The Secret of Two

Chapter 4

We crossed the Thames into a part of London that I didn't know. I was restless as I was wondering how far from the MI6 headquarters we were. We arrived at a white-brick building that looked like any normal office building but this was for a secret agency headquarters. Nevertheless, the POD came to a stop and the door slid open.

Two guards were waiting at the top of the stairs, in front of the massive black doors. I gave them my ring and they allowed me to enter. The guard on the left opened the door and I swallowed back the ball of nerves in my throat. The entry hall had a high white ceiling with stalactite-like chandeliers. People swarmed around me, talking on their earpieces, or carrying stacks of papers. In front of me stood a desk with a woman looking bored by her paperwork.

I advanced toward the desk while trying not to bump into anyone or get bumped by people. When I reached the desk, the woman looked up with hopeful eyes of not having to fill the paperwork. "What can I do for you, miss?"

"Hi, I'm Naomi Darlington, daughter of Edward Blakeley and he asked me to join him in his office."

She looked at me with suspicious eyes. I was just a girl standing in the hall of the english international secret agency. And I arrived in the gown I wore at my dinner with the queen so I looked out of place in my finery among businessmen and women.

As I was looking around to observe the swarming wave of people in the hall, the secretary called my father asking him if I was allowed in.

She hung up, "His office is on the 7th floor, number 734."

I thanked her and slowly made my way to the elevators. Once alone in the elevator, I started thinking. What could he tell me? Have I done something wrong? Is it about a new public event I must attend? He would've waited home to tell me that.

The elevator doors slid open and an immaculate white corridor stretched in front of me. I arrived at office 734 and paused before raising my hand. I could hear voices through the door but I was too preoccupied to fully understand what was said. I finally knocked.

"Enter," the serious voice of my father answered.

"You wanted to see me, sir," I noticed that a presence lingered in the corner of the room. My mother. What would both have to tell me? "Are we waiting for Alexander and Elizabeth?"

"No, it is only you and us."

"Is it so important that you couldn't wait for us to be at home?"

This time, it was my mom who answered, "I thought you would like to know as soon as possible."

This confused me even more. What should I know now? And why does it only concern me?

Edward gave a side look at his wife while I looked from him to her and back to him, waiting for either of them to tell me.

After a second of awkward silence, my father took a deep breath, "Naomi, you are now 18 and you are of age to be married."

My parents never talked about arranging a marriage for me or my siblings. They wanted good marriages for all of us but we were only part of the lower nobility in America. I thought I could marry whoever my heart desired.

My mother, reading my thoughts, continued, "I haven't talked to my brother in almost twenty years and I thought that he would've married, and he did, and have children of his own which he did not. We don't have a high status in America but here in England, the Darlingtons are practically as high as the Kensingtons."

I looked at her with big round eyes. I knew what she meant. Her children, me, are now political bargaining chips since we don't have any cousins. Was she going to marry me off to some random British guy? To Liam, so our families could unite since we're placed so high?