The Most Beautiful Girl In The World

by Rachel Burns

  His doctor advised him to find a wife and have a child.

  That was a problem. Oliver didn’t want to have a child. He talked with his business partner, Mr. Colt, and met his wife. The woman called her husband daddy, and he took care of her like she was a small child. They both smiled at each other constantly.

  The women he dated only smiled at him when they wanted something, but they stopped as soon as they got it.

  His parents never smiled at each other either. He looked at their marriage, and he didn’t want that for himself. He looked at his colleague’s marriage, and he thought about the way they looked at each other.

  Oliver wanted a smiling wife.

  He got the information, and here he stood ready to go. He realized that this couldn’t be legal. Mr. Colt had told him that the girls were transferred here from other orphanages and raised to believe that this was the way things worked. They didn’t even question this lifestyle. The man was the head of the house and the wives obeyed their husbands eagerly.

  It was true. Oliver had seen it for himself.

  He was feeling very nervous. His heart was racing, but he had so much training that his disinterested look remained on his face. He got out of his sports car and hit the button to lock it. He looked up at the orphanage and thought that it looked like an expensive estate.

  How come no one had ever found out about this place? Right here in America?

  Was some satellite taking his picture right now?

  He hurried in, hoping that he wasn’t being set up.

  A woman greeted him at the door. She told him where he needed to go. She was very friendly, but he could also tell that she’d recognized him. A confused look passed over her eyes. Was she right? Was this all just a very bad idea?

  He walked down the hall to the back of the house and then to the left. This room looked like an office. There was a desk where, normally, a secretary should be sitting.

  A girl was backing out of a door that was directly across from the door he’d just entered. She was wearing a dress that went past her knees. It was light blue, and she looked just like an old fashioned doll. Her dark hair was done in think long curls.

  She turned, and he got to see her face. She had perfect white skin and dark eyes, but he couldn’t see their exact color because she was already turning away from him and leaving. His eyes moved to her arms. They were pudgy, and there was a bit of lace trimming on the sleeves of her dress, accenting her beautiful white arms.

  His heart skipped a beat. He’d just seen a real life doll. Her lips had even been a dark red like a doll’s. She’d been making a pouting face. If all the girls here looked like that, then it would be a hard choice.

  He was surprised that she interested him. He usually only dated supermodels, and they were so thin that he often got poked with elbows and knees. But that girl had been cuddly but not quite chubby.

  He knocked on the door after he caught himself staring at her.

  “Mr. Keaton, I need a little assurance that this isn’t some kind of undercover attack. I personally bear the responsibility for all the little girls here.” The director was pacing up and down. He was worried that he was being had.

  “You see, we’ve never had an adoptive father who was so young before. And I might add, one that has quite a reputation as a ladies man.” He stopped pacing and looked the young man up and down.

  “I understand that financially you wouldn’t have a problem taking care of a little girl, but can you deal with it emotionally? I have to think about my charges well-being. Most of the men who come here come after a divorce. They marry someone of their social standing just to realize that wasn’t what they needed.”

  “As you said, I have experience with the ladies. They disappointed me. Mr. Colt warmly recommended this orphanage. I must call on him as a reference. I met him and his lovely wife a couple of months ago. They have a harmony that my life lacks. I saw something that I want for myself. I always get what I want.” Oliver stared him down. He’d been born to power, and he never let normal people put him down or deny him things.

  “Of course, Mr. Keaton. Shall we sit and talk about the arrangements?”

  “That’s why I’m here.” Oliver sat down in the chair that the man pointed to, and he informed him what he was looking for. He wanted a wife. He wanted to get married as soon as possible, but out of the country. Which meant, he needed a wife with a passport.

  “All of our girls have all of their papers. That won’t be a problem.”

  “Most of our girls have a nurse or a nanny who takes care of them for when their daddies don’t have time. A girl without one would be considered neglected in your circles.”

  “Do you have a list of available nannies?” Oliver was, of course, going to do right by his wife. “I’d want to interview them before I let anyone loose on my wife.” He was picturing himself sitting with the girl that he’d just seen and interviewing strict looking women with tightly tied buns in their hair. They’d have long pointy witch noses too.

  That wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted someone that would make his little girl smile. Oliver had been raised by nannies. He wanted better for his little girl. It would be him taking care of her on a daily basis. The nanny would only be a companion. He felt a need to be very clear.

  “I insist on having a happy girl. I want to start our marriage out on just the right note. Trying to please someone who is never pleased is a never-ending and very unfulfilling job.”

  “I understand completely.” The director was starting to believe that this was on the up and up. The young man looked pained when he’d said that. “All the girls that we’ll be showing you today have been raised to this life, and they believe it to be normal. They see being chosen by a man as the best thing that could ever happen to them. You’ll get a smiling bride. I can assure you of that. Should I have the girls line up for you? Maybe the one for you will be among them?”

  “And if she isn’t?” Oliver asked. He was starting to feel a little sick to his stomach.

