The next morning, I woke up with a snot stain on my pillowcase and a pounding headache. I won't lie, I'd slept soundly through the night and I wasn't sure if it was because I was completely drained from the day before or because the new bed I found myself in was just that comfortable. 

Whatever the reason was, I was grateful for the well- deserved sleep. My heart felt a little lighter and even though I was still unhappy about my current marital situation, at least I could face it with a less tired look on my face.

Before I could stretch my limbs and give my body the wake-up it needed, a sharp knock echoed from the other side of the door.

"Come in." I called out, voice still groggy from sleep.

Velma poked her head through the doorway, offering me a polite smile. "Good morning, ma'am. I hope I didn't wake you up?"

I shook my head quickly, sitting up straighter. "No, no, you didn't." My eyes darted to the pillow, heat rushing to my cheeks at the thought of her spotting the stain from where she stood.

"I just wanted to let you know that I've laid out breakfast in the dining room. Mr. Sinclair usually eats around eight o'clock whenever he's home." she  paused. "But if you're not hungry now, I could bring yours up to you later. Or perhaps you'd prefer to have it in the garden?"

"I think I'll just eat downstairs with Mr. Sinclair." I replied, trying to get the sleepiness out of my voice.  I didn't want to seem like a bother to her especially since this was my first morning here, I wanted to give her a good impression. 

Besides, I was pretty hungry. And even though I'd rather have eaten alone, I didn't want to seem rude to my host, who I assumed was waiting for me downstairs.

Or so I thought.

"Uh, Mr. Sinclair isn't around at the moment." Velma said. "He left with the driver right after I brought you to your room last night."

