Marriage Merger

Chapter 7

Monday morning came rolling by and Ximena couldn't be happier about it. She woke up and did her usual routine; shower, put on her work attire, style her hair and then head downstairs to have breakfast with her family before driving to work. However, she felt a shift in the atmosphere, like something was going to take place on that day that would change her life forever.

Maybe it's just my imagination, she said quietly to herself. It was just going to be like any other day, with tedious amounts of work that needed to be done blah blah blah. The usual stuff and yet, the feeling wouldn't go away. It was stubborn and relentless, like a virus.

Before she made it to the dining area, the alluring aroma of blueberry pancakes wafted into her nostrils and the chatter of her family members danced around her ear drums. Everyone was up, which was pretty odd. Most of the times, she'd be the first one to get up and eat majority of the breakfast alone before everyone else joined in.

When she entered the room, she was greeted by the sight of her father in his sharp Hugo Boss three piece suit sipping on a cup of coffee with the newspaper in one hand, her mother in an exquisite designer dress gracefully cutting through some toast and her two twin siblings, Andrea and Salvador, donning their school uniforms arguing about who knows what.

"Everyone is up early today," Ximena murmured before taking a seat beside her mother. "What's the occasion?"

Emilio continued to sip his coffee, not once taking his eyes off his paper. "A buenos dias mi familia would be nice, hija," he chided her, causing the twins to snort.

Ximena blushed and looked down in embarrasment. "Of course, where are my manners? Mum, dad and the two rats, good morning. Hope you all had a good night's sleep."

Her mother spoke up, once she had set her cutlery down. "You're right, we're all up early but that's only because your father said he wanted to tell us something."

"It better be good, because I missed a whole ten minutes of sleep for this," Andrea added in a bored tone as she took a bite of her food.

Salvador grunted mockingly. "You sleep too much, no wonder you're so fat!" he exclaimed impishly.

"At least I don't look like a tooth pick!" fired back Andrea, angrily. "And you know what? That's why you don't have a girlfrie-"

"Enough!" their father commanded, his fist colliding with the table loudly. "I will not tolerate this kind of bickering. You must not act so childishly this afternoon at the lunch we are going to have."

Inquisitive glances flew to the head of the table. "Lunch? With who?" asked his wife suprised.

Humberto cleared his throat and took up the newspaper to browse through it once again. "Some business associates of mine. An important announcement is to be made," he murmered and then added before anyone to get a word out. "I wish not to discuss the matter further. I'll have a car to pick you all up and drop you off at the venue by one o'clock."

"One o'clock," Ximena thought aloud. "Well, I better get going since I have heaps of work waiting for me. I'll make my way there dad, just send me the directions," she said, standing up from her seat with an apple in hand.

Her father all but nodded, then she bid her family farewell and took her leave. Once in her car, she was soon out of the gates and onto the Miami highway headed for Dos Ramos Inc. The traffic that morning was quite stressful but Ximena managed to weave in and out of it with ease. One thought, however, refused to depart from her mind;

Who was to have lunch with them and what was the big announcement?

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