“Isabella…” Christian’s warning voice came, low, and holding more words than he released vocally. I am no doubt frustrating him, which I find to be good because his news had frustrated me as well to no ends.
Besides, he needs to start getting used to me annoying him. He is the one that wanted to live with me under the same roof for a year, right? Then he better starts to get used to the constant annoyance that comes with it.
“Christian, I have loads of work waiting for me,” I pointed out, huffing out a breath as I looked away from the rack of clothing, my tone serious as well. “I know you do as well but perhaps, you can spare hours of your work time, I cannot. It is a week day, I should be at the office handling the issues at hand not going to some damn family meeting where I will be forced to pretend to be part of a perfect family when you of all people know how shitty my family is.”
I am upset that I have to give up a few hours of my work day, yes, I cannot deny that. But the real reason why I am throwing a fuss is not baseless. My whole family will be there-my father, my step mother, Sebastian, Alexander and his wife, Victoria. I was hoping only my father will be there, but the others RSVP-ed as well, and it does not take a genius to know they did it to get under my nerves.
If it is up to me, they will not be anywhere near the wedding at all, because they will sour the day. I do not need more stress from them, and this meeting is exactly what the definition of stress is. I can bet my life they agreed to come just to try and mess this up for me, which I cannot have.
I have managed to leave a good impression on Christian’s mother, sister and brother-in-law. My family will ruin the little effort I put into giving myself that image. Can you now see why I do not want to have this wretched family meeting?
A sigh came from his end, followed by a couple of seconds of silence and believe me, I started to feel bad for pressuring him on this without looking at his side. He has been nothing but understanding with me, and I just keep piling up his worries without realizing it. The guilt only came when I heard that sigh, and I am yet again reminded that everything he is doing is for me, that he is already risking a lot and perhaps, I am being ungrateful.
“I can shift the meeting to happen at night,” He offered, or should I say tried to compromise, his tone serious. “That way you can handle your work during day time and the meeting will take place at night. I cannot change that though, I am sorry. My family wants to meet yours and if we want to sell this to them, we cannot avoid this, and you know that.”
He was right, I can bring up as many excuses as I want but unless I want to taint my own image myself, I will not back away. His mother asked for the family meeting, and if there is one person we truly need to convince, then it is her. She has been nothing but nice to me, but still.
It really does not matter if my family believe this or not, I do not care, their opinion does not matter to me-only my father’s do. Besides, try as I may, we all know we do not do anything in that family that will not benefit us, and so is this marriage of mine. So, there is no need to convince them or not. But his family is another issue entirely.
They are not like mine. They value relationships and marriages, truly along with honesty-something I am everything but, neither is my family. Meaning, I need to put more effort with them if we want to get through this. Christian is doing most of the work when I am the one in need of this more.
“I am sorry.” I sighed, drawing my bottom lip between my teeth as I settled down on the ottoman, legs stretched out in front of me. “I am making this more difficult for you.”
“It is okay, I understand how hard it is for you as well.” He did not sound upset, only understanding of my predicament, which does not fail to surprise me. “Do not worry much about your family. I will be there with you. Besides, it is just formalities. Let us get through it once and for all, then we can worry about something else. Okay?”
I hummed, nodding my head slowly despite knowing he cannot see me. “Okay.” I resorted to saying instead, not knowing what else to say in case I will make it worse.
“So, let us have it tonight? You will be done with your work by then, yeah?”
I pressed my lips together, my brows furrowing as I considered his option. “But, we have already informed our families about the time. We cannot just change it.” His suggestion does sound tempting but both sides have been notified already, and I am certain they all made time out of their busy schedule.
How can I be selfish to change it because of my own schedule that could be adjusted as well? As busy as I am, I am certain Christian is just as busy-and so are our parents and the others as well. I cannot afford to be selfish, I know that.
“We can, if that is what you want.” Yet again, Christian was understanding, going out of his way to offer something to cater my demands.
Biting my lip, I shook my head, still aware that he could not see me but it is a habit I cannot just shake off. “It is okay.” I caved in with a deep sigh. “Let us just hold it at the agreed time. The sooner we get this over and done with, the better,” And the faster I will not have to see the faces of those Satan spawns called my family members.
It seemed as though Christian wanted to press the matter further judging by the slight silence that came from his end, but he did not. Instead, he resorted to asking something else. “I will pick you up by 2pm then?”
My gaze flicked to the wall clock there, the time reading about thirty minutes to 8am. “Nah, I will just go there from work, do not worry.” I still have time to get to work and handle the pressing issues I can, then leave and make it to the family meeting as well at the agreed time and place. “Let me pick you up,” His voice softened, as he tried to coax me. If we were in the same room, I could imagine his sultry eyes giving me that seductive look, the same one that has butterflies filling me tummy without much effort. Then, he added in a husky tone. “Okay?”
***
Isabella Montague.
You guessed what happened afterwards, right? Yes, I ended up agreeing to let him pick me up so we can go together, but, in my defense, he had to give me a valid reason for me to agree else I would not have done so. I believed it will be better for me to just get there on my own since mine and Christian’s company is on opposite places. It will not be practical to have him come over the opposite way just to pick me up and we can head there together, I wanted to stand my ground.
Then he said, and I quote. “It will be more believable if we go there together.” Of course, I tried to argue even with that, so, he added. “We are getting married, Love. And we are going to a family meeting, what will it look like if we go there separately? Remember, we need to convince them?” Damn him for using my words against me. So, that was how I ended up agreeing and his satisfied chuckle came almost instantly, to which I instantly ended the call before the mere sound has me thinking of the wrong things.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.