Claimed By the Billionaire

17 The engagement party

The car turned into a driveway. It had big gates that opened as they came close to them.

As they drove through the gates they joined a long line of cars that were heading to a massive house at the end of the drive way.

“It seems we are late,” the driver said. “Ren, is not going to be happy.”

 Okafu’s stomach squeezed in something close to excitement. Her palms became clammy. By the looks of the cars there were a lot of people out there.  She bit her lip anxiously. 

She wasn’t ready to be seen by so many people. She’d barely accepted that she was engaged to Ren.

And now he was throwing a party?

 Why? Okafu asked herself lacking the answer.

The line of cars moved along too quickly for Okafu.

The next thing she knew it was her turn to be ushered out of the car. The lights at the front of the house where bright and everyone around her was in a festive mood. They laughed and joked as they made their way into the house.

 Celebratory decorations adorned the doorway, and to the side was a big poster announcing that this was an engagement party for Ren Amatapa and Okafu Machoma. A cluster of red hearts surrounded their names.

It looked like a normal engagement party with heart-warming decorations and extravagant displays.

Okafu faced the entry way to find Ren standing there waiting for her. He stood beneath the bright lights like something out of a very romantic dream. He looked magnificent. Her breath caught as her eyes crawled down his whole length.

His hair was freshly cut and trimmed on the sides. The white suit he wore fitted his masculine body to perfection. He looked amazing, like a man who was about to introduce the woman he loved as his fiancée to the world should.

But there was no love between them. Okafu was repaying her father’s debt.

 Couldn’t he have skipped the showy decorations?

She came to a stop next to him. Ren silently extended his right hand to her. Okafu accepted his offer. She fitted her hand with his. And he intertwined their fingers together. They walked hand in hand into the house like the perfect couple.

Okafu had no chance to look at the house as Ren guided her to where everyone was gathered.

Everything became a blare as Ren took her to a large room that looked like those ballrooms featured in many historical films. Crystal chandeliers dangled from above. Towering arrangements of flowers were strategically placed in every corner and table. The room was beautiful, dazzling. The people she’d seen outside turned as one as they walked in. They stood up from their chairs to usher them in with an applause. Okafu couldn’t believe all this was for them.

The people seemed to be happy for them, but they still stared at her, and talked amongst themselves as if she was some sort of alien.

Everywhere she turned eyes were on her. Okafu felt uncomfortable and wished she could run away and hide. Her hand tightened around Ren’s big one. She wished the whole charade could come to an end.

“You need to smile,” he whispered next to her ear. She tried to smile. Her smile came off as fake and forced.  Her nervousness was getting the better of her. Her stomach literally churned. It as a wonder she was not vomiting all over the place the way her stomach was roiling about, making her nauseas. 

Okafu breathed in a calming breath, and kept walking.

They came to a stop at the other end of the room where a table was set with two large chairs for them to sit. They were going to be on display. Everyone in the room was going to stare at them to their heart’s content.

The prospect of sitting there made Okafu’s nausea to climb another level.

Okafu searched for an escape. Her eyes collided with her mother’s at the edge of the table. She was near tears. Her father stood behind her mother, his face stern and uncompromising.

He had really sold her to the devil. And he didn’t even feel any remorse.

Okafu felt Ren’s hand on the small of her back like a brand. His ownership of her was clear to her and to everyone in the room.

He guided her to her chair. Okafu sat her eyes still on her mother.

The engagement ceremony begun with a lovely performance by Leo, a famous jazz singer. Everyone ooh and ahhed at the right moments as he sang his heart out. The crowd applauded some more when Ren suddenly stood up and pulled Okafu to the dance floor. Okafu wanted to resist but everyone was staring at them expectantly.

Ren pulled her into his arms and swayed to the music. Okafu closed her eyes and followed his lead. This was a dream. They were dancing. She wouldn’t have pictured him as a dancer.

She wanted to laugh. He was a man of contradictions. He was rough, dangerous and on the other hand he danced and offered her his hand to usher her into a room full of people she didn’t know.

Okafu didn’t miss the comfort that filled her body as he held her close. His arms circled her encouraging her to lean all her wait onto his body. Okafu leaned on his and rested her head on his shoulder. He was behaving like a lover should, touching her with a familiarity that felt so right.

Confusion clouded Okafu’s mind.

 “You look beautiful tonight,” Ren whispered into her ear. His lips touched her skin. Okafu shivered. It felt much like their time in her mother’s garden – the closeness, the way his body was almost plastered to hers. Okafu tried to create some space between them by pulling back, but he wouldn’t let her. His right hand glided down her bare back as he pulled her close.

Okafu moaned internally. He was making her dizzy with desire.

And she wanted more of his touch. Her body craved it.

 This had to stop.

“I think you keep forgetting something,” Okafu whispered back hoping he’ll step back from her. “I haven’t agreed to this.”

Ren was silent for a while that Okafu thought he wouldn’t answer her. When he did she regretted trying to get a rise out him.

“You have no choice, but to marry me. Your father’s debt is extraordinary.” He turned her around on the dance floor so that they were facing her father and mother’s table. They sat there looking lost – caught in the dazzle of what such a union with the Amatapa family would bring to their family and losing their daughter to man that was very dangerous the whole town was scared of him. “Your very life depends on this moment, whether you accept me or not. You will become my wife. So get used to it.”