Oh. "I see." I said, trying to hide the bit of confusion in my voice. "Well, in that case, I'd really appreciate a setup in the garden. But let me take a shower first then I'll be right outside."

~~~~

"I'm surprised you actually went through with it." Kaylor's voice rang through the other side of the phone. "Part of me thought your parents were joking."

"Well, with the way they threatened me with financial doom, this was far from a joke." I sighed, popping a strawberry into my mouth and chewing slowly. "Trust me, Kaylor, if there was any way I could've gotten out of this ridiculous plan, I would've taken it."

"You should have run away like your sister did." she chuckled and I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me. "Then your parents would probably find some distant cousin of yours and marry her off to the guy."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." I was genuinely relieved to be talking to my best friend. Especially after everything that had happened in the past 24 hours; the wedding ceremony, coming to my new home, then later finding out Nathaniel hadn't even bothered to spend the night. 

There was definitely a lot for me to process. And having Kaylor to vent to was exactly what I needed. 

"And the wedding itself? What was it like? Or was it more of some rushed courthouse thing?"

I took another strawberry from my bowl. "Definitely not a courthouse thing, it was a full ceremony. Nice venue, flowers everywhere, the reception even had a string quartet."

Kaylor giggled. "How fancy."

"Yeah." For something that had been thrown together in like a week, it was pretty amazing.  Maybe if it was someone else's wedding I attended I would have liked it even more. "The music was great and the food was pretty decent." I paused. "I'll admit I enjoyed myself a tiny bit. At least more than Nathaniel did."

"He hated it, huh?"

"It didn't seem like he enjoyed himself at all." I shrugged. "He looked bored the entire time. And he kept excusing himself like every five minutes, he was all over the place. Can't blame him though, my nerves were just as bad."

"But wait," Kaylor paused me, her voice laced with curiosity. "Is he cute? Or is he just your typical rich white guy with no personality?"

"He's hot." I said without hesitation, making her squeal. "Tall, tanned, nice features. I think he's mixed with something, maybe Hispanic?" Sinclair didn't sound like a Hispanic name, but who knows.

"Ugh, I've been manifesting this for you since high school." she said dramatically. "I love you, but your taste in men is trash. Remember Joe Fisher?"

Ah, Joe. Eleventh grade. How could I forget? Especially since he crashed the car I got for my sixteenth birthday. The jerk had the nerve to blame me too, said I distracted him while he was driving. Mind you, he was the one that refused to stop at a red light. Long story short, my parents called his parents, they paid for the repairs and my pretty Audi was taken away for some time as punishment.

 Lesson learned.

"Speaking of trashy men." Kaylor continued, "Remember that sexy hunk I met at the resort the first night I arrived? Well turns out... he has a wife."

"What?!"

"And a daughter. too She's probably around five."

"Oh my goodness, that's insane!" I said, eyes widening. "Imagine if you'd actually taken him up on his offer that night  and hooked up with him."

"Ugh, trust me Elena, I almost did." she groaned. "But I was so tired that night and the wine at the bar had made me really drowsy. I'm pretty sure I would've fallen asleep before we even made it to his room."

"Look, for now, just enjoy the rest of your vacation." I advised. "And maybe steer clear of the older white guys. They sound like bad news."

"That reminds me." she said with a mischievous tone. "I've got my eyes on another guy at the moment. Tall with a French accent. I've never been into bald men, but I might make an exception for him."

I burst out laughing at her words. "You're crazy."

The last thing I expected to do today was to meet up with my mum. For starters, we never do spontaneous meetups unless there's an agenda behind it, like when she and Dad blindsided me with the news of my upcoming wedding. Secondly, it was the weekend and if you knew her well enough you'd know that weekends were sacred to her. Her personal haven, that she took 'very' seriously. Whether it was a spa day or a random trip out of town, weekends were her time and hers alone. Even Dad respected that boundary.

So naturally, I was curious. Why did she want to see me? And why did she sound so eager about it on the phone?

"Elena! Finally, come, come, have a seat." I took in a deep breath and joined her at the table in the dimly lit restaurant. I hadn't been here before, so I couldn't tell if the lack of customers at this time was a normal occurrence or not. Either way, I was grateful for the quiet space to chat.

I eyed my mum warily, my breath catching in my throat out of nervousness. Something about all this felt off. Really off. And I couldn't read her expression properly thanks to the oversized sunglasses she was wearing, which for some reason only added to my unease.

"Elena, why do you seem so anxious?"

"Um," I cleared my throat, blinking a few times to try and steady myself. "Why did you want to see me?"

She scoffed like I'd asked the most ridiculous question in the world. "Why wouldn't I want to see you? You just had your wedding yesterday. I want to know how you're feeling. I mean, it was such a huge step and it all happened so fast."

Yes, thanks to you and Dad for forcing me into it.

"I'm fine. Nathaniel's place is nice and I had a great night there." My eyes widened at how insinuative my words sounded and my mum let out an amused chuckle. "I mean, I slept well. I was pretty tired last night so I went straight to bed. Nothing else happened!"

"And the Sinclair boy? How do you find him?"

Well, considering we'd barely exchanged more than a few sentences, I couldn't really say much. And I didn't care to. "He's great, Mum."

She raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. But before she could press further, a shrill voice called out from behind us. "Caitlyn! Oh dear, I'm so sorry I'm late."

"Nonsense," Mum smiled, gesturing to the seat beside her. "You're not late at all. And guess who just arrived herself." I turned to see a familiar face, her red lips stretched into a wide smile as she hurried towards our table. Before I could react, I was pulled into a tight, unexpected hug, a surprised gasp escaping me. "It's good to see you, Mrs. Sinclair." I managed to choke out.

