Arranged Marriage With The Billionaire

Dylan was making reservations outside when he owned a five star hotel with an equally high rated restaurant. It was mainly because he felt like it would be boring to take Blair there when they had been there for a number of times. Even Blair herself had been there with her family, and because he wanted this evening to be special, he could not take her to somewhere she had been times without number. It would be boring.

Dylan picked his cell phone and made a call to Alexa who came into his office right that time.

“I was just about to call you,” he said, ending the call.

“I’m guessing you’ve picked a place, sir?”

Dylan nodded, beckoning on her to come closer as he turned the screen of his MacBook to face her. “I want this place. Make the reservation for me, I mean rent out the whole place. I’ll go there this evening by seven so please make it fast. Thank you.”

Alexa nodded and walked out of the office.

It felt like he was forgetting something very important. Dylan searched his brain to remember what it was-the ring! He had not gotten the ring yet. He jumped from his recliner and grabbed his suit jacket, picking up his phone and car keys.

Dylan rushed out of the office, ignoring those who were calling him for whatever reason. That was not important right now. When he got down from the elevator, he ran to the parking lot and unlocked his car, then entered.

The time read thirty-four minutes after four. That was very late, damn! He calculated and discovered that he had only twenty-six minutes to get the ring, the remaining two hours were for dressing up and getting to the restaurant before her.

The speed at which Dylan was using to drive nearly earned him a ticket, but then it seemed like today was just a lucky day for him. He got to the Jewelry store in less than five minutes. Swavroski was boldly written above the entrance, then a swan was drawn under it.

Dylan walked in and went straight to the rings section. He was attended to by a woman.

“Good afternoon sir, welcome to Swavroski. How can I help you?”

“I need a ring. Nothing too bold. It should be simple but elegant,” he replied.

“Do you want it in gold or silver? And what design would you like?”

“Silver would do. Nothing less than eighty-five carats.”

“Okay…”

She pointed to a section on the glass and brought out the rings there. In all honesty, Dylan was confused. Maybe he should have brought Alexa with him. He only knew that Blair would like something simple, but a particular design never occurred to him.

“Can you please pick for me? I don’t know what to take,” Dylan said.

“Sure sir. What size?”

“I’m not sure…. Oh, here…” Dylan remembered that he had used a string to take her finger measurement while she was asleep. He took out the string from his wallet and passed it to her.

The lady stared at it, then with a nod, she took one ring out and gave it to Dylan.

It had a flat band, and the design was just a tiny piece of diamond. Dylan didn’t really like that. The band was too thin and the design was too common.

He handed it back to her and she brought out another one. This one had a band that was too thick, and it was even heavy.

Dylan rejected it immediately he felt the weight. Who would want to wear something so heavy?

Another was presented to him. This one was… perfect. The band was not too thin, neither was it too thick. He band didn’t join at the back but formed a sort of overlapping. The top was a rose design with circular diamonds round it, then down was another rose with triangular diamonds.

“This. I want this.”

“Okay, sir. We are doing a sort of promo where you can get anything engraved on your jewelry. A customized design in other words. Would you want to get one, sir? It is for free.”

Dylan thought about it. It was a wonderful idea. He would have them engrave Bella on it. Even if it was not free, he would have it done.

“Yes please. I want Bella to be engraved on it.”

“Okay. Just a moment, it will not take long. You can pay at the counter while waiting.” She walked off and Dylan also went to where he was directed.

That was when he remembered that he was working with time. “Shit!” He checked the time on his watch and it read ten minutes past five. He was ten minutes behind schedule already. By the time he would leave, he would have spent at least fifteen minutes more which would be twenty-five minutes later. Not like there was anything he could do about it. He could not leave without the ring after all.

He paid for the ring and got it from the lady who had been attending to him, then he rushed out and went back to the office at an even more greater speed this time.

Dylan called Alexa immediately he entered and she went to his office.

“Have you made the reservation?”

“Yes sir.”

“Okay. Get me my other suit please. I need to change out of this.”

She brought it and Dylan rushed to change into it. As he was changing, his phone started to ring and he took the call.

“Hi Dylan.”

Dylan’s heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice. “Uhm… hey Bella. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sure. I just wanted to ask where you made a reservation for our date this evening.”

Dylan face-palmed. He was supposed to send his driver the address. Thanks goodness she called. He would have actually forgotten that he was to tell him the venue.

“I’ll text that to your driver, okay?”

“Okay. Bye! I’m here for you no matter how stressed you are, you know?”

Dylan chuckled. “Sure I do.”

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

“No Bella! I swear I was not. I was rather agreeing with what you said. Why would I miss a chance to be with you?”

“Better. I gotta go finish up my dressing so bye!”

She hung up the call leaving a smiling Dylan. Dylan snapped out of it and adjusted his suit. The time was far spent, and the next time he checked it was already a few minutes to seven.

After another round of rushed and hasty preparation, then a higher speed rate again, Dylan got to the place almost fifteen minutes past seven, breathing heavily and sweating. He sat in the car for a short while and arranged his hair and clothes, then reduced the temperature to stop himself from sweating so much.

When he had calmed down and felt refreshed, Dylan got out of the car and walked into the place. He took a seat at a corner when he was told that they had another place which was more private than the general restaurant. He was led to the room and he sat down, waiting for Blair.

