His Paradise Wife

by Tina Martin

  “So am I,” Emily said. Melanie had given her the boost she needed to go through with this, even though doing something this outrageous was so not her. She felt sick again just contemplating it. At the same time, she felt that this might be what she needed to start living again. Besides, she liked Armand. If they could get along online, then surely they could get along and have pleasant conversation face-to-face. Her only concern now was that Armand was who he said he was and not some psycho, preying on lonely, heartbroken women on Grieving Hearts Connect.

  Chapter 5

  “What’s bothering you, Dante?” Desmond, his youngest brother had asked, staring at his brother as he sat in front of his desk for their weekly meeting.

  Desmond headed up the marketing department and was focusing all of his attention on the mass wedding event planned for this Saturday at Pleasure Island. He’d drafted a few press releases to review this morning with Dante and Dimitrius. Only problem was, Dante’s mind had been elsewhere.

  Dante looked at his brother. Yes, something was bothering him. That didn’t mean he wanted to talk about it. And he tried to keep up the no-nonsense, hardcore businessman role to hide the fact that he was upset, but his brothers could read him well. Too well. So well that it aggravated Dante to feel their inquisitive eyes on him. So to quell any further interrogation from Desmond, he said, “Nothing’s bothering me. I simply want to ensure that the activities this weekend will go smoothly. This is the first time the company is embarking on an idea as such, so we need to make sure every single detail is handled accurately and appropriately. If we can pull this off, I’m sure monthly subscriptions to the service will increase dramatically.”

  Desmond nodded. “I got local media on board. Once the ceremony starts, there will be plenty of interest in Grieving Hearts Connect, long after this is over. Think about it. What we’re doing is unprecedented, and people are responding.”

  Dante nodded.

  “Also, I’ve done some research online...seems bloggers have read our flier on our social media sites and have blogged about it.”

  “What kind of feedback are they giving?” Dante inquired.

  “Well, from the ones I’ve read, they pretty much had good things to say about the wedding, but then, of course, you have negative feedback. Some people seem to think that meeting people online and getting married in untraditional ways will inevitably end in divorce.”

  “Then they are not changing with the times,” Dante said coolly. “People don’t just randomly meet at a bar or the supermarket like they did back in the day,” he explained.

  “Wait...I have to disagree with you on that, my brother,” Desmond said. “I met a fine honey at a bar just last night.”

  Dimitrius chuckled. “What else is new? You’re always meeting women, or shall I say twenty-one-year-old party girls.”

  “You’re one to talk,” Desmond shot back. “You have a chick on speed dial for every day of the week.”

  “And yet again, you speak on what you don’t know...”

  “Okay, let’s get back on track,” Dante said. He’d always been the mediator between his siblings. “Dimitrius, have you seen a spike in membership due to Saturday’s event, or is it too soon to tell?”

  “Membership has been up twelve percent since the first press release went out three weeks ago.”

  “That’s excellent. That was a good strategy to send out a pre-press release, Des.”

  “I thought it might make a difference,” Desmond added. “Now here are the new press releases I drafted up for the local media at Carolina Beach.” Desmond handed Dante and Dimitrius a copy. “As soon as you give me the okay, I’m sending these babies out.”

  Dante placed the press release on his desk, then got up from his seat and walked over to the windows. The reason he came up with this mass marriage idea in the first place had been a selfish one. He wanted to get Emily. He tried to pretend he wasn’t upset by the fact that he hadn’t heard from her at all on Tuesday and not so far today. He’d been watching his fake ‘Armand Hill’ profile all day, waiting to see if she would log in and she hadn’t.

  “Dante, what gives, man?” Dimitrius asked, watching his brother gaze blankly out of the windows. “Thought you’d be more excited than this.”

  Dante slid his hands in his pockets and turned around to face his brothers. “Emily broke it off with me Monday night, well with my fake online identity but you get what I mean.”

  “Why? I thought Armand was putting his mack down,” Desmond quipped.

  Ignoring his youngest brother, Dante said, “I think I pushed her too hard, too fast.”

  “She hasn’t been online at all?” Dimitrius inquired.

  “No. Monday, she ended things.”

  “That’s a shame,” Desmond said, shaking his head. He would never get caught up with one woman when there were so many to pick and choose from. Still, he could understand why his brother had been so taken by Emily. She was a beautiful woman, and from what he knew of her, she was smart, a hard-working business owner and she had eyes that a man could lose himself in over and over again.

  “Since you’re both here,” Dante said, “I want to let you know that I will not be going to Pleasure Island this weekend.”

  “What?” Desmond said, frowning. “You have to go. The media is all geared up to meet the CEO of Grieving Hearts Connect.”

  “Des, you and Dimitrius will suffice as representatives in my absence.”

  Dimitrius shook his head. “Dante, I’m with Des on this one, bro. You said you wanted everything to go smoothly...well what kind of press are we going to get once it’s known that you’re not there?”

  “How can I come there when the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with won’t be there to accept my ring?” Dante asked in one long, frustrated breath. “I won’t do it.”

  Desmond rubbed his hand across his head.

