"Are you excited for our wedding? Because if you ask me, I am already floating with joy just imagining it. I can't wait to be with you forever, baby."
Alton said, a sweet smile on his lips. His hands were wrapped around her waist, and his lips were on her neck. She could feel his warm breath tingling her skin.
He was embracing Mariana behind her back. He caught her looking outside the glass in his office, on the 10th floor of the building, where the outside view was just the busy street of Los Angeles. It was 10 am in the morning, and she decided to meet him in his office to talk about the production of their wedding. She was elegantly dressed in a short red long-sleeved dress. The vibrant color of the dress made a bold statement, perfect for her body. She had her hair neatly styled in a ponytail, which added a touch of sophistication to her look. On her feet, she wore a pair of elegant white heels. While Alton was in his formal work attire, a black long sleeve over his white t-shirt and black pants. They both complemented each other like pieces of a puzzle that fit together seamlessly.
Mariana softly touched his hands on her waist, and after she caressed them, she faced him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He pulled her closer to him. She could hear his heart beat calmly, telling her that what he was saying was absolutely true. He softly touched her back, moving his hands to the top of her dress.
"I can't wait to be with you forever as well, Al."
Mariana said, she didn't care if what she was saying was true or not. The thing that she just needed to comprehend for herself was to let him know she was aware of his love for her, and she would do everything not to hurt him. Even if it meant lying over and over again for a life with him, she would do it. She believed, she truly believed that this man, who she was so close to right now, deserved to get his happiness. And she would give it to him, no matter what it took.
He cupped her face in his both hands, forcing her to face him directly, and their eyes met. His emerald eyes were saying it all; he was dying to kiss her. And he did. He did not let the chance of that moment slip away. Their lips collided, and Mariana knew nothing but to let him. It was never their first kiss, not even before she got her amnesia. And they had been intimate with each other already; he already had her, owned her first time, and she could clearly remember it. Their kiss was passionate; his heart was burning with desire and adoration for her, while she was confused and shattered. She was torturing herself for doing this, for pretending that she was in love with him, that she was really happy about being his bride, or being his wife. But she had no choice; destiny had already ordered it, that she would be in this man's life forever, that she would be forever bound to him. And she had already accepted it; she was ready to forever pretend she was happy.
There's a huge reason why God left her memories with him, it was for her to treasure and live with it. That's what she thought.
Clearly, she knew he was never the man that visited her in her dreams every night because the feelings and the emotions were truly different. But she was living the reality, and her eyes were wide open. She should learn to love him along the way, and forget about the things she had already forgotten.
"I love you, Mariana..." he said after breaking their kiss while his eyes were closed.
She nearly cried and replied,
"I love you too, Alton."
He smiled after opening his eyes. For Alton, nothing could ever compare to the joy of seeing her, touching her, kissing her, and being this close to her.
His heart was overflowing with emotions of desire and love.
"Al, I need to talk to you for a bit."
Their closeness was broken after hearing the voice of Serena entering the door of the room.
"Oh, I'm - I'm sorry..." she struggled to apologize. She was about to go out the door, but Mariana stopped her.
"No, no, it's fine, Serena. You can talk to him."
Serena took a deep breath. In her face, no trace of any other emotions but sadness. Her heart was torn into pieces. Looking at him, not even looking at Mariana. She was jealous and hurt for having her beside him and so close to him. It was never good for her to wish for Mariana not to come back in his life, but that's the only way she could have a little chance of him loving her back, the same way that she was dying for him.
"Oh, yeah, you're telling me about the business production issue. I'm sorry, I forgot about it."
Alton cracked a little smile, doing that apology, facing his secretary.
"Yeah, no worries, let's go to my office, and I'll discuss everything about it with you real quick."
She calmly said while forcing a smile on her face.
"He'll be back in a minute. And by the way, you look beautiful, Mariana. It's nice to see you."
She said quickly, as if she was in a hurry but in a good tune of her voice. As if she truly meant what she said. She was complimenting her, yet deeply, she was cursing her.
Mariana smiled with a little giggle.
"Oh, thank you, you look amazing as well. It's always nice seeing you, Serena."
Serena was wearing a yellow tube top paired with a small skirt. That made her look like a bratty teenager, more than a professional business woman.
"Well, thank you."
Serena slightly laughed. Her blonde hair was down and gracefully flowing as she walked out of the room, leaving the sound of her high heels hitting the floor.
Alton left a kiss on Mariana's forehead before he followed Serena out of the room.
"Be right back."
The last thing he said after he completely vanished from her sight.
Mariana was left alone in the room for a little while, not until Caitlin surprised her.
She opened the door after hearing the voice of Caitlin calling her name.
She smiled at her after seeing her face.
"So, how's the conversation? I've seen him walk away with his secretary. You already talked about your wedding production, yet?"
An excitement was on her face as she began to meddle.
"No, not yet, Cait. He just got here and then walked out again."
She said disappointingly.
"Surely he's a busy man."
She laughed.
"Remember, you're getting married to a businessman, so be mindful of his time."
Mariana almost laughed, being carried away by how Caitlin was.
Caitlin's laugh was stopped when they both heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Mariana shouted carefully.
A woman uniformed as a cleaner got inside the room.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, I just need to take out the old files to get them in the trash as Mr. Morant said."
Mariana nodded with a smile on her face.
"Sure."
The cleaner continued to walk and go straight near the separated files inside a box in the corner of the room.
She forced herself to carry the box, but what was inside it was heavy, so she let it go accidentally.
The box burst open, and all the papers came out of it, it was scattered on the floor.
"Oh no!"
Mariana shouted and ran straight to her to help her file up the papers inside the box again.
"I'm sorry."
The cleaner shamefully pleaded as she quickly picked up the papers.
"That's okay, it's just too heavy for you. It's not your fault."
Mariana held the cleaner's shoulder to comfort her.
The cleaner nodded slowly while continuing to pick up the papers on the floor.
"Let me help her, Mariana. You don't have to do that."
Caitlin said concernedly.
"I'm fine, Cait, let me help her."
She insisted, she was kneeling on the floor, picking up the files. She couldn't just watch the woman do it by herself. There were a lot of papers that needed to be picked up, and surely it could take her the whole afternoon to do it by herself.
But with her determination of helping the cleaner, she stopped for a while after she picked up something that made her cease her movement.
She had seen it, an article in a magazine with her face. And then the face of a man that was called her captor. Calum Bryant. That was the name of the suspect of kidnapping her, with a billion bounty on his head.
She breathed rapidly as she held the piece of the article, nearly crumpled by her grip.
Her fast breathing never stopped, and her heart was beating so fast that it would explode in a second. And then she cried.
She realized that her dreams about the man with a dragon tattoo on his waist weren't about her being in love with him, instead, she was fearing him. She could sense the fear, and it was scary. More scarier that she had seen him. She was familiar with him. He was the guy in the park. The Stranger.
Caitlin and the cleaner were shocked.
Caitlin quickly ran towards her.
"Hey, Mariana, what's wrong?"
She asked concernedly. While Mariana never ceased her intense crying.
"Tell me everything about this." Mariana could hardly speak as she sobbed. "What is this?... Tell me what is this, please..."
Caitlin looked at the magazine and froze. Surely, she would have a very hard time explaining it to her. But right now, she was just frozen.
***