The Most Beautiful Girl In The World

by Rachel Burns

  He stopped walking and lifted his right hand, calling the owner to his side. When he had the man’s complete attention, he whispered that he wanted Emily to have everything. “I want your staff to do the something blue something borrowed thing with her. She deserves to have this done right.”

  “Of course, sir.” Then he turned to his staff, who had been running around all day to prepare a room for the wedding and find a wedding dress for Mr. Keaton’s fiancée. “Do we have everything ready for the Keaton wedding?” the owner asked his staff, letting them know how important this wedding was. They shouldn’t be fooled by the small size.

  “Yes, sir,” the staff answered him.

  The owner went back to Emily.

  Emily was in her dress in the meantime and admiring herself in front of the mirror.

  She turned this way and that thinking she’d never looked better in all of her life.

  “Do you have something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue?” the owner asked her.

  “No, I don’t.” Emily wasn’t sure how important that was. However, she’d heard it mentioned before.

  “Ladies, get to work. Mr. Keaton is waiting for his beloved bride, and I want them to have the best of luck.”

  The four things were quickly found, but it felt like a game. Emily and the ladies helping her, giggled as they collected the strange items. Thus, Emily walked down the aisle with a brand-new, dark blue garter hidden around her thigh under her skirt and a bracelet that was old and borrowed around her wrist. Her dress counted as something new.

  She was in a good mood and a lot of her nervousness had been eased away with the traditional game.

  Oliver’s breath caught in his throat. That happened every time he looked at her. Emily, a woman he’d only met yesterday, was walking towards him with a bunch of colorful flowers in her hands and a genuine smile on her face. She was truly like a child. She didn’t care about his money. The only thing that mattered to her was if he’d be good to her.

  If she could find it in her heart to truly love him, he’d reward her beyond her wildest dreams. He lived in a world that proved that anything was possible. He’d devote his life to making her happy and comfortable.

  She gave him a brilliant smile when she reached him. Oliver reached out for her. Emily took his hand, making everyone in the room think that they’d been friends for years and years. No one would believe that she was a girl that he’d bought yesterday.

  Oliver turned to the pastor and took a deep breath. Emily was minutes away from being his. Without moving his head, he looked over at her. She was looking at him. He turned his head and smiled at her. He loved that she was dependent on him for everything.

  Oliver eagerly promised to love and cherish her for the rest of their lives. He looked in her eyes to reassure her.

  Emily held his hand tightly. She was a little scared, but her daddy seemed to be a wonderful person. Here he was, promising to take care of her after she thought that no one would come.

  They traded rings, marking themselves as belonging to one another.

  Emily also promised to love her daddy. She looked him in the eyes as she made her promises. The pastor was blessing them and their future alliance, but she didn’t hear his words. The only thing she saw was her daddy’s kind eyes.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife. Mr. Keaton you may kiss the bride.”

  Those words were Oliver’s cue. This was the moment he’d been waiting for. He’d wanted to touch his Emily and feel her warmth since he’d first seen her leaving the director’s office. She’d be by his side for the rest of his life. She wouldn’t push him away and scold him not to touch her or her things. Her arms would be open and welcoming.

  He leaned towards her and pressed his lips against hers. A shockwave went through his body. He moved away from her and looked at her.

  Emily’s fingers covered her mouth. She too had felt the electricity when they kissed. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

  A smile spread across his face, and she knew that their kiss had been an especially good one.

  Oliver thanked the pastor, and then he held his hand out to his wife.

  Emily took it with a smile. She’d follow him anywhere.

  Chapter 5

  Oliver led his wife into a private room. He sat Emily down at a table and pushed her chair in for her. The owner and staff were congratulating them. The pastor had papers for them to sign.

  “It’s official. You’re Mrs. Oliver Keaton,” Oliver announced with pride in his voice.

  “Thank you for picking me.” Emily beamed at him. In her mind, he was the best thing that could have happened to her. She couldn’t believe that he’d chosen her. “I waited a long time for you.”

  Oliver’s smile faded. “I came as soon as I heard about the orphanage. I’m sorry it wasn’t sooner, baby.”

  Emily’s jaw dropped. He took everything she said so seriously. “I’m just glad that you finally did. This is going to sound odd, but I missed you before I even met you. Can you understand something like that?”

  “I understand completely. I’ve always felt that something was missing in my life. Now I know what it was. I was missing your presence in my life too. I feel complete now.” Oliver stood and went to his wife.

  He leaned down and kissed her again. He jerked away when he felt another shock. It was the same spark that he’d felt when the pastor said that he could kiss his Emily.

  Emily’s jaw went lax for a moment as she caught her breath. “Is that normal?” she asked him, softly.

  “No, it means that we have something special.”

  “So it’s a good sign?” she asked.

  “The best,” he answered her, wondering if there would still be electricity between them when he made love to her this evening.

  Oliver sat down and stared at his wife, thinking that they were tied together for the rest of their lives. He wanted the coming years to be happy years.

  He made it his mission to protect this wonderful person sitting across from him. Nothing could be allowed to ruin the sweetness she possessed. It was a cause worth fighting for.

