CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I'm jealous.” Julia clapped her hands dramatically.
“Aren't you always!” Rebecca teased her twin which had all the ladies laughing.
Samantha felt like the only woman in the universe. This was her day. Nothing could go wrong. The veil was pinned to her hair, flowing several yards longer than her dress, diamond sparkling off the bodice of her dress. It was the perfect dress and one of the few things shed allowed her father to pay for. It cost millions and all of her protests were swept under the gutter.
“I'm really glad you're all here. Thanks for coming.” Samantha told her sisters who were also her bridesmaids.
Sonia, one of her sisters, who married a white man a few years ago and had not set foot back into Nigeria ever since was her chief bridesmaid, not an easy feat since Nicole had vied for that position since they were little. Samantha and Sonia were closer in age than the rest of the Barigha female children.
She had twelve little brides. That was accomplished because she couldn't say no to all of her cute little sisters. Her ten step mothers were happy with the group they formed, all her brothers were present. All the little ones had important roles to please them, and she finally got her mother what she’d been hounding her for; a big wedding. She had no idea her mother leaked the secret of the wedding to the press. She could only imagine what Mark would say when he found out it was not the small wedding ceremony that they planned for that her mother gave them.
“I'm going to remind myself that you're my sister and not steal you away.”
The ladies turned as they saw the brothers enter the lounge. The ladies gave them a disapproving look which the guys defused with teasing remarks about the scene the ladies presented.
“Spying on the ladies, are you?” Sonia accused.
“But I only have one in mind to steal.” Theo replied with a smile.
Samantha had the sudden urge to blush. Thank God for her skin color. He was her brother, yet he made her feel like she was the only woman in the room. All Barigha men had that effect of ladies.
He remained at the door as Lucas pushed through the throng of ladies trying to stand between him and her. He was like a giant as he strode purposefully towards her. Taking her hand gently into his, she felt the slight weight of the gift bag, but he didn't let go as he looked down, trying to pull himself together. She reached out her free hand and softly touched his face. Finally, he looked at her, and she could see him struggling to rein in his emotions.
“If not that I had him checked out, I wouldn't be allowing you to marry him today.”
“Please, don't let her mother hear you say that.” Someone said and had everyone chuckling.
For no reason would she allow thoughts of her mother spoil her mood today. She refused to allow that. Blinking to avoid the slight moisture beginning to form in her eyes, she asked him, “Will you cry?”
He shook his head even though she could see the struggle not to shed tears.
She smiled weakly. Stubborn Barigha men. “I won't either.”
He pulled her into an emotional hug. “That's my Sassy.”
The scene was so touching it had their siblings blinking back tears and making gooey sounds.
When he finally let go, he gave her a smile. “You are no doubt the most beautiful bride in the world.” Touching her face.
He was gone before she could form a coherent reply, with Theo closing the door behind them.
She missed him already. Her only prayer was that nothing would change between them now that she had a new man in her life. All the adventures she had with Lucas were the best things that happened to her as a child. He was always available to make her laugh. His mother even treated her better than her biological mother.
Opening the bag, she pulled out a framed picture. What she saw brought tears to her eyes. A single tear slid down her cheek as everyone rushed to catch a glimpse of the photo. Hoots of laughter filled the room as each lady clutched their stomach to avoid aches. It was a photo of her and Lucas on her eleventh birthday. Her mother had been acting up again and, in an effort to cheer her up, Lucas had taken her to his mother’s house, deciding to teach her to make pancakes. The result had been a disaster as they'd both not known how to it was done.
Instead, they turned his mother’s kitchen into a resounding mess. He was just three years older than her and his mother had been none too pleased with it.
Ordering them to remain there covered in flour and egg and whatever else they'd decided a pancake needed, shed left, returning a few seconds later with a camera. With shock on his face and total embarrassment on hers, his mother had captured their expressions perfectly.
Her siblings’ laughter brought a smile to her face. That story was still being told to the younger Barigha generation about the exploits of Lucas and Samantha. Of all the days to make her want to cry, it had to be her wedding day!
Then she remembered Mark. She had so much to tell him. She had come to know a lot about him, but shed been keeping a major part of herself back. By not telling him who her father was, it felt as though a major secret was between them.
“Don't do that.” Rebecca chastised.
Samantha shook off the saddening thoughts and pasted back the smile on her face. Anyway, shed decided to tell him today immediately the vows were said. Before he turned around and saw George Barigha himself.
If only it didn't have to be this way.