  “Then you come back. You’d receive a notice every time a new girl turns eighteen. That’s a very strict rule that we have. She has to be eighteen before we let a daddy take her away.”

  Oliver was a little disgusted. The girl didn’t need to be that young. He wanted a woman to pamper, one who would let him, but he didn’t want to be a babysitter. He didn’t really want a teenager.

  They stood and went out. The director brought him into a formal sitting room with lots of chairs. “This is where we celebrate all the major happenings in the girls’s lives. Their Birthdays, Christmas, Easter and so on.” He pulled out a whistle and blew into it, and then Oliver could hear dozens of girls on the steps charging in.

  Was that ever annoying. He wouldn’t allow his little girl to run in the house.

  The girls were all smiling at him. He caught himself looking for the doll like one again, but he didn’t see her or anyone like her.

  The girls had formed a line. They were all smiling and hopping a little with excitement.

  “You may look closer at the girls, sir.” The director smiled at him.

  Oliver swallowed hard and started to walk down the line. Here was really a collection of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen. They all looked just like the models that he usually dated only in less sexy clothes.

  This wasn’t what he was looking for. He felt so disappointed. All the girls were extremely thin and flat chested. He wanted something he could grab onto.

  He was at the end of the line, and he knew that he’d just glanced at each girl for less than a second, but they all weren’t right.

  “There is one missing,” he proclaimed. He sounded pissed; he knew that.

  The director looked mad. He stepped forward. “We talked about the possibility of having to come back,” he whispered.

  “No. I saw her before when I went into your office. The really pretty one. She looked like a doll.” He was being too loud. He realized that, but he didn’t want his ti
me wasted either.

  The director sighed relieved. “I see. Two of the girls were a little naughty at breakfast. They were sent to their rooms.” He pulled out his whistle, and a nurse showed up immediately. “Please bring Hannah in.”

  The nurse gave him a bow and turned away in a very relaxed matter. It was all Oliver could do to not roll his eyes.

  “Sir, may I advise you not to dismiss the girls here too quickly. This is a big decision. Perhaps, the biggest in your life.”

  “Exactly.” Oliver glanced over at the girls lined up. They all looked the same, just with different hair colors.

  The nurse came in with a girl that he’d never seen before. She was a replica of all the girls here. He felt a desire to feed her, but that was something that often led to fights with his old girlfriends. He could never sit down and enjoy a meal with them. They talked about food like it was pure poison.

  “That isn’t her.” He turned to the window, wondering if he’d made it all up, but her image was burned into his mind.

  “She had dark hair with curls in it. She was pale, like a porcelain doll. She was wearing a light blue dress.”

  “Emily?” the director said with surprise in his voice.

  Oliver turned away from the window. “Do you have a mind to upset me?”

  “No, sir.” The director turned to the nurse. “Please, go fetch Emily. Quickly, now.”

  Oliver’s eyes were locked on the large doorway. She’d be walking in soon. He’d recognized the description. The girl really existed, and she was on the way.

  He wanted to straighten his collar like his mother would have done when he was a kid. He couldn’t stop himself. He needed to look good for her.

  And then there she was, the beautiful girl he’d seen before, standing in the doorway and then moving towards him. She looked like she’d been crying. He stepped forward to her and looked her in the eyes. Her eyes were blue with a light green flower in the middle. Unique, absolutely unique, a one of a kind, he thought. But they were filled with tears. He wanted to make her world all better.

  “The others can leave.” He left his eyes on her as they left.

  Once they were gone, he waved the director forward by lifting his hand over his shoulder. His eyes stayed on hers.

  Emily didn’t know what to think. Was she in trouble because she hadn’t greeted the man when she saw him before? Maybe this could be salvaged. “Hello, sir.”

  Her voice was melting the ice around his heart. The ice that he felt had always been there. “Hello, Emily,” he beamed back at her.

  She wiped her eyes and looked around, a nurse was still there as well as the director. She looked back at him and smiled, glad that he wasn’t mad.

  “I want all of her medical records, school records and everything you have about her.” He reached up and petted her face with the back of his hand.

  Emily was surprised that he wanted to touch her. She was too surprised to jerk away. He was looking at her so intensely.

  “Of course, sir. If you’ll please follow me back into my office, I’ll get everything ready. The adoption papers can be signed and the transaction completed. Emily child, a nurse will help you pack your things while I help your Daddy make everything official.”

  Emily was surprised. She looked away from the director and back at the man in front of her. He was by far the best-looking man that had ever walked in here, and he was so young. Why would he want her?

  “Do you want to go home with me, Emily?” He looked like a no would break his heart.

  She nodded at him, and then she thought about it. She was really being chosen; out of all the girls he wanted her. A smile started to form on her lips, which grew larger the more she thought about it.

  Oliver had never seen a prettier or more honest smile in all of his life. He smiled back at her for a while until the director interrupted them by clearing his throat.

  “I’ll hurry, baby,” Oliver promised Emily before he stepped away from her.

