Hostage

What's your Story?

Kimberly's POV

I stared at myself in the mirror and then blinked over and over again to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I was dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress with gold embodiment running through the center. It had a sweetheart neckline and God knew it was beautiful.

I could barely recognize the girl in the mirror. My hair was done into a chignon and even though it was just dress rehearsal, I looked different, beautiful. Even to me. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a sharp squeal from behind. I whirled around quickly.

"Oh My God, Kimberly, this has got to be the dress." Roxi stood behind me, her left hand over her mouth. She sighed. "You look beautiful."

To be honest, Roxi seemed to be the only of Keenans siblings interested in getting to know me. She had followed me to all my dress fittings and rehearsals since Keenan never made it.

He was always too busy.

"Thank you." I turned around, trying to get a glimpse of my back view in the mirror.
The past few days had been really stressful for me. Dress testing, cake tasting, meetings with the wedding planner and then more meetings. Not that Keenan cared but I could see how much effort Roxi was putting in to plan the perfect wedding in two weeks.

"This is the dress, I can feel it." She paused and then glanced at her wristwatch. "Keenan would be here any minute."

For some reason, my heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name. I focused my gaze on the mirror and then rose an eyebrow.

"He's coming?" I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding, meeting her gaze in the mirror.

"Yes. His suit arrived today. We have to get it tested and fitted." She looked at her wristwatch again. "We have to get you out of that dress. Its bad omen if the groom sees the bride in her wedding dress before-"

"I'm so sorry I'm late. The meeting took a lot longer than I expected and afterwards, I had to-" Keenan walked in with Paul behind him. I watched his feet come to a sudden step few places away from the door, his eyes fixed on me. And unconsciously, I turned so I was facing him directly. I could feel my cheeks growing red. "I had to meet up with-" He paused again and then frowned. "I have to go." He broke his gaze from mine.

"Keenan-" Roxi started.

"I can't do this right now." He said and then walked away. Roxi sighed.

Ouch

My face fell.

What was I expecting? A compliment? Perhaps something more?

"Oh, Kim-" Roxi moved towards me. I faked a smile.

"Its fine."

"You don't look fine." She said after her eyes scanned me for a moment.

"I really am." I rolled my eyes. "I should get out of this dress."

My eyes stung.

I was getting married to someone who didn't give two fucks about me and it seemed like I just realized that. I stepped away from the mirror and then moved towards the couch. I reached for the pair of trousers and T-shirt I had been wearing earlier, picked it up and then reached for the zipper of my dress.

What the hell was I doing? Acting like a confused little girl?

"Kimberly?" Roxi was standing behind me now.

"Urgh!" I let out a frustrated sigh. "The stupid zipper won't budge." I tugged at the zipper harder.

I was so mad and I didn't even know why.

I let out another frustrated grunt and then threw myself on the couch,my face clasped in my hands.

"This is not how I planned to live my life." I said slowly.

"Its not your fault." She sat down beside me.

"Yeah, right." I muttered. I wouldn't say Roxi and I were best friends now but for some reason, I felt like I could trust her. She was a good listener and it felt like she always had the right thing to say. She looked at me for a while and then sighed.

"How old are you?"she asked after a short moment. I dropped my hands from my face. She rose an eyebrow in a reassuring manner.

"Twenty five?" I answered slowly. A faint smile crossed her face.

"I was eight years younger than you when I got married." She paused as though she was deep in thought. "We weren't always an 'all powerful Monroe family." She paused again. "There was a time when things were-difficult for us." She faked a smile but behind that smile. I could see the hurt she was trying to bury inside. I could hear the emotion in her voice. "My father was in a coma back then and we were doing everything possible to keep him alive. I worked part time in a restaurant downtown and every single penny we had went to the hospital. We were barely surviving and so when I heard that William Olsen needed a bride, I was more than happy to oblige. He helped my family out financially, and he helped keep my dad alive for a longer period." She inhaled and then finally looked at me. "I remember the day when my mother signed the license to consent to my marriage." She drew in a deep breath." She cried. A lot. But she understood why I had to do what I did." She bit down on her lower lip and then sighed.  "But with Keen, it was different." She smiled faintly. "He's always tried to protect me. To protect all of us. And when I got married, he hated himself. Believed he had failed as an older brother. He was triggered.  He pushed himself harder, too far." A drop of tear rolled down her cheek. "Even I couldn't get across. He worked two times harder, slept twice as less." She turned to face me. "And then he met her."

"Met who?"

"Megan." She clasped her hands tightly together. "Keenan fell madly in love with her,we all did. She was lively and free spirited. She brought light and laughter back into our family. Back into Keenan." Her voice broke. "We were able to see Keenan laugh again and he was happy. He came home often a-and he tried his best to be there for her. They were going to get married." Her voice broke. I drew in a deep breath. I was getting teary eyed too. "The night before their engagement, she asked him out to dinner. She had this whole surprise thing planned. I even helped her decorate." The tears were flowing freely down her face now. "Keenan said he might be a bit late because of work, but she waited anyway. We were there for hours but Keenan never showed up. I left after a while but she was pretty determined to stay. She seemed pretty excited about the surprise too so I let her have it her way but that night-" She licked her lip. "Later that night, Keenan called her. He couldn't make it. He had been asked to make an emergency trip to Japan and it was his boss' order. He couldn't decline." she paused." Megan was heartbroken. She got into her car that night and-" the rest of her words dried in her throat.

"Oh My God." I covered my mouth with my hand. I could feel the tears running down my cheek.

"When I got to the hospital that night, the doctor said neither the mother nor her fetus survived the accident." She paused.  "That was her big surprise. She was six weeks pregnant and she was going to tell him." She paused to wipe her tears away with the back of her hand. "Keenan went insane. Said he saw her everywhere. He would wake up at midnight screaming her name and begging for her to come back." She pursed her lip. "It took him ten months to finally accept that she was gone." She looked at me for a brief moment. "So you see, he's been here before. He's done all this before and he might not really show it but he's hurting. It's not you. He's just-" She shut her eyes. "Hurting."

"Do you know?" I licked my lower lip. "That our marriage is a scam?" I continued. She was hesitant for a while before she nodded.

"He told you?" I rose an eyebrow.

"No."

"Then-" I paused. "How?"

"I kind of overheard." She said slowly and then faked a smile. "Forget I even brought this up." She tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ears."Let's get you out of this dress."

I was quiet for a while before I faked a smile.

"Sure."

Something was going on. Something fishy.....and it seemed like everyone else knew about it . Everyone except me.