∞ ∞ ∞
“Be reasonable, Mark.” The Senator said. 'It was only an omission surely. It’s no cause for you to throw it all away.'
Mark gave a bitter laugh. “She lied to me. No, she didn't lie. She deceived me.”
“How would you have felt if you'd known? Bolstered?” The older man asked.
It was true that would have changed everything. He probably would not have proposed in the first place. How could he have had the boldness to propose marriage to George Barigha’s daughter? But that wasn't the case here. She lied to him. How was he supposed to get past that?
“People are waiting, Mark. They're getting anxious about your lateness. What’s your decision?”
He couldn't do it. He couldn't summon the courage to go through with it. This was like one giant sick game. There was no way he would go through with it.
Not wanting to see the horrified look on the senators face, he turned his back and made his decision. “It's off, Senator.”
“Pride and arrogance are a big fall for a man, Mark.” He paused, then sighed when Mark didn’t say anything. “Very well.”
Mark was acutely aware of the chilly fear that went up his spine when he heard the door close behind the senator. It wasn’t pride. Neither was he being arrogant. For the fifth time since he met her, Samantha had managed to make him feel how beneath her his social status was. And in a very hurting manner.
∞ ∞ ∞
The knock on the door interrupted the feminine chatter as a few seconds later, the door opened to admit Pastor Prince, her pastor and also the officiating minister of the wedding ceremony.
The ladies each greeted him. He responded with that famous smile he was known for that had brought quite a number to church and back again. Especially female. Thank God he was already married. The applications would have been endless.
“Pastor, Sir.” Samantha gave a slight curtsied.
She watched her sisters leave the room, then sat down. She wondered what could have brought him to see her. Especially when he chose to stand.
“You look absolutely glorious, Samantha.” He said.
“Thank you, Sir.”
He looked around but still didn't sit. “The groom has refused to come out.”
Her blood grew cold.
“What's going on, Samantha?”
Not sure if she could remain standing, she was glad to be sitting down. “Nothing I know of, sir.”
The Pastor sat down beside her. “He was due to come out over 20 minutes ago. He's not seeing anyone either. Is there something I need to know?”
She heard the gentle note of concern in his voice. Yet, she couldn't think of a single reason for Marks behavior save for nerves. She knew him enough that if it was nerves, he would have called her already. They'd gone past hiding things from each other. Hadn't they?
“I'll go check on him.” She said with the nibbling fear that it might be worse than jitters. She got up, picking what she could of her dress, she could feel her Pastors gaze on her.
“Samantha,” He called when she got to the door.
She turned.
“Wisdom. And patience. You need these two.”
She nodded, remembering that the same words had been ringing in her mind for the past few days.
Her sisters looked anxiously at her when she moved past them, heading for the groom’s lounge, rushing after her to gather the dress and veil. She didn't pause or stop until she reached his door and saw Jonathan mounting guard at the door. His shirt was casually folded at the sleeves, and he gave her a worried look when he saw her. That wasn't the look of the Best man. She chose to ignore that minor detail. Mark would better answer her questions anyway. Opening the door, Jonathan let her in.
Mark was drinking. The decanter was almost empty, and he was dressed just as casual as his brother. Her heart lurched. Mark wasn't an alcohol person.
“Mark?”
He turned to face her with a crooked smile on his face. “Just the person I want to see.”
He wasn't drunk, she told herself. But he was close. She went to him and tried to pry the half-empty glass away from him. He lifted it above his head, out of her reach.
“Mark, stop drinking.” She pleaded.
He laughed, a harsh piercing sound that had her taking a step backward. This was not the person she knew. And loved.
She sighed and tried again. “Mark, you need to stop drinking. The wedding is about to start. Everyone is waiting for you.”
He stepped away from her and his expression became serious. “Didn't you hear? The wedding is off.”
Her blood stopped circulating, and she felt for a second, she felt the floor tilt a little. She grabbed onto the table for support. Mark was obviously drunk. He didn't mean it. It was probably a joke. One she didn't like.
“I told the Senator to announce its been called off. I believe you have to start sending apology notes to everyone who bothered.”
Samantha needed to sit down but the sofa seemed like miles away. Instead, she held onto the table like a lifeline. That was when she heard that laughter again.
Was the dress too tight? It was cutting off her air supply. She felt the need to be rid of the dress to get her respiratory organs back to life. He was pouring himself another drink. What exactly was going on? What could have happened? They'd spoken on the phone just that morning.
Pulling herself together, she watched him take a swig, emptying the glass in a single swallow and willed herself not to react to the ache she felt. “I'm listening, Mark.”
