Marriage by Law (11 page)

I walked back to my seat, passing the teenage boy who let out a slow whistle. I shot him a glare and he winked back. I sat back down, taking off my jacket. It was getting a bit too hot in here.

The movie continued and I tried to concentrate on the movie and not on the teenager’s hand that was inching way too close to my armrest. I moved toward Darius more. I kept my eye on the guy and glared at him but he seemed not to notice as he leaned a bit more to my side.

I was ready to confront him when Darius stretched his arm, draping it over the back of my seat. The teenager looked at the hand and moved away and I bit my lip trying not to smile or show that I noticed as I watched the movie.

As much as I tried to concentrate on the movie, my eyes kept drooping and I felt my head sway. Did you ever have those moment when you want to sleep on the train or the bus and the movement kept making your head droop and you got embarrassed? That was what was happening now.

My head kept drooping and swaying and I kept opening my eyes, trying to concentrate. In the end, I gave in and closed my eyes, leaning back into the seat. It was warm and hard and I pulled up my jacket.

I had to say, these seats smelled damn fine. The cleaners did a good job.

Chapter TWELVE

6 Months Ago

Walking into the shop, I looked around at the rows and rows of white dresses and stopped. Why does someone have to wear white? I mean, it signifies purity and innocence but when you think about it, what is so pure about a marriage?

That being said, it was only family members invited, and just about another twenty or so people, so why does this wedding need to be so lavish?

"Hello. Can I help you?"

I turned around to see one of the sales representatives smiling. Another assistant was behind her holding a bottle of champagne and glass and I looked back at my mother with her private assistant going through the dresses.

"Um..." I said, looking back and forth. I looked over at my mother who pulled out a long white dress with a trail probably bigger than the aisle itself and a corset that looked like it was going to make me four sizes smaller. 

"Yea, do you have any dresses in orange?" I asked with a smile. Orange is such a nice color, so bright, so orangey, so...bright.

Isn't it a lovely color?

Present Time

Something shook me. It wasn’t an earthquake. And if it was, too bad I was going to sleep right through it. I was way too comfortable to move. There was a rougher shove and I groaned. Okay, maybe this wasn’t as comfortable and I slowly opened my eyes, waiting a few seconds for my eyesight to adjust.

"Wake up, sleepy head," I heard a voice say. I blinked back the sleep and stared into a black sleeve shoving me and I glared at it, making it go away with my stare.

Only then did I realise that the sleeve I was staring at belonged to a body, the same body I was using as a pillow. I sat up straight away, putting as much distance between us as possible and rubbing my head. Actually, I’d rather be in that earthquake.

"Is it over?" I asked awkwardly, surprised that he even let me lean on his shoulder.

"Yes."

Darius stood up while I groaned and leaned back into the seats that were too soft now. Damn, that was the best sleep I had gotten in ages. I yawned again. I felt his shadow over me and peeked to see that he was standing with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Still sleepy? You just slept through the whole movie," he said, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"A girl needs her beauty sleep, okay. And it wasn't the whole movie, more like the last five minutes," I said with yet another yawn and a wave of my hand.

"Oh really? What happened in the movie then?" he dared, propping himself against the seats behind him and crossing one ankle over the other. I was just waiting for him to lose balance and fall backward; it didn’t happen.

I closed my eyes and waved a hand. Darius grabbed it and effortlessly pulled me up like I weighed nothing. The sudden movement made me squeal. I opened my eyes to tell him off when I came face to face with his chest.

"Eh, the random cliche?" I asked, looking up. His green eyes stared down at me, his eyebrows knotted. I only just realised how close we were. I could even smell his cologne or whatever it was. I stepped away first and walked down the aisle.

"Or was it about monkeys and a planet?" I asked, yelling over my shoulder. That was the last black and white movie I watched before. I had fallen asleep on someone else's shoulder. I shook my head and tried to erase that memory.

I heard him chuckle as we both hit the pavement for the walk back home.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" I asked as I placed my hands in my jacket pocket. It was freezing and I was grateful I had brought my jacket.

"What do you want to do?" he asked. I shrugged as I looked up at the bright moon. The clouds looked gray in the sky. There were a few stars here and there you could see between the clouds.

