C6 The Wedding

“Get your hands off her.”

He took a step forward, but he stopped when the lady turned towards him. His breath caught.

He knew her. Personally. Physically.

But he didn’t know if he was taken aback by her beauty, or by the fact that she was the Ava Grayson he was supposed to get married to.

It was her beauty, he concluded.

Trying to mask his outright astonishment, he moved closer to them.

“Darrell, what’s going on?” He asked, gently taking Ava’s arms and pulling her a bit towards him.

Ava did a double take. Did they know each other?

She sighed. Surprises keep popping out of nowhere.

Darrell looked forlorn. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He stepped back and observed her.

Luke came forward. “Darrell, do you realize this is Ava Grayson?”

The sad look on Darrell’s face was instantly replaced with surprise. He stared at her, but this time, it wasn’t an accusatory stare. It was more reverential than accusatory.

“I’m deeply sorry, Miss Grayson” Darrell apologized and immediately turned on his heels. Luke called after him, but he only got a wave back.

He turned to Ava, who was looking down at her folded hands now. He extended his hands to her “Nice to meet you, Ava Grayson.”

Plastering a half smile on her face, she took his hand, “Nice to meet you-“Looking up at him, she stopped mid-sentence.

Up close, Luke Carter was drop-dead gorgeous. He had electrifying blue eyes. The kind of blue that sets butterflies in the pit of your stomach and makes your heart flutter at every contact.

“Nice to meet you too, Luke Carter” she finished, regaining her composure. He ushered her to their table and pulled up her chair “Please sit” he gestured.

Ava offered a quick smile and sat, placing the napkin on her lap.

Luke observed her. She was beautiful, no doubt. Beautiful. She was dressed in a red dress dotted with diamonds.

“Red suits you” he complimented as he drew his gaze back to her face.

“Thank you.” She responded.

“So, what would you like to have? I ordered steak already, don’t know if that’s fine by you.”

Ava nodded “Sure that’s fine”

As they waited for the steak, Luke contemplated between confronting her or just letting it slide. He decided to confront her, to clear the awkward air.

“So, you just did your thing the other day and left,” he started. Ava knew immediately what he was talking about, and sharply avoided his eyes.

Oh boy! I knew it, I knew that all these marriage plans weren't going to work. First, I bumped into a guy I had sex with at the club, and now my supposed soon-to-be husband was the guy I had verbally abused!

The worst part is that they know each other! Her heart raced in panic as all those thoughts ran through my mind.

“You can remember, I see,” Luke said, chuckling.

His words immediately brought her back to the present moment.

Huh? She flinched.

“I want to believe you heard me the first time, but for clarity, I would repeat myself. I meant the crazy stunt you pulled the other day”. He remarked.

Yikes! He sure has some nerves talking to me like that. She muttered under my breath.

“Did you say something?” He asked sarcastically.

“Well, I’m sorry about that day,” Ava started, spreading her palms. “You see, I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again, especially under such circumstances, so I felt I could misbehave a little, and get away with it.”

“Besides,” she added “I didn’t know it was your car” she finished, eyeing him.

Luke laughed. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean? You know what I mean. Heck, a red car? That’s ridiculous, especially for a grown man like you.” She mocked.

Luke still observed her, amused. This is going to be quite adventurous, he muttered as he let out a chuckle again.

“What do you have against red cars?” He asked finally.

Their order arrived and the waitress placed a plate in front of them each. Ava smiled at the waitress and mouthed her thanks. She turned to Luke, who was watching her the whole time.

“Don’t even get me started,” Ava responded as she sliced the steak and took a bite. “Why don’t we get down to business?” She added.

Luke nodded and picked up his cutleries.

“So,” Luke started, a look of seriousness on his face now, “are you okay with the terms of the contract? I’d like to believe you didn’t draft the contract yourself.”

“Yes, I can cope with the terms. It’s just a year. And, you’re right, I didn’t draft that myself. Hell, I would ever think of marrying you.” She added dramatically. She looked up at him, “Can you, though?”

Luke shrugged. “I have to,” he replied. Even though I'm not cool with the whole plan. He added.

“You’re not in any relationship or anything like that?” She pressed.

“I’m not married. Isn’t that what’s important?”

Ava stared at him for a while then she dropped her cutleries. “Let’s sign these then.

I have to be somewhere” she said resignedly, not wanting to press further. She realized he wasn’t willing to be forthcoming with more information, and she was fine with that. Contractual marriage it is. No strings attached, which she believed was best for them.

She brought out the document and went through it for a while. Then she looked up. “What about here? It states that we are to have a child within one year. What do we do about that?

Argh! Isn't it bad enough that I'm getting married to a man who drives a red car? Now I'm supposed to bear him a child? Gross!

“Gross? He blurted.

Oops! I must have thought out loud. She muttered under my breath.

“I don’t want to have a kid because a contract says so.” she pressed forward.

“Me neither, but you know, this is a contract. We can’t go against what the contract states, not after signing it.

There’s an outrageous termination fee to be paid, if either party does.” I guess we just have to work something out.”

Ava nodded, took a deep sigh, and signed under her name. She passed the document to Luke. Luke signed and handed them back to her.

“The wedding is scheduled to be held in two weeks, so we’ll discuss the preparations over the phone. The dress fitting will be next week. I believe you’ll be there?”

Luke affirmed.

“Alright then. I’ll be on my way,” Ava said as she got to her feet. She extended her palms “A pleasure meeting you, again. Luke Carter.” She smirked.

Luke took her palms in his and got up, “pleasure’s all mine,” he said, eyes on her face. They stared at each other for a while, heat creeping into Ava’s cheeks. There was a tingling sensation she felt. She didn’t know if it was his hands, his voice, or his eyes that triggered the sensation.