“Good.” He put down the empty glass and turned to face her. “Would you like to sit down?” He asked politely and when she shook her head, he continued. “I've lived my entire life priding myself to be an honest person. Maybe I was a fool because I lied to you and almost lost you as a result. Then, I summoned the courage to propose to you and you said 'yes'.”
She was quiet as a hunting lion, wondering where he was headed with this.
“I wondered, what did she see in me?” He gave a bitter laugh. “I thought I was the luckiest guy on earth. What a fool I made of myself.”
When he didn't continue, she prompted. “I'm trying to catch up, Mark.”
He gave her a sardonic smile. “Tell me, Samantha, how good a laugh did you get from it all?”
Her inside was shaking but outwardly, she maintained a calm that a monk would envy. “I'm still not following, Mark. Why don't you outright say what’s on your mind?”
He nodded. “Who is George Barigha to you?”
Her heart thudded in her chest. He knew. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “My father.”
His lips curved. It figures. “I'm done, Samantha. All of it.”
She refused to allow emotions get in the way. “You don't want to marry me anymore,” It was a statement.
“Exactly.”
“... because I'm George Barigha's daughter.”
He didn't reply but the look he directed was nothing shed ever seen on him.
“Very well, Mark. I accept. I made a mistake not telling you who my father was. What would you have done if I'd told you before?”
He looked right into her eyes. “Left you alone.”
She had prepared for his answer but it sounded so cold the way he said it. “Why?”
“Because I've had enough of rich people meddling in my personal life.”
She frowned. “I don't understand.”
“I'm sure you don't.” He smirked.
This was not the person she knew who always had a smile on the go. This was a heartless, unfeeling man who was deliberately trying to hurt her.
“So, I didn't tell you. That means I lied?”
“You did.”
And he was staring at her, unflinching. “And my sorry is not enough?”
“I haven't heard it yet, but no.”
He was putting up a wall, one greater than that of China. “I'm sorry, Mark. I'm truly sorry.”
He gave a mirthless laugh. “I thought you were different; we were different.” His voice rose an octave. “We were together for over a year. It didn't occur to you that I should know that.”
She swallowed. “You're right. I should have told you.”
“You had plenty opportunities to do that.”
“And I didn't.” She took a breath to calm herself, “I'm sorry, Mark. It wasn't that I didn't want you to know,”
“You were afraid you'd wake up one morning and find Id emptied your bank accounts.”
“That's not fair.” It hurt, his accusation.
He pointed a finger at her. “You should live in my world to know what that means.”
He picked up his phone, shoved it into his pocket and left the room. She rushed after him into the hallway where her sisters were huddled together with worried expressions.
“Mark,” She called, unable to run in the heavy dress. “You're being unfair to me.”
He stopped and turned, which afforded her enough time to walk up to him.
“No, Samantha. You've been unfair to me. Maybe I deserved what happened when I lied to you but I don't deserve this. I thought we've gone past lying to each other.”
“Stop being unreasonable, Mark. You're marrying me, not my father.”
Her brothers appeared behind him, their gazes flickering between them.
“No, Samantha, there's no marrying going on anymore.”
Her brothers looked ready to box him. She shot them a look. “You lay a finger on him and you answer to me.” She gave each of her brothers a deadly look, which made them to step back, away from Mark. “Go on, Mark. Why don't you spurt out everything in your bowels? I'm sure that's not the only reason you want out.” Her own temper was beginning to rise.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He retrieved it, checked the caller ID and passed it over to Jonathan. “From the moment I saw you, I knew it was trouble talking to you. But you were in the way and the truck driver was getting more and more agitated, so I had to talk to you.”
“I can only imagine how disgusted you felt talking to me.” The retort was not what shed intended but once it was out, she saw the heat that flashed in his eyes.
“Don't tempt me, Samantha.”
“What would you do, Mark Grinder?” Taking a tentative step towards him.
His eyes narrowed and grew a shade darker; she literally felt the heat pulsing between them. “I mean it, Samantha.” Watching her progress towards him.
“You're a coward, Mark. You run off at the first sign of trouble.”
“And you're the one always causing the troubles.”
“And if I tell you I love you?” Her voice was very low, for his ears only.
His smile was a smirk and at the same time, seductive. “Then, I wouldn't be the only one to use that line to get what I want. But you know what, you've never told me that before. I just assumed you did.”
Back straight, something in his eyes made her suspicious, and she voiced it out loud. “You can't say you didn't guess who my father was after all this time. You're too smart not to have discovered at some point.”