"Snorkeling?" he asked.

I shot him a look. "Seriously? I just went!"

"Well I didn't, so let's go again," he said. I shrugged. I did have a good time last time, apart from one thing.

"As long as you don't book the same guy as last time," I muttered.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," I sang, walking faster. "Hurry up. I am starving and I might make food when I get home," I said, looking over my shoulder. I saw the glint of his teeth as he smiled and walked faster home. Damn, I was hungry.

Dinner was quick and quiet, which really meant opening a packet of chips and eating them. Yep, we were so healthy. Darius left and said goodnight, which was a first, and I went over to the computer to see what we can possibly do.

I was Googling things when I remembered we were in Melbourne, and apart from the fashion, food and culture of this town, what else is famous? Football, of course!!

I quickly Googled possible AFL matches and nearly screamed when I realised my team and a rival were playing tomorrow night! Only the tickets were nearly sold out. Grabbing my purse and the credit card number, I went away booking the few seats that were left. Thank god I managed to snatch them.

Of course, they were double the price of normal seats but whatever, this was amazing. Wait, maybe I should have asked Darius first.

Saving the page, I ran upstairs two at a time and rushed to his room, opening the door.

"Dar-"

He wasn't there. Oh crap, which was his room? I walked down from the empty room past mine and opened another door. There he was!

"Darius."

He turned around staring at me as I leaned against the door.

“So I was thinking AFL tomorrow. It's much more fun. Unless you follow a team, then I can look it up."

"AFL?" he asked.

"Footy, ya bone head," I said. "Have you never been to a footy match?" I asked, crossing my arms.

He shook his head and I gasped in disbelief. "How very patriotic of you. Well then, after snorkeling or whatever, football it is. Actually, it's pretty fun. I used to hate it till I watched it live. The atmos-"

"Can you give me a moment?" he asked.

"Why?"

He raised his eyebrows and I looked at him. It was only then that realised he was wearing a towel and his hair wet, just out of the shower.

"OH MY GOD, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NAKED?"

"My eyes! You idiot." I screeched, turning around and in my haste slammed into the wall instead. Grabbing my head, I rushed out of the room without closing the door and I swear I heard him laugh at me. He could have told me he was in the shower or something.

I leaned against the door shaking the image – or at least trying to – from my mind and sighed as I walked back to my bedroom. Horrible image. How did I not notice him standing there in only a white towel wrapped around his bottom half?

I shuddered, going into my room and making sure my door was looked. I flopped onto the bed without bothering to change. I was just too tired.

Chapter THIRTEEN

6 months ago

The look on my mother's face when I came out in the horrible orange color was priceless. I was just waiting for her to faint. She didn't, but it was damn close when she fanned herself, yelling at the shop assistants for picking such a hideous dress.

I turned around in the mirror, smiling. Wow, I really think orange is my color.

"Ivory, get down here and try this on," she said, looking away like I was hideous and holding out a massive princess ballroom puffy type dress with pink ribbon. I grimaced.

Damn, I hate pink. But being the 'good' and 'obedient' daughter I was, I grabbed the dress and marched into the trial rooms. My phone vibrated and I looked down on the seat where I have placed it and picked it up as I unzipped myself.

Can we talk?

I didn't even need to see whom it was from, I knew. Switching off my phone, I leaned against the wall, the cold seeping into my back. 

"Can we talk," I whispered to myself. With a scoff, I muttered, "Like hell we can."

"Ivory, show me," asked a voice from outside and I sighed, pulling on the dress. I was starting a new 'life' now. It was best I had cut all threads, just like the extra thread that was hanging from the bottom of the dress. 

Present Time

The breeze was warm but calm, bringing with it the smell of the fresh ocean towards me. It ruffled my ponytail, making it stroke against my skin. The sand was warm and sharp against my feet, tickling my skin. I opened my eyes smiling.

Now this is my idea of relaxing.

 I turned around and frowned upon seeing Darius still unpacking the damn car. I shook my head as I walked back to give him a hand.

 
“What’s taking you so long?” I asked. His eyes narrowed as he looked at me and he went back to taking out the massive beach ball I placed in the car.

