Aiyaka already knew she was in trouble. So as the angry, incessant pounding began on the other side of her dressing room door, she didn't even flinch.
She'd sent her wedding party out and had locked herself in about two hours ago. She'd been ignoring the almost non-stop buzzing of her cell phone. The last time she checked, she'd had at least ten missed phone calls. So she simply pushed the button to power it off. The landline phone in her dressing room had rung a number of times too. So many times that she'd lost count. So she just unplugged it from the wall, after not bothering to answer a single call.
She knew her family and wedding party had tried not to create a scene, so they hadn't spent too much time knocking on the door. Only one person was pissed enough to be doing that right at the moment. Now she was more than a little tipsy as she took yet another sip from one of the oversized flasks she'd brought in with her. She'd known she was going to need some liquid courage to endure this day.
The bottom of her beautiful ornate sleeveless designer wedding gown splayed around her body like lovely pastel petals of a pretty spring flower as she sat comfortably in a pink cushioned high backed chair. She stared at her own reflection in the lighted vanity mirror as she heard her fiancée shouting now from the other side of the door. She laughed at herself out loud, seeing how drunk her reflection looked.
She couldn't quite make out every single word her betrothed was saying since her head was beginning to feel like it had been dunked into a vat of toxic waste. However, she did clearly hear the pissed off tone in his voice and got that the general gist of his current monologue was something about her making him look like a complete asshole in front of some very important people.
She glanced at an analogue clock hanging from the wall. It was exactly 6:30 pm, so she was now an hour and a half late for her own wedding. The would-be groom that she didn't quite have the courage to leave standing at the altar altogether was telling her to "get your ass out here right now got dammit!" Aiyaka sighed as she took another sip from the polished stainless steel flask.
The truth was she hated Marcus. She never wanted to marry him in the first place. The only reason she'd accepted his proposal was because she was a good girl and had been complying with her parents' wishes and expectations. But what about her own expectations? Did anyone even give a shit that she'd be stuck with a bastard that treated her like dirt in private, but kept up appearances in public for the rest of her life?
She shuddered at the thought of being stuck with the jerk still banging his fists on the other side of the door for an entire lifetime. She hadn't even slept with him yet. She'd rarely even kissed him or shown him any affection in the year or so that they'd been dating. In fact, one of the reasons she was putting off going down the aisle was that when it was all said and done, she'd be Mrs. Marcus Garver and she'd have to sleep with Mr. Marcus Garver. The thought made her gag as she swallowed another sip of mai tai and she thought she would vomit as she considered having to have sex with such a boorish, insensitive idiot.
She had actually insisted that they wait to their wedding night to engage in any sexual activity because she'd hoped he would get impatient and leave her. Instead, he'd pushed their wedding date up so that they got married within three months instead of a year and a half as they had initially discussed. Her parents had been very pleased with the new date. In fact, they seemed to like the whole situation so much overall that she hadn't objected to the accelerated plans.
Why? Why hadn't she gotten into her car and left this place or even called someone like a friend or her family's driver to come get her and take her away from here? She really wanted to leave, to run away from the mess and drama she knew was soon to ensue in her life as Mrs. Garver. Aiyaka felt trapped, lonely and isolated, even though all of her closest friends and family were just down the hall. None of them would understand why she despised Marcus though. On the outside he appeared to adore her. He was good looking, rich and seemed caring and attentive, buying her anything her heart desired. Yet that was just it. Like his cars, or anything else he owned, Marcus saw Aiyaka as being just another one of his possessions.
Aiyaka knew Marcus didn't love her. She doubted very seriously that he even wanted her. Sure, she was beautiful and well-educated. So were plenty of other women who were also extremely eligible bachelorettes though. Aiyaka wasn't kidding herself at all in this situation. As a professional football player, she knew her soon-to-be husband could have any woman he wanted. So she had no illusions. She knew Marcus was after her primarily for business and monetary reasons as he was also a savvy business man and investor. After all, Aiyaka was heir to one of the biggest entertainment conglomerates in the world.
