ARRANGED LOVE EPISODE 5

ARRANGED LOVE EPISODE 5

Next day……

Ring….Ring…

Smack!

Sleepily, I got up from bed and walked over to the curtains. I opened the curtains to see the sunrise in the distance. That’s nice. I walked into my bathroom and washed up for the day. The bathroom was pretty amazing. Everything in,side was expensive.

After dressing up in my white sweater, black leggings, and slippers, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked very plain. I didn’t know if I could adapt to a lavish life. I wore my glasses and walked out of my room.

Quietly, I made my way to the kitchen and started to make breakfast for Adrian. In the cabinets, I managed to find bagels, coffee, and cream cheese. I guess these will do for now . Looking in,side the cabinets again, I found a kettle and a coffee filter.

To be honest, I didn’t like coffee. However, I made coffee for my grandparents every morning. They looked my pour over brew method. I filled the pot with water and set the pot on the stove to boil. While the kettle boiled the water, I got the filter and the coffee ready.

After putting the filter in a cup and the ground coffee in the filter, I prepared the bagel. I cut the bagel in half and toasted them in the toaster. Soon, I heard the water boiling. I got he kettle and started to pour the boiling water over the coffee ground.

Slowly, the finished product dripped into the cup. The bagel popped up from the toaster. I took the hot bagels and spread cream cheese on them. The breakfast was simple. I really need to go to the grocery store today.

After of the the coffee was done, I removed the filter and the coffee ground. I decided to make the coffee on the strong side. I remembered Adrian drinking espresso back in San Francisco. I hope he likes the coffee.

I set everything on the tray and walked up the stairs. I remembered that his room was located right next to my room. I walked down a hallway to see Lorenzo. He turned his head to see me approach him.

“Good morning Lorenzo,” I said to him with a smile on my face. I was happy to see him. He gave me a smile in return. “Good morning Mrs. Minetti. Sleep well?” he asked me. “Yes. Thank you for asking,” I said to him.

He looked down at the tray that I was carrying. “Did you make him breakfast?” he asked me. “I did. Is he in his room?” I asked him. Lorenzo shook his head. “He is in his office,” he told me. He is in his office!

“Did he sleep last night?” I asked with concern. He gave me a nod. “He slept for a couple hours before returning to work. This is a life of a CEO,” he explained to me. I gave him a nod. “I’ll esc-rt you to his office,” he said.

Closely, I followed Lorenzo to Adrian’s office. His office was located on the other side of the apartment. Soon, we arrived in front of double doors. Already, I had a idea about what his office would look like.

Lorenzo knocked on the door to let Adrian know that someone was at the door. “Come in,” I heard from the other side. Lorenzo opened the door and peeked in,side. “Mr. Minetti. Your wife is here with your breakfast,” I heard Lorenzo say to him.

I started to feel my hands sweat. Adrian told me yesterday that he didn’t want to be disturbed by me or anything. It was one of his rules. “Let her in and close the door behind you. I want to talk to her alone,” I heard Adrian’s order to Lorenz.

Lorenzo opened the door for me. Slowly, I walked in,side and was amazed by the office. The office was pretty big with the company logo above the desk. The room was s₱0tless. The furniture made me feel like I was in a office building and not an apartment.

From the desk, Adrian looked at me dead in the eyes. I started to feel my legs shake. I didn’t move my eyes away from Adrian. Adrian got up from his chair and walked over to me. I wanted to move a step back but, my legs were paralyzed by fear.

Once he stood in front of me, I looked straight at his chest. I was too afraid to look at him. “What did I say about bothering me?” he asked to me in a stern tone. His tone felt heavy on my shoulders and made my heart drop.

I couldn’t open my mouth. “Look up at me when I speak to you,” he said to me. He didn’t change the tone of his voice. I took a shaky breath and looked up at him. When our eyes met, I completely froze and tense.

I could see the annoyance and anger in his eyes. “Let me ask one last time. What did I say about bothering me?” he asked me. His annoyance and anger were growing by the second. I forced myself to speak without controlling my fear.