"Oh shush, call me Daria. No need for formalities honey, we're family!" she squealed as she finally released me and plopped onto her seat. "I hope Nathaniel's made you comfortable at his place. Do you like it so far?"

"Yes, he's been great. And his place is lovely."

"That's good to hear." She rummaged through her purse and pulled out a crumpled newspaper. "Have you seen this? There's a section covering the wedding yesterday. It's gotten quite a buzz around the city. Some are calling it the wedding of the year."

My eyes widened. I hadn't expected any media coverage. But of course, when two multimillion-dollar families suddenly decide to marry off their children, gossip is inevitable. I stared at the wrinkled page and zoomed in on a bored groom and beside him, a sad-looking bride in a ridiculously heavy white gown. Both wearing forced smiles on their faces.

Wedding of the year, huh?

"Where are the servers in this restaurant?" Mrs. Sinclair huffed, glancing around. "Would you like to order anything, Caitlyn?"

"I'm quite alright, actually. I have a yoga class after this, so I'll just grab a late lunch when I'm done."

"Well, I'm famished. I could go for a huge bowl of pasta right now." She turned to me with a bright smile. "What about you, dear?"

I shook my head slightly. "I'm not hungry at the moment. I can still feel breakfast sitting in my stomach." I joked.

"Nonsense. You have to eat something before you leave. Maybe a nice salad?"

I turned to Mum, silently pleading for help with my eyes. Her sunglasses were now perched on her forehead as she skimmed through the newspaper Mrs. Sinclair had brought, probably reading the wedding segment. I noticed she'd gone quiet since our company arrived, which answered my earlier question, that this meetup wasn't her idea. And if my suspicions were correct, it was all Mrs. Sinclair's doing. 

Judging by Mum's lack of enthusiasm, it seemed like she'd rather be at her yoga class right now than stuck in this restaurant with seemingly bad customer service.

"I don't think I can stomach food right now." I said, giving my mother -in -law a sheepish look. "I might just skip lunch and go straight for dinner when I get back."

She didn't look thrilled with my answer and seemed ready to protest until Mum cut in. "Speaking of dinner, your father and I want you and Nathaniel to come over tomorrow evening."

I turned to her so fast I felt my neck crack. "What?"

"You'll be having dinner with us, it'll start at 7:30. Don't be late."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful, Caitlyn!" Mrs Sinclair nodded eagerly. "Now that I'm  thinking about it, you and Nathaniel should pop by our place as well on Friday. We're hosting a small dinner party and it'll be lovely to introduce you as newlyweds to our friends. Caitlyn," she turned to my mum. "You and Darren should come too. It'll be so fun! I host the best dinner parties."

"I'll have to check in with Darren first, but I'm sure Elena will be thrilled to be there." I hadn't even realized both women were staring at me expectantly, possibly waiting for my response. But my mind was still spinning from the dinner invite tomorrow.

And now another one on Friday? This was going to be a really long week.

There were two main problems with this whole dinner thing. One, I could not for the life of me figure out what to wear. Don't get me wrong, I had clothes. I had packed quite a lot from my place before coming here. But now, every single article seemed inappropriate for the occasion. Too short, too showy, too casual. There was simply nothing fit to wear.

The next problem was my date for dinner. My dear husband, Nathaniel Sinclair, who for some reason I only had the privilege of meeting at the wedding and exchanging a few words with on our ride home, was not around. He disappeared and I had no idea where he went.

Some husband he was.

I considered calling my mum and telling her we'd have to skip dinner. Maybe I could say Nathaniel had a meeting or I had a really bad headache. But the more I pondered over it, the more I realized my excuses wouldn't stop the scolding I was bound to receive from her.

I let out a deep sigh and rolled over in my bed. Maybe I could take a nap and sleep through the night until this whole dinner situation was over. It was a few minutes past six. I wasn't much of an early sleeper, but I could try tonight. It might be best to put my phone on DND too, because I knew my mum would call a million times and leave a ton of voicemails...

My train of thought was cut short by a sharp knock at the door.

"Come in." I said in a muffled tone, expecting Velma's squeaky voice to ask if I wanted dinner or more pillows or whatever question she seemed to bombard me with every hour of the day.

"You're not ready yet?"

I let out a small gasp and turned to face the person in my room, eyes wide. "You're back?"

"Yes, I am." Nathaniel raised a questioning brow. "Aren't we having dinner at your parents' tonight?"

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. I was a bit taken aback at his presence. For one, I was genuinely surprised he was actually here. After disappearing over the weekend, I had started adjusting to the idea that Nathaniel Sinclair wasn't one to stay in his own house. Maybe he had an apartment somewhere else and preferred staying there now that I had sort of moved in and invaded his space.

I didn't blame him either.

"So are we going or...?"

"Uh, yes. Yes." I stuttered, practically leaping off my bed toward the wardrobe. "I wasn't sure if you were going to come. Just give me a few minutes."

His only response was silence as he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving me to deal with the trouble of finding an outfit for this stupid dinner. I finally settled on a knee-length dark blue dress with a puffy skirt underneath. It seemed a bit showy, after all, this was just dinner at my parents' house. But honestly, I was tired of looking for something better. If I kept searching, Nathaniel and I would leave here at midnight.

I quickly did my makeup and shoved the dress on, thankful it didn't have as many wrinkles as I expected. My hair was in a neat ponytail, nothing too fancy and I was grateful it decided to cooperate today.

I yanked on my heels, grabbed my phone, my purse, a tube of lip gloss and I was out the door and down the wide staircase, trying to take in calming breaths as I made my way to the foyer where Nathaniel was waiting. He didn't say much when I got there, just gave me a once-over, nodded to Velma who was watching from the side and walked out the door while I hurriedly followed behind.