  Dimitrius sighed because he wasn’t sure of what else to say. Once Dante had resolved to do something, it was as good as done. The same was true when he hadn’t wanted to do something.

  “Why didn’t you just talk to her? Over the phone, I mean?” Dimitrius inquired.

  “Because she would’ve picked up on my voice and I couldn’t risk her finding out that Armand is really me. She doesn’t like me, remember?”

  “Why do you sound like you’ve given up?” Desmond asked. “Today is Wednesday. The ceremony is Saturday. If you really want this girl, you got today, tomorrow and Friday to convince her to come to Pleasure Island this weekend.”

  “And how am I supposed to do that when she won’t log into her account?”

  “I got it,” Desmond said. “Send her a private message. She doesn’t need to be logged into messenger to get a private message. Send her your phone number and type the words, ‘call me’.”

  Dante shook his head. “I don’t want her to pick up on my voice, Des.”

  “Well, in order to get something you never had before, you have to do something you’ve never done before. Right? So, send her your number. Once she talks to you for the first time, that has to be all she needs to convince her to be standing on the beach Saturday, ready to exchange vows with you. Now when she gets there and realize that you tricked her, well, you’re on your own then.”

  “I’ll think about it,” was Dante’s response. “Was there anything else we needed to cover?”

  “I don’t think so,” Dimitrius said.

  Desmond spoke up and said, “Don’t forget that we need help in the marketing department. I can wait until after the hoopla has died down around the upcoming GHC events, though. Just a reminder.”

  “Okay,” Dante said. “I’ll work on it. For now, this meeting is adjourned. I’m sure you both have plenty of work to do.”

  Dimitrius smirked. “We’re sure you do, too.”

  Chapter 6

  If ending things with Armand seemed like the right thing to do, why did she feel so bad about it? Emily had even logged on to her instant messenger on GHC las
t night and saw that he was offline.

  What had she done?

  She missed talking to Armand already. In a way, he’d become a distraction from the grief she struggled with after losing Melvin. Now Armand was gone. Or was he? Maybe if she apologized to him for ending things so abruptly, he would be forgiving and they could pick up right where they left off.

  Feeling good that this was the right approach, she logged on to her laptop and signed into her profile, noticing a private message indicator light blinking. Before she could click on it, a customer had walked in.

  “Good afternoon,” Emily said. “Welcome to Emily’s Boutique.”

  “Hi there,” the lady responded.

  “Can I help you find something?”

  “Um...no. I’m just browsing. I’m getting married this weekend and wanted to find a nice vintage piece for my gown.”

  “Oh, Congratulations! That’s exciting.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Well, we keep pins in the counter display case. Earrings are hanging on the wall as well as necklaces and there’s a scarf rack near the display window.”

  “Perfect. Thanks.”

  “No problem,” Emily said excited for this woman whom she hadn’t known. She remembered how she felt when she married Melvin. It was her day – her time to show off her man to the world. There was the dress, bridesmaids, hair, makeup, nails, the shoes – getting married was an exciting time. But to do it all over again, to repeat those vows to another man gave her an unsettling feeling. She had no desire to marry again. She had, however, missed talking with Armand.

  She walked over to her customer while she was looking at earrings and asked, “So when is the big day?”

  The lady beamed, holding two pairs of earrings in her hand.

  “Saturday.”

  “Girl, you should have your maid honor running these types of errands for you.”

  “Well, that’s the thing...this is going to be a very non-traditional style wedding, so I won’t have a maid of honor or bridesmaids.”

  “Are you getting married at the court house?” Emily questioned. She realized how intrusive and nosy she sounded. She just didn’t care.

  “Oh, no. I’m getting married at a mass wedding on Pleasure Island this weekend.”

  Emily’s eyes lit up. “Wait...are you getting married at the Grieving Hearts Connect Resort?”

  “Yes! You heard about it?”

  “I did, actually. I met someone on the site and he asked me to marry him there but I refused.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I didn’t feel I knew him well enough.”

  “How long have you two been talking?”

  “Three months.”

  “Wow. I’ve only been chatting with my guy for two months and we decided to take the leap.”

  “Have you met him in person or spoken with him on the phone?”

  “Haven’t met, but we talk on the phone every night. He lives in Atlanta. Where does your guy live?”

  “He said he was in Charlotte.”

  “Charlotte? That’s a hop, skip and a jump...then you’re there...and you haven’t met?”

  “No. He actually only wanted to chat online and didn’t want to meet or talk on the phone, so I recently broke it off, but now I think I was too rash with my decision. My friend thinks I should go to Pleasure Island and meet him in person. It’s like she has this vision of me being whisked into the arms of a prince and living happily ever after.”

  The woman chuckled as she took another pair of earrings from the rack.

  “I’m Emily by the way.”

  “I’m Audrey. Nice to officially meet you.”

  “You as well.”

  “Hey, which pair of earrings should I get?” Audrey asked. “I can’t decide.”

  Emily looked them over for a moment and said, “They all look nice.” She only stocked the best merchandise for her store.

  “Yeah. Maybe I’ll get all of them.”

