small restaurant, who’d witnessed the romantic scene.

  Later, and slightly tipsy from the champagne the owner had presented them with, they’d walked unsteadily back to Jessie’s flat; holding onto Andrew’s arm in a way that proclaimed to all and sundry he was her man, a feeling she’d never experienced before. As for Andrew, he felt as though he would burst with pride as he looked at her in the soft glow of the streetlights and, for the first time in many months, he felt content and happy, their engagement sealed later with a bout of lovemaking that gave them both a great deal of satisfaction.

  Jake, in the meantime, couldn’t believe it was nearly a week since Jane had gone away and he still hadn’t heard from her. He appreciated she had her own career and that it involved travelling. He knew from his own experience of working abroad how, at the end of a working day, you just wanted to relax. Then, of course, there were the time differences she would have to cope with. At least it should be easier for her to work in America, partly because at least there, they spoke English, unlike working in Europe where there were many different languages and cultures to be observed. He desperately wanted to speak to her and tell her he loved her. He’d even planned on flying out and joining her, hoping they could talk and perhaps make it a holiday? But seeing Jake was not on Jane’s agenda, she was far too busy, and neither was he on her mind, except at the end of the day, when she still hadn’t heard from him! She was getting angrier and angrier! First of all, at what she perceived to be his infidelity, and then, even more perverse, that he hadn’t been in touch with her! She’d left numerous messages for him to call her, all of which he’d ignored! Was his affair so important he couldn’t be bothered to speak to her?

  Unfortunately, our star-crossed lovers were being beset with difficulties, caused mostly by other people not passing on messages, like Jake’s assistant, who was jealous of his marriage to Jane and quite keen to see them part. Had Jake known of the woman’s infatuation, he would have fired her, but of course, this was something he was unaware of at that time!

  As for Jane, she thought her sick colleague had booked too many seminars, in too many different places, as she seemed to be spending far too much time travelling between cities, rushing from venue to venue. By the time she got back to whichever hotel she was booked into each evening she felt physically exhausted and her day still wasn’t over as she had to prepare for the next day’s work, leaving her with no time at all for any relaxation.

  After eating a light supper, she would collapse into bed and there she would eventually fall into a sleep that failed to refresh her. With no dreams of Jake, dressed as a pirate, or as a knight in shining armour, or the lovemaking that usually followed, to keep her love for him alive she barely existed.

  As an experienced career woman, she was more than capable of working long hours at a time, but for some reason this trip was different; she constantly felt tired and jaded, more than she’d ever felt before, it was as if, somewhere along the way, she’d lost her motivation and her natural ability to inspire others. She put this down to jet lag at first; to her body not yet being adjusted to the time differences as she travelled from state to state, coupled with a feeling of homesickness that in itself was something she’d never experienced before, and then there was her lack of contact with Jake, and her father. She was on a rollercoaster ride of too much work, too little sleep, and no love making with Jake to look forward to.

  Several days later, she woke feeling nauseous. After a light breakfast in the hotel’s cafeteria she felt a little better, but as she left the hotel she wondered if it was the air-conditioning to blame, or whether the pressures of her work affecting her. It seemed rather odd though if it was the latter, knowing she normally thrived on pressure, but this feeling she had was somehow quite different.

  Back in London, Andrew and Jessie, like all new lovers, were totally wrapped up in each other; spending long periods of time in Jessie’s king-sized bed, in each other’s arms after making love. It was the physical side of being married to a woman he loved that was just one of the many things Andrew missed when Isabel had died. Being an astute and caring person, Jessie knew it was up to her to make Andrew feel happy at being with her and, once he’d overcome his initial feelings of guilt, it would appear
in that respect she’d been successful! They spent hours discussing, amongst other things, their future life together. Deciding where they would like to live proved to be the easy part, as Jessie had already made it quite clear she had no desire, or longing, to live in the country. It didn’t appeal to her at all. Andrew had thought of selling his half of the house to Jake, but, before that, he had to tell him and Jane he was going to marry Jessie and, like Jessie, he wanted to do that face to face with them both.