~~~

The ride to my parents' place was, for lack of a better word, awkward. Nathaniel was driving and I was in the passenger seat, trying to look busy by scrolling through my phone and occasionally staring out the window to check how far we'd gotten.

I had texted Kaylor earlier to fill her in on my fashion emergency, to which she replied, 'Just wear something sexy.' And after I told her Nathaniel had shown up out of the blue and we were on our way to dinner, her response was, 'Sneak a pic of him. Lemme see if he's really a hottie.'

I shook my head slightly as I shot her a text back. There was no way I was taking a candid picture of Nathaniel. God forbid he caught me in the act, I'd be absolutely mortified.

I did, however, sneak a glance at him as he drove in silence, eyes fixed on the road, brows furrowed in concentration. The car was dimly lit, but I could still clearly make out the features of his face. Sharp jawline, plump lips, a faint stubble that gave him that rugged 'I just had a long day' look. Yep, he was definitely a hottie. No lie about that.

I froze in my seat as he turned to glance at me, his face slightly scrunched as if silently saying, 'Hi lady, could you please explain why you're shamelessly checking me out?'

"Um..." I cleared my throat, my face heating up in embarrassment as my brain scrambled for something to say. "Uh, how did you know about the dinner? I tried reaching you with the number Velma gave me, but I couldn't get through."

"Yeah," he breathed out, passing a hand over his face. "Sorry about that. I've been really busy today, had a bunch of meetings to attend." I nodded slowly, even though I was pretty sure he couldn't see me with his eyes glued to the road. "Also, I heard about tonight's plans from my mum." He paused to give me a small glance. "She called me at work today. She does that from time to time, it's her way of checking up on me because she knows I always answer my work line. Mentioned something about seeing you yesterday and how she's happy we're having dinner at your parents'. Said it's a great way for them to get to know me."

I thought back to Mrs. Sinclair's enthusiasm when my mum told me about the dinner plans. Out of the three of us at the table, she had seemed the most excited, considering the dread I felt at that moment and the lack of interest my mum seemed to have about the whole thing.

"I lied to her and said I already knew about it. Didn't want her asking me a million questions. But I'm sorry I didn't see your calls. You were probably stressed out all day." he sighed. " Thank God for my mum's babbling mouth, at least we're on our way now."

I chuckled a bit at that last part. "My plan was to fall asleep and hope the night would drag on so I could come up with an excuse for my parents later." I paused before saying my next words, my palms wringing nervously in my lap. "Uh, so I'm guessing after dropping me off the last time, you went to your other place?"

I could see the question caught him off guard and I half expected him not to answer. After a few beats of silence, he nodded slowly, biting the inside of his cheek as if mulling over his response. "You could say that."

"Right."

"But could you do me a favor and not say anything about it to either of our parents, especially my mum?" he grimaced. "The whole me leaving after dropping you off... she wouldn't understand and I'm not ready to answer her questions. Let's just not bring it up, okay?"

I don't know why, but his words rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, I understood where he was coming from. We were practically strangers and maybe having a stranger living in your house and carrying your last name all of a sudden was a lot to process. I could relate, my mind still couldn't wrap itself around the fact that we got married over the weekend. But then just dropping me off and disappearing without a word to God knows where? That was foul. And to think he wouldn't have returned if it weren't for tonight's dinner...

Was this going to be a thing now? He'd only be around when we needed to make an appearance for our parents?

I didn't even want to think about the answer to that. I just turned in my seat and went back to staring out the window, getting lost in the light traffic on the highway and wishing this day would be over already.