Romance: My First Time With The Tycoon

by Ally Nelson

  She heard the loud sounds of what they were apparently doing and thought she would be sick right there. After just another couple minutes, her stomach turned again and she couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to get away from there. She couldn’t sit back and listen to her husband with another woman in the bedroom that they had shared. The worst part was that he wasn’t even cheating. If he was cheating, then he would try to hide it from her. He didn’t care. He did it right in front of her face now.

  She quickly grabbed a light jacket and slipped into her shoes. She still had on her jeans and shirt because she was afraid she would have to leave anyway. She tried to keep herself from crying as she walked down the dirt road in the dark. There were only a few street lights and when she looked up she realized that she had come to the same place she had been the day before. She turned to walk away when the door opened.

  “Come on in my child. It’s ok.”

  She turned to see the same older woman again. “I was just going for a walk.”

  “Come in. We both know you don’t want to go back there don’t we.”

  She looked at the woman sadly. She nodded her head slowly as the tears slipped from her eyes. The woman held the door open and she quickly walked through. The woman sat with her while she cried and told her everything about her life.

  “You’re right. It can’t get much worse.” Emily hated telling the woman that but she was afraid. Afraid that she would end up in the same situation she was in now. She wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.

  She told the woman what had happened that night. She sympathized with Emily and told her that she understood why she was so timid to become a mail order bride. She also told her that all of the men were screened over and over to make sure they were good people.

  She asked Emily what type of belongings if any she had that held importance to her. Emily told her of the few items of her parents that she had hidden from Scott. They were in the yard buried under a tree. She thought of the few things she had left of her parents. When they died Scott had sold everything they owned even the house she grew up in and drank the money he got away. She had been able to scrounge a few pieces of jewelry that her mother had given her and some she found that had belonged to her great-grandmother. She knew if he had ever found them that he would sell them as well not caring that they held sentimental value to her. She also had some pictures that now lay on the floor. Those were the only images she had of her parents and her growing up. They were precious to her being the only visual images she had left. Her family pictures were the only ones on the walls because like her Scott didn’t have much family left and none that wanted anything to do with him thanks to his lying and stealing. If she had met his family before they were together then she would never have moved in with him. She was like a trapped wife just without a marriage certificate or ring.

  Not thinking of what was to come she went with the woman back to the house. She couldn’t think of what could happen if he found her there. That would only keep her from going back there and she knew this was the only time she could retrieve the stuff she wanted to take with her.

  Tiptoeing into the house she quickly gathered the pictures and the clothes that she had folded and stacked in the laundry room. She was grateful that she had just washed clothes that day. She would at least have a few clean outfits to get her through for the time being.

  She made her way outside and looked for the huge tree. She was grateful it was off from the house a little so he couldn't see her if he got up to go to the bathroom or get a drink. Then again he would probably just yell for her thinking she was still there and lying on the couch since the bed was occupied. She felt her face burn with the humiliation and anger of how he had made her feel.

  When she found the strange looking rock she had placed over the spot she pushed the shovel into the ground and quickly began to dig. She remembered burying it a little deep while he was at work one day just to make sure nobody could find it. She sighed with relief when she heard the bump of the shovel on the top of the wooden box. Dropping to her knees she began pulling the rest of the dirt up with her hands until she pulled the box from its deep grave. She didn’t bother opening it, instead she brushed all the dirt off and left the shovel lying next to the empty grave and made her way quickly across the yard to where the woman sat in the car.

  Quietly she placed everything in the car. They made their way back to the office and the woman told her to wait in the car. Emily was surprised when the woman carried out a suitcase a few minutes later.

  Chapter 3

  “What is that?”

  “Well, I was planning to head out tomorrow too. I am going in the direction you are going so I figured we could travel together. You don’t mind do you?”

  “No, I don’t mind at all I just don’t want to be any trouble.” She tried to sound genuine as she thought of what she could do now.

  “You are no trouble, dear. It will be good to have someone with me this time to keep me company. It gets lonely when you’re alone for as much as I am.”

  Emily looked back at the town as they headed towards the highway. That would be the last time she saw the small town. She knew that there was no way that she could hide away now that the other woman was traveling with her. She just hoped that she had made the right decision. “I don’t even know your name.” She said it with a start.

  “Just call me Maggie dear.”

  “Ok. Thank you, Maggie for your help.”

  “You are very welcome dear. Now let’s think about your new life. You can be anyone you want to be. Do anything you want to do. The sky is the limit, my dear. All you have to do is reach for what you want.” She smiled at her as she spoke. The woman seemed very wise like she knew what she was talking about. Emily knew there was more to her than she claimed as well.

