Marriage by Law

by N. K. Pockett

  Darius was just getting up when I came to the table. Our eyes met.

  "There you are. We- You okay?" he asked as I stood by the chair. I nodded without looking at him. I was going to pull the chair out when he grabbed my arm and pulled me.

  "What are you doing?" I asked as he tugged me across the floor toward the entrance. Oh god, did Alicia tell him something? I shouldn't have told her.

  He called over for the driver, shielding me from the cameras again. When the car arrived, he gently pushed me inside.

  "Darius?" I asked as he slammed the door shut and took off his jacket. He looked up, his green eyes sparkling.

  "Where are we going?" I asked as the limo started up again.

  "You'll see," was the only thing he said. I looked out the window, if only to avoid his intense gaze on me. The ride was quiet and every time I glanced at him, he was staring at me like he was trying to figure me out. I can't believe he just dragged me out like that!

  And I can't believe I let myself be caught in a moment like that with James. How dare him! He wanted to 'explain' things. Yeah, he should have explained why he cheated on me. I could feel my throat clog up again and willed myself not to shed a tear. He didn't deserve it.

  "We're here," said Darius, pulling me out of my thoughts.

  "Huh?" I asked as his hand found mine and pulled me out of the car.

  "Where ar-" The question trailed off as I stared out at the waves in front of me. The beach?

  I looked up at him and found him smiling at me.

  "You didn't look like you were having much fun there," he said, rubbing the back of his neck again, something which he always did. I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

  “How?” I asked, surprised we were at the beach. Was it a coincidence or did he know I love the beach? Either way, I didn’t care right now. It was exactly what I needed.

  “Your dad,” he replied with a shrug and I smiled before bending down to remove my shoes.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Well, surely you didn't bring me all this way to just stare at the waves, did you?" I tugged at his hand and pulled him along.

  Darius’s laugh echoed in the quiet night as he followed me. I felt the warm yet rough sand under my feet as I walked toward the waves. I wasn't getting in. That was for sure. It was way too cold and windy.

  But just watching the moon at the horizon was perfect. I sat down on the sand.

  "Aren't you going to ruin the dress?"

  "Oh well," I said as I hugged my knees. After a moment, Darius sat down beside me and I raised an eyebrow.

  "Aren't you afraid you're going to ru-"

  "If you aren't, why should I?" he cut me off, smiling. His eyes twinkled as he smiled. It was different from all his other smiles and I let out a soft laugh when I looked back at the moon. We both lay on the sand, looking up at the dark sky.

  "What are you thinking?" his voice asked, a soft whisper barely heard in the wind.

  "The stars, how peaceful they must be," I told him.

  He chuckled and I turned my head to glare at him.

  "The stars," he said, turning his head. His eyes were like the stars now, shiny and bright as they stared at me. I shrugged.

  "Yea, stars. They're just… perfect. They shine all the time. That one." I pointed to a star that has a dull colour. Which probably meant it was a red star.

  "It’s probably already dead, but we won't find out for another million light years or whatever," I said, not knowing the exact figure.

  “Isn’t light years a unit of length, not time?”

  I froze and shrugged as I waved a hand. “Same thing, old man.”

  "That's re-assuring," he told me and I nudged him with my elbow.

  "They're beautiful, though," I said in defense of the stars.

  "Yes," he agreed and I smiled. At least someone can share my obsession with stars with me. I shivered, cursing myself for not bringing a jacket.

  I felt a hand on mine as he pulled me up and I stumbled.

  "What?" I asked as he smiled. I didn't like this smile.

  "Oh no," I said as I saw him staring out into the water. It was freezing out there! If it was this cold and windy now, imagine what it would be like there. I took a step back as his laughter filled the air, and he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against this chest.

  I shivered, not sure if it was because of the heat from his body or the cold wind as it pushed against us.

  "Darius, it's freezing."

  "Well, we did drive all the way out here."

  And before I knew it, he was dragging me toward the water. The clumsy fool that I was, I tripped and fell and soon the cold water enveloped me into a hug.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  I felt his hand pull me up and I gasped, my hair coming undone and falling down my shoulders. The dress clung to me like second skin. I looked daggers at him as he laughed.

  "What is wrong with you?" I shoved his body playfully. My body started shivering as he stood on the shore. I noticed that just his feet got wet, and he was still laughing at me.

  "You fell in," he managed to say while laughing. I shivered as another wave hit me, making me wade out of the icy water. The shivers took over my body; he stopped laughing and looked at me with concern, the fun ending.

  "Are you okay?"

  "No," I mumbled, my teeth chattering. "It was beyond freezing."

  The wind picked up. I felt his arm around me before I realised he had wrapped his jacket around me. I looked up at him and he winked.

