Her Substitute Groom

Connor Hughes

‘She’s in love with you’ are the words that have been living rent-free in my head even after so many days and after so much effort to get it off. It felt like it was imprinted there to be there till eternity.

It was a boring morning as usual and I just had my bath and came back into the room to get dressed and leave the house since I had a business meeting in about two hours.

“Am I losing my mind?” I faced my reflection in the mirror and asked as if it could answer me.

“Is she really in love with me?” I asked my reflection for the second time, expecting a miracle to happen and get an answer to my question, but in the end, I only looked like a psycho that has lost it.

“Ugh! Forget it,” I mumbled and headed to the closet where I grabbed my clothes from, and in a few minutes, I was all dressed and looking hot as always.

Just when I was about to leave my room, my phone beeped, so I checked to see that it was a text from my client. The one I was supposed to have a meeting with in two hours.

‘I’m sorry, Mr. Connor. Something came up, so we would have to postpone our meeting until next week. I’m very sorry, I had to travel to Italy for an urgent visit’ I didn’t wait to read the rest of the text before I threw my phone on the bed and groaned angrily.

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath and headed to the balcony to get fresh air. I guess I won’t be going out today.

The fresh air outside welcomed me warmly as I leaned over the rail, staring into space.

“Everything sucks,” I cursed under my breath frustratingly. Guess who is still getting the silent treatment from Janice? Well, that is me.

“Why am I even bothered about her? Why should I care if she doesn’t talk to me or not? She’s just like a housemate to me, so why should I care?” I straightened my back and shrugged, but deep inside me, I was a bit troubled about the silent treatment she was giving me.

“Why is she even mad at me? I didn’t do anything wrong, and besides, I already said sorry. I told her that I wouldn’t do it again even if I’m not sure yet. She is being so mean to me, and it’s not fair,” I stated seriously as if I was confronting her, but when I realized that I was starting to act like someone that has lost his mind, I quickly comported myself and leaned over the rail again.

“Should I go apologize to her again?” I asked myself, and just then, I spotted her leaving the house.

“Where is she going?” I mumbled as I watched her head toward the gate.

“Is she going out? But she’s not dressed like someone going out,” I mumbled as I tried to get a glimpse of her but the tree in the compound obstructed my view.

“Ugh! That damn tree,” I cursed and without giving it a second thought, I dashed back into my room and stormed out of it, walking briskly down the hallway as fast as my legs could carry me.

“Wait! What the fuck are you doing?” I stopped and asked myself when I got to the living room.

“Why are you following her?” I asked myself again as I found myself going toward the window, and with all the self-restraint, I still ended up pulling the curtain to one side, revealing her. I could swear that I heard my bone crack when I clenched my fingers after I saw her talking and smiling with someone outside the gate. It was a man.

“Who the fuck is that?” I mumbled as I clenched my fingers tightly, waves of anger sparked through me. My throat burned angrily down to my lungs, and my blood felt like it was set on fire.

“Wh… what am I doing?” I mumbled when I got a hold of myself, but the image of her smiling with that man kept popping into my head, and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I advanced toward the door and pulled it open, storming out of the house.

“Hey! Who are you?” I asked angrily when I got to where they were, not after I pulled Janice behind me and shielded her.

“What are you doing?” She whispered as she came to stand beside me.

“I asked you a question. Who the hell are you, and why are you in my house?” I tried to hold back my anger, I tried not to make it obvious, but recalling the way they were smiling at each other minutes ago made me so furious that I was only forcing myself not to pounce on him and teach him a lesson he would live to never forget in his lifetime.

“Oh, I’m…”

“He is a stylist. I have a concert to attend tonight, so I needed his help to look beautiful,” Janice’s reply shocked me to the bone marrow, so I looked at him to be sure I heard her correctly.

“Concert? Stylist?” I asked and turned to look at the man who looked like he was in his late twenties. From his appearance, he looked like he would be the same age as Chase. He had blonde hair, and long eyelashes which I mistook to be artificial at first but realized later that it wasn’t. Thick eyebrows, a pointed nose, and cat-like eyes which I was sure he must be wearing lenses. Wait! He was fucking wearing lipgloss. Pink fucking lipgloss at that. Now that I took my time to check him out, he looked feminine and I was even more disgusted when I saw his painted nails.

“Yes, Sir. It’s nice to meet you,” He held out his ugly hand for me to shake, but I guess my glare scared him because he immediately took his hand away and smiled at me.

“Hey! Are you gay?” I couldn’t hold myself back, so I asked him.

“Hu… huh? Gay? That’s so annoying…”

“What’s wrong with you, Connor? You can’t talk to my guest like that…” Janice scolded me, then turned to the feminine man and smiled at him. “I’m sorry about that, Mr. Nick. Don’t mind him,”

“It’s fine…” He paused then turned to me and smiled.

“Anyway, I’m straight. I am very straight. I will see you later, Ms. Janice,” He said to me, then turned to Janice and winked at her, and at that moment, it was only by the grace of the Creator that I didn’t punch his face and remove that eye he winked at her with. How could he still do that in my presence?

“Thank you. I will be expecting you by 4:30pm. Don’t keep me waiting,” She said to him before he finally left in his car, and I scoffed.

Janice turned and walked in through the gate like nothing happened.

“What the hell was that?” I followed her inside and snapped at her, causing her to halt. She then turned to face me with a blank expression on her face.

“What was what?” She raised her eyebrows, and I scoffed unbelievably because it was so hard to believe that she was doing this.

“What concert were you talking about? We live here together, and you are going to a concert and didn’t see the need to tell me about it? Are you for real?” I lashed out at her and was expecting her to feel remorseful for her action, but she just shrugged and started walking away.

“Janice. What is wrong with you? I’m speaking to you,” I held her hand and pulled her back, and as she almost lost her balance, I was fast enough to hold her from falling. My heart hammered hard against my chest as we locked eyes. At that moment, it felt like we were the only ones on earth, and I couldn’t deny this weird and unusual feeling I was having around her.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Let go of me,” Her voice brought me back to reality as my imagination was already running wild. She stepped away from me.

“I am just your secretary, and as far as I’m concerned, we were here on a business trip and I have my own life to live. I’m not going to interfere in your personal life, so don’t interfere with mine…” She paused and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“If you are not going to allow me to live freely here, then you can tell me to move out, and I will. Don’t interfere in my personal life,” She stated sternly and walked out on me. My jaw dropped…