An Arranged Marriage

by C. M. Bryden

  Mark and Liza lived in domestic harmony as far as he knew and, after a quick phone call, he was asked to go round that same evening for a meal.

  Later, carrying a bouquet of flowers for Liza and a bottle of good claret for Mark, he arrived on time at their house in the suburbs, where he intended to get as much information as he possibly could on the ways to woo and win the first real love of his life.

  It was a pleasant enough evening, catching up with their news, with Jake making no mention of Jane when asked what was new in his life, fudging his answers once the questioning started to get too personal.

  Mark had acted as butler for the evening, leaving Liza to do the cooking, thereby giving Jake his first lesson on a modern married couple’s domestic set up.

  It was their teamwork that impressed him the most. He decided that must be the first priority in his and Jane’s relationship once they were married! Teamwork, with Jane taking the lead in domestic issues! Once the meal was finished and the table cleared, they moved into the sitting room, where Liza and Mark gravitated to the sofa, leaving Jake to sit in one of the easy chairs. Liza wrapped her legs over Mark’s and settled herself into his arms, a picture of romantic bliss and contentment that brought a feeling of jealousy into Jake’s heart, knowing this was exactly the sort of relationship he wanted with Jane.

  Mark and Liza could see Jake wanted to ask them something, smiling at each other in amusement when he asked them how and when they’d fallen in love, part of which he knew already.

  It was the old story of a boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they fall in love, and then they get married! They’d been in their mid-twenties when they’d met and got together. By then they were both sexually experienced and knew what they wanted in a partner and, within a few days of meeting they’d moved in together and since then had never been apart. They’d married a few months after their first date and, in Jake’s mind he could see they would still be together when they were old. They now had three children and were not only lovers, but doting parents as well.

  When Jake asked Mark how and when he’d proposed to Liza, Mark just laughed.

  ‘Proposed? I think we proposed to each other. Liza said something like, how about I move in with her and I said how about her moving in with me?’

  Jake looked a little nonplussed. ’So you didn’t pursue her with flowers and perfume, then?

  Liza quickly answered that question. ‘Well, he did, but not until the ring was on my finger!’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’ Jake asked, keen to get to the bottom of the mystery called love.

  ‘Well, sometimes men think like hunters. All the romance for them is in the chase and then, once they’ve caught their prey that’s the end of it, no need for romance anymore, but that isn’t how a modern woman’s mind works. Any sensible man these days, especially one who’s been brought up properly, will know that to keep a marriage alive and well, the romancing has to continue, in fact it has to go on forever! And of course, women like to be told often by their man that he loves them!’

  Jake was beginning to understand. There was much more to falling in love than he’d thought. He needed to do as Liza and Mark were doing, hold hands at every opportunity, gently caressing each other as couples do when they are in love. Jake had even noticed the way Mark would put his hands affectionately around Liza’s waist, gently handling her curvaceous bottom at every opportunity. Jake made a mental note to do this with Jane, once they were married! He also made up his mind he had to be like his friend at all times, whispering words of love to Jane, just as Mark did to his beloved.

  Jake tried out his newfound theory on how to romance Jane several times over during the next couple of days; bombarding her with more flowers, as well as gift-wrapped parcels of exquisite handmade chocolates and the finest French perfume, all guaranteed to delight any woman, or so the lady in the store informed him as she wondered who the lucky lady was that was going to receive them.

  As each gift arrived, Jane began to feel far from delighted! In fact, she had a bit of a mini panic! She didn’t possess enough vases for the flowers and the perfume from them was giving her a headache! Also, her flat was too small to be overtaken by what appeared to be the entire contents of a florist’s shop. The chocolates looked delicious, but if she were to keep her figure as slim as she liked they would have to go somewhere else; of course the staff at the office enjoyed them, wolfing them down and then asking when she would be having some more! As for the bottles of perfume! Do you really think she would have refused them? Certainly not! She placed the fancy bottles in a drawer of her dressing table. She might be holding Jake Adams at arm’s length, but even she wasn’t so stupid as to send back something that was so expensive and gorgeous, promising herself she would think of Jake, every time she used them.

