"Jas would you look at this, I think we have new neighbors" Jasper's friend and coworker said looking through the window on Jasper's office
" And ? go back to your work Jayjay " Jasper said, again looking at his laptop, and tapping something
"The new owner is super hot, she is the girl of my dreams dude, I think I'm in love already " Jayjay said with his eyes glued to the big window
Jayjay's fantasized comments made him wonder about the girl of his dreams, made him think of the one he left, and think if that love was ever meant to bloom
Approaching the glass, he thought a glimpse of her, was it a mirage he thought, or is it the guilt of leaving her alone in that hotel room, it was really her after all, no one looks like Rumina
" You look mesmerized yourself, what happened to the 'I don't care' attitude" Jayjay asked looking at how his friend froze at the sight of his own dream girl, he let out a smirk and returned to his seat, his eyes lit with something that Jayjay couldn't seem to understand
......….
"Welcome to the company, we were well informed of your arrival, we made everything as it was ordered, even you office" a man in his mid 40's who looked very experienced in that field welcomed Rumina and showed her around
"My office, the purpose of my visit is to check this company legally that's all" she said, though her face didn't change much, but the discomfort travelled her voice
"there must be a misunderstanding, let me inform …" before finishing his words, Rumina cut him and took her phone out
"Never mind, I'll be here for few days anyway, I'll talk to him myself, maybe he has an explanation for me" Rumina justified her misbehaved action to the head secretary Mr. Rupert, while he left the office to leave her more space for the phone call
The phone kept ringing for quite sometimes
Days past and still no answer…
"Mr. Rupert, I'd like to meet the neighbors" Rumina said while signing some papers
"You mean the bio-tech company next door? What for?" he replied with answers
"Good relationships means good work, now do as you were told" she replied her eyes piercing into his
......…..
"What are you doing Jayjay? You kept coming in and out of my office all of this week" Jasper asked rising an eyebrow with anger, as Jayjay's actions driving him crazy
"I'm looking at my Angel, the dress she is wearing today is just heaven made" he said with heart shaped eyes
"did you finish the statistic on the new project?" Jasper asked
"yes" he replied
"what about the financial reports of the end of the year?" Jasper asked again
"yes" he replied
"wait, what, the Angel is coming here, she is advancing to our door, she opened the door, oh my God she is here" he kept looking through the glass, when he realized she was coming he fixed his clothes and put the white shirt into his pant and fixed his hair
"how do I look? How do I look Jas???" he asked Jasper who kept silent not moving a bit
Few seconds later the PA of Jasper entered the room to announce her arrival
"Jas, Miss Rumina Marouikous the new owner of Panda is here, she brought a huge basket of muffins and fruits with her" the PA said not sure about what she was exactly saying; Rumina's personality is no match of a muffin basket
"let her in" he replied still glued to his chair
Jayjay couldn't do anything but shiver with excitement, and fear, he never got the chance to be close to her type, but again what was her type of girls
The moment she entered that door, her eyes grew wide and she stopped moving like if her knees weakened, "what is he doing here?" she whispered to herself
"Hello love, missed me already?" he asked smiling wide, and approaching her more
"I've been asked to manage the company next to you, so I thought I'd say hello" she answered and moved with confidence and sat beside his office table
"although I didn't thought the owner would be you?" she added looking at his eyes with a wicked smile playing on his nerves
"Jayjay come join us" he asked and then called his PA" Lou could we get two Americanos and one lemon tea for the lady" he looked at her, and how Jayjay 's face flushed and how he was anxious around her, women like her do left an impact on men, all men …
"Mina this is Jayjay our statistic and mathematical expert" he said
"Jayjay this is…" while he was about to introduce her she cut him off and handed Jayjay her hand to shake
"Miss Rumina Marouikous. A lawyer " she smiled at his face
"you are my idol, you are not just any lawyer, but the youngest one to obtain a PhD from Oxford, you've been working with many NGO's and had created many organizations for women and children's and homeless people around poor countries, you are a Goddess, I mean I've been watching you all week hoping that we might meet " Jayjay took her hand refusing to let go, reciting everything on his mind swiftly, like if he was in a dream that is about to end, his reactions made her laugh, something that Jasper never saw in the month that they spent together before marriage, yet Jayjay made her do so easily " but again, not in a bad way, I wasn't stalking you or something" Jayjay said while a small smile maneged to escape her pretty little lips
"and this is my wife" he said after all the talking, spreading a weird silence in the huge office
"What ? when? Why wasn't I invited?" Jayjay asked with a shock that turned his face pale, his best friend married someone yet didn't bother to speak a word
