My Dream Marriage

The plush leather seats in the car screams luxury. It must be the most comfortable car seat I have ever sat on- I think. The windows are tinted, although they are closed I can see the outside clearly. This gives a sense of security at the same time providing privacy to its occupants. I get it, these people really don’t want to be seen while driving on these roads. The driver is silent- he is driving. My mother is unusually silent. I look at her and she seems deep in thought.

“Mom, you okay?” I ask. “Yes Neera, why? Do you need something? Are you okay yourself? Actually you should be nervous,” she jokes and I know she must be worried about me.” Mom I am okay, really and I am actually nervous, stop joking,” I whisper. She smiles as we continue driving past buildings and people. The car takes a turn at a roundabout and heads towards a suburb area, occupied with townhouses. The road leads to a secluded area with pine trees that line up a narrower road that winds up a little towards the left. It comes to a stop in front of a big brown metal gate. The driver waves a card at a sensor and the gate opens automatically, to reveal a huge mansion. The driver parks the car where it seems like a showroom for all the most expensive cars in the world. I can recognize a Bugatti, a big SUV and others I have seen but don’t actually get their make.

We get out and all the hell breaks loose! The garden is covered with lush green grass and trees. The pathway is covered by marble stones. The house is so huge, or should I say a palace or a castle, because it’s designed like those royal houses I only watched in movies- with a modern touch to it. We get inside received by a middle aged woman who warmly greets us and leads us to a green couch. I presume it’s a waiting area since it is the only one with a little table in front of it. The sitting area is so spacious an entire crowd of hundreds could sit. Not so far away are the white leather couches complementing the gray and white curtains that cover the floor to ceiling windows. A wide staircase leads to the upper two floors of the mansion. The wall is also covered with ash white paint.

The lady comes back with a tray. She places it down on the table and produces two cup and a pot of tea. She pours into each one and gives to us.”Mr Lawanson will be here soon,” she says. “Okay Martha,” my mom replies and yes, she has been here before and that’s why she is familiar with people here. My father has also visited here before too. I am the only one who is not familiar with this environment. I have seen Mr Lawanson, his wife and first son on TV but my supposedly husband to be I haven’t even seen his photograph. Maybe it’s because he used to live abroad. Or he doesn’t like publicity so much, but his name is like a song in media houses, as he is the CEO of the Lawanson group so his major part in taking his family’s company to greater heights hasn’t gone unnoticed. Those who have come across him talk of his out of this world good looks and that is why he is a dream for many single ladies of all calibers but no one dares post his picture.

A sound of shoes making contact with the floor makes us turn to the direction of the stairs. Behold Mr Lawanson and his wife all in their elegance and class. Him in a grey suit and black shoes and black tie while his wife in a back dress and white pumps. He hair is combed back and gathered in a chignon, her makeup to the point and she looks younger or well kept as per her age. She is in her early fifties and I look at her in awe as she walks like a swan towards us with a smile plastered on her face. His husband looks serious like he is walking into a mergers and acquisitions meeting.

We rise in respect and greet them accordingly. They seem warmly people. Mrs Lawanson signals us to join them on another side of the sitting area where there are two plush velvet couches facing each other with a glass table in the middle. It directly faces the sliding doors leading to the back of the house where I see a swimming pool surrounded by a few palm trees.

“Where is Mr Brown?” Mr Lawanson’s voice shifts my attention back to them sitting across us. “Oh, his condition was not so good so he went for his therapy early in the morning,” my mother says excusing my father of his absence. I knew he had gone because he mentioned it yesterday that he had to attend the sessions when his condition worsens, and I convinced Azila to become my sidekick.”Okay then, I guess we should continue without him. As you know, your daughter is supposed to be getting engaged to my son by now but Mr. Brown kept postponing it. So we have to decide everything today, now that you are here.” “Where is your son by the way, I thought he should be here to be part of this,” my mother says and I think I also have an urge to see him too, he is my future husband for crying out loud and this concerns him too. “Edward, oh you know he is busy. He could be here but today he had to travel to the next city for a business meeting, he went to check on a building where he could establish a publishing company so he had to go,” Mrs Lawanson speaks with pride acknowledging his son but his husband seems unbothered. My mind wanders to how the CEO could go for a site visit while he has people who he could assign the work, skipping a meeting which concerns his life partner. I push that aside and focus on what is being discussed.