That nagging feeling at the back of his mind pushed itself to the forefront. Dylan felt his stomach sink again, and his heart pounding. It was just the exact feeling he had been having in the morning. It felt like… like… things were off and something was going to go wrong.

No. It was just negativity that was speaking. Dylan shook off the feeling and tried to concentrate. A waiter came to give him the menu but Dylan declined and asked him to come back later, not yet. To pass time, he took his phone and checked the stock market. Reading those lines were hurting to his eyes, and Dylan could not put the hatred he had for it into words, but he had to get used to it.

Dylan decided to try something else while he waited. He barely had the time for social media, but this time he tried it. Going through Instagram feeds we’re not enough to eliminate his worries. It had been long since he last spoke to his father. Dylan called his father but he didn’t take the call. He tried a few times, then tried his mother’s number too but when none of them took the call, he gave up.

After sitting for a while and doing nothing, Dylan looked around at the place. He had not paid attention when he walked in. Both the interior and the exterior were better in physical than in pictures. The pictures did not do justice to the place.

A very big round chandelier hung in the middle, some strands probably made of glass or whatever hanging down in different lengths and at different angles. White pillars stood beside the chandeliers, then he noticed that there were some chairs at one corner that had white coverings instead of the usual mirror covering.

Dylan made a mental note to bring up the idea of changing the interior design of there restaurant whenever he gets to see his father.

With nothing else to look at or do, Dylan checked the time and saw that it was already thirty-five minutes past seven. What was taking Blair so long? Dylan tried her number. It rang but nobody picked. Was this an issue from his phone? Why was it that everyone he called did not take the call? Or was it the network?

He tried again and again, then at a point he was told that the number was switched off. At that point it dawned on Dylan, that maybe his gut feeling was right all along.

Something was definitely not right.

That morning was like every other mornings, where Blair would wake up and not meet Dylan in bed. She yawned and got out of bed, went about doing her usual business. A grin lit up her face when she remembered that Dylan asked her out on another date. But truly, what would she wear?

As she was thinking about what to wear, her phone vibrated. Blair took it from the bed side table and unlocked it. There was a message from Samantha asking her for directions as she was ready to come over to the house.

Blair let out a small squeal and quickly replied the message.

3, Lancaster street, New Haven Villa.

She kept it short as she knew that Samantha would understand. And yes, the Lancaster’s had streets to their name. It wasn’t surprising though. As for what to wear, Samantha was coming over so she had that covered.

Samantha called shortly after and Blair rushed out of the house to welcome her.

“Sam!” Blair squealed and laughed herself on her best friend.

“You know I’m as light as a feather. If you’re not careful we might both end up on our butts or rolling on the floor.”

Blair laughed at that and released her, collecting her bag. “I’m guessing you got me something?”

“Oh, yeah. What I got for you from my journey. I forgot to bring it along the last time. You should check my bag sooner so I don’t forget to give you again.”

Blair nodded and helped her in. They plopped on the couch together.

“You’re extremely happy again today. What did Lancaster do to make you so bubbly?” She questioned, giving Blair a coy smile.

“Well, nothing serious.” Blair felt her cheeks betraying the lie that she had told with a perfect expression when images of her moments with Dylan came alive in her head. If she was in a deadly situation, her cheeks would lead her to death straight up.

Samantha sat up with raised eyebrows and a lop-sided smile. “Look into my eyes and say that again Blair. You seem to have forgotten that I can tell when you’re lying almost immediately. Come on, spill. You know you can tell me anything Blurry…” she trailed of and continued with the unnerving smile.

Blair hated it whenever Samantha called her Blurry but she decided to ignore it.

Samantha kept giving her that unnerving smile, and even without saying anything further, Blair found herself giving in to Samantha’s prodding.

“Fine! I’ll tell you.” She huffed when Samantha displayed a wide grin this time.

“Now spill, baby, what did Dylan do? Oh sorry let me rephrase; what did you do with Lancaster?”

“I… we uhm… had sex.” She whispered the last word, hoping and praying that-

“You what?!” Samantha’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “You gave your virginity to Dylan?”

Blair nodded slowly, staring at Samantha with doe eyes.

Samantha sat back on the couch and heaved a deep sigh. “Blair… the last time I asked, you said you were not in love with him, but now you had sex with him? I’m not trying to be negative or anything but are you sure about your feelings? And what about him? How are you sure that he also has feelings for you? What if he is just using you?”

Blair sighed. “Look, Sam, I uhm… he said he felt the same about me. And-”

“What about the marriage contract? When I asked the last time, you said you forgot but you were going to bring it up later. What did he say about that?”

At that moment, nothing could come out of Blair’s mouth again. She never had the courage to speak up, and Dylan did not bring up the issue either.

“You did not talk about it, right? Blair what are you doing? You are not about to fall for another trap again, are you? Have you forgotten what Richard did to you?

You want to nurse two severe heartbreaks in the space of a year?”

Blair was trying hard to believe that Samantha was just being negative, she was really trying, but at the moment, the thoughts came rushing in. She had also thought about these at first, but when Dylan changed, she pushed the doubts to the back of her mind. Maybe he had other plans, maybe he was going to terminate the contract; those were her thoughts whenever she wanted to bring it up. That was why she never bothered to bring it up, but what about now? It had been almost five months, meaning that there were seven months left. What if Dylan was truly just using her?

A cold feel on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to face Samantha.