  Jake, meanwhile was thoroughly miserable without Jane, quietly fuming with anger that he was being thwarted in his efforts to contact her, leaving him to wonder why she hadn’t contacted him! And, did she miss him as much as he was missing her? Had Jake known she believed him to be an adulterer he would have laughed? She was his wife and he wanted no other woman, why would he when he knew he loved her. Jane was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman, and the desire to make love with another woman never entered his head, no matter how glamorous the other woman might be. Poor Jake, he’d gone from being the happiest man alive to the unhappiest and, so far, he didn’t know how he could change it?

  As for Jane, she couldn’t understand what was the matter with her. Each morning she woke feeling nauseous, thinking she might have picked up an infection. By the time she’d showered and had managed to eat something, she usually felt better, but as the days passed, instead of feeling better she began to feel worse! Feeling physically sick was awful; her sickness coupled with her homesickness was affecting her mentally far more than she knew. She’d taken to leaving curt messages on the office answer phone for Jessie: as for getting in touch with Jake, she didn’t make any attempt there at all, already convinced he’d probably moved back into his own flat, where she assumed he would have installed his new ladylove. Finally, she made up her mind, it was impossible to do anything about her relationship with her erstwhile husband while she was so far away from home: worrying about her marriage would have to wait until she flew back home, but that was not going to happen for at least another month!

  By the end of that week, Jane was feeling pretty grim, her nausea each morning was getting worse, making her rush into the bathroom as soon as she woke, where she had to stay for some time, until it passed, leaving her shaky and feeling off colour for most of the morning. How she was managing to get through her days she hardly knew. By the time she arrived back at the hotel, on one particular day, she decided to visit the hotel doctor and get his opinion as to what could be wrong, just hoping it wasn’t anything more sinister than stomach flu!

  Sometime later, and in a complete daze, she returned to her room and lay down on the bed. Her head was spinning as she replayed in her mind the conversation she’d just had with the doctor, a middle-aged man with kindly blue eyes and a concerned manner. As she’d sat down, he’d noted her pale face and the dark rings under her eyes; signs of her lack of sleep. He’d asked her the usual questions, such as ‘did she think she’d eaten something likely to have upset her? And were other people she was working with also showing similar signs of being ill?’ All questions she had to answer in the negative.

  The doctor, seeing her wedding ring, presumed she was married and asked if she had any children? Jane assured him she hadn’t, as she’d only recently married. It had been his next question that started alarm bells ringing in her head. She told the doctor she wasn’t sleeping with her husband at the moment as he was in London; it was at this point the doctor had rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner, before suggesting she consult her diary for the dates of her menstrual cycle! Jane looked shocked at his suggestion, but did no more than bend down and produce her small personal diary from her handbag and there, sure enough, written in black ink was the answer; she’d had no periods since she’d married Jake.

  As she looked at the evidence, her face went even paler, if that was at all possible, leaving the doctor puzzled that a newly married woman should be so surprised, or unhappy, knowing she might be pregnant. Believing she might well faint at any moment, he’d given her a glass of water that she’d sipped slowly, until her colour returned as she waited for his diagnosis to be confirmed.

  Jane returned to her room and lay on her bed in total denial. She couldn’t possibly be pregnant, the doctor must be wrong, there had to be another reason, but in her heart she knew he was right. Her only problem was how was she going to tell Jake he was going to be a father, especially when he’d obviously decided he wanted to be with another woman?

  There were still a further three weeks to go before the training sessions were finished and she could return home and, as she’d sat and thought about her life and the new life she was carrying, she finally made up her mind not to say anything to anyone about her pregnancy until she’d had contact with Jake and told him! Except she had no intention of telling him he was going to be a father, having made up her mind she would start divorce proceedings as soon as she got home, convinced he wouldn’t want the encumbrance of a baby if he had a new woman in his life.

  Early the next morning, after her usual rush into the bathroom, Jane began to feel a little better. By lunchtime, she was more or less fully recovered from the morning sickness the hotel doctor had told her she might have to suffer for at least the first three or four months of her pregnancy.

  To the astonishment of her trainees, Jane ate her way through more food than they thought possible for such a slim young woman.

