The next day.
Benjamin found his mobile on the dining table, and he initially thought he might have forgotten to take it last night. However, when he sniffed the mobile once, his expression changed as though he knew what might have actually happened.
However, his wife was waiting outside, so he rushed out, but he was spell-bounded after seeing Rebecca in her indo-western attire with a full-sleeved cream top and a stylized black salwar bottoms. His mouth stayed open for a good number of seconds. He couldn’t blink let alone take his eyes off his wife.
Rebecca raised her brows. “Seriously?” she snapped her fingers. “You look like you’re going to eat me here and now.”
“D-Did I?” Benjamin came back to this world. “B-But you look really beautiful in this dress.”
“I know,” Rebecca sounded a little arrogant.
“Did you make this design?”
“Of course, but let’s go.”
“Okay.” He jumped into her car, startling her.
(He’s really active today.) She thought as she got in.
“It’s only 9 o’clock. Why are we leaving so early, my love?”
“We are going to my colleague’s wedding first,” she said, touching a gift box in the seat next to her.
“I’m also coming?” Benjamin felt butterflies flying in his belly.
“Don’t get too excited. You’ll be acting as my driver.”
“D-Driver?” Benjamin’s shoulders slumped. (At least that’s better than nothing, I guess.)
The vehicle stopped at a junction due to the red light. The window was open, and a small drone flew in and landed in Benjamin’s lap, startling him. But the ‘W’ symbol on the little helicopter made him realize who exactly sent that. He could see a black card attached at its bottom. It was the same card with a diamond ‘W’ design on it, and it had a magnetic base, so it could stick to the metal just like his mobile.
“These guys…” However, Benjamin threw the helicopter outside without taking the card. “I already earn enough, so there’s no need for extra money,” he thought. “I do want to buy Rebecca some gifts, but I’ll be a lot happier if I do that with the money I earned.”
“What are you mumbling about?” asked Rebecca, gently pressing the accelerator with her foot.
“Nothing.”
Soon, they reached the private grounds where the ceremony took place. Only those with invitation cards were allowed. Every car that entered through oozed one word: luxury. Everybody was wearing gold or some form of embedded jewelry. Now he understood why Rebecca was wearing such a classy outfit that made her look like she was from another country.
The bride was an Indian, and so there were a lot of half-sarees roaming around. The bride also wore an elegant mix of white jeans and saree, with a cute little diamond crown on top, which made her look like a modern princess. Seeing her, Benjamin thought, “She’s good, but my wife is better.”
One of the waiters brought a tray full of different colored wines. “Alcohol so early in the morning?”
The waiter smiled and said, “If you are not interested, I’ll go.”
“Who said I’m not interested?” Benjamin snatched the blue wine.
“Ah, Electric Blue? You’ve got good taste,” the waiter said and left.
“Electric Blue? They bring this color from the grape skins, or do they add some kind of dye?” he wondered as he took a sip. “Mm, mild sweetness on the tongue, but it packs a punch as it slides down the throat. Ginger and cardamom, huh. This would be a perfect winter drink.”
Rebecca greeted the bride and the groom and wished them and gave them the gift box wrapped up in a shiny golden paper.
The groom’s father came up to Benjamin after seeing his casual attire. “Hello,” he put on a smile.
“Hi,” Benjamin also smiled back.
“I didn’t see you get on stage,” he said. “Did you already greet the bride and the groom?”
“No, I attended with Rebecca. I couldn’t bring any gift as she didn’t tell me until the last second.”
“It’s okay. Are you her assistant?”
“I’m her driver.”
“Driver?” he cast a weird glance at Benjamin before walking away without saying another word. (A driver? Why did she bring a driver along? Even if he were to bring a gift, it would be something bland and boring.)
Just then, a drone flew over people’s heads, and its noise caught their attention. They could see that the drone carried a gift package, and it flew in and floated right in front of the wedding couple, making them look around, wondering who was doing it. But nobody came forward. Either way, the gift package was wrapped up in pristine, brown leather. The word ‘W’ was all that could be seen on top.
When the drone dropped the box, it landed in a loud thud, startling them. The bride and the groom looked at each other before hurriedly trying to open it then and there.
