POV Keith
She is a train wreck.
As she walks into the room wearing the orange monstrosity, I know we are speeding towards a head-on collision with disaster.
I grimace. She's a train wreck I can't avoid.
She walks into the room, head held high, looking barely 18— but I know for a fact she is 20. Her hair is styled in some archaic hairstyle that would have worked in the 50s, but now looks completely out of place. Her whole look places her firmly in the yesterday, completely drowning her personality, if she has any.
Maybe that's a good thing, I can't help but think.
If her file — which sits in front of me — is anything to go by, she's a graduate, barely, with a degree in management. This degree was completed in two years to compete with her genius younger sister, Eliana, who has already sped through high school, and is now looking to enroll in the best college in England, to pursue a degree in computer sciences, like our fathers.
Damn it! If I must take a wife, why can't it be someone smart and accomplished!
I feel the bile burn my throat as I see her take in the crowd in this private room. Her parents, her sister, my brothers, my mother, seated beside them, and finally, me. Her eyes reflect her unease, before she quickly shutters her face.
Joshua looks at her with deep disdain, while Grace and Eliana studiously ignore her. Kenneth's face is filled with something like pity, while Kyle looks on, completely indifferent.
It's my mother's expression however, that gives me pause. There is a mercenary glint for a second there, before it fades to an indifferent scrutiny that decrees that Ella has been judged and found wanting.
I wait for someone, anyone, to speak up, but no one does and I can't find it within myself to get an introduction started. I know someone should, but I can't bring myself to.
"Get me JB Tech. Get me JB Tech, and Ingram Technologies is yours."
Grandpa's words ring in my ears like a gong that won't stop.
Can I really do this? Can I sign away my life and freedom to a woman like this, simply for Ingram Tech?
"It's only until your Grandpa cements your position as heir, son", my mother's whispered words come back to me.
"If your dad were still alive, it would be a different matter. It was your dad's dream to lead Ingram through the next phase… but now it falls to you my son. It's only temporary. I would have lobbied for Eliana if she weren't still a minor. There's still a few months for her majority, and we just can't wait."
Eliana is still a minor, but she carries herself better than most adults, I think bitterly.
I watch as the new arrival — Ella, I remind myself — seems to cautiously weigh each presence, before her eyes land on me and widen in shock. Open delight blooms on her face. She starts to smile—a genuine, uncalculated expression that blindsides me. It's the first honest reaction I've seen in this room all day — and I hate that it comes from her — until she takes in my expression. She must've seen something, because she visibly wilts, and her smile falters.
She takes a step back, as if my hostility is physically pushing her away, and whirls towards her father. Her lips part, before she closes them again. She tries again.
"Dad, what's going on?" Her voice is low and guarded, as if to avoid rattling a lion's cage.
It dawns on me that none of us have acknowledged her, and I feel like a bit of a jerk, before a new wave of bitterness washes it away.
Joshua's face twists in rejection, like tasting a sour lemon.
"You are going to marry the heir of Ingram Tech, Keith Ingram. That's all you really need to know."
Blood roars in my ears, and I can't hear what he says next.
She's still standing as she looks in my direction. I can see the pulse throb in her throat, even as she holds on to her composure with surprising grace.
"Do I get a choice?" she asks quietly.
I snort and simultaneously feel mad. I don't want to marry her, but I want to be the one rejecting her, not the other way around. I rub my face, unable to get a handle on my feelings.
Joshua looks at her then, right in the eye, and something passes between the two of them. He simply says, "No." and that's it. She stills, and seems like she wants to say something. Joshua bangs his cane on the floor, and she jumps unexpectedly. Her hand flinches and tightens on the purse she is carrying, before she deliberately releases her death grip on it. She nods once, straightens her posture, and takes a deep breath, as if to center herself.
She meets my eyes briefly, and lowers herself into the only available seat— next to me. Her perfume wafts closer, a unique blend of jasmine and lotus threaded with lilies — delicate, intoxicating... maddening. Close up, I can see her hair is glossy and luscious. She has a slender neck which gives her slight frame a graceful arch, and flecks of gold that flicker in her otherwise brown eyes.
As she looks up, it's almost like the whole room is holding its breath. I'm sure she will crack under the weight of this coldness, but she surprises me. Her back straightens, and she puffs out her chest. She meets every pair of eyes in the room, then tilts her chin up.
"Shall we begin?"