  By the time she was due to fly home, three weeks later, she was already having problems fastening zips and buttons on her skirts and trousers!

  Jane arrived back at Heathrow in a quandary, having decided on the flight home not to go back to her flat but, as she collected her luggage she changed her mind again, quite sure Jake wouldn’t be there to meet her, even though Jessie knew her arrival date and time, and would probably have informed him. It was obvious he would want to be with his young mistress at his own flat in Chelsea. Her first call, after she’d landed had been to Jessie, who told her Jake had gone abroad on urgent business and would contact her as soon as he could. Jane felt relieved, at least he wouldn’t be in London and she could start to make her plans for divorcing him but, at the same time, she was angry at not hearing from him. Ah, such are the vagaries of a pregnant woman’s mind!

  It was obvious, as soon as she entered her flat Jake hadn’t spent much time there as it was exactly as she’d left it. As she started to unpack she began to make plans as to what she had to do next, she had her future, and that of her baby to think of now. A future that didn’t include her two timing husband, even though she knew it was definitely Jake’s baby she was carrying. Jane didn’t intend letting him to know he was going to be a father, at least not until after they were divorced. She was determined he wasn’t going to have any claim on her child. All she had to do was to tell her father she wanted a divorce, then get herself the best lawyer in town to help her to disentangle her life from that of Jake Adams.

  It’s now time for the fates to intervene and play games with Jane and Jake. Unfortunately, these games will have no winners, only losers!

  Chapter Twelve

  And so began an anxious time for Jane, already in a highly emotional state as her hormones raced through her thickening body. Then there were her irrational thoughts. Utterly convinced by now Jake was an adulterer and she had to divorce him; it was, of course, her hormones fuelling her mind, overriding her normal common sense. Without waiting for Jake’s explanation, Jane had already found him guilty.

  Her “normal thinking” agenda was completely out of kilter, and had been, ever since she’d fallen pregnant. She was either in a state of abject misery, not wanting to be pregnant or, in high with elation at the prospect of becoming a mother. Another one of her irrational thoughts was her unfounded belief if Jake knew he was going to be a father, he might want her to abort the foetus and this was something she would never do.

  Apart from not telling her father, or Jake, of her pregnancy, and her decision to leave him, Jane hadn’t even confided in Jessie. She k
new she had to tell them soon, or they would be able to see the evidence for themselves with their own eyes, from the way her body was ballooning. She decided to tell them about the baby first, and then, after she’d done that, she would then tell them of her decision to divorce Jake and the reason why!

  Life was still difficult, what with the occasional morning sickness and stomach cramps that had started to plague her; also, she cried easily these days, especially when she thought of Jake, and how she’d enjoyed being with him, and the joy making love had given her. In her present state of mind, she was unsure now what to believe. As far as she was concerned there was only one way to conduct a marriage and that was with trust and honesty. To her mind, Jake had done neither! Her own lack of both these qualities never entered her head. It was these double standards of her own that were about to bring her more problems than even she could ever have imagined!

  It was depressing thinking about divorcing Jake, but she was determined to go through with it and, once she’d told her father her intention to file for a divorce, she would hold him to his promise to help her, even though she suspected he would now be biased in Jake’s favour, especially since Jake had saved his business!

  As for Jessie, Jane knew she had to talk to her, even though she appeared to be pre-occupied with her own thoughts these days, maybe she wasn’t the one to ask for advice, especially if it was her past relationship playing on her mind, and her distress at knowing the man she’d loved for years was now married to someone else. Of course, nothing could have been further from Jessie’s thoughts. She was so engrossed in her love for Andrew she thought of little else, least of all her friend’s marriage. Her thoughts were more along the lines of how was she going to tell Jane she’d fallen in love, and with whom?

  Jane spent most of the day getting up to speed with Jessie, who was in a real hurry to leave work early that afternoon, as Andrew was due at her flat that evening. Not that she told Jane this. Once she’d left, Jane sat in the office on her own, thinking. By this time everyone else had also left for the day and, with nothing else to do, she made up her mind she would go to Jake’s apartment and confront him, face to face, with his other woman.