  The women giggled.

  “How long have you been a member on GHC?” Emily inquired.

  “Um...’bout a year now. When my husband died eight years ago, I had trouble talking to men. A friend of mine told me about the Grieving Hearts site and I made good use of the online therapists there. But I didn’t know that I would meet my new soulmate. He’s truly amazing and this journey for me has been wonderful.”

  Audrey had decided to get three pairs of earrings, and after Emily swiped her credit card and handed it back to her, she asked Audrey, “Was it difficult for you to make that decision to start over and get married again?”

  “It was at first, but I realized something.” Audrey slid her credit card back in her purse. “I’m responsible for my own happiness. I could choose to be miserable or I could choose to be happy. I chose happiness.”

  “I like that,” Emily said as she handed Audrey a small, logo-imprinted bag.

  “Thank you, Emily.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Hope to see you Saturday,” she said, standing at the door.

  “Maybe you will.”

  Chapter 7

  You are responsible for your own happiness.

  Those words that Audrey said earlier resonated deeply within Emily because they were simply true. Since Melvin passed, Emily found many reasons, excuses and opportunities to be unhappy. For a long time, rain made her feel sadness. Made her think of him. Even sports programs brought tears to her eyes since she used to watch football with Melvin.

  The only time she could remember having a little slice of happiness since Melvin was when she chatted online with Armand. After talking with Melanie and now, Audrey, she was sure that breaking things off with Melvin had to have been a mistake.

  At her computer again, she saw the email indicator alert on her GHC home page. She hadn’t thought much of it, because she was always getting emails from GHC marketing about events and seminars. Anyway, she clicked on the inbox to open it saw something she hadn’t expected – an email from Armand. Right away, she clicked on it to open it. Then she read:

  Call me. 555-3429

  Emily’s heart pounded against her chest like bucket drums being hand-played on New York City streets. Armand wanted her to call him and she couldn’t believe it. He’d been adamant against speaking with her on the phone and now, he was offering up his number like a sacrifice. Maybe he realized he didn’t want to lose her.

  She took her cell phone from her pocket, dialed the number Armand had emailed to her and paused before pressing send, instantly feeling her nerves get the best of her. What if talking to him on the phone wasn’t as easy as talking to him on instant messenger? She hadn’t thought of that. And to add to the stress, yesterday was the first time in three months that she hadn’t had any communication with Armand.

  Emily sighed. Then, drawing in a deep breath, she pressed send and braced herself.

  Dante had been sitting at his desk when a call came through on his cell. He knew it was Emily because only his immediate family had access to this number and their numbers were already pre-programmed into his phone. This number wasn’t, so it had to be her.

  “Hello,” he answered.

  “Hi, is this...Armand?” Emily asked with caution, butterflies swirling like a tornado in her stomach.

  “Yes it is. Is this my Emily?”

  My Emily. A big smile came to Emily’s face. “Yes, this is Emily.”

  “You have a beautiful voice, Emily. Makes me wonder why I’ve waited so long to give you my number.”

  Emily smiled because she couldn’t find words. Talking to Armand over the phone wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought it might be. Behind the computer, words flowed easily. On the phone, it was a different story. It almost felt as if Armand was a stranger and not the man she’d gotten to know for three months.

  “You there?” he asked.

  “Yes. I’m here.”

  Dante stood up from his desk and walked over near the windows. He kept in mind that he had
to alter his voice so she wouldn’t pick up on it. He had to be in full ‘Armand’ mode. “So I know you were pretty upset with me the last time we chatted.”

  “It was more like I was having a hard time understanding you.”

  “What don’t you understand?”

  “I don’t get how you can want to marry me when we haven’t met.”

  “Because we have met, albeit by unconventional means, but we’ve gotten acquainted. I actually think we know each other on a higher level than if we’d met face-to-face in my opinion. We’ve invested three months into this and I do not wish to throw that away, Emily.”

  “So where do we go from here?”

  “I’m hoping we go to Pleasure Island this weekend so I can finally make you mine.”

  Emily felt her stomach flutter. Armand was serious and she needed to make up her mind fast. The decision was simple – be happy and marry Armand or be sad and fall into another deep depression for losing Melvin.

  You are responsible for your own happiness...

  “Emily?”

  “Yes?”

  “Why are you so quiet? On messenger, you’re more talkative.”

  “I know. I just don’t know what to do.”

  “What does your heart tell you to do?”

  Emily smiled. “My heart tells me to take a leap of faith.”

  “If that’s the case, then your heart and my heart belong together because they are in perfect harmony.”

  Emily smiled again. Armand sure had a way with words. “What I can say is I’m glad you gave me your number. It’s so good to finally hear your voice. It makes you all the more real to me.”

  “It’s nice to hear you say that. By the way, how’s your day?”

  “It’s okay. No complaints. What about you?”

  “Business as usual. I’m actually heading into a meeting right now. Since I have your number, I’ll give you a call tonight. Also be on the lookout for the contract. I’ll send it to your inbox shortly.”

  “Okay. I’ll watch out for it.”