  "Next time, bring your own jacket," he reminded me as he gave my hand a tug. I couldn't help smiling. Of course he had to ruin the moment. My teeth, however, wouldn't stop chattering, and my body wouldn't stop shivering. Oh please, don't get me sick, I thought as I followed him to dry land, my feet barely keeping up with him. It was too cold to move!

  His wink replayed in my head and I mentally groaned. Even his wink was sexy. Was there anything about this man that wasn't?

  Apart from his serious attitude problems toward me, it was like one second he despised me and then the next he played the perfect role of a loving husband. But how much of it was really true?

  I sneezed as he ushered me into the limo.

  "You're going to get a cold," he said, frowning for all he was worth.

  "Your fault," I told him. I slipped my shoes back on and sat, embracing myself to try to keep warm. I felt the heat in the limo rise up as the heaters were switched on but that didn't help.

  I closed my eyes and placed my head against the window. My body wouldn’t stop shaking. Oh god, suck it up and stop shaking, I quietly berated myself.

  Darius bringing me to the beach was a nice gesture, and I really did appreciate it, but did he really have to throw me in the water?

  Even though it was playful, it would have been better in summer.

  I could feel the fatigue of tonight’s events take me under. I felt something warm cover me and something warm on my cheek push me against a shoulder. I shivered, huddling closer to it. At least it smelled nice, whatever it was.

  It was too soon when I felt something poke me, waking me up. I turned around glaring.

  "W-"

  "Come on."

  I realised we had made it home. I groaned loudly as I got out of the limo. One of my shoes slipped off and I couldn't be bothered to get it.

  I was thankful for the strong arm helping me up. Good old Ma, I can always rely on her. I walked to the stairs and swore when my pinky toe stubbed into it. God, was it always painful? I heard a manly chuckle that sounded like Ma was sick. Why did her voice sound so deep?

  She helped me upstairs into the bedroom.

  "You should change," she said. God, she really needed to take some cough medicine. Her voice was so deep.

  I mumbled something as I heard the door close. I sighed and collapsed weakly onto the bed. I would change...right after I finish my dream with unicorns and rainbow vomit. Who even dreams about them?

  "She has a
fever, Darius. I am so mad at you."

  Margaret? I felt a warm cloth over my forehead. I tried opening my eyes but they were heavy. It was like they were locked down.

  "I didn't mean it. How was I meant to know that she would fall in?"

  I heard a loud sound, which was like a slap, and someone grumbled.

  "Well, make sure to keep changing the cloth every hour or so. Her temperature has to come down."

  "What kind of moron gets a fever? Shouldn't she be getting a cold?"

  Did he just call me a moron?

  "Don't say bad things, boy. She shouldn't be sick at all."

  I heard footsteps then the door closing and someone sighing. I felt the bed dip and the cloth disappeared from my forehead. I jumped as I felt it on my collarbones.

  "Relax, go to sleep," whispered a voice in my ear. I felt another body next to mine and snuggled closer.

  I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder, confusing me. The voice was hazy but the arm felt too muscular to be Margaret, unless she was working out now.

  For the next few hours or days or years, who knew, I felt myself drift in and out of sleep. Sometimes I was greeted with voices, other times it was quiet, but there was always a presence next to me. And then I smelled my mother’s perfume.

  Yep, no way was I going to open my eyes now. Don't do it, Ivory. Don't do it!

  But all my eyes wanted to do was open. They needed the light they have been missing for a while now. They still felt heavy, though, and it was an effort to lift my eyelids.

  "Don't," I heard my dad warn her. Thank you, dad.

  "But she's missing the cocktail party."

  Are you kidding me? I was like on my death bed!

  Once again, my dad came to my rescue. "She's sick, hun. Let her skip this one."

  I silently thanked my dad for being on my side always. My mum mumbled to herself. Who knew being sick could come in handy at times like this? I heard their footsteps fade away and another enter the room.

  I let out a long sigh into the pillow and realised I was casually lying on the bed on my stomach with my arms and legs spread out, without a care in the world. I blinked and opened my eyes.

  "How are you feeling?"

  Darius.

  "Don't talk to me."

  "Why?"

  "You made me sick," I said into the pillow, hating the way my nose felt. Urgh, I haven't felt this sick since, well, grade nine. That was eternities away.

  I turned my head to the side when the bed dipped and saw him sitting on the edge and taking off his tie.

  "Where did you go?"

  He paused half way and raised an eyebrow. "Work."

  Oh right, the rest of the world worked. I closed my eyes again, suddenly feeling lazy to get up. And then it hit me.

  "Do I have hyperthemicia?"

  "I doubt that."

