Arranged to Him

Paparazzi

We returned to the black SUV, and the drive into the city continued, the lights sparkling beautifully in the distance as we went down into the valley Istanbul was in. It was beyond mesmerizing. I had only been in the city a few times as a small child, but never at night. James was on his phone, obviously less than impressed.

I expected to stop at a hostel on the city's outskirts. Waverly continued until we reached the city center and stopped in front of a tall skyscraper called Wyndham Grand. Even though it had to be after midnight, the outside was filled with people with giant cameras I had never seen the likes of before.

"Your friends are here," Waverly said with a sigh, pulling up to the entrance illuminated with an ethereal golden glow.

"Fuck. Shit. That fucking cunt Joseph. He had to have sold our location. Remind me to strangle him when I see him next." James said, clearly pissed off, but after a moment of glaring at the people with the cameras, he sighed darkly and opened the door. Immediately, a thousand flashes of lights started up, and everyone started yelling questions I couldn't understand from how fast they were talking.

"Well, come on then," James called me from outside the car, blocking the people's view of me and pulling me out of the car carefully to maintain my modesty.

"Thank you," I shouted over the shutter clicks. The lights were blinding, but he took two pairs of sunglasses from his pocket and put some on me and then himself with a grin.

"The world is watching Ms. Bramer. Better sober up fast." He said with a chuckle, pulling me rather unsteadily into the mess of people. I was so confused why everyone wanted pictures of us and wouldn't let us pass.

"Aye, idiots, if you would back up, you could get a better picture. Thank you. I swear this must be your first day on the job." He yelled at them, granting us a small margin of space.

"The online fan communities are going wild, Mr. Bramer. Any comment to the accusations of you having married a mail-order bride." A man yelled over the chaos, blocking James's path intentionally.

"Yes, my comment is fuck them. I love my beautiful wife dearly, and she's not a mail-order bride. I came here to get her in person, obviously," he said sarcastically, earning himself some laughter from the crowd.

"Just one picture of the new couple, please, Mr. Bramer? I doubt you want the first picture on the front page of every magazine to be a terrible one, right?" The crowd agreed with the voice in the back from a short, fat man who apparently really wanted a picture. James sighed and looked at me. I just smiled, clueless and happy. I was tipsy still since I would probably be having a panic attack otherwise.

"One picture, but you have to let me through. I want it in front of the entrance." He reasoned with the crowd, and like magic, the large group parted, letting us through to the hotel. He spun me around, and before I could stop him, he pulled me to him and kissed me.

His lips lightly brushed mine, and he tilted my face to his soft, gentle, yet possessive nature, absolutely perfect for me. I didn't want the kiss to end, but too quickly, he drew back, and my eyes went from his lips to his eyes, feeling an emotion I wasn't familiar with. An excitement that had nothing to do with where we were but everything to do with him. It was a confusing feeling, and I knew he had to feel it too, but he was pretty used to it, and he chuckled softly, enjoying seeing me so caught up in him.

"I think that should kill the mail-order bride rumors." He said softly, amused. The crowd clapped and thanked him, but he waved them off unbothered and went inside, glad to be rid of them.

"Good evening, Mr. Bramer. I see you have brought back your blushing bride. She is as gorgeous as you said!" A tall woman said from behind the counter, her uniform dark blue and polished and her blond hair pulled tight in a bun. She looked at me intently, then whispered something to another worker who ran off quickly. I tried not to panic, thinking she would call the cops on me for coming here, but it didn't seem I was welcome.