"Let's stay married," He had thrown the words out there. Not really expecting her to agree. But she had said yes. With tears in her eyes, and with the look of someone who had been knocked down too many times to care. Seeing that look on her had made Nate want to hunt down her scumbag ex and beat him to a pulp. But the man was in the past now. They had better things to worry about than waste of space like that.
"I know your name is Nathaniel Kiriakis, thanks to this," She gestured to the marriage certificate on her lap, her name, Rosalind, right next to his.
"But that's it. Tell me about yourself,"
They had to find a better place to talk. With that in mind, Nate started up the car,and they ended up sitting on a bench in a mostly secluded park.
"I'll go first," She pointed at herself.
"I'm Rosalind Adamos- well I guess that's changed now. Just call me Rose. Anyway, I'm a florist, I own a flower shop called Eden. I'm originally from Vasilio, and I was raised by a single mom," Short and precise.
Nate's turn was preceded by his stomach had growling, reminding him that thanks to the Chuck problem, he'd been surviving on coffee. He'd been content to just ignore it and power on. But she wasn't having it. She'd run to a nearby food truck, coming back with two gyros, fried chips and fruit juice.
It was small, simple. Nothing like the fancy restaurant meal that had been his intent when the future Mrs Kiriakis had been Melanie. But it was amazingly good, not just the food, but also the company. Rosalind didn't try to go for idle chatter, content to finish her meal. Digging into it with a gusto he had never seen before. The women in his social circles often treated food like it was poison. It was refreshing to see a woman openly enjoying a meal.
Meal done, they sat side by side for a few minutes, but then it was time to get back to business.
"I go by Nate. The man back there was my cousin, Chuck. Our family owns Vorche Enterprises. What you saw back there was part of long battle for the right to be CEO," It was brief, but it covered the main points.
"Vorche, as in the company that owns everything under the sun?" She asked, eyes wide.
"Not everything, but yes, the family business is quite successful," Rather than continue to gush about how rich he was, she moved on, her face falling.
"Is this marriage part of the war?" There was a resigned sadness in her voice, and Nate's fingers twitched. For some reason he wanted nothing more than to reach over and hold her hand. Let her know that she was not alone. That he cared.
Instead of reaching out to her, he nodded in answer to her question. Leaning back against the bench, he gathered his thoughts, all the while stealing glances of her. She was his wife now, and for whatever reason she had decided to stay with him. But before they did anything else, they needed to be on the same page.
"We can't tell anyone our marriage is fake," He said, and She leaned turned to him sharply, pinning him with a look, golden eyes ablaze.
"What! No way. I have to at least tell my mother and my best friend Lili," She huffed, arms crossing over her chest.
"I get that you are trying to protect your reputation, but they are the two most important people in my life. I can't lie to them just so you can save face," By now she was openly glaring at him, lipstick smearing as she chewed on her bottom lip.
Nate had been running the most powerful company in the whole country since he was in his twenties. He gave orders and people obeyed. Even Melanie, when he'd been laying out the terms and conditions for their engagement, had agreed to his suggestions. But the woman across from him was not only disagreeing with him, she was challenging him.
"You had better have a good reason for such an outrageous claim. Otherwise you and I are going back to the government building and getting a divorce right now," Where was the meek creature he'd been dealing with? Who was this spitfire? Incidentally, he was reminded of the first time he'd seen her. Hair wild, as her scumbag ex held her back.
He'd attributed the look to being pushed to her limit. But clearly, beneath all that softness, Rose had a temper. A sudden warmth flashed through him, his heart rate picking up and Nate fought to keep his reaction from showing. They were talking about a serious issue, he did not have time to be distracted.
"It's illegal," He said, proud when his voice came out as emotionless as always.
"Our marriage is a fraud," The fire receded from her eyes, logic settling in.
"If it ever comes out that our marriage is a lie, do you want them to go to jail with you?" She shook her head, this time her rage was completely gone. A thoughtful look on her face.
"You're right. I know my mom and my friend would never tell anyone, but it is not right to burden them with such a thing,"
"It is best if we keep it between us,"
"But what are we going to tell people. Our engagements ended days ago…literally… and now we show up married,"
"The news is bound to raise not only eyebrows, but suspicions too," He hadn't actually thought that far. In fact, in an attempt to distance himself from it, he'd been thinking of the marriage as a sort of sealed contract. Once signed they never spoke of it, no one ever knew it existed, but that was impossible.
Not only was his cousin probably out there telling the whole world. His mother upon hearing the news, would want to talk to him. People were bound to questions, and he wouldn't be able to avoid them forever.
"My family is…well let's just say as long as the money keeps flowing, my relatives see no reason to keep in touch," She gave him a sad look at that, and Nate ignored it. His upbringing had made him the man he was, a powerful one.
"I take it your cousin knew about your ex?" He nodded.
"He found out where I'd be by stealing my PA's phone," Said PA had sent Nate a very lengthy message( a clear sign of when Ron was angry), apparently the girls at the club had tied him to a chair while Chuck made his escape. He was demanding a raise, after the week they'd had, Nate was going to give it to him.
"Let's keep it simple then," She said, brow creasing as she tapped her cheek lightly.
"Yes we met that night at the hotel, but it didn't end there,"
"We met up a few more times to console each other. We realized we liked each other more than we did our exes. And as our wedding dates approached we decided to just marry each other and see where it goes," He started shaking his head before she was even done, disagreeing.
"It's whimsical. My family will not buy it. I am too level headed to do rash things, even acting out of hurt," Rather than look disappointed, Rose was smiling at him, her cheek dimpling.
"You married me without a pre-nup, for rich people you have to be really be gone on someone to do that right?"
Pre-nup.
Oh no! He'd broken the number one rule his family always insisted on. How could he have forgotten such an important thing. He must have lost his mind.
"Would you relax, I don't want your money, I make my own,"
"The lack of a pre-nup will be enough to convince them you are serious,"
"Besides, if we ever divorce, I don't want anything of yours," He searched her face for any sign of deception but found none.
"Now, let's swear to give this marriage thing a go," She held out a hand, her smallest finger extend as she spoke with absolute seriousness.
"Pinkie swear, thumb kiss," Feeling like a six year old, gripped her pinkie finger with his. The pads of their thumbs meeting.
The moment their hands touched, in a flower pot in Rose's garden, a seed that had long been dormant began to stir, a single tiny root poking out.