"It's a long story Jayjay, we shall talk later, if you please I need to talk to Mina in private" Jasper asked calmly his friend who was still in shock
"ok" Jayjay said and left the room with shock and disbelieve
"Mina, I cannot believe you bought a company just to keep an eye on me" Jasper said with a crazy smile and ever dangerous eyes that were piercing through her skin
"Its not what it looks like" she answered not even looking through his eyes
"I didn't even know, I thought you were working with Lord Blackwater" She added swallowing hard, as he approach her seat and lay closer to her face, as she kept avoiding the eye contact that he was forcing her to make, they kept in silence for long enough to realize how dangerous they were for each other
"Where are you staying?" he asked, but she didn't answer, "For how long are you going to stay?" again with no answer, as she dozed in one of her many memories
Flashback
Two months before their marriage, right after the elders of the assembly decided
The Morouikous were invited by The Blackwater's, as they were about to become a family…
Senior Ilyas and his wife brought both Zach and Rumina, everyone was anxious but Ilyas who was sure of the decision he made, he knew Zach wasn't the perfect one for this agreement specially that Angelika Blackwater was only 19 a Fragile princess that has nothing to do with their black world, and he knew that Jasper was out too, in order to save Rumina from the shallow Jasper was just perfect, to Senior Ilyas Jasper was the actual scapegoat with the minimum damages, and Rumina understood
They were all sitting at the table when Angelika ran away at the view of Zach's silver gun, Jasper followed and Rumina excused herself for the toilets
"We don't really use guns at this house, so if you may?" said lady Catherina with a look of disgust and misbelieve
"We are truly sorry if we caused any discomfort, lady Catherina, Zachariah is very fond of his gun, he carries it everywhere" Senora Isabella said sensing the discomfort in the air
"Max, will you please keep Zach's gun with you, and go out please this is a family dinner" she added showing her good well
"Let this feast begin, today we celebrate our union, let the skies whiteness our true will" Carlisle said holding his glass of red vintage wine smiling to the rest of the table
While Rumi lost her way back, in a long corridor she heard some voices hoping that they might show her the way back, she was never good with directions
Till she reached the slightly opened door, and heard the dialogue between Jasper and Angelika who was crying on his shoulders …
"Jas, I don't wanna marry that man, he looks so dangerous, he has a gun, plus I just reached 20, I still have college, I didn't even got the chance to have an actual boyfriend, because Gab scared them all away…" she kept weeping and crying, while Jasper was holding her hand and brushing his other hand through her ash blond hair
"Angel I won't let anyone hurt you, over my dead body" he said looking through her yes
"but I heard Daddy talking on the phone, he said that if you don't marry , I'll have to do it myself" she said with her teary bluish eyes trying to stop herself from crying more
"Whatever it takes, as long as you smile" he said hugging her tight
"Jas can you tell me that poem that you used to recite when I was young" she asked pleading him for her long forgotten lullaby
" huh, anything for my little Angel" he replied, with sorrow and anger that he refused to show, like if he was fighting his inner demons from burning the entire world
"They say silence is Golden,
I believe it is true,
Because in that Golden silence,
my thoughts occur of you.
You are the flame in my candle
that lights the darkness of my room,
You are the scented flowers
that makes my heart full bloom.
You are the butterflies
that flicker in my stomach all day long,
When I know I will be holding you
before my day is done.
You are the stars that shimmer and shine,
You light up the skies above
In this Golden silence
it's truly you I love."
Jasper recite every word, with more pain, like if those words were really for a lover that is long lost, like if it was his own heart into sentences shaped, slowly speaking until she slept in his arms…He put her in her bed and continued, as Rumina watched them from afar and ached for his words touched something deep within her. And she continued with him as their voice became one
"You are the thunder of the night,
your lightning strikes whenever,
Into my soul that makes me whole,
and excites my heart forever.
You are my paradise, my oceans wide,
My mountains standing tall,
So in this Golden Silence
I love you most of all."
Rumina and Jasper Whispered together her tears flew like a river that she couldn't stop, when she realized the salted water down her cheeks, she hurried up to the bathroom before anyone could see the vulnerable version of her, when Jasper got out of Angelika's room he smelled some kind of a perfume, something tasted so familiar. Yet he couldn't recognize to whom it belonged ….
Prologue
While everyone was drinking their tea, Zach played the thieve, looking for his princess
From a room to another, until he found his sleeping beauty in her childish decorated room,
"look how beautiful you look in all this silence. we could've made a perfect couple" he approached her face and gently cleaned the tear that was left hanged on her peachy blushed cheek and placed a rose by her and said" essere nella protezione di dio"