  Emily had different thoughts going through her head. The predominant feeling was loyalty. She appreciated everything he gave to her: every warm smile and every gentle touch. She’d be so good for him and be whatever he wanted or needed her to be. He was the only thing that mattered in her life. She was determined to make him happy.

  “Are you hungry, baby? Cuz I’m starving. I ordered us a long romantic meal. Afterwards, I’d like to go for a walk. We can watch the sunset. Would you like that?”

  Emily beamed at him. “Yes, Daddy. I’d love that.”

  Oliver returned her smile. He was making the only person who mattered to him happy.

  Suddenly, his world clicked into place. He knew where he was going and what needed to be done. With Emily at his side, everything appeared cut and dry.

  “I want us to be able to talk freely about everything. Let’s use this meal to get to know each other.” Oliver stopped talking when the first trays of food arrived. He lifted his napkin and laid it across his lap.

  Emily copied him. The waiter asked her which foods he should put on her plate while another waiter poured champagne into their glasses.

  Oliver watched her. She didn’t want much food. Why was it always the prettiest girls who thought that they weren’t good enough?

  The waiter asked what he wanted. He chose approximately the same amount of food that Emily had. He had a plan. Oliver was going to teach her that he wanted to enjoy good meals with pleasant conversation. He didn’t want to hurry through meals because his wife had a food phobia.

  “Shall I leave the platter here, sir?” the waiter asked.

  “Yes, thank you. I’ll serve my wife and I seconds.” Oliver looked at Emily to see how she would react.

  Emily was confused. All her life she’d heard that a Daddy would want a thin girl. Hearing something else sounded so wro
ng.

  Oliver smiled at his bride, thinking she had no idea. Once they were alone, he leaned over the table. “Emily, different men have different preferences. The way you look pleases me very much. If you wouldn’t have been at the orphanage, I would have left empty-handed. I’d have been devastated, because like you said, I missed you before I’d even met you.”

  “But the others are prettier than I am?”

  “Not in my opinion. I don’t like women who are only skin and bones.” Oliver’s body shook as if he’d seen a disgusting spider. “I only wanted you. I have no regrets. That spark we feel when we kiss is special.” Oliver could see that she still didn’t believe him. “Trust me, Daddy knows what he’s talking about.”

  Emily smiled at him. She could see that he believed what he was saying. Her daddy was a very powerful man. He’d know best. Still, it would be better if she didn’t gain any weight. She needed him to like her for the rest of her life.

  Oliver lifted his glass. “A toast to my beautiful wife. Love is a moment that lasts forever.” He looked her in her eyes. He wasn’t lying. In spite of their short acquaintance, he loved her deeply.

  Oliver stood and refilled Emily’s plate. They’d been dining for over two hours already. He’d told her the story of the doll. “My mother was so mad at me afterwards that she sent me to a boarding school, which is like an orphanage, but the children have parents. The parents couldn’t be bothered to raise their own children.”

  “That’s so sad,” she told him.

  “Those were the best years of my life. I didn’t realize that at the time, and if you had asked me, I would have told you that I hated school. Nevertheless, when I look back, I remember school and my friends with great fondness.”

  Oliver looked at Emily. Would the coming years with her be better than his schooldays with his loud spoiled friends?

  Naturally, Oliver had been the loudest and the most spoiled of the lot. He’d been the leader: the first to get into trouble, the first to drink beer and later the harder stuff, and he was the first to get a girlfriend and sleep with her.

  He’d been very immature.

  Did someone like him deserve to have a perfect wife like Emily?

  He hadn’t earned her. Luck and lots of money had gotten him her. Love would keep her by his side. He was prepared to give up anything for her. He’d be the best husband a woman ever had.

  “You reminded me of the doll,” he confessed.

  Emily felt heat rising to her cheeks.

  “I want to be with you, touch you and hold you. That’s what I require from you, Emily. Can you do that for me?”

  Emily was moved by his words. She reached across the table and laid her hand over his. “I’m here for you. All I want is your love. If you give me that, there is nothing that I wouldn’t give you.”

  Oliver’s jaw dropped. How did he get so lucky?

  They talked and shared stories. Emily told him what she could remember about her parents. It wasn’t much, but a few memories had survived over the years. She told him about the garden at the orphanage and that she’d once had a best friend.

  Oliver told her about his parents and his many friends. He even told her about his ex-girlfriends and how they disappointed him.

  “I could never sit down with them and enjoy a good meal and talk about what was on my mind. They were more interested in my money.”

  “Do you have lots of money?” Emily asked taking a bite of her crème brûlée.

  Oliver grinned at her. Only a child could ask that question without blushing.

  “My dear Emily, we’re married now. That means that everything that I have is also yours. I’m the richest man in the entire United States. I’m second to no one. That means that you’re the richest woman in the country. We have more money than we could ever spend.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there is too much of it to lose?” Oliver hadn’t expected that question.

  “No, I meant why do you need so much money?”

