Scarlett 'Arranged Marriage'

Chapter12

Sira's P.O.V.

"Miss Sira," the driver said, waking me. "Yes," I called back, groggily. "We have about a half and hour before we get back to the palace, but I thought you might like to take the extra time to, um, prepare yourself," he said finally. I sat up, wondering what on earth he could mean by "prepare myself ". Then, I caught my reflection in the mirror on the back of the headrest. Oh. THAT'S what he meant. I was a hot mess. My hair was out of place, my mascara and eyeliner had run, and I had the seam of the seat imprinted into my face. I probably would have had a fit if we'd pulled up and I looked like this. "Thank you. That was very considerate of you. I appreciate it." "No problem," he said. "My girlfriend hates to show up anywhere looking like she just woke up. I just figured that you might be the same way." I studied his face in the rear view mirror. I hadn't really paid much attention earlier when he'd picked me up, but he was young, only about 23 or so. He was handsome, so it didn't suprise me in the slightest that he had a girlfriend. I pulled my makeup from my bag, which Owen had kindly put inside the car instead of in the trunk. The limo was nice. Luxorious, even.There was a 38" plasma screen television, three rows of seats, and a popcorn, churro, and slushie machine. 'What on Earth does anybody needall of this stuff for? I mean, sure it's fancy, but what use does it serve?' I thought. I focused my attention back to fixing my face. I took one last look at my reflection, then sighed, wiped my face clean, and got started. I had a lot of work to do if I was gonna impress the devil.

Christian's P.O.V.

It was crazy last night. The music was bumpin', the place was packed, and everybody was dancing. Drake and Mickey got really crazy, hitting on every girl in the place. Me, I played it cool, and got hit on by every girl in the place. I got 15 phone numbers, 8 invitations to dance, and even a few offered to buy ME a drink. It was funny to say the least. We didn't come back until about 5:00 in the morning. We all decided, more or less, to crash at Drake's house, which was the closest to the club. Within seconds, we were all out cold. That is, until my phone rang at about 9:00. "What?" I asked, still half asleep. "Come home, NOW!!!!" my mother screamed on the other end. "Why? What's wrong? What did I do?" I asked, frantically. "We are seriously understaffed, andall the maids that are here are busy planning dinner for tonight.I need you here at home. Sira is going to be here at 3:00, and none of the rooms have been cleaned! It is-", here she must have checked her watch, "9:07. I want you home by 9:15 if you're at Drake's, and 9:30 if you're at Mickey's. No exceptions!" she hung up. 'What ever happened to saying bye before you hang up?' I thought, as I put my phone away. "What's up, dude?" Mickey asked. I hadn't even noticed that he was up. I glanced over at Drake, who was still asleep on the couch. "Nothing. Gotta go home. Tell Drake I said 'Thanks for letting me crash here' when he wakes up," I called, on my way out the door. When my mom says be home at a certain time, she means be in the house, AT THAT TIME. No excuses.I was not gonna chance being even the tiniest bit late. "No problem,man. Bye," Mickey said."Bye," I called back. I hopped in my brand new car, and burned rubberall the way home.I made it there by 9:13. She had me clean my room, get Sira's room ready, and assist the maids and other workers. Somedays, I think my mom has me on a ball and chain. This chick better be worth it.

Sira's P.O.V.

I finished getting ready just as we pulled up to the Delacorte's huge driveway. The driveway was about a mile or two long, but even from back here the house was amazingly visible. I gulped. The driver heard me, and chuckled. "You like the palace?" he asked. "It's gorgeous," Icalled back. We were silent for a while, and then he said, "My name's Dominic by the way. But you can call me 'Dom'." "I'm Sira," I replied. "I have tons of nicknames, but for now, you can call me 'Red'." "Well," he said. "Welcome to your new home, Red." I looked out of the window to see the most beautiful house in the world.Wow. He wasn't kidding when he called it a palace. Dom pulled over and came around to open my door. "Thank you," I said, politely. I grabbed a couple of the lighter bags, just to have them taken from me. "I got these," Dom said. "My mother would never forgive me if she found out I made a lady carry her own bags. You just go ahead to the house. Don't worry about ringing the doorbell, just knock a few times. Somebody should answer pretty soon." "Ok," I replied, and walked carefully up the steps to the house, marveling at the intricate and complex architecture. Before I could even knock on the door, a little dark haired girl, no more than 10 years old, opened it. Her pale blue eyes werewide as she stared at me. After a few moments, I started to feel a little bit uncomfortable. "Um, hi," I said, finally. "Lily!" I heard a voice call from inside the house. "There you are," the voice said, and suddenly, a beautiful, tanned woman with dark eyes and hair stepped into the doorway. She had to be at least 21 years old. "Oh," she said, and I could tell that she had no idea who I was. "Please, come in." I stepped over the threshold and int0 the world's most beautiful sitting room. "Well," she said. "I'm Linda. I'm the Queen's personal maid. "Hi," I said, softly. I was starting to wonder if I was being played. Who shows up at their fiance's house, and nobody knows who she is? "I'm Sira. I guess I'm supposed to be Christian's fiance." "Oh!" she exclaimed. "That's why I didn't know who you were at first. We weren't expecting you for another half an hour, Your Highness." Before I could oppose to being called that, Dom walked in with a few of my bags. "Oh, so I see that you three have met," he said, cheerfully. "Sira, this is my girlfriend, Linda, and my baby girl, my Lily pad." He reached down and tickled her, and she had the sweetest giggle known to man. "Dominic," Linda whispered loudly. She was clearly panicing that he had offended me. "Don't address her Highness like that. It's so disrespectful." "No, it's fine actually. I was just about to ask you to call me the same thing. I'm not really all that comfortable with anyone calling me 'Your Highness' or anything like that," I said. "Very well, Your- I mean Miss Sira," Linda said. It was silent for a while. "Well," Dom said, breaking the awkward silence. "Let's get Sira in her room, shall we?" "Of course," Linda said, and started up the huge staircase. "The elevators are right up here," she explained, assuming that I would be reluctant to climb the stairs. "Oh, that's ok. I think I'll take the stairs, it's healthier," I said. "You sure? I mean, you're on the 16th floor," Linda said, suspiciously. "Yeah, I'll be fine," I said, and then I got an idea. I kneeled down and looked Lily in her face. Goodness, thischild was beautiful. Her brunette hair was thick and wavy, and it reached her mid-back. Her ice blue eyes were wide, and were framedby long, curly lashes that matched her hair color. The resemblance between her and her father was uncanny. They both had slender faces, and high cheek bones. She had also inheirited her father's eyes.Her facelooked a lot moremature than her10 years. She looked like a small adult rather than a child, so I decidedto talk toher likeshe was. "You think I can run all the way up to the 16th floor and beat the elevator?" I asked her. "No way," she replied in her soft voice. "I bet you I can," I said.She smiled. Her teeth were all perfect and white,as if she neveratecandy. "Race ya," she said. "Well, you're in room 1651," Dom said. Lily and her parents climbed into the elevator; Lily was bouncing up and down slightly from excitement. I could tell she expected to beat me. Linda reached over and put her hand on Lily's shoulder to stop her. Before the doors closed, Lily said, "Meet you there," in a smug voice. I turned around and staredat the 16 flights of steps.This would be the ultimate challenge: beat the elevator to the 16th floor. I took a deep breath, ducked myhead, and sprinted up the stairs, full speed ahead.