ARRANGED LOVE EPISODE 8

ARRANGED LOVE EPISODE 8

Four years later…….

It had been four years since I had enrolled into university. My life had changed so much for the better mentally and physically. University had kept me busy and my mind off of my marriage life. University was my stress relief.

Instead of taking online courses, I decided to attend classes. Everyday, I took four to five classes except the weekends. I used the weekends to study and do my required reading for my classes. I was a full time student.

Adrian didn’t know about my activities at home. He was never home. I would leave a note stating my whereabouts but, honesty, they were lies. I would write that I was at the movies or walking around the neighborhood. Sometimes, I would get a phone call from Lorenzo.

On occasions, Adrian and I were suppose to go to family gatherings that only happen once a year. Adrian would excuse himself by saying that he had scheduled a meeting or had business to attend overseas. On some occasions, he would meet with his family with his secretary who I found out to be the one who was sleeping with Adrian. Her name was Mariah Winslow. In honestly, she was beautiful.

I managed to excuse myself every year saying that I was ill or I was busy with something. They told me that they understood. It was a relief for me. I wasn’t sure if they knew about his relationsh¡p with the secretary.

To be honest, I didn’t want to deal with my in-laws. They would want to talk about our marriage. Adrian would act to be loving but, he really doesn’t want anything to do with me. Also, they didn’t know about the affair.

Today, I was with Victor and Neal at their new business building that they had bought a few days ago. They wanted to start a business once they received their bachelors in business. They bought a really big space.

They walked me through the building. The place smelt a bit musty due to the place being closed for a long time. The walls were plain with dust. Some windows needed to be replaced because they were cracked. The floor was covered with dust and dirt. Overall, the building was a good size.

“Isn’t this amazing! I can’t believe that this place is ours,” Neal said with excitement. Victor gave him a hug from behind. “So am I. Soon, this place will be well known across the country,” Victor told him. They were so in love with each other.

They haven’t gotten married yet, but they were going to get married soon. “So, what kind of business are you two going to open?” I asked them. They looked at each other. “We were thinking about an org-nic restaurant,” they told me.

I knew it. “That’s a great idea,” I told them with a smile on my face. They were great cooks. Ever since I met them, they made delicious foods. Everything was org-nic. Last year, we traveled to an org-nic farm where they grew many kinds of fruits and vegetables. Victor’s friend, Arthur owned the farm.

“Arthur is willing to help us out with the produce,” Neal told me. “I can’t wait for the restaurant to be open. I would be your very first customer,” I told them. They gave me a smile. “I know you would. You known us for a long time,” he told me.

“I expect to see your Asian style poach salmon on the menu,” I told them. They laughed a bit. “Of course. I’ll add my famous roast beef with wild mushroom sauce to the menu,” Victor told me. Victor was great with cooking savory foods.

“I can handle the dess**ts,” Neal said as he looked out the window. Neal was a great baker. On my birthday last year, he had baked a cake for me. His famous burnt sugar nut cake. The cake was deadly to my palette….in a good way.

“Before we open, we would like for you to do the taste test,” Victor told me. Wow…. ” Make sure that you don’t give me everything to taste on the same day. It would be too much for my stomach to handle,” I told them.

“Of course. Otherwise, we might have to roll you out,” Neal joked. “Ha ha very funny Neal,” I told him. Victor couldn’t stop laughing. “We have so much to do. We have to paint the walls, replace the tiles, get equipment, and come up with a menu,” Victor listed out.

“How are you guys going to pay for all that?” I asked them. They don’t look rich. Neal had a smile on his face. “After my grandfather passed away, he gave me his inheritance since I was the only relative living,” he told me.

“What did he do to have that much money?” I asked him. “He was a famous baker and an investor,” Neal told me. That explains it. “It’s like I’m going to continue his legacy. Most of the recipes were from him,” he told me.

In his eyes, I could see mixed emotions. One emotion stood out from the rest. “You loved him so much huh,” I said to him. He gave me a nod. “He was the one who taught me to be myself. If I don’t love myself, how do you expect to make great dess**ts to make people happy?” he asked me.