  Oliver laughed. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. “I inherited it. My family invested in precious metals a few hundred years ago. We have gold and platinum mines all over the world. Our wealth grows and grows. Every business deal that a Keaton touches works out, bringing in even more money.”

  “Like King Midas?” Emily asked wide-eyed.

  “Exactly.” Oliver praised her.

  “But why would your money interest them?” Emily asked, trying to understand what he was telling her.

  “They didn’t want me. They wanted to take my money and leave me.”

  “But a woman needs a man to take care of her,” Emily stated.

  “That’s exactly right. These were very confused women.” If they had given him their love, they could’ve had everything. Emily wanted his love, and she’d been very clear about that. Because of that, she was the one who got everything.

  The most naive of them all was the winner, and she didn’t even care about the money. This was irony.

  “Does one of your houses have room for a rose garden?” Emily asked.

  “Most of them do,” he informed her.

  “So you aren’t going to make this decision easy for me.”

  “Nope,” he beamed at her. “We’ll visit all of our estates and then decide. I have more out of the country. We can vacation there. I’ll show you the world,” he promised her.

  “Do they all have gardens too?” she asked.

  “Some are apartments, some only have sandy beaches.”

  Emily nodded at him. “We’ll visit those last, or in winter.”

  Oliver smiled at his wife. They’d only been married for a couple of hours, and she was already calling the shots.

  This was exactly what he wanted: someone who was honest to him.

  Chapter 6

  Oliver saw a bench in the sand. “Let’s sit down and watch the sunset together.” They’d been walking around the hotel for over an hour now.

  Emily had enjoyed the gardens. Oliver promised her that she could take a tour of the gardens with the gardener tomorrow.

  Such promises were easily made because he knew that he could buy whatever he wanted. Emily was excited and she was telling him what questions she wanted to ask. She wanted to know odd things, better-said, practical things.

  “Okay, Daddy.” Emily was completely in love with her Daddy. He was more than she could have dreamed up.

  Whenever her plate was empty, he put more food on it. She’d had to lift her hand and tell him to stop when she couldn’t eat another bite. He ate a lot too.

  He’d told her all about himself. She felt that she knew him. She told him about herself too, even confessing what would have happened if she’d turned twenty-four.

  He’d leaned across the table and looked her in the eyes, telling her that he believed in predestination. They were meant to be. ‘God must have made those other men blind when they looked at you. He was saving you for me,’ he told her. Emily could see that he meant it.

  This was no joke. She finally had a daddy and he was perfect.

  Oliver wrapped his arms around Emily as he stood behind her, deciding that sitting next to her wasn’t close enough.

  Her hands moved to his arms and she held onto him tightly.

  “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful, Emily?” He was looking at her smiling face as he asked that question. The orange and red color of the setting sun was bathing her face with color. She was taking his breath away.

  “No, I haven’t. Can we watch the sun setting often?” Emily asked him, never wanting this moment to end and needing to hear that this moment would be repeated often in their lives.

  “Yes, very often. Your life will be filled with beautiful sunsets.”

  Emily bit her lip. This was something that the nurses had explained to them at the orphanage. She knew what was about to come and how men’s and women’s bodies fit together, but she was nervous about being naked with her husband, especially one who obviously
didn’t have any problem zones on his body.

  “Daddy will help you undress, baby. Should we get that make-up off of you too? You have perfect skin so you really don’t need it.”

  “Yes. It feels funny,” Emily agreed with him.

  “A pretty girl like you who eats all of her vitamins doesn’t need make-up. You’re way too young for it, but today was a special day, so Daddy made an exception.” Oliver smiled to himself. “There has never been a more beautiful bride.” He removed his jacket and chucked it at an armchair in the living room.

  “Do you want to shower off your feet, Emily?” Oliver asked her. “You had sand in your shoes.”

  “Sure, Daddy.”

  “Whenever you need something, I want you to tell me. You can tell your Daddy anything.”

  Emily smiled at him. He was fantastic. She couldn’t picture him punishing her, but they agreed on everything they talked about. She’d never give him reason to punish her.

  Oliver opened up her white dress and helped her step out of it. He carefully laid her dress to the side. He didn’t care about his own things, but her things were precious to him.

  Tomorrow he’d call his parents and share the good news with them. They be in an uproar because Emily didn’t come from a family like he did, but he figured that they wouldn’t actually care. They were in a position to be less picky.

  Besides, marrying for money hadn’t worked for them either. Oliver couldn’t even picture his parents making him. He never saw them touch each other. Instead, he’d been made out of a sense of duty to produce an heir. He certainly wasn’t a lovechild. His parents had separate bedrooms and either end of the house. They literally couldn’t have been further apart from one another in the house. They lived separate lives and rarely interfered in their spouse’s life.

  He and Emily would share one bed and be together constantly. He was looking forward to that.

  Oliver removed the rest of his clothes down to his boxers. Emily was waiting for him to take care of her. He brought her into the bathroom and sat her down on the side of the huge tub. “Put your feet in the tub, and I’ll clean them up for you, baby.” He turned on the water and tested it so it had precisely the correct temperature.