  Jake phoned her the evening following his visit to Mark and Liza, after Jane had decided to have an early night and catch up with her sleep. (Her sleep pattern had deteriorated somewhat ever since she’d started to dream of him) but now she’d started to dream of him in different guises; last night he’d appeared as a knight in shining armour riding on a white horse to save her from some calamity or other that even Jane thought was all rather hackneyed! Her dreams were becoming more ludicrous as the nights went by: she was always being rescued from somewhere dangerous, usually ending up with her being flung onto a canopied bed or something similar, where her rescuer would join her and where they would make passionate love until she slept, out of sheer exhaustion. She would wake in the morning with her bed sheets wrapped around her in such a way she couldn’t move and with her whole mind and body clamouring for more, wishing her dreams would never end.

  Jane picked up the phone and heard his voice.

  ‘It’s me, Jake. Can I come up and see you?’

  Jane waited a moment. First of all, because she’d been thinking of him and secondly, because she couldn’t trust her voice not to splutter as she answered. He waited. Eventually, she spoke.

  ‘I was just going to bed, but if you promise not to stay too long I guess that would be all right. Where are you?’

  Not the most encouraging words Jake had expected to hear. ‘I’m downstairs. Look out of your window and you’ll see my car!’

  Jane walked across the room and drew back the curtains to look down at the street and, sure enough, parked under a streetlight was his Porsche, with him standing beside it, mobile phone in hand. He saw her and waved; within (what seemed like only seconds) he was knocking on her door. As she opened it she saw a look of contrition on his face.

  ‘Come in,’ she said, wishing she wasn’t wearing her oldest and most comfortable dressing gown, but something a lot more glamorous. To her chagrin, Jake didn’t seem to appear to notice what she was wearing. He was too busy looking at the antiques and pictures that lined every inch of the walls. His eye caught by one painting in particular that showed a woman with a small girl.

  Finally, he looked at Jane. With her face was free of makeup, he could see the freckles she normally covered and then he noticed her hair had been brushed to a wonderful sheen. As his eyes travelled over her he took in the soft pale blue woollen dressing gown that hid her curves and, from where he stood he could smell the clean scent of her. He knew if he could get closer and kiss her, he would taste the toothpaste she’d used. He wanted her, knowing she was more than just his fantasy!

  With a sudden flourish, he produced a bottle of champagne from behind his back and presented it to her: for a moment as she held the bottle in her hand, Jake had a sudden feeling she might well smash it over his head, fortunately for Jake, the same thought had crossed Jane’s mind and then she’d thought better of it. It would, she thought, be a sinful waste of an expensive bottle of bubbly!

  Leaving Jake to look some more round her sitting room, she went into the kitchen and placed the bottle in the fridge. There was no way she was opening champagne at this time of night, she would save it for another occasion. Jake thought she’d gone to get glasses, bu
t sadly not, as she returned empty handed.

  Jake meanwhile couldn’t take his eyes off the painting he’d first spotted. As Jane walked across the room to join him, standing closer than he could bear, he asked her who the people in the painting were. Out of all the paintings she’d inherited from her mother, this particular one held a special place in Jane’s heart, it showed her, as a young girl, standing with her mother in the garden of the family home, along with the well-loved family dog that had since died. Little did Jane know this one painting evoked painful memories for Jake of his past! It showed a bucolic scene he envied, a scene of family life he’d always wanted to be a part of; suddenly the picture filled his heart with an emotion he couldn’t describe. Perhaps it was the look on Jane’s mother’s face that showed the love she had for her child and, unknowingly, this one painting had taken Jake one-step nearer to finding the key to winning Jane’s heart.

  After a few minutes, he could see how tired she was, not that she was any the less beautiful for all that. He wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her leaving her mind and body demanding more, but for the first time he’d started to understand her body language and knew it wasn’t going to happen that night!

