Love & Business

Fiancée

Two weeks later

I sat down at my desk and picked up a pen. I had to sign off on a lot of paperwork today and I'll be lucky if I finished everything by end of day. Whether I liked it or not the merger was happening and everyone wanted their paperwork signed off before it happened.

My door busted open and three men in suits came marching in. It was none other than my dad, Mr. Lodge, and Hunter.

"Can I help you guys?" I asked as I continued to sign the papers.

"Hunter has agreed to the marriage."

I stopped writing and looked up at Hunter. He looked at me blankly. I couldn't tell if he was angry or sad but I could tell he definitely wasn't happy.

"Well, I haven't agreed to anything."

"Pumpkin don't be like that. We gave you two weeks to think about it. We can't afford to lose any more money." dad said.

"It's just a business arrangement. If you are worrying about Hunter he will be fine and if you guys really can't see eye to eye you can simply get a divorce after the business is thriving." Mr. Lodge added.

I looked at my dad and he gave me a slight nod with a smile. It was either get married so you could get the position of your dreams or throw it all away. How could I refuse?

"Okay fine."

I gave in. I knew my dad when it came to business. If it was someone else he would've already fired them by now. He could only wait so long.

Both my dad and Mr. Lodge's eyes lit up with joy. Mine did too as I saw them looking so happy. All they wanted was for the business they worked so hard for to thrive. I glanced over to Hunter who had the opposite reaction to all of us. It was almost as if he hoped I would disagree.

"Jannette!" my dad shouted.

She ran in with speed. "Yes sir?"

"Make a reservation at La Rosa for 2 pm, please. We need to celebrate!"

...

I got to the restaurant and spotted the three men talking while casually sipping wine. I was a few minutes late because I really wanted to reach halfway through that stack of papers.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I got caught up with work." I said as I seated myself.

My dad shook his head in disapproval but didn't say anything. He hates me being late.

"Sophia, you came just in time. We were just about to decide on a wedding date. How does next Friday sound?" Mr. Lodge asked.

"What?" I shouted. "That's too soon!"

They were moving so fast. I had only just agreed to get married a few hours ago.

"No pumpkin, it's not. We already wasted two weeks." my dad said. "Friday is perfect John. We can promote the kids to CEO of our companies on Monday and announce the merger and wedding date there."

My mouth dropped. They weren't even giving us a say. I turned to Hunter but he was completely zoned out. I know if I were to ask him what we were talking about, he wouldn't even have a clue.

I slouched back into my chair and listened to my dad and future father-in-law make plans for my wedding. They were acting as if they were waiting for this all their life.

"Sophia!"

I was brought back from my thoughts by Mr. Lodge.

"Yes?"

"When do you and your bridesmaids want to go and pick out your dresses?"

Shoot, I forgot I needed bridesmaids. I have good colleagues but I would never picture them at my wedding being my bridesmaids.

"Uh, no bridesmaids. Just me."

Mr. Lodge chuckled. "What do you mean no bridesmaids?"

He continued to laugh but stopped when he realized I was being serious.

"Okay, fine. No bridesmaids."

He then turned to Hunter. "My son."

Hunter turned to him. "Hmm?"

"Will you be accompanying your fiancée to pick out her wedding dress tomorrow?"

This was the first time he had referred to me as Hunter's fiancée and it felt weird.

"It's fine! Jannette will come with me. Plus the groom isn't supposed to see the brides' dress before the wedding. It's bad luck."

Mr. Lodge nodded. "Fine, if that is what you wish then so be it."

"Okay, so everything is set so we can eat now. Waiter!"

Our food was cooked and brought to us in a quick time. We all ordered steak and fries. Since our food was brought to us, no one said a thing. We were eating in awkward silence. Dad was the first to break it.

"We forgot one thing."

We all looked at him confused.

"They can't just suddenly get married like that out of the blue. People will be quick to pick up that it's not for love."

Mr. Lodge laughed sheepishly. "You're right. How could I forget? Sophia, why don't you have lunch with Hunter in his office tomorrow before you pick out your dress? No one gossips more than our staff."

I looked at Hunter but his full attention was on his food. "I don't know."

"Don't worry about Hunter. He has already agreed to marry you so he won't object to anything."

Mr. Lodge was right. Hunter was mostly quiet but the few times he did say something, he was agreeing with his father.

"Okay, fine."

Mr. Lodge clapped his hands. "Great, then it's set. You will have lunch in Hunter's office tomorrow."