 
“Why do you even need this?” he asked, chucking the ball in my direction. I grabbed it mid-air and hugged it to my chest. Is he joking?

With all these people on the beach, a game of friendly beach volleyball is a must! He closed the car’s trunk and I helped him carry the bags to a sunny yet shady spot near the trees. I spread the towel on the sand and plonked down, pulling things out of the bag while Darius looked out into the ocean.

 
“You going to surf?” I asked. He shook his head, awkwardly sitting down while brushing the sand off his jeans. I stifled a laugh. Who the hell wears jeans to the beach? But from the looks he was getting, I’m sure no one minded him in his faded blue jeans and white top. Every girl walking past us, young and old grandmothers, were giving him the eye.

 
Which, for some strange reason, annoyed me.

 
I lied back on the towel, pulling the hem of my dress down and closing my eyes. Ah, this is life. Sitting under the palm trees on the beach and hearing people yelling and kids laughing…

 
I opened my eyes to find Darius looking at me. “What?” I asked. He shook his head and took out his phone. I rolled my eyes. I really should lock that phone away. This guy didn’t even bring his bathers!

I, being the smarter one in this marriage, had worn my bathers underneath my dress since I never did like changing in those horrible toilets at the beach, if you can even find them in the first place.

 
“Hey.”

 
I opened one eyes to see a shadow, or six, shadows looming over us.

 
“You guys interested in joining our volleyball game? We need two more players.”

 
I sat up, nodding my head. “Yep!” I said while Darius just shot me a look.
 

“Awesome,” he said with a smile and I stood up, looking at Darius as he also stood up and raised an eyebrow.

 
“You know how to play?”

 
“Of course,” he said, looking at me like I was an idiot. My bad. I thought rich kids didn't like getting their hands down and dirty. Correction. I thought Darius wouldn’t partake in such activity with complete strangers.

 
“You guys can have the girl. She may be hot but she’s not gonna know how to play,” I heard one of the guys whisper.

 
“Hey! For your information, I played 5 years in a male hockey team,” I snapped, glaring at the guy.

He turned around to stare at me with a raised eyebrow. “Sure.”

 
I glared back at him. Asshole. Let’s do him some collateral damage.

 
Darius and I were split to opposite teams, and, of course, the grey-eyed asshole was on his team. Perfect for me to plan my revenge.

 
“Okay, this is the plan,” said Henry, the captain of our team.

“Kyle, you and Jeffery take the back and Aluminium and I will take the front. You guys are the tallest so you will be able to pass back.”

 
“MY name is NOT Aluminium!” I replied, facing them as they all gave me blank stares.

“That's what he said,” said Henry, pointing to Darius, and I glared. Of course he did.

 
“It’s Ivory,” I said. They all nodded and Henry continued with the plan. After a little team hug we all took our spots.

Darius could play.

 
Now I wasn’t exactly sure if this was a good thing.

Damn, he could play.  But I knew I could play just as well. I just needed to up my game. Darius scored eight of their team’s points and I had done nine. It wasn’t much but we were ahead by just one small point.

 
The grey-eyed asshole – his name is Daniel –  served, which landed right to Jeff who passed it to me and I hit it back into their court, which was, of course, picked up by Daniel who passed it back.

 
I could tell this was going to be another long rally as neither of us wanted to give up.

There was a small crowd by the time we were nearly finished.

 
“Hey, can we join?”

 
Jeffrey paused his serve and our group turned around to see three guys approaching us with smiles.

 
Jeffrey looked around and Henry shrugged. “Yeah, sure. We’re nearly done and you guys can join in then.”

 
“Nah, we’ll help you finish. Just a quick game. We saw you lot have been playing for ages,” said the second one, shooting me a look. What was his problem? Girls can’t play?  

 
“Sure, I guess, then. One of you guys can join us and then the other there, and the third just watch till we’re done or else it’ll be uneven.”

 
“It’s fine, he can join us. I need to take a phone call anyway.”

I looked around to see it was Darius who had spoken. Daniel groaned, slapping Darius on the back. “You gotta go, man?”  

Darius laughed, nodding. “I’ll be back.” He walked off and I sighed.