  Jane tried hard to stop her yawns but, after pouring him a soft drink, he said he preferred as he was driving, they made small talk for a little while, or at least Jake did most of the talking, asking about her job, what she did etc., with Jane answering by giving him as little information as possible, playing down her senior role in the company. Her own mind racing with the million questions she wanted to ask him, but knew it wasn’t the time of day to get too deeply involved: she had to go to bed and think about just one question; how was she going to avoid marrying him when she felt her heart lurch whenever she looked at him?

  After she’d thanked him again for his gifts, and stifled several yawns, Jake took the hint and rose to leave, and then came his dilemma. Did he shake hands with her, or do as his inclination wanted and kiss her on her lips, leaving her breathless and wanting more? Or, did he chastely kiss her cheek, open the door and leave with his body aching with his desire.

  It was the chaste kiss that won and, with his mind in turmoil Jake left, wondering what next he should do to win her for his bride?

  Chapter Five

  The following morning, with no appointments that day that would take her out of the office and with her paperwork up to date, Jane was talking quietly to Jessie, doing what she called “mental spring cleaning”. This involved the two of them discussing what had happened work-wise over the past few weeks, especially Jane’s work in America and then, the problems facing her father. Jane then told Jessie Jake Adams was involved in saving the company: prudently omitting to tell her he’d asked her to marry him after telling her father if she didn’t agree to his proposal he wouldn’t help at all! Neither did she tell Jessie she thought she was falling in love with him!

  Jessie had listened with interest to Jane’s tales of woe, regarding her father’s misfortune, but with no idea as to what to suggest when the door of the main office suddenly opened and in walked Andrew.

  He’d spent the previous day in the city on business, before attending a formal dinner in the evening, sleeping at his club as was usual when he was in the city. To his surprise, early that morning he’d had a phone call from Jake, demanding Andrew should talk to Jane immediately, telling her she must marry him!

  Andrew had been shocked at the urgency and the forcefulness of Jake’s conversation, as well as surprised as he’d since thought Jake might have had a re-think on his “she marries me or else” stance of the other day, but apparently not! Andrew knew only too well what Jake’s answer would be if Jane didn’t accept his proposal. He would withdraw his offer of help, with the outcome being the company would fold. He knew then he would be forced into personal bankruptcy as he’d put his house up as collateral against an overdraft, just to keep them going until a final solution could been found.

  Andrew felt as though his world was gradually collapsing around him and he was starting to get desperate. It had even got to the stage when he was prepared to coerce Jane into a marriage she’d declared she didn’t want to be a part of and, not the first time, Andrew wondered if she would ever forgive him.

  With Jake’s unsaid threat troubling him, Andrew had taken a chance on Jane being in her office and had called to see her, mainly to plead Jake’s case, as well as his own. She must marry Jake, he decided, or all would definitely be lost.

  ‘Not interrupting anything important, am I?’ he’d asked, innocently enough, as he’d opened Jane’s office door and walked in.

  ‘Not at the moment,’ she’d said, smiling at him. ‘Jessie and I were just talking things over.’

  Andrew laughed. ‘It’s always good to talk problems over with a friend,’ he’d said, looking from one young woman to the other, reflecting on how his late wife had also been his greatest friend and confidante and now, apart from Jane, he had no one he could turn to or confide in.

  ‘Perhaps you could spend some time with me this morning, Jane, if you’ve nothing important to do here? I need to talk to you and a walk in the park might do us both good?’

  Jane wasn’t so sure she should leave the office but Jessie stepped in, assuring her she would manage and with just a small amount of persuasion, Jane left with her father, with Jessie watching from a window, as they walked towards the park, wishing Andrew had come to take her out instead. She liked him. He’d always been charming to her whenever he’d come to the office in the past. She knew from Jane that since his wife had died his life had been lonely, and she knew exactly how that felt: heading for her forties and, being alone wasn’t exactly what she’d wanted either and Andrew seemed to be a “lost soul”, a man who needed help. Perhaps they should get together, she thought, and make each other happy but then; perhaps he would want someone more glamorous?