“Y-you said t-t-to not b-bother you,” I said to him. “Exactly,” he said to me. He took the cup of coffee and the plate bagels off the tray. “Now get out. Don’t bother me ever again got it,” he said to me. I nodded my head quickly and walked out of his room.

I set the tray in the kitchen and made my way back into my room. Once in my room, I sat on the bed and felt tears fall from my eyes. I let out a deep breath that I had kept in,side myself from my encounter with Adrian.

Why did I have to pair with him? He scares me so much.

I looked at my hands to see them shaking. I held my hands together and tried to calm my nerves down.I closed my eyes and thought about my grandparents. They wanted me to have a better life than my parents and my brother.

The question was…was this a better life.

I could see the ups and downs of this marriage. In the end, I decided that I wanted a life where I didn’t have to displease my husband. I shouldn’t have to fear anything as long as I followed the rules that he had set for me.

Follow the rules Vera. You can live through this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a few hours since my encounter with Adrian. As far as I knew, by the time I left the apartment, Adrian was already gone to his work in the city. I had planned to go to the bank and to the grocery store today.

Right now, I had just gotten out of the bank. I managed to get my bank account transferred from San Francisco and gotten a new credit and debit card under my maiden name. Even though I had a credit card from Adrian, I rather use my money than to use his fortune to buy things.

Walking down the street, I could see the difference between San Francisco and New York. New York was super busy with people and traffic. People were walking up and down the street while they talked on their phones, walked their dog, or listened to their music.

It felt different. I started to miss San Francisco more. I missed the slow relax feel of the neighborhood. I missed the air of the bay. I knew that I would have to get used to New York and it’s business.

I managed to find a grocery store that was near the apartment. It was very convenient. in,side the grocery store, I took a shopping cart and walked through the aisle to find things that would last Adrian and I a few days.

I spent a good hour filling the cart with produce and other goods. Tonight, I wanted to make ravioli stuffed with ricotta, parmesan, spinach, and black pepper. For the sauce, I wanted to make home made marinara sauce cooked with home made sausage and vegetables.

I learned many recipes from my grandmother growing up. I would spend hours in the kitchen with her. It was going to be the first time that I was cooking myself without my grandmother tasting my cooking. Hopefully, Adrian would like my cooking.

Once at the cashier, I watched the screen to see the cost of the total amount go up. I should get a membersh¡p card . “Your total is $102.98. Do you have a membersh¡p card with us?” the lady asked me.

“No. May I sign up for one please,” I said to her. She gave me a form and pen. Quickly, I filled the form with my information while she got the bags. “Can I get reusable bags please,” I said to her. She gave me a nod and worked on the cash register. “That will increase the total to $110.98,” she told me.

“That’s fine,” I said to her. I gave her the form and got a membersh¡p card. I managed to get the price down to $80.97. “Cash or card?” the lady asked me. “Debit,” I said to her. I looked into my wallet and got my debit card.

Once I paid everything and got my bags, I walked out of the grocery store and to the apartment. The walk wasn’t too bad. Once in,side the apartment building, I walked into the elevator that was specific to getting to my apartment building.

I pressed the button for the top floor.

[Key Card Please]

I took a card out of my bag and ins**ted the card in scanner.

Beep…beep…ping!

[Recognize Valeria Minetti]

The elevator started to move. I set the grocery on the ground and stretched my arms. Next time…less groceries. The screen showed me that I was almost at the top. I grabbed the groceries and waited for the elevator to reach the apartment.

Soon, I arrived a the apartment. I carried the groceries in the kitchen and started to put the groceries away. I made sure to throw away anything expired in the trash as I didn’t want any mold growing anywhere.

It took me a good thirty minutes to put the stuff away.

Grumble

I placed my hand on my stomach. “That’s right. I didn’t eat anything yet.” I walked over to the fridge and grabbed some stuff for a grilled cheese with basil and tomatoes. I wanted something simple for now since I was going to make a big dinner.

After grilling the cheese sandwich, I started to eat my light lunch with a cup of water. As I ate my food, I looked around the apartment. It really felt empty and lonely. If a pin dropped onto the feel, a person could hear it on the other side of the apartment.

