If there is one thing that Daphne Anderson really hated, this thing was a fucking scene. It might be because of her discrete demeanour, or some kind of pride that she keeps in being above petty disputes, but if one ever wants to shame or vex her, it is just a matter of screaming in her near vicinity, attracting everyone's attention.
Unfortunately, her boyfriend does not have the same outlook.
"Listen, dickhead, this is my dad's venue! I'm on that fucking list!" He shouts at the bouncer.
It is late December and, even in a college town like Sugardale, people want to go out for a nice dinner. The venues are full and there is no conniption that could change it.
God, he's such a Karen! She thinks, feeling the weight of the collective gaze coming from the line behind them, hoping no-one had the idea of filming them yet.
Bryce felt no such shame. It is reasonable to assume that, after so many years dealing with Trish meltdowns, he would have had his fill of them for all of his natural life. However, things turn out to play in the opposite manner, as he seems to have built a natural defence against embarrassment. The man has no shame, nor self-control, ready to fight anyone and anything, with screaming and punching alike.
"Yes, sir, I understand that you are." The man tries to placate him, but his voice communicated profound irritation. "The problem is that your date is not."
Daphne stood behind her boyfriend, watching his shoulders rise with barely-suppressed rage. She knew this look from experience, and she knew it was not a good omen. Something bad was going to happen if she does not put a stop to it.
"It's okay, baby. We can just go somewhere else? Maybe?" She offers.
Her nervous tone does not reach his ears, however. Nor did he notice the way she had slipped around to rub up his chest soothingly.
His eyes remained on the working man, dark with a heavy scowl. "This is my wife, sir. If I'm on the list, she's on the fucking list."
The guy went to object but Bryce cut him off, voice holding an aura of arrogance once he had found a new approach.
"You do realize that you work for me, right? It would be a shame if I called my father down here to make a scene, especially if I tell him his darling daughter-in-law was disrespected in such a manner." He leaned forward for affect, scrunching his eyes while his head tilt in its signature threatening way. "With one phone call, I could get you and the rest of this entire lousy staff fired, and you know what's going to happen with your miserable little lives then. Check again, her name's on the list."
Behind him, Daphne is face-palming. Not only they are most certainly not married, and it will be certainly a cold day in Hell when Mr. Montgomery thinks of her in any terms even slightly resemblant of 'darling daughter-in-law', none of the involved would ever think of firing this amount of people from a profitable business endeavour on a whim.
He could sense her profound discomfort, and maybe that is why he does not turn around for her until after the employee decided that, "Wait! You know what? She actually is on the list. My bad. This way, sir, ma'am."
Bryce smirked, huffing in a way that clearly stated, Yeah, I thought so. He turned to his fake wife for the night, meeting her stern expression and broke out in a self-satisfied grin that destroyed her facade.
She should not indulge him in this behaviour but, well, she must admit it feels nice being treated with respect for a change. Besides, he looks kind of cute after destroying service industry workers' morale, nefarious as this sounds.
"C'mon, mama." He said, reaching for her.
Daphne accepted with little more than a head shake, letting his possessive arm firmly lead her through the posh establishment with a firm hand to the small of her back. When they were seated, she smiled widely at him as he sat down opposite her.
He glanced up nervously. She is probably going to let him have it, and she is merciless about it. Her lower-class sensibilities do not take kindly for him bullying the denizens of the town, regardless of his intent.
"So, I'm your wife now?" She whispered it, eyes scrunched up with the force of her smile.
This surprised him. She is not making fun of him, properly, even if she does find the whole situation amusing. Sensing that, he laughed quietly, pushing his slight embarrassment down in with a bon vivant act.
"You are. Or, at least, you will be." He answered, projecting an enviable certainty.
He winked and she faltered, sitting back in her chair to look at him with eyes wide in surprise. Her heavy blush and the way she teethed at her bottom lip told the young blond man absolutely everything he needed to know. It is his turn to be merciless.
"So..." He paused, a mischievous glint to his beautiful green eyes that only added to her fluster. "What is Mrs. Montgomery in the mood for tonight? Besides me, obviously."
Bryce considered it his chance to vex his girlfriend, and he seized it the best that he could.
He made a point to use that "Mrs. Montgomery" title for the rest of the evening, at any grammatical opportunity. He called Daphne his wife so many times that, by the end of the night, she almost believed him.
What she did not know, however, is just how much he meant it when he said that, in whatever he was concerned, she would really harbour that surname someday, and someday soon. The ring was practically burning a hole in his pocket, especially after that whole venue fiasco.
Now Bryce was just waiting for the right time. He already knew her answer.