me & tomfoolery

Blushing Bride, pt. 5 | Jonathan Kuminga Short Story

"Laurent, are you really comfortable with your daughter marrying someone she doesn't love?"

Artemis and Laurent watched as their daughter interacted with Trey at their rehearsal dinner. It was the night before the wedding and the last twenty four hours had been a long one.

"I wanted her to be secure if I passed prematurely. But it's not all on me. Adeline doesn't fight for anything. Only thing she's fought for is school and I'm proud of her for that. She quits everything and I think that's the reason she's going through with this. She's said herself she rather not deal with heart break again."

"When did she say this?"

"The last time I spoke to her about it, is the night Jonathan showed up. I know I've never been forthcoming with him, but I knew he was going to hurt her and he did. I regret being right.

I also see how much he wants to right his own wrong. She's not allowing him. It's not because of me, I told her she could walk away from this marriage. Her problem is, she wants this to be her chance to prove she can see things through. She needs to fight for the right thing."

"You're still here I see." Adel giggles as she spots Jonathan at the bathroom. He's leaning against the wall as she decides which water bottle she wants to take. "I'm not giving up on you."

"This time?" Adel finds the bottle she wants, quickly opening it for a sip. She had not been letting up, which at first he understood but he was growing tired of the whole situation.

"What's it gonna take for you to take me seriously?" He asked, he genuinely wanted to know. "Nothing." She closes the bottle and begins walking away.

"There's really nothing I can do?" Adel shrugged, she didn't want to give him any ideas or hope. She just wanted to get over this hump of her wedding and start her new life.

"Can we at least spend some time together before I lose you forever?" Adel felt bad, although she didn't foresee a relationship, she would be open to a friendship, their story wasn't final.

"Jona, you're not losing me forever. And yeah, I rather not be alone tonight anyways."

Adel's feet laid in Jonathan's lap as they watched Insecure. It was a random episode playing, he was more into it than she was. Scrolling on her timeline, she discovers a post she knows she didn't need to see.

TheBuzzAroundTown: Trey Jones of the wealthy Jones Tech Agencies is scheduled to be wed tomorrow, but it seems that he's hand his hands on more than just a computer hard drive. Surah Muse, Instagram model and lash tech is the woman he's been allegedly cheating on his fiancé with. They were spotted at the Governor's Ball just a few weeks ago and last week at what could be a work meeting, before he went off to the vineyard for his upcoming nuptials. Stay tuned for more #BUZZ

"Who the fuck is this?" Adel's outburst caused Jonathan to look over to her. "Who and what?"

"Trey is cheating... publicly."

"Publicly? You mean to tell me you know he's cheating?"
"Yes, I know. I don't want him touching me so I agreed to let him have whoever as long as I know who they are."

Jonathan couldn't believe this at all. Why would Adel reduce herself to a life like this? He felt like she deserved the world, she was thoughtful, selfless, and it just didn't make sense.

"That's why you didn't care about us having sex a few days ago. It really means nothing to you." The tone of his voice caught her off guard. It meant something to her but not the same thing it meant to him.

"Jona."

He held his hand up, "Adel, it's okay. I might not get it. But, what can I do? I've tried. Sex didn't work, staying here didn't work, apologizing didn't work. I love you and I absolutely regret leaving when I did."

Jonathan was the one heartbroken this time. "I'll be back."

He knew he needed to get his things ready to go home, he would be leaving in the morning. Jonathan wanted to speak to Laurent, he needed to get to the bottom of this arranged marriage.

"Who is it?" Artemis asks, walking to the door. "Uh, it's Jonathan."

Mrs. Anderson stood in shock as the young man she wanted as her son in law stood at their door, "Are you okay? Is Adel okay?"

"She's fine, I'm not. Can I speak to Mr. Anderson?"

Artemis steps aside to allow Jonathan entry. "I'll go get him. You can sit down." She disappears into the bedroom of the suite.

Jonathan's plan was simple, he would propose Laurent change his mind about Adel and Trey in exchange for marrying Adel instead. He didn't have time to think it through, he wanted to make sure he put it out there before it was too late. Laurent wasn't sure what Jonathan could've wanted at this hour, but it did intrigue him.

"Jonathan, is everything alright?"

"No sir, it isn't. Your daughter is planning to marry someone she doesn't love and who doesn't love her. It's truly criminal. Why can't you let her be happy?"

"Excuse me?" The offense wasn't taken lightly. "I'll have you know Adeline Jaye has a choice and she's choosing to torture herself because she doesn't want to experience what you put her through again. My daughter is a control freak, and yes it's my fault. I put too much pressure on them as young girls. I don't even hate you. I never did."

"I hurt her that bad?" Jonathan asked more to himself.

"She made me want to end your career, but she begged me to leave you alone because she still loved you."

Laurent took a seat next to Jonathan, "Listen kid, let me tell you the story of how I met Artemis. We were arranged to be married too. An awful idea from our fathers. I was trying to find myself and she had a boyfriend at the time. Once she met me though, I couldn't get rid of her. She had this fairytale idea that we could fall in love if we spent enough time together. She tried getting to know me and I was trying to figure out how I was going to support our lifestyles. I had no idea. Eventually we did get married and it was rocky, we both were lost. But I did fall in love with her, and she gave me hell making me prove it to her. We got married again a year later in a more intimate ceremony and were blessed with Asani and Adeline."

That series of events never would've crossed Jonathan's mind, but it explained so much. "Do you think she wants that for herself? You know, eventually falling in love with Trey?"

"Laurent! You have to see this." Artemis enters the room shoving her phone in his face, showing him a gossip blog about Trey. Laurent's blood began boiling as he read over the headlines.

"Jonathan, I need you to go to Adel. I need to handle some things." Laurent begins putting on his coat and shoes.

"To answer your question, she would not. She'll never love him, at this point she's not marrying him if I have anything to say about it." Laurent slams the hotel room door behind himself, leaving Jonathan on the couch and Artemis staring at the door.