  Jessie wasn’t on Andrew’s mind at that moment; he had something more important than his own love life to think about. He needed to talk to Jane. But, first of all, there was her attitude towards Jake and her answer to his proposal. Was it to be yes, or a definite no and, if the latter, what was he to do if he lost everything? Andrew knew he was going to use emotional blackmail, but when needs must, one has to resort to anything that will solve the problem and his problem right now was, that he had a workforce of men who needed to work; to earn the money to put food into their children’s mouths and clothes on their backs. What stronger motive did he need than that, to persuade his daughter to do something that at the moment she was baulking at? For goodness sake he thought, exasperated, Jake Adams wasn’t an ogre, he was a good man, a little inclined to be slow on the uptake when it came to women, but Andrew was sure if he married Jane she would soon get him into shape and make him into a good husband! He certainly had the potential!

  On the way to the park, they stopped off at a coffee shop and bought two coffees to take with them. This park might have been smaller than most others in the area but it was beautifully kept and one of Jane’s favourite places to sit and chill out during her lunch breaks from the office.

  Andrew headed for an empty bench, where they sat and drank their coffees in silence, until he looked at his watch and knew he had to get a move on. Time was running out and he had a train to catch and very little time left in which to persuade her to marry Jake. He was just thinking of how to approach her when she beat him to it, pre-empting his thoughts.

  ‘Jake Adams came to visit me last night!’

  ‘Did he ask you to marry him?’ Andrew asked, watching her face for any clue as to what she was thinking.

  ‘No, he didn’t.’ Jane said sharply in reply, ‘and if he had, I would have definitely have told him the answer was NO!’

  Andrew didn’t know what to say for a moment.

  ‘I know you need his money, but I don’t. I can look after myself, thank you.’

  Andrew knew he had to say his piece and, clearing his throat and looking down at his em
pty coffee container, as though it was the most intriguing article he’d ever seen, he started to speak. ‘You would be doing me a great favour if you did agree to marry him. It needn’t be forever, just until the business is on a sound footing again and then, I promise you, if you are desperately unhappy with Jake I will help you to get a divorce!’

  Jane looked at her father, her green eyes wide open in astonishment at his words but, more than that, at his suggestion he would help her to get a divorce at a later date, which surprised her even more. Well, she thought to herself that was one solution she hadn’t thought of. Divorce hadn’t even crossed her mind. She thought for a few moments, but it didn’t seem right somehow. She knew her mother would never have approved of such a thing. Marrying for wealth wasn’t something Jane had been brought up to think about, let alone do, even if it meant her father’s workforce would keep their jobs. It would certainly solve her father’s problems but there was more to it than that, there was her own self-respect to be considered.

  ‘Did Jake ask you to speak to me?’ She asked quietly, looking directly at him.

  ‘Well…yes, he did.’ Andrew admitted as he looked at her. He could see from her expression she was battling with her emotions. Her mouth was set in a grim line and her beautiful eyes were glittering with the unshed tears she was trying hard to suppress.

  ‘And…?’ Jane said, looking directly at him. Waiting for him to answer.

  ‘And what?’ Andrew said, shrugging his shoulders. He knew it was stalemate. He was stalling for time, but he had to get her to agree to marry Jake and then, once they were married, he would worry about her future.

  But if he was the good judge of character Andrew thought himself to be, there would be no divorce, or Jake wasn’t the man he’d given him credit for being! It would be up to him to keep her happy once they were married, no one could tell him what to do. Keeping a wife happy was something Jake had to learn for himself!

  Making one last desperate attempt at persuading her, Andrew took hold of her hands and, looking at her with such a look of pleading in his eyes that Jane’s heart ached, he said, “darling, please marry Jake, for my sake!”