Disclaimer: Maleficent and its characters belong to Disney.
Note: I need to thank every person who read, enjoyed or commented the previous chapter!
ScientificHooligan: How is this story nuts? Is it a bad thing?
meet·ing
(v.) to become acquainted with; be introduced to
Wednesdays at home are always the weirdest, for both Aurora and Stefan. Dining together at the kitchen table, facing each other without anything to discuss, even if not a rare occurrence, is still awkward. They barely look up from their plates and when they do, it is to ask for salt or water. Aurora does not mind anymore because these are the only moments she can spend with her father without them ending up arguing. No, disagreeing rather loudly, the girl mentally corrects herself.
Stefan glances once more at his phone. Aurora wonders whose message or call he is waiting for. She startles when it rings. The Addams' Family song? She does not have time to ask her father about it, as he has already picked up and started pacing in the living room.
"Good evening to you too, Moore," he says with a growl.
With such a ringtone and lack of enthusiasm in his voice, Aurora can be sure he is not talking to a friend. She watches him as he sits on the couch and immediately stands up, nervously biting his thumbnail. She has never seen her father like this before; he seemed nervous and angry a few days before when he told her about her future wedding but it is nothing compared to this.
"I already said yes. I even signed the stupid papers! Didn't you receive them?"
He stops walking and makes a sudden movement to look at his daughter who is still staring at him. Aurora smiles but he ignores it and turns his back to her.
"So you think this is a game? lt isn't one! My whole life is on the line here!" Stefan's voice is getting louder, angrier. "What!? No- This is ridiculous! -Of course I want it to work! -Yes. I will tell her."
Stefan ends the call, tosses his phone on the couch and mumbles swear words rather than pick it up when it hits the ground. He comes back into the kitchen and sits, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Is everything all right?"
"How could anything be all right?"
Aurora leans back in her chair, blinking. She expected screaming, shouting or a grumbled answer, not for her father to sound so weak, so... pathetic. He clears his throat loudly and clenches his fists.
"You don't have anything planned this summer, do you?"
Aurora smiles brightly.
"Just spending some time with Philip-"
"Nothing important then," he cuts her off in the middle of her answer. "Moore, your future wife," he spits out the word with disdain and badly hidden disgust, "wants to meet you. You have an appointment with her on Friday at 4."
The girl only nods, afraid her voice will crack if she says anything. She knows she should protest, refuse to be sold like a piece of meat to a woman she knows nothing about, but she is too curious about this person who can rile her father so much with hardly a word.
Aurora's heart is racing painfully when she exits the elevator. She adjusts her white blazer as she walks to the desk a few feet away from large and almost opaque glass doors. A man is sitting there, writing something down, holding a phone between his cheek and his shoulder. He lifts a finger at Aurora, who wonders how he manages to be effective while doing all that. He hangs up the phone and pushes strands of jet-black hair out of his eyes, he is smiling sweetly at her, giving her a strangely sympathetic look.
"I have an appointment with Mrs. Moore?"
The girl is obviously unsure, fidgeting and playing with the buttons of her blazer. The secretary's smile only widens.
"Miss," he says. Aurora quirks an eyebrow, confused. "Ms. Moore, not Mrs. Moore," he adds. He stands up, walks to her and pats her shoulder, his arm awkwardly straight. "Poor girl…"
"I'm sure she can't be that awful!" Aurora exclaims, trying to convince herself that everything will go well.
"People call her the mistress of all evil. But don't worry, you'll be fine… I think. As her only actual friend, I can assure you she doesn't bite. She is just like dragons, terrifying on the outside, but deep down, if you dig really deeply, they're just big lizards protecting a treasure. In her case, the treasure is her feelings. And her dignity."
Aurora listens as the man rambles, not understanding every word he says, only becoming more stressed with every second. He finally stops talking and opens one of the glass doors without knocking.
"Mal, your future wife is here," he announces with a mocking smile spreading on his lips before pushing Aurora inside the office.
It is huge and bright, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and Aurora can't help but gasp at the view of New York she can see from here. There are not a lot of decorations, only two dark paintings -one of a dragon surrounded by thorns, the other of a spinning wheel- a wooden desk, a few chairs and a coffee table.
"So you are Stefan's daughter…"
Aurora jumps and almost squeals. She had not noticed the woman sitting in the armchair. The blonde feels her cheeks blushing under the older woman's intense gaze. Elegant posture, back straight, chin high, green eyes with flecks of gold and cheekbones sharp enough to cut skin, probably. The woman is intimidating, but all Aurora can see is her peculiar beauty. When she clears her throat, Aurora realizes she has not answered the question.
"Yes- yes I am, Mrs- Ms. Moore."
"Your father is an idiot who believes he has the world in his hands because of the money he possesses."
Aurora wants to contradict her, to tell her she is wrong, but she finds herself unable to say anything.
"He thinks people will forget about all his mistakes if he pretends to be a good father to you, that he would accept you even if you were to marry a woman old enough to be your mother. A woman who he dated years ago."
That, Aurora did not know. She is not certain she wanted to, though. It only adds to the weirdness of the situation.
"I am not going to lie to you and pretend that your father and I are people we are not. If you wonder what I am getting out of this situation…"
Aurora nods, ready to hear everything Ms. Moore has to tell her. She needs to know what such a woman could get out of a proposition that ridiculous. Ms. Moore is gorgeous, smart and successful, surely she does not need any help finding someone to marry. What if she already is seeing someone? It would mean that Aurora would be responsible for destroying a relationship-
"A business partner is what I get from this. Your father gets a redeemed reputation, and I get a business partner out of the newly wonderful father that Stefan is not."
"I'm sorry."
Ms. Moore raises a questioning eyebrow, but Aurora does not see it, her head tipped so she is not looking the other woman in the eyes. She can't look at her face without feeling guilty.
"You do not have to apologize, Ms. Rose. You are the victim here."
Aurora looks up, biting her inner cheek to refrain from crying pathetically in front the woman who is to be her wife. Should this really sound that weird even in her mind?
"As we are to be married before the end of this summer because your father is impatient and spoiled, we will have to start showing in public together as soon as possible."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that I am taking you to dinner tomorrow. I will pick you up at 8PM at your father's apartment. And to make it look like we have been seeing each other for some time already, you will not go back to your place afterward."
Yaay! Chapter 2 is the meeting between my babies! I'm in love with my own story, Gods, I'm a weirdo...