Chapter 4
"Mary, please stop crying," Lola coaxed her friend, Greer, Kenna and Aylee were all surrounding and trying to comfort their friend.
"I bought ice cream," Aylee said.
"Ice cream isn't going to make things better," Kenna snapped as Mary continued to cry. Kenna was angry. She was angry at Francis for making her best friend cry. All of them were mad.
"Stop fighting," Greer stated, as she handed another box of tissues to Mary as she wept. "You're not helping."
"I was so stupid!" Mary bawled – her eyes red and puffy – her nose starting to get runny. "I just can't understand what happened! We were okay, I thought he really loved me, and then all of a sudden, he breaks up with me! Why?"
The more she spoke, the more she had difficulty with breathing.
"Have you tried talking to him?" Lola asked, always the reasonable one.
"No," She answered with a snivel, "He wouldn't even talk to me."
"Mary, forget about Francis," Kenna suggested, "He's just a douche –"
"Kenna!" Aylee stopped her, "Language!"
"What?" Kenna looked at her friend confused, "It's true. He spins Mary around his web of lies, making her believe that he actually cared for her then breaks her heart. That is douchebag material."
Mary cried even harder at the realization of what Francis did to her.
"Kenna. Not helping." Greer scolded her friend. "But, Mary, she's right. Francis is a douchebag. You deserve better."
"You truly do," Lola reassured, "You're smart, funny, intelligent…"
"Kind hearted and full of love." Aylee added, with a genuine smile.
"Plus your family owns half of Scotland." Kenna said jokingly. "Any guy would be lucky to have you."
"They're all right," Greer said, "You don't need Francis."
Mary looked at her friends and she felt so lucky because she had these amazing people who loved her. Screw Francis. She had her friends and that was all that mattered.
"You lot are amazing," She said as she wiped her tears, "I love you all so much."
All smiled and hugged each other. She was going to be strong and it was for her friends.
The memory of how her friends made Mary feel strong and brave was what she clung to when she decided to knock on Francis's door. He opened the door; she could see the look of surprise on his face when he saw her.
"Mary, what are you doing here?" He asked when he saw her standing there with a look of anger and confusion on her lovely face.
"You knew and didn't tell me!" She said and barged in his room. She took a moment to look around and it didn't change much after her last visit. She shook the thought out of her mind. This wasn't the time for reminiscing the past. She turned to look at him and started once again. "Why didn't you tell me and since when have you known?"
"What are you rambling on about?" He asked, he was starting to lose his patience with her. This was one thing he never got use to when they were young. Her constant ramblings and word vomit. It was unbecoming.
"You knew that our fathers wanted to merge the companies and they were going to do it by us getting married!" She answered almost hysterical, "And you knew and didn't tell me. Why?!"
"Calm down," Francis tried to coax her but he knew it was hopeless. This was Mary. Mary "Does whatever she wants" Stuart. "I'll explain everything when you calm down."
"I don't want to calm down!" Mary yelled, she was so confused and scared. "Tell me everything now, Francis. Please."
The last part sounded so weak that Francis remembered that under her tough exterior, Mary was still a girl. A girl who was confused and wanted answers.
"Fine, I'll tell you but you need to calm down. Please." Francis said and she nodded. "Good, sit down. "
"I found out that my father and yours wanted to merge their companies and the easiest way to do that is by marriage. Our marriage. They've been talking about this since we were young and my father told me when I was fifteen. They have everything planned. Even our mothers agreed." He explained and it took a moment for her to process, her mind was reeling. "Now, I didn't tell you because my father told me not to. I should've told you but I knew you weren't going to take the news well. We were kids. I couldn't even handle the news properly and went wild. I couldn't imagine how you would react."
That offended Mary. Did he really take her for such an immature child that he couldn't tell her about something that affected both of their lives?
"Mary, relax," Francis said, "It's a business deal. It's all that is."
"What?" Mary asked muddled, "You agree with this?"
Did Francis really approve of this arrangement? How could he possibly okay with this? They hated each other. He hated her; he made that perfectly clear when he broke her heart.
Francis exhaled slowly, regaining his breath. Talk to Mary was exhilarating. They haven't talked for so long that he forgot how fast his heart went when he was with Mary.
"No," He answered, he tried to stay calm. One of them needed to stay calm for this conversation to go right and not end up with one of them storming out and infuriated. "I thought of a plan for us to get out of this."
"How?" She asked cautiously. Her mind was still reeling and she wasn't sure if her heart could handle more news.
"You elope with someone." He said so simply that Mary wasn't sure if she heard right. "A boyfriend, maybe."
Boyfriend? Mary hasn't had a boyfriend since Francis broke her heart.
"Elope?" Was he crazy? She stood up, fully ready to speak her mind. "I can't elope with anyone! Why can't you do it? You're the one who seems to not care about the future of their company."
She was wrong. He did care about the future of their company, but he couldn't handle the amount of pressure he was being put under by his father and other members of the board committee.
"I can't," He answered, "My father will hate and disown me!"
"And you think mine won't?" She contradicted.
"No." He replied, "Your father can forgive you, mine won't"
"You're crazy." She said, walking towards the door, "All of this is crazy. I won't marry you or anyone I don't love. Not now, not ever!"
She walked out and slammed the door with a bang.
Mary tried to sleep that night but couldn't. She tossed and turned so many times until she got tired and gave up. It was no use, her mind was still turning.
Could she do it? Could she marry Francis?
Did she still love him? No! Right? She didn't love him anymore. How could she? He broke her heart and she could still feel the thousand of daggers being thrust into her chest and twisted.
How could she possibly still be in love with someone that made her breath came in short, painful gasps that left her dizzy and nauseated. She hated him.
But, after all the heartache, could they still have had a chance if they just talked? No! How could they talk? He avoided her every chance possible.
"I hate him," Mary said to herself in the darkness of the room. "I hate him and I hate this situation."
What was she going to do? She couldn't marry Francis but she didn't want to let her family down. Was she really willing to sacrifice her own life and happiness for her a business deal? It was ridiculous thing to even consider, but she was considering it.
But even if she did agree to marry Francis, would he?
Would he marry her for money and business? Mary knew how much he wanted to make his parents proud. He was the eldest; he was the heir to their company – his little brothers were too young for this discussion – they were out of the question as of the moment.
"Ugh, come on Mary!" She groaned to herself. What if both did agree to marry one another? Was that even a possibility? And if it were, would they be happy? No. What was she thinking? They hated each other. Didn't they? She hated him. Right? "Seven years. You didn't do anything! You didn't write, call or anything! You were too filled with pride!"
This was getting out of control.
The next day, Mary sat in her room, trying to contact her friends but none of them were answering and she didn't want to just message them. She needed to speak her voice. The early morning sun that was reflected from her window wasn't helping her gloomy mood.
She groaned in frustration when she heard and knock from the door and entered her brother.
"Good morning," She said, worry still on her face.
"We'll leave for Paris in two hours," Jem said, "We'll have a meeting with the other board members in at the Pavilion."
"Okay," Mary answered, her attention still on her phone.
Jem sighed; her sister wasn't usually like this. "Mary, if you're still upset about last night, I can talk to father. I'm sure –"
"Jem, please." She interrupted. "I don't want to talk about it now."
He examined her face and he knew she was still emotional exhausted, "Alright. Come down after you get ready. Catherine is already ordering the kitchen staff with what she wants for breakfast."
She knew he said that to make her smile and for the sake of her brother, she did, even though it was weak but she smiled. It was all she could do.
AN/ Hello.
Thank you for reading.
I'll post a longer chapter tomorrow or the next day, probably.
Review~!
Please, reviews make me happy.