“Since this has been postponed severally, I would like to inform you that the date for the wedding has been set and there would be no engagement. We would like to present an engagement ring to Neera and proceed with the plans and preparation for the wedding,” Mr Lawanson breaks the news while producing a small ring box. He places it in front of me and my mom looks just as shocked as I am. “Yes Mrs Brown, we are not doing an engagement party but my son will have the grandest wedding which will be the talk of town for a long time,” Edward’s mother replies all smiles you could think she is showing off. “Try it on and tell me if it fits your finger.” I take it as a no discussion topic and take the box, open it to reveal an intricate silver ring with a small blue diamond curved to perfection paced on top, with a golden trimming around it. I slide it on my ring finger and to my surprise it fits perfectly, not loose not tight. Mrs Lawanson continues,” the ring has been a family treasure, it was Edward’s grandma’s engagement ring, you know. So take care of it,” I nod in agreement.”It fits, it is okay,” I say. Mr Lawanson nods his head.”You said you have set a date for the wedding, right?” My mother asks and Mrs Lawanson replies, “it is the first weekend of next month, that’s on the third.” Three weeks from now. Wow.

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What!, that’s a little time to prepare for a wedding,” my mother agrees with my thinking. “Come on Mrs Brown, you don’t have to prepare for anything, everything will be catered for, decorations, food, venue, invitations, everything. My family will provide everything, don’t worry we won’t ask you to pay for anything,” Mrs Lawanson replies and my mother nods in response. Mr Lawanson clears his throat and ends the meeting with,”we will update you on everything that will be going on.”

“See you around,” his wife bids us goodbye.

We get outside and the same driver who picked us up bows and shows us to the car we came here with. We get in and as we leave I feel like I was in a business meeting rather than an important introduction of two families planning on their children’s wedding. Mrs Lawanson is proud, so much for her son’s achievements and also I think because of her status compared to us, Mr Lawanson seems unfazed of anything. Their workers seem friendly people, their house is huge, beyond my expectations, when I look at myself I highly doubt if I could get used to all that. I am just an average girl, working a low class job, surely they could have chosen someone better than me. A highly sophisticated lady, maybe a CEO like him, a model maybe or girls from fellow wealthy members of their high class society. I wonder what our grandparents did that gave birth to this agreement. Was it a bad thing? Or was it a good thing that led to this? I hope it was from a good cause.

We drive in silence as I watch the outside surroundings. I am awed that I could watch anything and everyone outside from the outside without them seeing me. My mom looks lost in thought and I sigh not wanting to interrupt her train of thoughts. She could be thinking about anything, me, my dad or maybe the meeting we had.

“Marcus, can you take us to St. Thomas Hospital, we need to go see Neera’s father,” my mother addresses the driver. “Yes ma’am,” he says and continues to drive to the direction of the hospital. I really need to see my father and share the experience, maybe this time he could tell me about what led to my grandpa and old Lawanson agreeing to have this arrangement. I couldn’t talk to him in the morning since I woke up late given he had to attend his session early in the morning. I contemplate calling Azila and telling her about this later after talking to dad. I know she will be shocked to hear this. She was excited coming with me to this meeting but I could see her disappointment when my mother stopped her from coming with us.

Azila’s perspectives sometimes rhymes with my dad’s so her opinion on this won’t be a bad one. I sometimes get jealous of Azila’s lifestyle; she got a better job in journalism just after graduation from college. She comes from a well-off family, so her father knows someone who knows someone and that’s how she was connected to her job. As for me I pursued literature but could only secure a sales assistant job at a bookstore owned by one of the publishing companies in the city. She could date whoever she wants even in college, and she could tell me about it. We helped each other in college, from assignments to me borrowing clothes from her whenever there was a function at school or a party. She had an impressive closet and she had many parties to attend to, which were thrown by the associates of her father or mom and she could invite me and I took advantage of her closet. I know he tenacious way won’t let me rest when she discovers that I already came off the meeting, and I also can’t wait to tell her about it. She could give me insight to all this and I can also ask for tips on having a partner.

The car comes to a stop and I notice we are already at the hospital parking lot.”We are here,” the driver announces. ” Thank you Marcus, have a nice day,” my mom tells him. “You too,” he says and I wave at him offering a smile. He smiles back and when we get out the car, he turns and speeds off.