Chapter 4

“I'll be getting married this weekend” Anita announced to her mum who was shocked at the news. Anita had expected her to be excited like Evelyn who was grinning at the news.

“Why so soon? How long have you been in a relationship? You didn't even tell anyone about this. Are you sure you want…”

“Mum! Aren't you happy that she's getting married to such a handsome and rich man?” Evelyn asked

“Will you shut up?! What do you know about marriage?” Mrs José replied, annoyed. Evelyn frowned.

“I'm not a child, Mum. I'm in my twenties and I have a boyfriend. Anita doesn't. Have you forgotten how that idiot Bryan dumped her because he thought her face was humiliating?”

Mrs José sighed. She was always cautious when the issue of Anita's scarred face was brought up. She fell silent as Evelyn stormed out of her room, annoyed that her mother belittled her intelligence.

“I will be fine mum, we love each other and Evelyn is right, I'm not getting any younger” Anita was surprised at how smooth the lie came out. She silently blamed Zachary for making her lie to her mother. Something she had not done since she left high school.

She left her mom and went into her own room and laid on the bed, exhausted from the overwhelming thoughts of the marriage. Her phone rang a few minutes later. It was Sophie, her best friend. She had not thought about informing her about the marriage in all of the Chaos.

“Hey girlie” Came Sophie's tiny voice creaking over the phone.

“Hi. How are you?” She asked.

“I am shocked.” Sophie replied.

“Shocked?”

“Yes, Evelyn just called me now, telling me how your mother was trying to talk you out of getting married.” Anita heaved. Why would Evelyn call Sophie? Perhaps she thought Sophie was already aware as her friend.

“Don't mind Evelyn. She…”

“This news of you getting married is not true, is it?” Sophie was impatient.

“It's true but…”

“It's true but you didn't want me to know? I thought we were best friends” Anita hated that Sophie was giving her no chance to talk and explain. She sucked in air between her teeth.

“The marriage came as a matter of urgency, Sophie. I'm sorry” She said weakly

“I can't believe you were dating your boss and you always complained about how he makes life difficult for you. Well, I don't think this marriage is a good one because we both know Mr Smith is promiscuous.” Sophie's voice dropped.

Anita wished she could tell Sophie that it was a fake marriage but she couldn't. She had to follow the provisions of the contract she had signed.

“Actually Sophie, I told him he could cheat because I was not ready for sex” She lied. The line went dead for a few minutes, she thought Sophie had hung up “Hello… Hey.. Sophie, are you there?”

“Oh yes. I had to check what I was cooking. Did you say you both were dating and that you were not ready for sex so you told him he could cheat on you? Epic, I must say” Sophie reeled with laughter.

Anita wished she could see the expression on her face, something that would indicate if she saw through her lie. “Evelyn told me the wedding is this weekend.”

“Yes, it is. We are just going to sign our marriage certificate at the magistrate court and have a family dinner afterwards”

“Nice but I'm afraid I won't make it to your wedding.” Sophie said, a regretful tone I'm her voice. Anita's face fell. “I'm so sorry sweetheart but I have a business trip to LA this weekend.” She explained and before Anita could respond, ended the call.

She must be annoyed at the thought of missing her wedding, Anita thought. She felt like spanking her annoying sister for rattling out to Sophie before she could get a chance to tell her about the wedding herself.

~*~

On the wedding day, Evelyn made sure Anita had a complete makeover.

“We are just going to sign a couple of papers” She protested as Evelyn gave directions to the makeup artist she invited.

“It's still your wedding and you have to look memorable, more beautiful than your groom has ever seen.” Evelyn replied, gesticulating with her hand as she spoke.

Anita smiled. She chose to wear one of the dresses Zachary bought for her. A beautiful cream floral dress that did a good job of accentuating her curves. Mrs José said she looked like a bride that descended from the clouds and she laughed. As she waited for Zachary to come pick her up, she desperately wished he also looked like a groom descending from the cloud. She didn't want to see the disapproving look that will appear on her mother's and sister's face should he choose to come in his regular suit.

“He is here!” Evelyn announced suddenly. She had been looking out of the window.

Mrs José scrambled from the kitchen and into the living room just as he rang the doorbell. Evelyn let him in.

In his new black suit, he looked amazing. It was obvious he paid extra attention to his outlook because he had a new haircut. Anita smiled as she stretched forth his hand to hers.

“Your daughter is going now as Miss José but will be back as Mrs Smith '' He said with a smile which made Mrs José and Evelyn crack into laughter.

As they stepped out of the house, Anita noticed her mother wiping tears from the corner of her eye. She felt a pang of guilt for making her mother think she was indeed getting married.

“I was tired of that hairstyle so I decided to change it if you're wondering about the hair cut.” Zachary said as they drove to the court.

Anita kept mute.

“You look good, by the way.” He said again.

Anita glanced at him but said nothing. The rest of the drive was done in silence as well as the signing of the marriage certificate.

“You are now Mr and Mrs Smith. I wish you a happy married life” The magistrate announced, beaming with smiles.

~*~

The family dinner was more extravagant than Anita had thought. Zachary had rented a whole restaurant and hired a photographer who took pictures of them and the family before that started eating.

Mrs José was so happy that she could not hide her smile. “I'm honored to be at the same table with you sir” She said to Sir Smith.

“We should do this more often now that we are a family.” He replied.

Old sir Smith handed Zachary an envelope. His eyes lit up in excitement. Was his grandfather handing over the company? His eyes darted from Anita to her mother and to Evelyn who looked anticipatingly at the envelope. His looked at his grandfather who had a huge smile on his face. He urged him to open the envelope.

Anita watched as her boss now, husband smiled broadly as he opened the envelope and her heart did beat a little because of his smile.

Suddenly, the smile was gone from his face.