-53-When hero meets villain.
"Remember the finest love comes from the most painful experiences. And it will make you grateful for the wait." [Christian]
....
After meeting her husband, Stuart realized one thing. Which he was sure of. He can't be an underprivileged man. No miserable man can match his stare. The way he did. Not even for a moment, he had tried to evade eye contact with him. Which was strange evaluating his reality. Even if someone did, they wouldn't be as confident as he was. 'The energy that is radiating off from his persona is too extraordinary to be a beggar. 'Who are you Mendicant? Why do I feel I saw you somewhere? Where did I saw you?'
"Stuty pooh."
'No response.'
Riley placed the glass of water on the table, hurriedly, and nudged him.
"Hey, Georgie where are you lost? I have been calling you for the last 5 minutes."
Smiling sheepishly he rubbed his neck,
"I was thinking about some important things."
"Oh really? Tell me about it? What's more important for you than me?"
'Should I tell her what I am thinking?'
'No, it's a bad idea considering she won't believe me even if I did. First I need to collect some evidence for it.'
"Nothing can ever be more valuable than you for me, Jelly bug. come here."
Riley stuck her tongue out and tried to flee. Only to be caught by him in between his armpit. Her neck in his hold.
"You can never run away from me. Jelly bug. I will always catch you."
Bending a little he whispered in her ear and tickled her. As They both giggled.
Stepping inside Christian frowned at their sight. They were laughing at something that he was sure wouldn't be funny. His hold upon her neck stung his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to strangle the man who dared to touch his wife. Perhaps he would have done so if he was as innocent as lamb. His lies were too many to try something that absurd.
'How can you forget about me, Riley? Don't you even care that I am your husband? Even if you assume our relationship is only for the show. It's only polite to respect it.'
Yet, a few seconds later on He suddenly realized he couldn't succumb to him. He can not be defeated so easily by him. He needed to compete for her. So To make his presence known, he called her in a loving voice.
"Honey."
They both moved their neck towards him clearly in surprise. the next instant. It was funny that he felt they both might have craned their necks considering the speed they both twisted their neck. Riley immediately pushed Stuart and strutted away from him. Dodging Stuart's eyesight.
He focused his sight on her, to sense even a little emotion from her face. Anything that could fix his insecurities, or give him some hope.
And he collected a small wave of emotion from her eyes. And the movement of her hands. She was rubbing them as if to alleviate a little guilt. So she does feel guilty. But Of what? For Flirting with her best friend? But didn't she already revealed their marriage's reality to him? 'Then why will she feel guilty. He must have imagined it.'
"Yes, Mindy."
He also noticed her shifting uncomfortably from one foot to another. So he maintained his calm and spoke.
"Food is getting cold."
"Uh. Yeah, you are right Mindy. You guys talk, I will set the table."
"Okay." He nodded towards her uttering a single word.
Stuart noticed their strange interaction. He also saw her move of maintaining distance from him in front of her contracted husband. 'Why did you pushed me away Riley in front of him? Are you already in love with him?' The more he was watching them together, the more it was becoming clear to him that there was a chance of her liking him. Although the man was wearing simple clothes, nothing costly! but his aura said otherwise. He could also make out his abs from the clothes. 'Can a singer who sings for money on street have abs? It sounded ridiculous even in his head.'
After Riley left, Christian requested Stuart to sit down.
"Please Sit down Mr. Stuart."
"Oh. Okay."
Silence. Unbearable silence. For a few moments, no one spoke. So Christian made the first attempt to start a conversation. Since it was his sacrament to make him feel welcome in their home. To show some hospitality despite his internal hatred for him.
"So I heard from Riley you saved her two years ago from death."
A smile graced his lips. A deliberate one to irritate her husband. "Yeah. I did. So she did tell you a lot about me."
Christian frowned at his choice of words. So he said through a fake smile "No. Not a lot. It was just on two occasions."
"Oh. Okay." Stuart nodded.
But then spoke again in a tone that insinuated he was nothing to Riley.
"I heard you saved her from an accident. Thank you Mr. Mendicant for protecting my Riley. I owe you a lot."
Clenching his fists on the sides, he said through gritted teeth.
"She is my wife. You don't have to thank me. I must place my life before her."
"You are forgetting Mr. She is not your real wife. You are in a contracted marriage." Stuart suggested.
"I think you understood it wrong Mr. Stuart. We are married legally, there's no piece of a contract between us. So don't say it again and again."
"What do you mean?" The same condition that was of Christian a moment ago changed into his. As sweat gathered on his forehead and a blue vein protruded on his head. Perhaps the less wrong he was the more right he would feel. Christian allowed his conscience to peep in as he revealed the most validated scene to him.
"We haven't signed any contract. It's a real marriage."
"But last night, Riley said you guys married only for the show."
"What she said is true. It's a verbal contract."
'That I haven't agreed upon. And probably will never agree upon.' He was almost tempted to shatter his happiness and overconfidence. But then kept it to himself. He will make sure to make him fall from the sky.
For a few moments, Stuart felt numb. His face turned pale. The smile fell from his face. 'What did you do Riley? A verbal contract. How can you be so foolish as to not abide by the written contract? How can it be considered a contractual marriage, if the procedure was not followed?'