  Emily felt the burden lift itself from her chest. It felt like she had been carrying a 50-pound weight around with her everywhere. She was free. The chains were pulled away. She was free to do what she wanted. She didn’t have to answer to anyone and she smiled. Her face split with the first real smile she had felt in a long time. It was the first time that she felt joy. Real pure and raw joy since her parents died and she owed everything to the woman who was now sitting by her side. She was a woman that Emily knew didn’t even really know, but she knew that one way or the other Maggie had saved her life.

  “Now the man you are going to marry has been single for a while. He is a leader of a small village. He has been known to be very patient and understanding with many things. He is the oldest of 6 children and they all live in the small village as well as his parents. He is a family man and believes that family is very important and should become before all else. He wants children. Many of them.”

  Emily felt herself become interested in what Maggie had to say about the man. She had wanted kids. It was something she and Scott had talked about and that he had agreed to. She, unfortunately, had changed her mind when he had changed. There was no way that she would bring a child into the hellhole she had lived in. She was afraid of not only the child’s welfare but of how they would turn out as well. The simple thought of her raising a child that would be like Scott was enough to make her sick and scared to death of having a child.

  “He seems great but why would he send for a wife if he is so great? I just don’t understand the whole concept you know?” She looked at the woman slowly in wonder.

  “Well, that I don’t know honey. I guess that is a question that you will have for him when you see him.” She smiled as she started talking again.

  “Now you should know that you will have a very important role. You will be a person of the high regard in the village. You see you will be kind of like a queen. The people may take a while to be won over but when you do then they will fight to the death for you. You will be a leader. It is a lot of responsibility, but you will also be cherished not only by Jeremiah but the people as a whole. It takes a special woman to fill this role, my dear.”
>
  “It sounds like a tribe of Indians or something. Like something from ancient times. I mean there is running water right?”

  Maggie’s chuckle was contagious and Emily found herself smiling as the woman began to answer her.

  “It is a very old community but yes my dear. There is running water and electricity. There is even a television with satellite channels. You need to remember however that your role is a big one in the community and you must be able to take on that responsibility.”

  Emily’s eyes widened as the woman spoke. She was suddenly feeling edgy. How could she do that? She knew she would not be able to get away from Maggie. She would have to try to do it once they arrived and run. How in the world could I help govern a community when I couldn’t even keep Scott happy most of the time, she thought to herself? She knew Scott was a miserable man and there wasn’t a woman in the world that could probably keep him happy, but she still felt inadequate for the job, especially one of such high importance.

  “Oh, my dear you are the perfect person for the job. I have been watching you. I have also looked into your past and your heritage. You would be the perfect fit for Jeremiah. You are young, beautiful, and courageous and you have a big heart. What more could he want?”

  Emily just nodded as she looked out the window again to think over the woman’s words. She may have been young before, but now her skin and body was so withered from scrubbing the floors on hands and knees and cleaning the house. She looked 10 years older than she was. Scott had said that a mop wasn’t needed that getting down on her knees cleaned it better. He had also refused to let her clean with the better cleaning supplies requiring her to scrub harder and longer. That was one mark against not only youth but beauty as well.

  It took a strange company looking for mail order brides and three years for her to even think about leaving Scott. And the worst part was they weren’t even married yet. She would hate to see how long it would have taken her if they had been married. Her heart may have been big a long time ago, but now it just lay in her chest in dozens of pieces. It was torn to shreds now from the way her life had gone. Scott had killed any chance she may have had for love in her life. She was so scared of men now that she didn’t want to even be around them. She definitely didn’t want to have any romantic association with them. She was so frightened they would change. Just like he had. Hiding his true self until he got everything he could from her and break her heart all over again.

  “You will see that you have made the best decision you have made in your life. Have faith dear. I promise you it will all work out.”

  Chapter 4

  The next four days went by in a flash. She got close to Maggie and the woman told her stories of the small village they were going to.

  “Maggie?”

  “Yes?”

  “How is it that you know so much about the village? I mean you know a lot about it down to little details.”

  “Ah. I wondered when you would catch on. You see my dear. The small village is my home as well. I was sent out to find wives for the men in the village. We do not have many females born into the village. A curse from long ago. Because of this, we are deemed to find women for the camp in other places around the world. There are a few but not enough for everyone.”

  “So there are women there for Jeremiah to choose from?”

  “Oh yes dear. You see the position that you will be in is sought out by many women. There will be some that will become very jealous of you.”

  “I just wonder if he has choices like that why he would want a complete stranger? I know you said it will be something that I will need to ask him. I worry that maybe there is something about him that I may not like.” The woman smiled as she turned from her.

  “We will be there tomorrow. You can ask him then.”

  Maggie tried to hide the smile from her lips. It seemed like just yesterday that she was in the same spot that the woman was standing in now. She knew she had chosen the right one. Emily was perfect for the people and the community. She was also the perfect person to make a wife for their leader and her son.