I should really think of something to do . Something clicked in my head. “That’s right…dinner. That should keep me busy until…dinner.” I finished the last of the grilled cheese sandwich and cleaned the dishes.

After the dishes, I made sure to clean the counter.

“Now let’s make the pasta sauce.”

I grabbed the some ingredients out of the fridge and started to make the sauce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Few hours later…….

“Tastes good.”

I managed to finish making the raviolis an hour ago and kept working on the sauce. The sauce tasted better over time. Everything was made from scratch. So everything was going to taste extra good and fresh.

“Just twenty more minutes and it’s done.” I set the spoon down and looked at the time. It was almost dinner time. I had set dinner between six and seven. Wonder when Adrian is coming home. I never asked him when he was coming home.

But, I couldn’t speak to him at all unless I was spoken to. I walked over to the living room and sat down on the couch. With the remote control, I turned the television on to see what shows were on at the hour.

I had to say that he had almost every channel you can think of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four hours later……

Four hours had went by and I was waiting patiently for him. “Maybe he is working late.” I should have known about his work ethics from the start. He worked late on our first night together in San Francisco.

Two hours ago, I decided to make myself dinner and make a plate that Adrian could heat up in the microwave. I had to eat dinner alone. The raviolis tasted great but, it would have tasted better if I had someone to eat them with me.

I packed Adrian’s food in the fridge. I didn’t know if he was going to eat it. I hope that he would eat them.

Right now, I was on the couch doing some research on universities and colleges on my laptop. I had planned to go to college before I got married. I thought maybe I could at least take some online classes and slowly get a degree.

I should wait for a while before enrolling.

After a few more hours, I went to bed without waiting for Adrian to come home.

—————————————–

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Next day……..

I woke feeling energized and ready for the day. First thing in the morning, I noticed that Adrian didn’t come home because his office was empty. Also, his ravioli dinner was still in the refrigerator. I decided to leave the plate in the fridge for another day. If he didn’t plan to eat the food, I’ll have to eat it for lunch on the next day.

Today, I wanted to go site seeing and get to know my new neighborhood. I made sure to dress nicely and got everything so that I didn’t get locked out of the apartment. {Should I leave a note?} “I think he would be able to find me. He probably put a tracking device in my phone.”

I walked into the elevator and rode down to the lobby. Once out of the lobby, I walked down the street through the crowd of people. The streets were lively with people and cars. The streets were packed with cars that were trying to get to their destination.

Along the street, people would go in and out of the stores. Many women walked into the clothing stores because they were well known brands. The outfits were amazing…but, the prices were outrageous.

“A two hundred and fifty eight dollar belt!. No thank you.”

Quickly, I covered my mouth and walked away from the store before anyone could notice my expression. The brand stores could really put someone into bankruptcy. To me, brand stores never really caught my eyes.

Walking down the street, I found a bookstore that was filled with people. {Must be a popular bookstore.} I decided to go in,side to see why the place was popular. Once I stepped into the bookstore, I could see why people were in,side.

“Wow.”

The place was huge. The books filled the walls of the shop. At the corner, there was a little cafe where people could buy something to drink while they read their books. Everything was very org-nized.

“May I help you?”

I turned my head to the voice to see a elderly man at the cashier. “Oh. I don’t need help,” I said to him with a smile. He gave me a smile and a nod. “If you need help, come to me my dear,” he said to me and returned his attention to a customer who was buying a book called “How To Get Girls You Desire.”

{Okay……}

I started to walk toward the eastern wall of books.

“Let’s start here and work around.”

The section contained historical and travel books.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t wait to read my new book when I get home.”

I probably had spent two good hours looking around the bookstore. I managed to find some historical fiction and fiction books that caught my attention. The store owner gave me a discount on the books since I was a first timer at the store. After the bookstore, I had spent time looking at the other stores that had caught my attention.

When I got home, I walked to the mail box to retrieve the mail. I had to say that the box was filled with letters, pamphlets and magazines. “Look at all this.” {Does Adrian ever look at his mailbox?} I took the mail and walked to the elevator.

[Key Card Please]

I got my key card and ins**t the card in the scanner.

Beep…beep…ping!

