Unexpected Rendezvous

TRIAL (part 1)

A month had passed since my accident. The news regarding the Hammond Family had died down, although our family hadn't gone out to be seen by the public. I was thankful for my father's employees, more so, in his abilities to restrain himself from snapping at his PR department. I had gone to the hospital every week to do my check-up routines and I was finally given the permission to go back to London. I was still on crutch and cast; however, the pain now seemed more tolerable. 

Lucius and Bryan had been kind enough to helped us pack our belongings from the manor and now it was time to bid farewell to my father and Lucius. It wasn't a sad goodbye, it was merely a see you again. My father had promised to visit us in London as soon as possible - he had to anyway, since we will be busy with the wedding preparation. And as for Rowena, perhaps she had grown to care for both Lucius and my father, genuinely. As we entered the car, she was still busy wiping the tears off her eyes. I looked out the window as we drove away from the manor's entrance, both of my fathers' figure grown smaller in the distance. 

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Another month had passed since I went back home to London. Rowena had moved in with me - exactly a week since we got back from Wiltshire. The move was completely chaotic and I was thankful that Bryan was there to help out. Bryan had been driving back and forth from London to Essex and back to London to move all of Rowena's belongings. He had even personally oversaw the move. During the move, since I was still immobilized with crutch and cast, I couldn't be much of a help. I was glad when it was all over. 

We were now moving towards the end of the month, and I had finally be freed from my personal chains - the crutch and cast. My bones were now fully healed, not a single fracture was found during my last visit to the hospital. I was now able to plan the wedding ahead. Rowena and I had agreed that we would be married in November during the autumn. We had also already decided the venue - Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire. It would be an intimate wedding, or so I could at least hope for. 

We had decided that Jenny Packham would be the designer for Rowena's wedding gown, where my groom's suit would be personally designed by Thom Browne. My father had chosen Ermenegildo Zegna to design his suit. 

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It was one sunny Monday morning and I had no idea why I woke up a little bit earlier than my usual schedule. Rowena was still fast asleep in my arms. Her chest rising and falling softly. I tried my best to pull my arms without waking her and decided not to kiss her - afraid of waking her up. 

I went down to the kitchen area and decided to make myself a hot cappuccino, and leaned against the kitchen counter. I took in the view in front of me. London usually looked gloomy and bleak, mostly because even during the summer, we didn't get as much sun as the other parts of the world. But that day, London seemed brighter and hopeful. I reminisced the first time I met Rowena and everything that had happened since that day, and I couldn't help but to smile. I never knew what she saw in me and I never asked her either. Perhaps, I was afraid that she would come to realize that I wasn't the man she wanted in her life. Even thinking of that possibility gave me a shudder. 

"Good morning," I heard Rowena said sleepily. She was dragging her feet to the kitchen. 

"Good morning," I said, meeting her halfway and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. "Coffee?" I asked.

She just nodded sleepily and propped herself on one of the kitchen's stool. 

I quickly made her a hot latte with oat milk, exactly how she liked it, and set the steaming hot cup in front of her.