“You got a point,” I told him. He gave me a nod. Victor walked up to us. “It’s almost dinner time. Why don’t we eat here?” he asked us. “Are we cooking? Or are we doing take out?” I asked him. “Well, I wish we could make food but, we don’t have the equipment here. Let’s do take out. I’ll treat you guys,” Victor said.

“Sure. What do you want?” Neal asked me. “I don’t know….” I wasn’t sure what I wanted to eat. “Craving for anything?” Victor asked as he looked through his phone for delivery service. “You look for dinner and I’ll look up for dess**t,” Neal told Victor and took his phone out too.

“What about Chinese,” I suggested. Victor and Neal looked at each other. “I guess we are getting from Zhen Mei restaurant then,” Victor said and looked up at the menu. “I want roast pork,” Neal told him.

Figures .

“I’m getting red braised pork. What about you Vera?” Victor asked me. “Since you’re treating me. I want beef chow fun, fried rice, and walnut shrimp,” I told him. He gave me a funny look. “For a small girl, you have a big appetite,” he joked.

“My brain needs food. Not my stomach,” I said to him. He laughed. “I’m going to go get some creme brûlée pie from the bakery near here that is famous for it. It come with some berry compote,” Neal said and proceeded to walk out the door.

“That sounds good,” I said to him.

They were the greatest friends who are also my guardian angels. They saved me from my marriage sanity.

“While he’s out, let’s order the food,” Victor said and dialed the number.

“Yeah…I’m hungry.”

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

“That was good,” I said and licked my spoon clean of the berry compote. The dess**t hit the s₱0t in my stomach. Surprisingly, we finished everything.

“You should get going. It’s late,” Victor told me. It was 10:00 pm and raining hærd outside. “Plus, you have finals to turn in soon and then graduation,” Neal reminded me. I gave him a smile. I’m almost there . “I am already done with them and have them ready to turn in,” I told them.

“Figures. You are always on top of your studies,” Victor said to me. I gave him a nod. “You’re right about the time. I really should get going,” I said to them and looked at the empty take out containers on the mat that we used to eat on.

“Do you guys want me to help clean up?” I asked them. “No. We can clean it,” Neal said and started to put the containers in an empty plastic bag. I got my bag and walked towards the door. “Thank you for dinner and congrats on the building,” I told them.

They gave me a smile. “Thank you. Be careful on the way home,” Neal told me. “Of course. Don’t want to get in an accident in the rain,” I said to them. “Don’t jinx yourself,” Victor told me. I gave them a wave goodbye and walked out of the building.

Quickly I got my keys from my bag and opened the car door. Good thing I have the car with me today. I bought the car with my inheritance. I could have used the credit card that Adrian gave me but, I hate to use his fortune.

Once I got in,side the car, I started the engine and slowly, got out of the parking lot. Now, I have a long slow drive to the apartment. New York City traffic was insane. It could take as long as five minutes to go down one block.

After a while, I was halfway home. I waited at an intersection. When the lights turned green, I stepped on the gas pedal. The car moved to the middle of the intersection when I heard a loud screech as if the car was skidding.

I turned my head to see a truck coming towards me.

“AHHHH!!!!!”

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

Adrian’s POV….

“That is one of the easiest deals I have made.”

I sat in my seat and opened up my laptop. My schedule had been packed with business meetings to buy a property down in San Diego in order to build a new resort. I wanted everything in my new resort to be perfect.

“Lorenzo. When is my next business meeting with Cosmos Industry??” I asked him. Cosmos Industry was well known for their Italian furniture. I wanted the our new resort in San Diego to have the most beautiful and authentic feel for our costumers.

Knock…Knock……

I lift my head up to see Mariah at my doorway with a cup of coffee in her hands. “I made some coffee for you,” she said and walked towards me. Mariah gave me a big smile and set my coffee cup on my desk. “Just how you like it,” she told me in a flirty manner.

I didn’t respond to her behavior and took a sip of the coffee. To be honest, I liked Valeria’s coffee better. Valeria’s coffee tasted much darker and smoother on my tongue. Mariah’s coffee tasted generic to me.

