006 – Marriage Talks
My logic and attempts to escape were all refuted by a single phrase from Mom.
"Lucian Niklaus Thatcher get back here at once," said Mom with her lips pulled as thin as a line, I swear nothing is more terrifying than having your parents use your full name.
"You will go out on a date with this girl and that is final,"
I sighed in lament as I pitifully nodded my head hoping it would get me out of this predicament, but Mom was having no mercy.
"Fine, fine, I'll take her on a date, what's her name?"
"Elizabeth Barrington,"
I blinked a couple of times as I heard the last name, "Barrington, is she…" I didn't get to finish my question as Mom was already nodding her head.
The Barrington's were good friends with my parents, Nicholas Barrington was my fathers' best man at his wedding, my parents got to know him back when they were studying management.
Though Mr Barrington was a hotel owner and went international, he owned hotels across the globe, and he helped my parents quite a bit with their start-up, much of their early success could be credited to him.
I met him only two times when he had some free time and came to visit my mom at home.
I could only continue to sigh, given the relationship my parents shared with Mr. Barrington, I was certain that both parties expected very good news after this meeting, which meant that I had to be on my best behaviour.
'Damn it this is so much work!' was my immediate thought.
Well it was not like I could back out of it, thus I began to brainstorm, if this was to fail, I needed her to take the fall and pull out of the agreement, a thought that was quickly dismantled by moms next words.
"You should know that the entire arrangement was her idea," Mom began, which almost got me sobbing, if it was her idea it meant that it was serious, and she was seriously looking to get married.
'I know,' I have a health condition so if I play my cards right, maybe I can convince her to break out of it, I mean honestly even the doctors say it will be a miracle if I live past forty with my condition.
"Her parents have already informed her about your health issues, but she was insistent that it didn't matter to her and that she is willing to take care of you," Mom continued, seemingly reading my mind.
I couldn't help but look up at her with teary eyes, only to find a gleeful smirk in place, it seems that Mother had been paying close attention to all my tactics.
I imagine that she developed a counter for all of them already, and sure enough, she listed counters for the next thirty excuses I had.
'Dammit, it took creativity and hard work to invent some of those excuses, not to mention the help of the internet,' I had only the route of acceptance to take.
'Fine, fine, fine dammit I give up,' it was too much work to try circumventing that arrangement.
As I looked at Mom teary-eyed, I felt betrayed by the joyful smile she was giving me, when she gave me a tight hug, and a kiss on the cheek.
"Now, now dear no need to look so resentful, this could actually prove to be very practical for the family," she spoke seriously.
It quickly sobered me up and I looked at Mom waiting for her to go on.
We quickly sat back down, and Mom handed me the file she was holding.
"A marriage between you and Elizabeth will prove to be very useful for both our families,"
"Nicholas is a major hotel owner, it makes him rich, but it also makes him plenty of enemies, so you could say that he has trust issues,"
"He has been planning to up the dining experience in his hotels, but he's having a bit of trouble finding people he can trust to give him sound advice on the task, he fears that some people are trying to set him up for failure,"
"This is where we come in, we've been friends for ages and we know the restaurant business like the back of our hands, we've been in talks for over a year now, and decided that if you and Elizabeth decide to get together it will make the whole process easier,"
"The joining of our two families will put our investors at ease, making them worry less about either side backing out at the last moment," Mother slowly explained.
I looked down at the files with interest, like I said I believe in practicality, a marriage like this was very practical it would help both sides significantly.
As I scanned through the documents I found something of interest.
"Mom, I get that this is a collaboration, but what's this about a possible merger?" I quickly asked.
Mom smiled wryly and I saw the tightening wrinkles around her eye, "A marriage between you and Elizabeth will enable a full collaboration, but that's about as far as things will go,"
"You've made it clear that you don't want to be very involved in the business, and Elizabeth doesn't want to get overly involved in the business either, so it has its limitations,"
"Nicholas and I have agreed that in the event of his wife passing, we will marry and merge our assets, that way the restaurant that your father and I started up will continue to exist, even after my passing,"
"Nicholas has other children and they will continue to keep the business alive, long after we pass on, and you will gain an equal share of the company, so even if you decide to continue staying out of the business any children you might have will always be welcome to get involved,"
I looked at my mom for a long moment before speaking, "You haven't given a single man any time of day since Dad died, I never expected you to suddenly bring up getting married yourself,"
Mom shook her, "Don't be silly dear, Nicholas was your father's best friend, this marriage is just one on paper, it's more for convenience than anything else, we need to give our investors insurance if we want this to work and we both know it,"
"I'm sorry Mom," I spoke softly feeling genuinely guilty as I looked into the burning flames, "I wish that I could continue the restaurant for you and Dad, but I'm afraid that I'm just too useless to get it done."
Mom's arms wrapped around me almost instantly, "Don't apologise," she said in a firm heartfelt tone, "The restaurant was the dream your father and I shared, it was never meant to shackle down our children,"
"You've found your own dream and you're pushing forward with it, you have no idea how proud your father would have been, he had all these plans set out, the day that I told him I was pregnant the first thing he did was place an order for year planners and diaries for the next twenty years,"
"And every day he would sit with those books, planning out the future we would have together, by the time I gave birth he had the first 12 years completely planned out," Mom both laughed and cried as she hugged me.
"You know when I watch you taking notes and planning your books, you look so much like he did during the months of my pregnancy, sometimes it feels like I've gone back in time when I watch you,"
"All those plans and not one of them ever mentioned you taking over the business, sure there was a bunch of stuff about making you love that chef Lucian more than Niklaus, but everything was so that you could live your life however you wanted to," mom cried into my shoulder as she hugged me.
We rarely ever spoke about Dad, I avoided the topic because it always made Mom cry, I suppose that then more than ever I wished that I got to know him, he seemed like one hell of a guy.
"I'll marry her mom, I promise, I won't let yours and Dad's dream die," I figured that it was the least I could do, after all they gave me.
A while later Mom calmed down and had a drink to settle her nerves, she looked at me from time to time and sighed softly.
"Is something the matter Mom?" I asked after a while.
Mom sighed softly as she pulled a shawl over her shoulders, "I-I just never imagined that you'd have an arranged marriage, I always imagined you having an epic romance,"
I rolled my eyes, "Those only happen in stories Mom," I sighed, "I know that you and Dad got married because of love, but I just don't believe in it, I'm not made for it,"
"It was either a marriage like this or never," I shook my head, "So what's this girl like?" I asked quickly changing the topic.
"Oh, you're finally getting interested?" Mom asked with a playful smile.
I merely rolled my eyes, "You said she's 26, so there has to be something wrong with her right let me hear it?"
"Is she fat, or ugly, oh sweet lord don't tell me that she's a dynamic combo of fat and ugly?" I asked and turned to Mom with a terror.
"Humph, as if I'd let my handsome boy marry an ugly girl," Mom pouted and stroked my cheek.
"Okay, then what's her problem?" I asked.
Mom looked away with nervous sweat trickling down her face, "I've arranged your date for this Saturday, you'll pick her up at five and take her to Cremé'le'more, your reservations are at 6," Mom hurriedly spoke.
"Mom?!" I questioned.
Mom quickly stood up, "I think I heard my work phone ring, it must be important," she said and raced out of the room.
I watched her leave with a scornful look, as my eyes drifted to her work phone lying on her desk.