He turned his head away, and she recognized it as guilt. “You knew who I was, didn't you?”
He swallowed but managed to face her. “Maybe I did. But you didn't want me to find out, did you? Did you think it would change the way I feel about you?”
A kind of relief went through her body. But it wasn't over. Mark was still very upset and it was her fault she didn't trust him enough to have told him the truth.
He turned from her and totally ignoring her brothers surrounding him, cut through without acknowledging any of them.
“You arrogant Grinder.” She shouted, not caring as tears began to form in her eyes. “I love you, Mark. You turn back right now and let me have my say.”
He turned and appeared unconcerned at the murderous looks her brothers sent him. She wiped off the tears that slid down her cheek.
“You are such an arrogant man, Grinder, always thinking you can have the last say and walk away. Well, you listen to me.” Poking him.
“I am a well-respected woman whether George Barigha is my father or not. I did not build my career because I had a father in high places. I got to where I am because I worked hard and didn't want the world to think I was in my father’s pocket. You did not fall in love with George Barigha’s daughter. You fell in love with me.” She said, thumping hard at his chest.
He grabbed her hands before they did any major damage to him. “I'm not sure which of them fell for me.”
She tilted her head to look at him. She saw the emotions quickly masked, how he struggled not to show it. What happened to them? They used to be best of friends at communication. What could have possibly gone wrong? See what spectacle they were making in front of their siblings. And on their supposed wedding day.
“I'm sorry for not telling you about George Barigha. He's not as important in my life as you think. He meets each of his children once a year and it's only to find out if were still being successful.”
The fight went out of her. She felt limp and if not for his firm hold on her hands, she would be poodle on the floor. “I wanted you to like me for me and not for who my father was. I've been through that line too many times and I just wanted a change. I won't apologize if who I am is not what you want.” She pulled helplessly to free her hands, but he didn't let go.
He gazed at her with a hooded expression. She didn't have the strength for this anymore.
“You can go, Mark. I'll take care of the guests. They will understand the change of plans.”
The pain in her heart was too much to bear. Her chest constricted; it nearly undid her. She really needed Lucas right now. She didn't know anyone could possibly cause her more pain than her mother had. But she was wrong. Mark Grinder could. How did everything become so horribly wrong?
“You call me arrogant when you're so stubborn. I ought to teach you a lesson some time.”
She didn't think she could afford another fight at the moment, too exhausted as she was. “I'm tired of fighting you, Mark. Please, let me go, so I can send the people home in time.”
He tilted her chin to face him. His expression was unreadable. “I wonder what to do with you. You're not an easy person to fight with.”
Closing the gap between them, he lightly touched her lips with his. Her heart stopped beating for several milliseconds, then lurched when his mouth came back on hers, not in the gentle touch like before but demanding they yield to his onslaught, to open for him. Her body melded into his and amid the layers of clothing, she felt the hardness of his chest, the strong muscles of his hands enclosed around her. She didn't know where his breathing ended and hers started. It was like a roller coaster that kept her teetering on the edge of the unexpected.
As insistent as his mouth on hers, her arms wound round his neck, drawing him in, wanting to get closer. A slight nip on her lips had her gasping, she only felt his smile before he plunged deep into the recesses of her mouth, molding his tongue to hers in a dance as old as time. Small tremors raced through her, and she felt dazed, allowing him to batter her with the sweet rhythm of tongue and lips. She felt tingly all over and had a moment of disappointment when he pulled back with a smile and light in his eyes.
“Barrister Samantha, I wonder what to do with you.” He said, then lightly touched her lips with his thumb, which felt ravaged and slightly swollen. It was a heady feeling when he gazed into her eyes. She felt that everything would be fine. They were fine. Yet she trembled at what else she saw there. His eyes held promise.
“I love you, Samantha. I'll always love you. George Barigha isn't going to change that. You'd better get used to it.” He touched her cheek, “By the way, have I told you how ravishing you look?”
Stupefied, and too stunned to say anything, she shook her head.
His smile was just as ravishing as he leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes grew round, and she swung to look at him. Oh, God! She thought. The heat started from her toes straight to the root of her hair. And he was still smiling that smile!
Out loud, he said, “Why don't you go put yourself back in order. I have in mind to kiss you again without your family shooting daggers at me.”
She felt her sisters pull her away as they led her back to her lounge. At the door, she turned and saw his eyes were still on her and whatever nibbling doubt that was left after their argument disappeared. She had no idea what had just happened. But she felt elated.