“What are they doing?” their parents almost sighed and shook their heads, but the crowd wanted to see what was in the gift box.
Rebecca walked back to Benjamin, but her eyes were still on the stage. “Sending a gift by a drone? Whoever it is, they must be too busy to attend the wedding.”
Benjamin put on a poker face, not liking what was happening. He looked into the distance, toward a tall apartment, from where the drone was returning to.
“Crap, he’s noticed us. Let’s leave.” The two shadowy figures on the rooftop rushed away.
The bride and the groom still kept going. They first had to unbuckle the belts that sealed the bag. And then there was a black wooden box inside. “How do we open this thing?” It was a two-feet-tall and two-feet-wide box, and it caught the groom’s father’s attention. “This wood…” his eyes slightly widened upon knocking it with his knuckles a couple of times. “It’s pure dark teak wood that only grows in forests. Whether you use it for pillars or cupboards, it will last 120 years without a problem, but this black coating they used… I can’t even tell what it is.”
“How do we open it?” both the groom and the bride asked in a hurry.
After some inspection, the groom’s father noticed a fine line near the top. He smiled and then lifted up the top by pushing it in an angle, and once his eyes lay upon what was inside, his mouth fell open for a second, and his wife who was next to him fainted straight away.
Rebecca was driving the car. Benjamin was in the back, slightly shaking his head.“Are you still thinking about the gift?” she asked.“Ah, yeah.”“It’s understandable. I haven’t seen such a gift before, either. 25 kilos of pure gold in the form of coins. It’s worth more than 3 million dollars. The coins seem stylized, so they might sell for more if they auction it. That would not only cover the wedding expenses but would also help the couple start a beautiful journey together,” she sounded like she envied a little. She didn’t care about the money, but would she also have received such a surprising gift if she had held a wedding? Would anyone in the world care enough for her or family to send her 25 kilos worth of gold? She could only wonder.“A beautiful journey, huh…” Benjamin wasn’t so sure about that.After dropping him off at work, Rebecca left.And Benjamin experienced one of the worst job days since he started working at Rye’s Pizzas. Not a single customer gave him a tip today,
Later that night.Benjamin had dinner and was waiting in his room. The newly appointed maid with chocolate looks was cleaning the room, but her eyes were on Benjamin. “Can you tell me how you managed to trap, I mean, make Rebecca fall for you?”Benjamin almost smiled hysterically. “So that’s the first thing you could ask.” He shook his head. “My in-laws think just like you. Everyone in this villa treats me like I’m their enemy even though I’m only trying to be their friend.”Rebecca came home late at nine o’clock, looking tired. The maid quickly walked out.“Should I prepare the bath?” Benjamin asked.“I can do it myself,” she said. “Wait, Jane came to pick you up, right?”“Yeah, she did.”“She didn’t do anything funny, did she?”“No, she didn’t.”“Mm,” Rebecca entered the showver and walked out twenty minutes later, fully clothed. She always put her clothes on in the bathroom itself, so he never even got a chance to peek at her beauty. She jumped onto her bed in her pajamas.“You are
Lisa looked genuinely surprised, whereas Veronica was controlling herself from bursting into laughter because Elizabeth looked like a thousand pound bird crap had crashed upon her and completely ruined her makeup, thereby making her look as ugly as ever.“Who the fuck did you just call an Aunt?” Elizabeth howled in rage and came running at him like an enraged beast.“W-Wait, I can explain this!” Benjamin ran and stood behind the large dining table. When she came from his left, he ran to his right. When she tried to come from his right, he ran to his left.“What’s there to explain? I’m only forty years old, and you dare call me an aunt!” She looked for something to hit him with. She picked the nearest objects, the flower vases, and began throwing those things at him.“I’m not even thirty, and your children call me uncle, don’t they?” Benjamin asked.“Shut up,” Elizabeth didn’t care to even comprehend what he just said. She only wanted to beat the shit out of him in any way possible. “S