“Are we going out tonight again?” Mariah ask and sat on my desk and closed her legs. She was persistent for the past few days about us going out on dates. I was getting tired of her company surprisingly.

My wh0le family was right about Mariah. She wasn’t my type. She wasn’t the girl who would make me happy.

As the years went on, I realized that Mariah wasn’t the girl for me. Next thing I knew, I started to think about Valeria and our marriage. Valeria had tried to be the best wife to me. She kept bringing me breakfast every morning. She made me dinner every night but, I never ate them except that one time where my brother came over with his wife. Valeria’s cooking was delicious. She would stay up until I returned home from work.

I realized that was a jerk to her. Every day, the guilt and regret grew to the point where I did’t think that our marriage would last much longer. But, I hoped that Valeria would forgive me and we could try to work our marriage out.

I started to think about her more often. At times, I tried to call her but, the call would go straight to voicemail. I sent Lorenzo to check up on her at home. He would tell me that she was doing alright or she wasn’t at home at the moment. He would bring me notes that she had written of where she had gone.

Valeria was my type of girl. Innocent, selfless, and loyal. Her face on our wedding day was imprinted in my mind. She looked like an angel. When I looked at our wedding picture, I could drown myself in those eyes.

“Adrian.”

I put the cup back on the desk and continued to type away. “I don’t think so Mariah. I am busy,” I told her. She took a hold of my necktie and pulled me towers her. She leaned down and k-ssed me. I didn’t return the k-ss.

Ring….Ring….

I pulled away from her and answered the phone.

“What is it?” I asked. All my calls went through my other secretary, Franco. “Sir. You have an important call coming through,” he told me. “Let the call go through,” I told him. “Yes sir,” he said and connect me to the caller.

“Hello. Minetti Resorts. CEO Adrian Minetti speaking. How may I help you?”

“Hello Mr. Minetti. This is Nurse Charlotte from the emergency room at Plaza New York Hospital,” she said to me. Plaza New York Hospital?

My gut started to twist. Something is not right . “Hello Nurse Charlotte. How may I help you? Is something wrong?” I asked her with little concern.

“Your wife, Valeria, was in an accident at an intersection by a truck. She is in serious condition and in surgery. We would like you to come here at the hospital immediately to tell you in detail of the injuries,” she told me.

For the first time, my heart stopped when I heard the news about my wife.

 

Adrian’s POV……

“I’ll be on my way,” I said and hung up the phone. “Lorenzo. Get the car ready. Valeria is in the Plaza, New York Hospital,” I told him and got up from my seat. “Yes sir,” he said and took his phone out to call my driver.

“Adrian wait!”

I turned around to see Mariah who grabbed onto my arm. “What about me?” she asked with plead. “What about you?” I asked her as I tried to get my arm out of her grip. “You belong to me Adrian. Not her,” she told me.

Finally, I managed to get her to let go of my arm. “I don’t belong to anyone but my wife Mariah. To be honest, my family was right about you. You are not the girl who is making me happy. You were only a girl who was satisfying my needs until a couple years ago. I realized that I had been a jerk to my wife,” I yelled at her.

Mariah looked stunned at my outburst. “Valeria is the only girl for me the more I think about it. She is selfless, innocent, and loyal. She had been trying to make this marriage work. Me? I had been pushing her away. Making her feel unwanted. I hate to think that she wants nothing to do with me once I see her,” I said to her.

Mariah’s tears flowed down her face. “Now, I may never get a chance to be with my wife,” I told her. “Mr. Minetti.” I turned my head to see Lorenzo. “Your car is ready,” he told me. Quickly, I walked out of the office without looking at Mariah who probably stood motionless on the floor.

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

“We are almost there sir.”

“Drive faster,” I said impatiently. I was a nervous wreck. As minutes ticked by, many thoughts came hoping in my head. Most of the thoughts were her death. I didn’t want to think about her dying without me saying anything to her.

“We are here sir.”