[Recognize Valeria Minetti]

As the elevator lifted me up, I tried adjust my hold on the mail. I had to say that he must have not checked his mail for at least a week or two. There were so many letters and magazines. {Does he really worry about his image?}

Once I reached the apartment, I walked to the kitchen to sort the mail. Most of the letters were for business while others were advertisements. Soon, I got to the magazines. One magazine caught my attention.

The youngest Minetti Bachelor tied the knots!

Rumors had spread about the possibilities of Adrian Minetti marriage. According to sources, he had tied the knots while he was visiting his parents in San Francisco a couple weeks ago. The lucky woman had not been identified yet.

{Nobody knows me yet.}

Relief coursed through my body. I really didn’t want to be an inconvenience to Adrian. After sorting the mail, I walked to his office and set the magazines down on his desk with his mail. He would want to look at it.

As I walked out of his office, I saw Lorenzo who walked towards me. “Hello Lorenzo,” I said with a smile on his face. He gave me a small smile and bowed to me. “Hello Mrs. Minetti. How are you?” he asked me.

{Mrs. Minetti.}

“I’m fine thank you. Please, call me Vera,” I said to him. The way he said my married name felt very foreign to me. “Of course,” he said to me. “I didn’t hear you walk in. May I ask what you are doing here?” I asked him.

“I am here to get your husband’s mail. He had been expecting a letter from the CEO of a travel company based in Italy. He thought maybe the letter had arrived at his home and not at his office,” he explained to me.

{A travel company?}

“Is it from Journey Flight? I did recall seeing a mail letter of it. I placed his mail in his office,” I told him. Lorenzo gave out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Normally, Mr. Minetti’s business letters are mailed to his office but, on rare occasions, they are mail to his home,” he explained to me.

“That makes sense.” He gave me a nod. “How is Adrian?” I asked him. I hadn’t seen him at home for a while. “He had been busy with work. He probably won’t be coming home until he gets a deal with a real estate agency for a property down in San Diego,” he told me.

{Probably a new resort.}

“Alright. You should hurry and get the letter to him. He’s probably not the kind of person to keep waiting,” I said to him. He gave me a nod and walked passed me. I let out deep breath and continued my way to my room to read my new books.

“I guess I’ll be eating alone for a while.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One week later……….

Adrian hadn’t returned home for a wh0le week. I became more worried about him. Of course, I didn’t dare to call him or anything because his rules kept popping up in my head. Lorenzo hadn’t come and check the mail so I check the mail and place them in Adrian’s office.

As for me, I had decided to enroll into a university in New York. Of course, I planned to take a couple of online classes for each semester so that I could focus on my house chores. Also, I wanted to see the amount of school work that I had to do for each class. I could care less what Adrian thought about my decision.

Today, I was in a really good mood that I had forgotten about Adrian. I wasn’t going to let him ruin my life. I had spent a good two hours in the neighborhood and going to the grocery store for more food to fill in the p-ntry and fridge. The doors to the elevators opened to reveal my apartment. “Home sweet home,” I said and set my goods down on the couch.

“Well hello there.”

I gasped and turned around to the direction of the voice to see a man who looked familiar. His dark hair was down casual. He had some facial hair, but it was very clean. His eyes were brown and familiar.

“I’m surprised that you don’t seem to know me,” he said to me. I couldn’t seem to process his appearance because I was blinded by fear and fright to even think about the identity of the person in front of me.

{How did he get in here?! I need to call Adrian.}

Quickly, I reached for my phone in my bag. “Not so fast,” I heard him say to me. He grabbed my arm to prevent me from getting my phone. He took my bag and tossed it across the room. {My bag.} He turned his face to me and gave me a smirk.

“Aaaaahhhh!”

Quickly, he covered my mouth with his hand. I struggled to get his hand away from my mouth. He didn’t seem to notice that he covered my nose too. “Let me explain something to you,” he said to me calmly. I didn’t know what to think.

I could feel the less oxygens in my lungs.

“Mathew! What are you doing!?”

He turned his head to the stairs. I turned my head slightly enough to see a woman who looked like a model. She had long flowing blond hair and dark blue eyes. She had a slim figure but, she was curvy too.

