A Blind Marriage On Paper

Chapter 12

Brynn is beside herself and can’t believe that woman threw her out of her office. She looks up at two women snickering and pointing at her. “Don’t you have something to do? Go do some work or whatever it is you pretend to do around here." She screams at the two women.

“Who are you to tell someone what to do in this company? If you were working, you wouldn’t see them.” Jurnee walks into the area with Cisley behind her.

Brynn drops her head. "Shit."

“That’s what I thought.“ Jurnee looks around at everyone. “I know that you all are curious as to who we are. I’m Jurnee DePavia Vaughan, wife of Ingo Vaughn. Also, the Ceo of this company is the same as my husband. This young lady is my assistant, Cisley Furneo. Let it be known that when she tells you something. Never have any doubts that it didn't come from me. My door is always open, and all conversations are confidential. Another thing I won’t tolerate is bullying. You all have the same title, which means none of you is above anyone. If I’m not mistaken, Thora is the manager of this department." She looks at Brynn. "Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone is looking at Brynn with her head still down.

Cisley looks at Brynn and thinks, "Your ass is so screwed."

*****

Nazya and Muhammad just finished having dinner with the young ladies. Safnaz was included in the dinner, but Nazya didn’t like her. She can’t put her finger on it, but this young lady really rubs her the wrong way. Dalal, a petite young lady, has won her over. But Muhammad is partial to Fariha. She is quiet. He liked that about her.

They are in the Majlis discussing the two women when Sazin creeps in. “As you can see, Safnaz is the right choice for Salman.”

She cut her eyes at him. Muhammadrubbed her hand. “Father, we have sent the young lady of your choice home. Safnaz is definitely not for Salman. We have narrowed the two women to two young ladies who will have to meet with Salman. Our son will make the final decision. No, they’re not Jurnee, his first and only choice. But he should have some input into who he will lie with. Not the woman that you made a deal with her parents. Yes, I know about that. “ He looks at his father.

Nazya's head snaps, looking at Sazin, thinking, "I knew it was something. Bastard."

“It was for a good cause.” Sazin is about to sit down when he hears.

“Mother, I’m back.” Salman walks into the room and over to her. He bows to his father and hugs his mother.

Sazin walks over to him. “It's good to have you home.”

Salman doesn’t look at him. He looks at his father. “I hope you are happy now. Juju had to agree to marry a man that she had never met or loved because she and I couldn’t be together. As I will marry a woman that I don’t love and have never met.” He walks out of the Majlis.

"Dear, it'll take our son longer than I thought to get over that young lady." Muhammad is looking at his son's back.

"What do you expect? She is the only woman that he has ever been an inmate with. That is the only reason he wants to marry Jurnee. All I can say is she must be damn good in bed, or she has brainwashed him. I warned you that it was unhealthy for him not to take advantage of his female servants." Sazin yells and walks out.

“Muhammad, that man is too much. “ Nazya shakes her head. “If Salman had heard him say that. All I can say is it wouldn’t have turned out good, no, not good at all."

*****

Imelda is holding a sealed envelope as she and Maci are looking at the six large suitcases, a carry-on, and an overnight bag. Every time Imelda starts to open the envelope, she ends up blurting out the names of women that she knows Ingo has had some relationship with.

“I just hope it's not Brynn Ackles, “ Maci mumbles and points at the envelope. “Are you going to open it? The suspense is killing me."

“I might as well get it over with. Then we’ll move everything to the master bedroom and unpack.“ Imelda takes a deep breath and opens it. “Well, now it’s not Brynn. Damn, I have never heard of this one before.” She’s looking at Maci, pulling a suitcase toward Ingo’s bedroom. “Wrong room. It seems that Mrs. Jurnee Vaughan will be sleeping in the guest room. We also have the night off. I like her already."

Maci is looking at her, concerned. “Can she just give us the night off?”

“Child, yes, she is Mr. Ingo’s wife. Therefore, she’s our boss. Go ahead and take the luggage. I have a few things to do for our boss, and then I’ll be there to help you. Maybe I should call Mr. Ingo so he won't be blindsided.”

*****

Ingo just walked into his office after his last meeting for the day. Imelda called him to give him the news that his wife's luggage had arrived. She and Maci won't be there tonight because they were given the night off. She didn't mention anything about the guestroom.

After hanging the phone up, he realized the woman he was told he wouldn't have to meet had moved into his penthouse and considered it their home. He looked at Thora walking down the hall. He hadn’t seen Jurnee or Cisley since he left her office this morning. Ingo had thought about asking Jurnee to join him for lunch. But he had a strong feeling that she would decline the invitation. He was about to call Faun to his office to ask what Thorawass meeting with Jurnee about when Faun beeps him to let him know Beverly is on the phone.

“s**t, I had forgotten about her. Well, I can’t take her out. Not while the ball and chain are here.” He decided to tell her that he was in meetings all day. He’ll call later this week. His thoughts go to Jurnee and the Prince.

Griffin walks into his office. “I had Penna send Doug a couple of ideas for his commercial. He will arrive tomorrow at nine to sign the contract.” He notices that Ingo hasn’t heard a word he said, so he taps the desk a few times.