Immediately, I opened the door and got out of the car without Lorenzo to open the door for me. I walked into the emergency unit and walked to the first person who I saw at the front desk. The woman was on the computer.

“Excuse me. I’m Adrian Minetti. I am here to see my wife Valeria.” The woman looked up at me. “Hello Mr. Minetti. I’m Nurse Charlotte. I was expecting you,” she told me formally. My patience was flowing thin.

“Where is my wife?” I asked her. She typed on the keyboard. “She is still in surgery,” she told me. “For how long?” I asked her. “For a good hour,” she told me. {How much more do they need to operate on her?} I run a hand through my hair.

“I will need you to fill out her paperwork for me please,” she said and gave me the clipboard. I took the clipboard and walked into the waiting room. I took a seat closest to the operating room. Lorenzo sat besides me.

As I looked at the questions, I realized that I couldn’t really fill out much of her information. What is her blood type? How the hell am I suppose to know?! The questions made me realize how little I knew about my wife.

I filled out much of the information as I could.

“Are you Adrian Minetti?”

I looked up from the clipboard to see a doctor in his scrubs. Some blood was on him. Is that Valeria’s blood? ” Yes. I’m Adrian Minetti,” I told him and stood up from my seat. The doctor gave me a nod. “I’m Dr. Seeley. I am one of the few doctors who is operating on your wife,” he told me.

She needs that many doctors to operate on her? My face began to feel pale. “What’s wrong with her?” I asked with concern. Dr. Seeley let out a had breath. “She has suffered many injures. She has internal bleeding, broken ribs, fractures on arm and leg on the right side of her body, a concussion, and a spinal injury. She may not be able to walk,” he told me.

I felt my energy drain from my body. There was one question that I dreaded to ask but, I decided to ask anyways. “Will she have amnesia?” I asked him. He let out a hærd breath. “That is a possibility consideration the extent of the concussion,” he told me.

“When will she be out?” I asked him. “That is hærd to say. Right now, I just finished stopping the internal bleeding. The other doctors are working on her ribs right now,” he told me. I gave him a nod. “Thank you,” I said to him.

“You are very welcome,” he said and walked back in,side the operating room. I sat in my seat with a thud. My legs felt like they couldn’t support my body weight. “Mr. Minetti. Don’t you think that you should call your family?” I heard Lorenzo ask me.

“Yeah. Your right,” I said and picked up my phone. I decided to call Matthew first since he knew Valeria.

“Hello, This is Matthew.” “Hey Matthew. It’s me Adrian,” I said. “You don’t sound like yourself. What’s wrong?” he asked me. “Valeria has been in an accident. It’s really bad,” I said and held my head with my arm as I leaned forward.

“Vera’s in the hospital? How bad are the injuries?” he asked me. How bad? “Enough that she may die on the operating table,” I told him. “I’m on my way with Angela,” he told me. “Can you do me a favor. Can you call grandpa and father for me. I don’t I can tell them,” I said honestly.

“Alright. See you there,” he said and hung up. Next, I called Stephen. Stephen was the only family member who didn’t meet Valeria yet. Plus, he was the only member of the family who didn’t marry yet.

“Hello Stephen Minetti. How may I help you?” he said. “You can help me by coming to Plaza New York Hospital to see your sister in law before she possibly passed away,” I told him. “Something happened?” he asked me.

“Just come here. Matthew and the others are coming over,” I told him. I didn’t feel like explaining myself again. “Alright. I’ll get going there,” he said and hung up the phone. I put my phone in my pocket and tried to hold myself together.

“God. Please don’t take her from me.”

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

It had been a few hours since I received updates on the operation. Dr. Seeley went back into the operation room a few minutes ago. He told me that Valeria’s heart had stopped two times on the operation table. Right now, they were trying to finish things up.

“Here’s some coffee sir.”

I looked up and received the coffee from Lorenzo. “Thank you,” I told him and took a sip. Just what I need . “Also, I have cancelled your meetings with Mr. Bradley about the expansion in the California Napa location,” he told me.