  "Well, I am sleepy, and tired, and I am sure my heart beats pretty slow. Symptoms of that." I rolled to my side. Sleeping on my stomach was weird. Not to mention how uncomfortable it was in the...upper chest area. How did girls do it?

  "You can't even say it right. Hypothermia. And no, you look fine. I'm sure you're fine. Plus you’re talking again like a chatterbox. You’re fine."

  I was not a chatterbox, was I?

  No, I was not. It was his fault I was stuck in bed all day. Oh god, I needed to get out; my brain was about to eat me. All the thoughts going through my head were like an extremely fast train trying to get off the tracks. See what I mean? I don't even know what I was rambling about, but cookies do sound nice.

  "Come on, get some fresh air," he said, standing up.

  "Ew," I said, closing my eyes when he started unbuttoning his shirt.

  "What?"

  "Go change in a room."

  "This is a room."

  "Your face is a room," I replied, peeking through one eye. Thank god he stopped. He raised an eyebrow and then opened his mouth, then, probably thinking better of it, he grabbed his tie off the floor and walked toward the walk-in closet.

  "Go get ready."

  "Why?" I moaned, pulling the blanket higher. It was so cozy and warm in here, I never wanted to get out. Wait, didn't I just complain that I was getting too lazy in bed? Not in that way.

  "My business partner is coming over."

  "More people I don't know."

  "You know him," said Darius, turning on the light in the walk-in closet. "You met him at the party. James," and with that, he disappeared inside, leaving me looking pale on the bed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  "Can I just go back to bed? I don't think I'm feeling too well," I was telling Darius as I walked out of the walk-in closet. Darius was on the bed trying to do his tie, his eyebrows knotted in confusion like it was the hardest task in the world.

  "But you got ready," he pointed out, undoing the tie again. I muttered to myself as I fixed my dress. It was in blue colour and ended just above my knees. Neat and casual. There was no point getting dressed up for him.

  "Nonsense. You can meet my business partner," he said. He chucked away his tie on the bed and left the room. I grumbled to myself, tying my hair up in a pony tail. You mean my ex? Oh yea, no need to meet him again.

  I caught up quickly and went downstairs.

  "Ah, James, pleasure to see you again," Darius was saying as I got down. They greeted each other with a handshake like businessmen do. I avoided James's stare. "Have a seat."

  James took the seat on the opposite lounge. Thank god for that. I sat next to Darius, folding my hands in my lap like a lady. Ma came in serving the drinks and I grabbed a glass of champagne as well, using it to cover half my face. I pretended to be much more interested in the bubbles.

  "Before I forget,” Darius was saying, “this is Al - Ivory, my wife."

  James, who was drinking his champagne, spluttered suddenly. I almost burst out laughing. In my mind I was thanking Darius for his great timing. James held out his hand. Would it be too obvious if I didn't shake it?

  "Pleasure to meet you," he said.

  I nodded, reaching over and shaking his hand. He held my hand longer than necessary. I pulled my hand back and wiped it on the seat, subtly.

  I was so bored out of my wits as they both started talking. There had to be a way to stop this business deal. Wasn't there someone better out there?

  Darius's business was joining ours. I mean, that was the whole point of this stupid marriage, so why does he need more partners? I had to ask Ma if she knew. She must have overheard something.

  "I'll check on the preparations," Darius was saying.

  My head snapped up when I saw that he walked toward the kitchen. I stood up hastily.

  No, don't leave me here!

  I took a step forward, and James blocked my way. Damn it, why was I on this side of the display table?

  "Ivory, I just want to talk," he pleaded. Too close. I took a step back.

  "No," I muttered. "This isn't the place or time, James." I looked over his shoulder. Darius can come back any minute and may not understand if he saw us this way. I wanted to tell him myself. But not now, not here and not like this.

  "Will you agree to meet me somewhere then?"

  I scoffed. Was this man for real?

  "No."

  'But, Ivy-"

  "Don't call me that, and shut the heck up. Look, I don't even want to be in the same country as you, so being in the same house under the same roof in the same room isn't doing me a favor. You made your choice, okay? You -"

  I heard footsteps and James looked back to see Darius walk in, with a smile on his face, which was a first.

  "Everything okay?" he asked, oblivious to the tension between me and James.

  "Of course. Ivory was just about to show me to the washrooms," he said.

  "Well, food should be served soon. Ivory, can you show James the washrooms?"

  I gritted my teeth with a nod and walked past James. As much as I wanted to shove my shoulder against his, I'm pretty sure Darius would see that as a
rude gesture.

  I knew James was following me. Didn't even need to look back. His cologne was practically suffocating me.

  What did Darius see in him anyway?

  "Here," I said, nodding to a door.