Arranged to Him

Rejection

Getting home that night was a dreaded occasion, and I figured Anaya would avoid me at all costs after my regrettable, jealousy-filled outburst. I truly didn't mean to go so ballistic, but seeing her kissing Martin made me crazy. I hadn't moved past the fact that she had slept with Joseph either, and it made those horrid feelings resurface.

To my surprise, she wasn't in a bad mood and had made a full dinner that was hot and on the table.

"Where did you buy this?" I asked curiously, looking at the perfectly fried chicken flattened out and put on top of pasta with homemade tomato sauce. On the side, she had garlic bread and corn with butter.

"I made it silly. Sit down. You need to eat." I felt even worse than I already did about hurting her feelings and seeing her go through such an effort to please me. She bustled around the kitchen, hurrying and finishing everything up, putting it on the table with a smile.

"This looks wonderful," I said, hoping she finished and would sit down so I could eat. She hummed and got the water, finally sitting beside me. She wiped her now messy black hair out of her face and behind her ear as if that would make it any less frizzy.

"We can start again. I know you are mad at me, but forgive me, and we can be happy together." She offered, cutting her chicken and offering me her first bite. It was mouth-watering and delicious, unlike anything I could get in even the most expensive restaurant in New York.

"I'm not mad at you," I told her softly, wondering if I should apologize. I never apologized and didn't want to start now.

"You're not?" She asked, relieved, letting out a sigh filled with happiness.

"Not at all," I admitted, eating slowly. She was beautiful in every way that mattered to me. She didn't have to be tall and with curves for miles. Sometimes, it was the simple things that I fell for. She was everything I normally didn't go for. She wasn't refined and polished.

Her hair was frizzy and unmanageable, always finding its way out of her hair ties. Her smile was loose and easy to tease out of her. There wasn't an ounce of coldness in her soul even after she had seen so much pain and suffering.

I felt like crap for having neglected her for so long and not giving her the warm welcome she deserved. I had no small amount of guilt for the fact that she was a pawn in my game, and I had deceived her by marrying her.

I grabbed her when she tried to get up and take my plate, pulling her onto my lap playfully. She gasped, surprised, but let me pull her as close as humanly possible while still wearing clothes. I had always made sure to surround myself with beautiful women, but she had stolen my heart in an entirely different way, enticing me to take things to the next step despite my head saying take it slow.

"You're beautiful Anaya." I breathed, pulling her in for a kiss, but she actually moved away from me, blocking me.

"What? What did I do?" I asked, shocked, never having been turned down before. She sighed loudly and dramatically, irritated and getting up, resuming her cleaning.

"I have been willing to be with you since we married. And I have been rejected by you over and over again. Why should I accept your first advance? I think perhaps you need more time to be sure I am the right one." She said firmly, her refusal of me only making me more obsessed with her.

I got up and went to her, immediately swinging her into a soft dance, humming some made-up music in my head.

"Fine then, I can accept that, but at least let me flirt with you a bit. Surely it's my right as your husband?" I asked her, loving how her grumpy frown turned to a smile again.

"I suppose that's okay." She said coyly, giggling when I dipped her down to my made-up music, the dirty plates forgotten as they should be. I paid people to do all that stuff, yet she insisted on trying to do it before they could handle it.

"Promise me something, Anaya," I asked her, turning with her in the kitchen as we slowly danced.

"Anything." She said happily, a statement I believed.

"No matter how bad things look, you have to promise me you will trust that I wouldn't ever let someone hurt you," I said, holding her close. She seemed confused by the statement but nodded slowly.

"I promise." She said, but she didn't get a chance to ask the questions I knew she had since my phone rang, interrupting us.

"Susan? I'm even more glad we didn't start anything. I wouldn't want to keep dear Susan waiting for her true love to show up." Anaya said with a snark, pushing me away roughly and resuming her cleaning tasks.

"I'm sorry, Anaya. I have been waiting for her to get the paperwork ready for me to sign. They need it in the next two hours to keep it valid, so I have to go handle this." I said apologetically. She ticked at me but was silent when I gave her a kiss and left, knowing I would never get the lecture I deserved for leaving her. She rarely complained despite my crappy treatment of her, so I knew I should do better.

If I didn't, someone else would, and she would be gone.