Ingo glances up at him. “Yeah, man, I heard you. I was thinking about my wife and Prince Salman. They have been dating for years. Hell was even engaged to him.” He is on his computer googling Salman. “Son of a b***h. There he is in a picture with my wife. They seem to be on a yacht somewhere. Look at this one with his damn hands all over her beautiful ass.”

Griffin walks behind the desk to look at the pictures. He is staring at Jurnee and rubs his chin. "Do you think he is still interested in her? I don’t know what happened to them. But damn, they look happy as hell. s**t, to be honest, they look like a couple in love.”

Ingo slams his hand on the desk and breathes hard.

"I'd better change the subject. I came to see if you're ready to leave. I can use a drink right about now." Griffin is looking confused at Ingo's balled-up fist.

"Oh s**t. What time is it?’ Ingo’s looking at his watch. “I can't go tonight. My wife wants me home by seven.” He’s running out of his office.

“Damn, I never thought I would ever see this s**t. Not Ingo. Damn. Griffin walked to the door, looking at Ingo pacing in front of the elevator, waiting for it to open.

*****

When Jurnee arrived at the penthouse, Imelda and Maci had already left as she had requested. She just wanted to take a hot bubble bath and relax before she headed into the kitchen. Jurnee replays today's event in her head as she walks to the kitchen. She knows that she had seen Brynn before, as her father told her the same thing earlier on the phone. Chamblee said that he would ask around about her.

The first thing Jurnee does is turn on Lady Marmalade by Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink, and Li Kim. She’s dancing around the kitchen while making a pitcher of sangria. Jurnee is so into singing, dancing, and cooking that she doesn’t hear Ingo come into the kitchen. He’s propped against the wall, looking at her and smiling. Ingo is looking at the beautiful 5'9 brown eyes, long blonde hair, slender, fit, and not to mention long legs that every woman wants to have. She frequently works out for movies to tighten her body. Jurnee is wearing a sexy yellow mock-neck sleeveless crop top and a pair of low-cut waist denim shorts. Ingo wipes the sweat from his forehead and licks his lips.

She’s dancing to You Right by Doja Cat, and when it ends, she spins around and sees him standing there. Ingo claps, “You have a beautiful voice and are a good dancer.” He walks over to the oven, turns on the light, and peeks in it

“Thank you. I didn’t know I had an audience,” she started making a mint dressing for the Fattoush salad.

He nods his head, looking at the rack of lamb. “It smells good. I came in on the ending. I’m sorry I missed all of the show.” Ingo is looking at a pan with rosemary roasted potatoes, Baby carrots, and zucchini with orange and thyme. He picks up a Batbout that is in the bread basket. “Mmm,” He’s opening the cabinet but stops when Jurnee hands him a glass of sangria. She turns her head, trying not to laugh, and closes her eyes. Ingo drinks it and frowns, and looks at her. “You forgot to add the wine and Bandy.”

“No, I didn’t forget. I’m not much of a drinker. I don’t drink spirits. Well, I have to take that back. A couple of days ago, I drank my first glass of whiskey, which was raunchy.” She chuckles, looking at him and pouring some brandy into the sangria. "Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. If you want to freshen up, I hope you are not allergic to peanut butter."

He's walking out of the kitchen. "No, not that I know of." Once he's in the hall, he jogs to the bedroom. He's looking around the room but doesn't see that anything of Jurnee's is in there. He scratches his head and walks to the closets, looking for her clothes. "I know not," he says, walking into the bedroom across the hall. Once he sees her purse on the bed and a picture of her and her father on one of the nightstands, he turns around to go back to his room 'Damn it," He yells as he walks to the bathroom to shower.

Jurnee is setting their plates on the table when he walks into the room wearing a pair of white basketball shorts and a white tank top. She glances over at him and nods her head.

Ingo chuckles. “Everything looks delicious.” He pulls her chair out and takes her hand, helping her to sit down.

She smirks as she sits down and thinks, “Oh, Ingo Vaughan, don’t for one second believe that I’m that gullible or stupid.”

During dinner, they tell each other about themselves. They are having dessert and coffee in the living room. Jurnee's phone starts ringing. She knows it is Cisley because the song Baby Shot Me Down is her ringtone. Cisley changed it to that on the plane. She says that Jurnee is going to shoot Brynn and Ingo down.

He is looking at her talking on the phone, which lasts about two minutes. Jurnee said, "I want to meet him tomorrow. Set it up. I can’t have that.“ She hangs the phone up and picks up an envelope. “Tell me about this bullshit.”

Ingo looks at her, confused, and pulls a picture out. It’s of him and Brynn at a picnic. Then, a picture of her hand with a ring says he finally popped the question and is off the market. “I have never given her a damn ring. Nor have I ever popped the damn question. Hell, I married you, and I didn’t even ask you. That picture was taken two months ago at the yearly company picnic.” He’s shaking his head. "I knew I should have stopped f*****g around with her ass a long time ago.

Jurnee sits down and picks up her bowl of peanut butter cup trifle and thinks, “You and your b***h will pay for this.”