 
Typical him. Who was it? Another model-girlfriend of his?

 
“Hey, I’m Blake.”

 
I looked up to see one of the guys smiling at me.

 
“And I’m Aluminium,” I said. Henry cracked up laughing and Blake shot him a look of confusion. “Is that really your name?” he asked.

 
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you mocking my name?”

 
Blake put up a hand with his palm up, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean it like that, just-”

I frowned, returning my attention to the game. I wouldn’t mind telling him my real name, but the way he was looking at me, I would rather not tell him. And it didn’t help that the others continued to call me Aluminium even after I told them I was Ivory.

 
I watched the ball rally between Daniel and Henry before Henry scored the point and I cheered. Take that, grey-eyed moron.  

 
We all swapped spots and I switched with Jeffery so he had a shot at the front.

 
“You single?” asked Blake, switching with Kyle. I shot him a look.

“No,” I said. Well technically, I wasn’t really single and like I was going to tell him that. The way Blake watched me gave me the shivers.

 
“Hey man, you playing?” questioned Henry. Blake turned around to serve the ball and I sent Henry a thankful smile, which he returned with a wink.

 
Henry had scored the last winning point, giving us a margin and making us win.

 
“And someone said girls can’t play,” I said as Daniel walked up to us. He laughed and ruffled my hair like I was some kid.

 
“Hey!” I whined, pulling away.

 
He laughed as his other team members joined us.

 
“There’s a party on the beach tonight. Do you guys want to come?” asked Blake as his two other mates joined us. Mustafa, one of Blake’s friends, was explaining where and when and I barely listened. Darius and I had plans to go to the football and no party was going to sway my decision. I was going to go to that match alright!

 
“You have really nice legs,” whispered Blake quietly and sent me a wink. I frowned, stepping aside from him that made me end up getting out of the small circle we had all formed.

 
“I reckon they would be better wrapped around me.”

 
I stared at him in disgust.

 
“Hey, leave the girl alone,” barked Jeffrey, looking back at us and Blake laughed, punching his shoulder playfully.

 
“I’m joking, bro. You never know. She might want to, you know,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. I stared at Blake. What the hell did that mean?

 
“Back off. She’s taken,” said Daniel, glaring. I stared at the guys I barely met a few hours ago and who were already taking my side. I smiled, my heart swelling with pride. They were nicer than I thought, and I would have never expected that Daniel would stick up.

 
“Just saying we can share the goods, bro,” he said suggestively, shooting me a smile. I did a double take, my eyes widening. Did he just say what I think he said? Did he think I was some common whore they could pass around?

 
I opened my mouth to snap at him when I heard another voice.

 
“We can share.”

My jaw dropped open and I turned around to yell at whoever said that. But then I heard the last part and my heart skipped a beat.

 
“But the thing is, mate, I don’t share.”

Chapter FOURTEEN

Blake excused him and his friends pretty quickly and left just as quickly after that. I watched as Darius mingled with the guys. Did he mean what – oh come on, Ivory, he was joking. Of course he didn’t mean it. Did you forget that the guy hates you?

 
“See ya, Aluminium.” I looked up as Henry waved goodbye.

 
“Where are they going?” I asked. Darius walked over after giving them all a handshake.  So business-like.

 
“Home,” he said. I frowned. Damn, I liked them. They were nice, unlike other people I’ve met in my life. They’ve become my friends. They did not care about our money or our past. They met us on the beach and for all I knew, they probably thought we were like normal people.

 
“Come on, let’s go.”

 
“Where are we going?” I asked as we headed back to our spot on the beach.

 
“I need to make a phone call and you said you were going to collect seaweed or something.”

 
“Shells,” I corrected him.

 
“That,” he said. I grabbed my plastic bag from the ground and walked toward the rock pools while he leaned against the palm tree to use his phone. I rolled my eyes. So much for a break from work.

 
I didn’t care anyway. I looked down at the rock pools, smiling. Time to find my lovely shells. I bent down to pick up a plain shell, turning it over in my hands before placing it in my bag.

It was a good ten minutes later I placed another shell in my bag and looked around. Most of the people on the beach has left. I moved toward the rock pool shores away from the surfing area.