In the evening, the parent teachers meeting started, but Benjamin didn’t come yet. Lisa couldn’t blame him after what her mother did to him.“Where are your parents?” one of the teachers passing by asked her in the corridor.“My dad’s on the way, sir,” she ended up lying.Unlike her, Roshan and other two children of Sterling family didn’t need a parent to compulsorily arrive, as their grades were among the top.As she was biting her nails, someone grabbed her shoulder from behind. She looked over her shoulder, and it was the least person she ever expected to come.“Was I late?” Benjamin was sweating and panting. Elizabeth hit all over his body, save his face, so looked clean at the moment. And luckily, he wasn’t wearing the pizza outfit either.“Y-You came…” Lisa was left in a daze.“I gave you my word, didn’t I?” He put his hand on her head. “Let’s go and meet your teacher fast. I need to go back to the pizza hut before 4:30.”“What? There’s only fifteen minutes left. You want to end
At 4:30, a Porsche and a motorcycle stopped at Rye’s Pizzas at the same time. Benjamin and Rebecca kept peering at each other through the glass shielding before them.She opened the door and stepped out for the first time in this place. “Were you working over time?”Benjamin took off his helmet and showered a smile. He didn’t even hear what she just said. He was just so happy she got out of her car.He jumped off the bike like he was full of energy. “Do you want me to show you around?”“No. You know that I don’t like pizzas, or things that have anything to do with bread,” she said, sounding not so interested in having a prolonged discussion.“Y-Yeah. Then you’ll probably not like the smells inside. Just wait here. I’ll be out in two minutes.” He rushed into the nearest hut and came running out before two minutes passed.She was already sitting in the driver’s seat and waiting for him to get in. He stopped at the door outside the second front seat.“Not there,” she turned her back sli
Benjamin’s heart wasn’t under his control from the moment he heard that Jacob and Selena were staying out for the night. As his wife’s words played in his mind, his heart melted. And the faint sounds of the shower swelled his emotions like ocean waves, and he was feeling so energetic all of a sudden.And when she walked out, he asked her a straightforward question. “Can you tell me one thing?”“No,” she said.“Why don’t you speak all that much?” he asked. “Do you have a word limit per day or something?”She didn’t reply.“Again, the same silence,” Benjamin sighed. “What exactly are you, Rebecca? A rose? Or the thorn hiding underneath?”“I’m Rebecca,” she said, getting down on the bed and picking up a fashion magazine. “Just a fashion designer, but if you want me to be poetic… is there a rose without a thorn?”Benjamin paused for a second and smiled. “Rebecca… You are my rose and my thorn.”“Yeah. I know that,” she replied. She had washed her hair, so he could feel her scent drifting a
Benjamin was dreaming about having the world’s greatest wedding until a maid’s voice woke him up.When he checked the time, it was already past nine in the morning. The maid was cleaning the room. His wife wasn’t there.“So it was a dream…” he shook his head. He and Rebecca got married in a small church with only the church members playing witness. Could it even be called a wedding? He wondered. None of her friends or family were present there. None from his side were present, either. While he didn’t hate getting married to Rebecca, the way their marriage happened was forgettable.As he was yawning, he realized that the maid was stealing glances at the bulge in his pants. “What are you looking at?” He covered it with a blanket.The maid anxiously left the room.He had to wait a couple of minutes for his morning wood to calm down. And then he hurriedly prepared and came downstairs for breakfast. He didn’t see Rebecca at the table, so he asked Kathy where she went.“Madam Rebecca alread
“What do you say, my dear brother-in-law?” Shawn showered a pleasant smile as if nothing bad had happened between him and Benjamin only a minute or two ago. Benjamin had seen a lot in his life leading up to this moment, but this professional businessman still left Benjamin in a bit of an awe.He had seen chameleons blending with their surroundings, but Shawn seemed a lot more dangerous than chameleons could ever be. A man who could portray both a sharp and a soft smile at the same time. He was just a scary man to sit next to.However, Benjamin didn’t let Shawn suck him into the flow.“Brother-in-law, the thing is…” Benjamin hesitantly said. “I was saving up the money to buy a necklace for Rebecca.”“Oh…” Shawn was still smiling, but his brows were getting a bit stiff.“I do want to help you, but… I can’t give you more than 10 grand.”“Mm…” Shawn stayed unnaturally silent. The driver could feel the tension rising the moment Benjamin addressed Shawn as brother-in-law, and he was sweatin