Chapter 3

“Let's go get you some clothes,” Zachery said, parking in front of a boutique. Before Anita could ask any questions, he was out of the car. She sighed and followed suit.

“Mr Smith!” One fiery redhead lady appeared from behind a row of clothes. “You came! I was just telling Leah about your coming.” Zachary smiled graciously while Anita looked on.

“Is she the bride? Oh my God, you look so beautiful” The redhead was coming towards her, hands outstretched for a hug.

“Yes. She is the bride.” Zachary answered, drawing Anita closer to himself and preventing the redhead from giving her a hug for which Anita was grateful. She didn't like the overbearing attitude of the redhead.

“Wow!” She murmured, trying to hide her disapproval, but continued “Come on in” She led them through rows and rows of beautiful clothings and into a large, beautiful fitting room.

“Do you have the clothes I sent to you?” Zachary asked, taking his seat on the only cushion chair in the room.

“Ermm, we could only lay our hands on a few of them. You know they are limited edition. The others are in boutiques in Paris and they have refused to release them to us. You know how these people behave, they want to take the credit” She laughed, a low chuttling sound escaping her throat.

Why would Zachary pick out limited edition clothes for her? Anita wondered. She imagined him in his office, eyes squinted on his laptop, browsing through her favorite clothing brands.

Leah appeared moments later dragging a clothing rack behind her. Anita could not contain her astonishment at the beautiful dresses before her. Her hand flew to cover her mouth.

“All of them are sizes eight to ten.” Leah supplied.

“I know my woman's size” Zachary replied, glancing at Anita. He said to her: “My love, change into one of them” and to Leah, “Please pack them all, the bags and shoes too” He added.

They left the boutique with over ten shopping bags and were on their way to a different place.

“Where are we going?” Anita asked. She knew they were on their way to his Grandfather's house but she didn't want to believe it. In her four years of working for him, she has been there twice for a meeting with his grandfather.

“We are going to meet my granddad for dinner.” Zachary replied, his eyes on the road.

“What? Why didn't you tell me beforehand? Did it not cross your mind that I would need to prepare myself?”

*Well, it slipped my mind. I just want to get this done and over with. Besides, I know you are smart enough to have figured out I get you new clothes for a reason ” He said.

Anita sighed and ran her hand through her hair while looking in the mirror. As if reading her mind, Zachary voiced her worries.

“Don't worry about your face. A makeup artist is waiting to give you a glam”

“In front of your grandfather?”

“He won't be home until 6pm. We still have about four hours.”

As they turned into the big gate with the large magnificent building towering over them, Anita felt her heart sink in. She could not imagine facing Zachary's stern looking grandfather as a prospective daughter-in-law. What if his grandfather found out the marriage was arranged and arrests her. Different scary thoughts ran through her mind and the makeup artist started her job of hiding her scar. Although she loved the outcome, she felt like she was deceiving Zachary's Grandfather by not letting him see her bare face and the scar.

~*~

Old Sir Smith's eyes were fixated on her as she ate. This caused her to struggle with getting the food down her throat. She gulped glasses of water to push it down but her chest kept on burning under the Old man's gaze.

“Are you okay?” Old sir Smith asked, he must have noticed her struggle. Zachary looked up to glance at her.

“I'm fine, thank you Sir” She replied.

Zachary looked on, unsure of what to do but certain he had to do something in the situation. “Drink some water” He said, pouring more water into her cup.

“She has been drinking water non stop, son” Sir Smith noted.

“Oh!” Zachary exclaimed, he was uncomfortable under his grandfather's scrutinizing eyes.

His Grandfather was a smart man and needed little scrutiny to find out if they were not a real couple.

Zachary extended his hand over the table and clasped her hand in his. “Eat slowly dear”.

Anita smiled.

After the meal, they moved to the living room. Zachary had briefed her on the kind of questions to expect from his grandfather so when the old man started his interrogation, Anita was already well prepared with answers.

“When do you want the wedding to take place, Son?” He asked Zachary

“Next weekend is fine Sir, right love?” He glanced at Anita.

“Yes dear. I've spoken to my mother and she wants it to be a little family affair” Anita lied. She bit her lips.

“That's fine but most importantly, I hope you love each other” His eyes darted from Zachary to her.

This was the question she had been expecting. Zachary had made sure they rehearsed their answer to the question. As practiced, she looked at Zachary and smiled. He took her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it softly. Anita smiled even broader, revealing her set of beautiful white dentition.

“I love her so dearly.” Zachary said, looking at her. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners made her feel self conscious. It felt as if he was indeed in love with her.

“I love you too and I can't wait to be a permanent part of your life” She replied.

She saw the old man smile from the corners of her eyes, convinced by their false display of affection.

Zachary was glad he was able to convince his grandfather. Getting married meant his inheritance was safe and what safer way could be there other than using his scarred face secretary. As expected, she was like every other lady he had come across, hungry for money. He knew she was poor and would not be able to turn him down. Even if she wanted to, he was not ready to give her a chance.