Unintended Consequences (Act One) Completed

Chapter 26: Us Against the World

I'm pretty sure that I wasn't this nervous even when I was a virgin. I'm pretty sure that my first time was awkward and clumsy. It was a train wreck that began as an exciting adventure, progressed to an uncomfortable;e encounter and ended in embarrassment and a silent pact to never speak of the event again. 

But this was different. 

In my head I kept seeing the scene from The Color Purple where Oprah kept saying "Ise married now, Ise married".

I was married now, and this was different. He was different. We were different, even from the people we'd been just a few weeks before. And nobody would ever be able to take that from us. 

The long hours of festivities were exhausting.The "small" wedding celebration included nearly 100 of Liu Wei's closest business associates and every wife, daughter, and sister of every affluent family that Zara knew. They all came to get a look at Rayyan's American bride. They were all shocked that I wasn't white and I was, in fact, Muslim. Despite the alleged diminutive size of the affair, I was fairly sure that it would end up being a page three event. Zara had made sure of that.

By the time Rayyan and I left to spend our first night as newlyweds we were both exhausted. The vintage Rolls Royce took us to the airport where we flew to Penang and arrived in our oceanfront honeymoon suite. It was like a fairy tale. I was living a fairy tale, complete with ogres and big bad wolves and a prince. 

I showered first, washing the makeup and sweat from my body. I wasn't worried that he wouldn't like the look of me. He'd already seen me at my worst and he still wanted to marry me. As I toweled off I could hear him in the next room on the phone. I couldn't make out the words but his tone told me that whatever he was talking about wasn't good news. 

"Ya Allah, please just hold it together for tonight. One peaceful night as husband and wife is all I'm asking for," I mumbled. Was it okay to ask God for things while naked? I'd have to worry about it later. 

I slipped the ivory colored satin nightgown over my head and it fell to my ankles perfectly. The thing ribbons the crossed across my back were the only things keeping it from slipping to the floor. If this wasn't enough to get his mind off of work, nothing ever would. 

When I stepped out of the bathroom he was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking dismayed by what he was reading on his phone. I cleared my throat loudly to get his attention and watched as his expression went from one of dismay to surprise and then awe. 

"New?"

I nodded. 

"Do you like it?"

"I think I do, but I keep thinking of a way to get you out of it, so it can't be that great," he said with a mischievous glint in his eye. 

"Well, only one way to find out," I said, opening my arms and beckoning him to me. 

And like I knew he would, he forgot all about what was bothering him. There would be plenty of dragons for us to slay. We'd managed to escape for a little while but we would have to go back to America and face our demons head on. But tonight we were going to do what all couples should do. We were going to become one. And nobody could take that from us.

**************************************************************************************

News of the deal and speculation about Ramzul's company and Rayytek collaborating on a Xi Global project were already dominating the headlines of reputable industry news outlet. Ramzul, it seems, had orchestrated the whole thing, courting Xi and suggesting that we work together on thier virtual gaming project. Aand while Ramzul got the credit for such an amazing deal I know better. Ramzul was a money man, not a thinker. This deal had Portia's fingerprints all over it. This was her way of forcing her way back into my life despite the fact that she was the one who walked away from me.