Aiyaka's father had essentially done the same thing that Marcus was trying to do when he'd married her mother thirty years prior. Her father, Darryl Martin, was an African-American who'd built a big time music company and had become a major industry mogul. Ultimately, Darryl had expanded his empire overseas by marrying a very non-traditional Japanese movie and television executive named Ai Yakasuji. It was a match made in strategic business move heaven, so much so that there were surprisingly few who opposed the interracial marriage, at least not openly or publicly.
In thirty years, Ai and Darryl had combined assets, had three children -- Aiyaka being the oldest, created an international entertainment mega corporation together and expected all of their children, especially Aiyaka, to follow in their footsteps.
So far for the last twenty-eight years, Aiyaka hadn't disappointed them. She'd always been compliant, quietly doing whatever her parents asked without any resistance. She got all the education they requested, travelled and saw the world sights they suggested, dressed, spoke and behaved as they preferred, even made friends with the people they approved of being in her life.
Indeed, Aiyaka had done everything her parents had always wanted her to do, especially because she believed that ultimately they both had her best interest in mind.
However, she wasn't really sure if either of her parents knew what they were asking her to do by marrying Marcus. She would be giving up any modicum of autonomy she had remaining in her life to be his completely brain dead trophy wife. Worst of all, her parents didn't seem to know what kind of man Marcus really was.
Sure he was charismatic and had charmed and sweet talked her parents, distracting and blinding them from the fact that he was cruel, manipulative, controlling, greedy, opportunistic and self-centered. Or maybe Aiyaka's parents had judged him correctly but still believed her being married to Marcus would be what was ultimately the best marriage partnership for Aiyaka.
Aiyaka sighed again and turned the flask upside down as the last few drops in the container landed on her tongue. She screwed the cap back on and put the empty bottle back into a nearby suitcase before retrieving another full oversized flask and returning to her seat. Maybe if she died of alcohol poisoning before someone made her marry Marcus she could get out of the impending bedlam.
As she contemplated how many more flasks she would need to drain in order to poison herself, she suddenly became aware that she could no longer hear Marcus shouting profanity at her. Neither did she hear the relentless pounding any more that had sounded as though Marcus would break down the door at any moment.
"Oh well," Aiyaka said aloud to herself unconcerned as she unscrewed the full flask and kept drinking. This flask contained an apple martini drink. However, after she'd gotten to about sip three, she heard something familiar... It was the sound of a key turning in the lock on the door.
Aiyaka's eyes flew to the opening door, anticipating some serious unpleasantness. She continued drinking though as she saw a very agitated Marcus rush through the door toward her, a nervous looking hotel manager reluctantly lagging behind him.
"Don't you know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," Aiyaka slurred sarcastically.
"Leave us!" Marcus barked his order angrily at the hotel manager without even turning to look at the man because he was too busy glowering at Aiyaka. The poor manager mumbled something unintelligibly and left the room hurriedly, locking the door back on his way out. Marcus glared at his drunk would-be wife with such ferocity that a scowl like his would have made Aiyaka tremble, cower and shrink away on a sober day. But not right now.
"Marcus, you look displeased. Why whatever is the matter dear?" Aiyaka said still slurring, patronizing the 6'3", 250 pound quarterback even further. The sweat on his milk chocolate colored bald head was beading up, another definite sign that Marcus was losing his cool, as it were.
"Aiyaka, I don't know what the fuck kind of bull shit game you're playing here right now. But there are some very important people in that ballroom down the hall that came here to see our wedding today. People that are not just important to me, but also to your parents. So get your shit together. I'll have somebody go get you some coffee if you want, and in the next ten minutes the wedding march will be playing and you had damn well better have your ass on the way down that aisle. Got it?"
"Got it," Aiyaka said. Then she paused and took another swig. "But I'm just not doing that."