“Thanks Lorenzo,” I and took another sip of the coffee. “Have you thought about what you are going to say to your family?” he asked me. “About what? The accident?” I said to him. “I mean is…about your affair with Mariah,” he asked me.

He had to remind me. “Now that you are not going to be involved with her, she may go to the press and ruin the business sir,” he said to me. I didn’t even think about that. I wiped my face after realizing that he was right.

“If either of us took her, she could still ruin our reputation and our business,” he told me. I didn’t think of that. “What do we do?” I asked him. “Is she in a relationsh¡p with anyone?” he asked me.

I had heard rumors about her being with other men but, I had always rejected them. “Lorenzo. I want you to find out if she is in a relationsh¡p or anyone,” I said to him. “Are you planning to blackmail her on a deal?” he asked me.

“That depends on what we find and make sure there is hærd evidence,” I told him. If she does have a man, there is a chance that she may be using me. “Yes sir,” he said and walked down the hallway. I need her out of my life permanently.

“I wonder what she was doing outside at night?” Angela wondered. As I sat in my seat, I thought of something. Her phone.

I got up and walked to a nurse behind the counter. “Do you happen to know if my wife had her phone with her at the time of the accident?” I asked. “I believe that she did. Would you like me to get it for you?” she asked.

“That would be great. Thank you.” She got up from her seat and walked away. “Why her phone?” Angela asked me. “It might tell us who she was with that night,” Matthew told her. “She doesn’t seem like a person to cheat,” Angela told me.

Valeria looks to innocent for that.

The nurse returned with her cellphone. It was a different one from what I had given her. “This is her phone?” I asked. “It was with her other things,” the nurse told me. I gave her a nod. “Thank you,” I said and took her phone.

“If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask,” the nurse said to me and back to her desk. I looked through Valeria’s phone for any clues. Good thing she didn’t set a passcode on her phone . I looked at her text messages to find something interesting.

Victor: Hey u busy?

Vera: No. Just relaxing. U?

Victor: Neal + I got our new building yesterday. U want to c?

Vera: Of course! Just send me address + Ill b there.

Who’s Victor?

My stomach twist from the though that she might have had a affair. “Find anything?” Matthew asked me. “She had been texting with a guy named Victor. He said something about a new building and she was going to go there,” I said to him.

“Maybe you should call him?” Angela said to me. I gave her a nod and started to call Victor with Valeria’s phone.

Ring….Ring…..

“Hello.”

“Hello. Is this Victor?” I asked. “Yes. It is. Are you Vera’s husband?” Victor asked me. He knows about me.} ” Yes this is,” I said to him. “Nice to hear her husband for the first time in four years. How may I help you,” he asked me.

I told him what had happened to Vera. He sounded very shocked. “We were wondering why she was out late at night,” I said to him. “My fiancee Neal and I were planning to open a restaurantI so we invited her to come to check the place out,” he explained to me.

He has a fiancee…that’s a guy? Relief flowed through my body. She’s not having an affair with him. “We had some Chinese for for dinner and she left for home at around 9:15 pm. We joked that she needed to focus on her studies but, she was already done with her final papers. She just needed to turn them in before she graduates,” he told me.

She was in school too? Valeria was at least keeping herself occupied with other things. “Thank you Victor for telling me,” I told him.

“No problem. Please call or text to let me know how she is doing,” he said to me “Will do. Bye,” I said and hung up. “What did the guy say?” Matthew said. “She hung out at her friend’s new building. She had dinner there and left for home late,,” I explained to him as I looked through her phone.

In her phone, I saw pictures of her with two guys. I had a feeling that it was her friends Victor and Neal. Some pictures were selfies and other pictures of things that she saw around New York. Some photos showed her in the classroom studying.

She is suppose to graduate soon…

In all the pictures, she didn’t look like the girl who I married four years ago. Her hair was shorter. She didn’t wear her plastic glasses. She didn’t wear her usual clothing. Her clothes looked tight that her curves showed in all the right places. She wasn’t the little girl anymore.

She was a beautiful goddess.

Ping……

I turned to the door and watched them open.