The Prestigious

On the drive home, Kim practiced what she would say to Royal when she gave him his ring back. She would be polite, calm and assure him that it had nothing to do with him. Royal would be crestfallen, probably call her a few times before getting the message. It would be over and done before she knew it.

She sagged in relief when she entered her empty apartment. Royal hadn't stopped by with dinner like he always did. She took his absence as extra time to prepare her breakup speech. It wasn't until she turned on her bedroom light that she received a fright.

"Royal; you scared me half to death." Kim held her chest, her heart beating rapidly. "Why were you sitting in the dark?"

"Waiting for you to get home so we could talk."

Kim nodded mutely, figuring that now was the time to end things. "Yeah, you're right. We do need to talk."

Royal's eyes traveled from his Louis Vuitton tennis shoes to Kim. They were clouded with more emotion than Kim could gauge. "Kim," he said softly "I love you and I refuse to lose you."

"Royal, this isn't going to work out." Kim pulled off the engagement ring. She held it out for him to take but he only stared at it. "Please leave."

Royal stood up and replied, "It's not that simple, Kim. You just can't decide that you don't want me anymore. When you accepted my ring that was a promise to marry me."

"I don't have to anything I don't want to," Kim huffed, frustrated at his blatant disregard of her rejection. "I'm going to ask you one more time: get out of my house. Now."

"Welcome to the Prestigious," Royal said, ignoring her diatribe. He stood up, his large frame towering over her. "I know that when you wake up in the morning and see me next to you, you'll hate me. For the next few days, months, even years, you will wake up and hate me. I love you and bringing you in is a risk in willing to take."

Kim felt the room spin as she processed the information, holding her head as she plopped down on her bed. "Royal, you're talking crazy. Just get out of my house and leave me alone"

Royal sat down next to her, wrapping his longs around her, filling her nostrils with the scent of his Givenchy cologne. "Leave my wife alone? I think not."

Kim fought to extract herself from his grip. "Wife? Royal you've lost your fucking mind."

Royal pulled out a sheet of paper that was a marriage license. Next to his was hers signed neatly. "Kim, you signed the license."

Kim looked at her signature. It was impossible that anyone had forged it. "I don't remember signing that paper."

Royal folded it up and placed it back into his pocket. "Remember when you had to turn in your lease but you were too busy with the salon? And I graciously volunteered to do it for you? Well, slipped in between those sheets was-"

"A marriage license? It's no good; I didn't go to the courthouse with you," Kim rationalized, upset at the fake civil union.

"You didn't need to. The Prestigious has pull. We're legally bound to each other. In sickness and in health until death do us part."

"You bastard!" she yelled out of frustration. She was sore from fighting, hoarse from yelling and mentally drained from the constant bombs being dropped on her.

"At least the baby won't be. I can promise you this much Kim; you will be pregnant by tomorrow."

Kim stopped struggling and stared at Royal as if realizing how demented he was. His grip loosened and she shrugged out of it, stumbling to the bathroom before he followed her inside. She locked the bathroom door, her chest heaving as she stared at the celebratory bath Royal had planned for their engagement. Her whirlpool bathtub was filled with large bubbles. Candles filled every flat surface, lending to the ambiance of the room. A bottle of Cristal chilled next to the bathtub, two glasses already poured. Luther, one of her favorite singers, played in the background. She decided that maybe Royal wasn't wrong for telling her to take a bath.