{She looks familiar.}

She made her way toward us quickly. Matthew removed his hand from my mouth. I backed away to the corner of the kitchen trying to catch my breath. Once my back touched the wall, my body didn’t want to respond. My breathing was so uneven that I knew that I was panicking now. The woman looked at me.

“She’s panicking,” she said with concern and walked towards me. “I’m Angela. Your sister-in-law,” she introduced herself to me. “Oh.” I could feel myself relax a bit and turned my attention to the guy. {That means this must be Matthew. Adrian’s brother.}

I didn’t recognize him because his hair. His eyebrows frown a bit. “Sorry if I scared you. I’m Matthew. Adrian’s older brother,” he apologized to me. I wiped my eyes to feel moisture. {Must be fright the fright.} I let out a shaky breath of relief.

“I’m Valeria but, call me Vera and it’s okay. I didn’t know that you two were coming,” I said to him. He gave me a nod. “So I’m guessing that Adrian had went to work,” he said to me. I gave him a nod. I didn’t tell him that he didn’t come home from work since the other day.

Angela took my hand and led me to the living room. Once we sat down, Angela gave me a smile. “It’s so nice to have a sister in law. I didn’t think that I would get one so soon. I would have thought that Stephen would get married and have a wife before Adrian,” she told me.

“That…makes sense,” I said to her. Her smile shorten a bit. “This must be very confusing for you…especially since you came from a…you know…” She didn’t want to say anything offensive. “You mean not so luxurious background?” She gave me a nod.

“I feel so many things. I mean…I’m an eighteen year old girl who just graduated from high school, told that I was arranged to be married to a guy who I didn’t know much about, and live far away from the only family I know,” I said out everything that I held in,side.

“It sounds crazy to you. We get it,” Matthew said to me. “Yes but, I’m trying to make it work,” I said to him. He gave me a smile .”I have a feeling that you are a great match for him. You just need to take things one step at a time,” he said to me.

I gave him a nod in agreement.

“So, were you planning on making something for dinner?” Angela asked me. {That’s right.} “Oh. I was planning to make some eggplant parmesan but, I don’t think I have the time now,” I honestly said to her.

Fresh tomato sauce was going to take a long time that I didn’t have now due to them surprising me. “You cook food everyday?” she asked me. I gave her a nod. “I love cooking. I learned everything from my grandmother,” I told her.

She gave me a smile. “Your cooking must be amazing. Adrian must love your cooking,” she said to me. I felt my face frown. {If he was ever at home…} “Did I say something wrong?” she asked with concern in her voice.

“Uh…”

“What’s with the face,” Matthew asked with some concern. I let out a sigh and looked at him. “He hasn’t been home for over a week. I would leave his portion in the fridge but, they are never eaten. So, I end up eating them for lunch the next day,” I explained to him.

His grip tightened on his knees. “What an idiot,” Matthew concluded. He looked mad. “It’s okay. I heard that he was trying to get a deal to get the property down in San Diego,” I explained to him. “But, it takes more than a week? He usually finish or get the deal in a few days. What could he possibly be doing?” he said to me.

Now, he got my attention. {If that’s true, is he….} I shook my head. {No that can’t be.} “He might be really busy this time. You never know,” Angela said to him. Matthew shook his head. “He’s a married man now and doesn’t seem to be caring for his wife well,” he said to her in a bit of anger.

“It’s fine really,” I said to him. I wasn’t going to get mad at Adrian. Matthew took a deep breath to calm down and gave me a small smile. “You really look at the bright side of things don’t you,” he said to me.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess.” I got up from the couch. “I better start making dinner. You two are welcome to join me,” I said to them. They gave me a nod. “We would love to,” Matthew said to me. Happiness washed over me.

“I am thinking of wild mushroom risotto and maybe steak. I already had them marinating since early this morning. It should be fine to eat today,” I told them. Angela and Matthew stood up from the couch. “I’ll help,” Angela offered to me.

“That would be great,” I told her. “I’m going to make a business call to see how things are doing,” he said to excuse himself. “Alright,” I said to him and walked into the kitchen to get started on the risotto. Angela followed behind me.