  * * * * *

  The next morning Emily awoke to look around the room. She almost thought that Maggie had left until the hotel room door swung open.

  “Good morning. It is a good day, honey. It is the first day of the rest of your life. Are you ready?”

  “I guess so.”

  Maggie knew that Emily had plans of leaving as soon as they got there. It had been her plan as well long ago. Now she just hoped that Emily would be able to notice a good thing when she saw it.

  They drove down the road and turned off the highway on an exit. Emily watched as they made numerous turns until they were on a long dirt road. It seemed like the road went on for miles and miles.

  They came to a cave and she gasped when Maggie continued to drive right through it. The scenery until then had just been woods. When they had driven only five minutes the cave opened up. What she saw took her breath away. They were in a small cove of sorts. There were beautiful mountains behind the rows and rows of log cabins.

  As they got closer she saw that there was a small town there. There were people everywhere. There were also many animals as well. The car parked itself behind a huge log home. It was much larger than the rest. Maggie smiled at her and got from the car. Emily was amazed to see deer standing just a short walk from them. The deer looked her way, but they were not like regular deer. They were not scared and did not run away like most she had seen and they were really close; much closer than they should have been. She wanted to shoo them away and scare them off. She knew that there had to be a hunter in the small village somewhere and she couldn’t bear to see the beautiful creatures hurt.

  Emily stepped from the vehicle and looked around. There was no way she was going to escape this place without a car of some kind and when she looked around she saw that there were but four vehicles in the whole town. They were all right there parked next to the little white car.

  “Come on. Let’s go meet your new husband to be. The other women should be arriving later tonight and tomorrow.”

  She grabbed Emily’s hand and acted like an excited little school girl as she dragged her to the door and then inside the home. It was beautiful and rustic inside. A man came into the room and she gasped. He was gorgeous with dark hair and dark brown eyes. His face had a five o’clock shadow growing and he looked surprised to see them.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Jeremiah Isaac Copeland. You know better. How about you say hello?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry mother. Hello, Emily. I am Jeremiah.” He smiled and she was taken aback by it for a moment. Her head turned sharply to the woman beside her at his words.

  Chapter 5

  “Mother? You mean you were looking for a wife for your own son?” Her eyes widened when she saw the guilty expression telling her that she was correct.

  “Come on my dear. There is a lot for you to learn.”

  Emily looked out the window expecting to see a beautiful landscape. What was there instead, however, had her instantly shrieking as she turned and tried to run. She watched in horror as the man she now knew as Jeremiah opened the door.

  The bear made its way inside then at a trot. Emily knew they were done for. Here was this beast who was about to eat them all and he had just let it in the house. And what as worse was that the bear came in on all fours like it was a regular guest.

  “You must be Emily.”

  Emily looked around to see who was talking and she felt herself become faint when she realized that the words were coming from the bear. She must have had too much sunlight or she was still at the hotel and asleep. That must be it. She was asleep. All she had to do was pinch herself and she would come awake.

  Gripping her skin between two fingers she did just that but she didn’t awake from the nightmare. Instead, she stared straight ahead as the bear began to change. The hair began to disappear and it seemed to be standing on its back two legs.
The legs began to lengthen and then the arms. The snout pushed back into its face and suddenly instead of a bear standing in front of her there was a beautiful woman. Her eyes became round and wide as she stared at the woman. Her gaze moved over to Jeremiah’s briefly and finally after a few minutes it came to rest on Maggie once again in disbelief.

  “Come sit down.” Her tone was strict and the girl’s eyes widened. Emily realized that the girl couldn’t be much more than 16. She was just a teenager and she was naked, but the biggest part was that she had just been a bear. She felt the tremor course through her at what had just happened. She was scared and shocked at once, but she couldn’t tell which was the greater feeling.

  “She didn’t know?” The girl’s eyes widened when she realized what she had just done. Giving a guilty look behind her at Jeremiah the girl knew she was in trouble. She gripped the blanket he had thrown at her around her body tighter as she realized what she had done. She knew she was in deep trouble and quickly left. Emily would have felt bad for her if her emotions hadn’t had been in total chaos at the moment. There were a million things that were suddenly running through her mind just then about bears and shifting and being a part animal.

  It was some time later that Emily sat in a quiet room alone. She had just found out that shapeshifters were real. And not just bears. Werewolves were real as well as other animals. Rabbits, panthers, tigers, monkeys and even frogs and other reptiles. It all makes sense now, she thought to herself, why there were no hunters in the village and why those deer had just stood there earlier. Also why she thought that they could sense something as if they were speaking to her? She hadn’t even thought it was possible, but there was the truth in front of her. That was the reason they lived so far away from the rest of the world and why they needed to search for their wives somewhere other than their community.