  Oliver was already worried about losing his little treasure. He paced up and down in the director’s office. “Will she go with me willingly? I mean, do I have to worry about her running away from me?”

  “She’ll stay very close to you. You’re all she has. Each of these girls were chosen because they have no family ties. They’ve been raised to know how they should act. She’ll be very thankful. She won’t run away from you. Instead, she’ll lean on you.” The director was pleased that Emily had finally found someone. This young man was very powerful, but it was clear that he had the best intentions for Emily.

  The good thing was that he’d be able to keep tabs on her. Once she became Mrs. Keaton, she’d be in the public eye. That didn’t worry him. This orphanage only had experience with the rich and famous.

  “I want to marry her. Tomorrow in the Bahamas, will she say yes?” Oliver asked.

  “If you tell her to, she will. Her upbringing has been perfect. In fact, there is even a school you can send her to. Most daddies do. It’s a chance for the girls to have friends and be with children their own age. When you get back from your honeymoon, you can call over to the school and talk to the headmistress. Your nanny will also help you there. That way you can also have friends with similar interests.”

  That got Oliver’s attention. “So I’m really normal?”

  “Yes, of course, sir. Some of the most powerful men in the world send their wives to the school. I’m not at liberty to drop names, but only little girls from the best houses are allowed to go there. Not all the girls that are adopted out of here will make the cut. As a rule, if a man has to save up to pay for the adoption of his little girl, then he can’t afford the school.”

  “I understand. I wouldn’t want my Emily to be making friends with just anyone. As my wife, she’d be used to a certain standard. Her acquaintances should be reflected by that.”

  “Of course, sir. I’m certain that she’ll be the perfect wife for you.”

  Oliver paid over six million dollars for her without batting an eye. He called his bank, and the amount was transferred to the orphanage under the title donation.

  “I can confirm that the sum of six million two hundred and fifty thousand has been transferred to the orphanage’s account.”

  Chapter 3

  Emily had a suitcase packed full with her clothes. She was a little worried that he’d think that it wasn’t enough. He was simply so dashing. She was worried that her things weren’t good enough for him, or more importantly that she wasn’t good enough for him.

  Emily feared that this was a joke. This could be their way of teaching her a lesson. Would they laugh at her and say that a good-looking man like him would never want her?

  “Emily.” One of the girls in her room stepped forward. She had her arms open wide. “I’m going to miss you.”

  “Do you think this is for real? They could be trying to teach me a lesson to eat less.” Emily whispered in her ear.

  “No, he just wants you. He threw a tantrum when you weren’t there. I was so hoping that he’d pick me, but you deserve this. You got very lucky. He’s very good-looking.”

  All the girls stepped forward and hugged her goodbye. She was very teary eyed when she came back down the stairs.

  Oliver hurried up the stairs to meet her. “Are you all right, Emily?” Oliver was scared that she wanted to back out.

  “It’s hard to say goodbye after so many years.” She smiled at him, thinking what a nice man he was.

  Her tear-filled eyes were killing him. He reached to her face and petted over her cheekbone again. “This is all so sudden for you. I want you to know that I’m here for you. I promise that a new and exciting chapter of your life is going to start.”

  Emily nodded at him a little scared. All the other girls were at the top of the stairs watching and listening to them. They gave out a collective awe when he went to her and touched her so gently.

  “We’re going to fly in an airplane now. Would you like that? We’re going to the
Bahamas. We’ll be married and have our honeymoon there. How does that sound?”

  She nodded at him before she peeked up at her friends and waved goodbye to them.

  Oliver took hold of her hand tightly and smiled at her again. She was his to take care of, and she needed him. He wanted to be good to her, very good. He needed her love.

  They went out the door, and he brought her to his red Porsche. The car somehow looked immature, and he’d been so proud of it a few hours ago.

  He opened the door for her and carefully closed it. He was worried about her making a sudden movement, wanting to wave again. If her hand had caught in the door – He didn’t want to think about her being in pain. He’d be really careful and protect her from things like that.

  He nodded at the director, and the couple of nurses that had come out to say goodbye. He had a feeling that she’d been especially popular. They’d all miss her so much.

  He got in and drove off very carefully. He was hit by such a feeling of responsibility.

  Oliver couldn’t think of anything to say to her. She was just so perfect. He was sure that she wasn’t wearing any makeup.

  His mother once had a doll that she kept in her bedroom. It was on the bed when it was made up. He wasn’t allowed to touch it. It had been an old and irreplaceable gift that she’d gotten from her grandmother.

  Like any child who was told that he may not, under any circumstance, touch something, he became obsessed with the doll. He used to stare at it when he was a young boy. He thought she was the most perfect thing in the world.

  Oliver had thought up ways where he could be allowed to touch her. One time, he pretended there was a fire. He grabbed hold of the doll and ran out of the room, down the stairs and outside with her. He got her as far away from the house as he could.

  Oliver pretended that she was on fire, and, to be safe, he saved her by jumping into the pond with her in his arms.