Axel looked up from his letter which he was reading intensively. His gaze met mine. He looked me up then down, making me feel insecure under his judgement.
"Nice to meet you Aleena. I suppose you have heard of me" he spoke
I nodded and continued to look at my feet like they were the most interesting thing in the world.
"You are allowed to speak Aleena. You are aware of that right?"
I knew I was allowed to speak but I felt tongue tied while speaking to Axel. One he was famous, two I was going to marry him and three he was extremely good looking.His brown hair looked a bit lighter in the sun and those green eyes reminded me of the forests at home.
"I know Mr Matthews....I'm just not quite sure what to say" I finally said after a few seconds of awkward silence.
"Axel is fine Aleena. Strangers and Business partners call me Mr Matthews. You are my fiancé."
Fiancé. That word rolled off his tongue and made me realise what was happening. I was getting married.
I wanted to blurt out "but you are a stranger" but I kept my mouth shut and loked up at him smiling politely.
"Jones, go get the carriage ready. We will walk down to meet you in a second. I need to talk to Miss Aleena privately." Axel said changing his focus over to Mr Jones.
Mr Jones have Axel some sort of look however after he walked down the path with a cane in his hand.
"So Aleena. How was your trip getting here?"
"It was alright. I slept for most of the journey" I replied.
"That's good. Do you like America." He asked.
"Its lovely but it will take some time to get used to. Its a lot different on the farm in England"
"I understand. Are you ready for the wedding? Personally, I'm feeling good about it"
" Well I have no idea. However most likely it will be lovely. I do hope I can pick a dress I like though." I say with the biggest smile I can force on my face.
"Of course. Well everything is planned and set. We don't have an exact date chosen but we will discuss it later with my coworkers"
I nodded then followed after Axel after he started to walk away. I did walk slightly behind him as he was much faster. When we arrived at the carriage many people were crowded around shouting Axels name. I was confused until I remembered how famous my future husband.Suddenly all Axels fans turned around from facing the carriage. I felt all 30 pairs of eyes on me, gazing over every detail. Axel pushed past the people, swearing a few times, then grabbing me by the waist and lifting me up to the carriage. Butterflies filled my stomach at his simple touch.
I moved over in the carriage ( making room for him) and I sat in the corner , my left leg over my right. My hands shaking with nerves. Axel looked at me, rolled his eyes, then pulled out the same letter as before out from his jacket pocket.
"Umm Axel. Why do you and Mr Jones have different last names if you are his son?" That question had been playing on my mind since the identity of my husband was revealed.
"He is my step father" he answered simply. "Now no more questions. Take a nap. You look exhausted"
Well he sure did not beat around the bush. One thing I did notice was that he was constantly staring at the letter the whole time while speaking. What ever was written on it must be very important. I walked over to the bench on the opposite side of where Axel was sitting so I could have enough space to lay down. Truth be told I was so tired. I could not fall asleep properly on the boat or on the train. My eyes fluttered shut almost instantly. I feel into a deep sleep.
I dreamt that I was back at home. My mother was there looking exactly the same as she did in the photos with her long brown hair and her comforting blue eyes. She was chasing after me while I played in the fields. We were laughing and smiling together as we ran. We ran to a clearing in the field. There was a picnic blanket laid out and a small basket. It was filled with different fruits and many small snacks like sandwiches and cakes. My brothers came running out of the fields and into the clearing, were my mother and I were talking and eating the picnic food. They were hitting each other with wooden swords and acting like warriors on a conquest. My father followed close behind wearing a hat, carrying some hay and his face was smeared in dirt. His was smiling and cheering my brothers on as they battled vigorously. He walked over to my mother kissed her cheek and stole the sandwich out of her hand. She smacked his arm away while giggling. I got up and walked over to my brothers. Is took the sword of Leon and ran. He chased after me. I ran fast around the picnic blanket. I would never have been able to run the fast if I was waering a Petticoat. David and Leon tackled me to the ground when I stopped for a second to take a breath. My dress was covered in mud but I did not care. Nothing seemed to matter except my family and their smiles. This is what my life could off been like. It could have been wonderful but the possibility of that was ruined when my mother decided to walk to the market. I have only ever been to the market once. I was 9 and father said I could go to get some fruit. People gave me wierd looks that put me off from ever coming back.
"Aleena, love, wake up" I woke up from my sleep.
"What happened? Have we arrived?" I replied once I had actually up.
"No you were crying. Are you alright?" He spoke with concern in his voice. It made the butterflies return to my stomach.
"Yeah Just a bad dream" I smiled.
He nodded not quite believing me. He sat down next to me.
"You sure?"
"I'm sure. I promise. Anyways when do we arrive"
" In a few minutes. The carriage had some problems getting past a hole in the road so we are slightly late" he said.
We suddenly came to an unexpected stop. I heard another horse trotting over to the standing carriage. There was about 3 or 4 horses surrounding our carriage. Confusion was evident on my face as Axel stood up to go see what was happening. I sat waiting impatiently for the carriage to move once again.Axel leaned his head back into the carriage.
" Stay in the carriage and don't make a sound"
That's when I made out the sounds of people yelling "GIVE ME ALL YOU GOT. THATS IT. PUT THE MONEY IN THE BAG".....
Authors note:
Hi reader 👋
How are you? I hope you are enjoying the book so far. What do you thinks going to happen next? Sorry about this being a bit short. I needed to publish a chapter quick so yeah. Hopefully a new chapter in about 2 days ❤
- Caroline <33