Losing Pieces of Me (6 page)

Chapter Nine

   This is the part where we start living as man and wife right?  Sleeping in the same room, eating together, spending time together, isn’t that what normal couples do?  I guess Jayden’s idea of
normal
, is not what everyone else views as normal.

   We’ve been here for a week.  One. Entire. Week.  And how many times have I seen my new husband?  One.  This is the part where we’re supposed to get to know one another better because at some point we’re going to end up being out together in society as man and wife or even with members of his family.  Wouldn’t it be beneficial for the both of us if we’re on the same page?  Discussing things like what we want to tell them about how we met and how long we’ve been dating in secret before we decided to get married.  I know it won’t be long before the tabloids discover that the most eligible bachelor is no longer a bachelor and when that moment arrives, it would look bad if we’re blindsided and they write anything less than favorable.  I seem to be the only one of the two of us that sees the bigger picture here, he has to prove to the board that we’re actually legitimately married.  It would help if I knew something beyond my husband’s name and the city he lives in.

   The issue is, he came to drop off an envelope at my door before he was forced to run away without a word.  Why?  That damn phone started ringing.  My hopes were kind of dashed after that moment.  I was hoping we could explore the area before we’re forced to return to New York.  Not everyone can say they get an all expenses paid trip to Mexico and can buy whatever they want.

   Inside the envelope, I find a stack of cash and a set of instructions to head downstairs to the waiting town car that will take me where I need to go to buy the things I need for when we get back to New York.  He also said that if I run out of money, the stores can charge it to his account.  Normally girls would be all over this and want to spend all the money they can on things that they’ll never actually wear, but the thing is, I’m not like most other girls.

   I pull on some comfortable clothes, my sneakers, and throw my hair up into a messy ponytail before I step out of the room and head downstairs.  When I get there, there’s only one car at the curb and with the way the man is standing there smiling at me, I would assume that’s the car that is going to take me where I’m supposed to go.

   “Right this way, Mrs. Leopold,” greets the driver as he holds the door open to the backseat of the car.  I look around me trying to figure out if he’s talking to someone else, but want to hit myself on the forehead when I realize that I’m Mrs. Jayden Leopold.  That’s going to take some getting used to.

   “Thank you,” I smile up at the driver when he clears his throat.

I settle into the backseat and try not to fidget as the car pulls away from the curb.  I’m nervous, I’m not sure what he’s told people about me or how I am supposed to behave.  I’m out of my element, and I don’t like feeling like I’m not in control of the situation.

   Pulling up to an expensive looking store, I suddenly don’t want to get out of the car.  This isn’t a place where I would normally shop and I look like I just fell out of bed and forgot to put on the expensive clothing I should own.  But the longer I sit there and stare up at the store from the inside of the car, the more I realize that this is the life I signed up for and I must play the part.  Just because my husband isn’t around to make sure things run smoothly, that doesn’t mean I can’t at least look the part, right?

   “Might as well buy some new clothes, right?” I say to myself as I push the car door open and step out onto the sidewalk.  No one seems to notice me as I stand there and stare up at the expensive looking store before me.

   “Mrs. Leopold, is everything all right?” the driver is now standing next to me.  See what I mean?  I look like a fish out of water, I’m just standing here looking at the damn store like I’ve never seen one before.  This has got to stop, I’m going to have to pull out all the stops to make it appear that I know what I’m doing.

   “Yes, everything is fine,” I reply as I square my shoulders and approach the store.

   I pull the door open and step inside and have a look around.  Everything smells new and expensive in this place.  This is my first time in a place like this, so I struggle to not allow my mouth to hang open in shock.  I feel completely out of place when I catch the two girls behind the counter glaring at me and whispering.  I know what they are thinking right now, that I can’t afford to be in a place like this.

   One of the girls, I would say she’s the braver one, comes out from behind the counter and approaches me.  She’s wearing a really nice jacket, matching shirt, and pants; she has a nice style so I’m kind of hoping this will be the girl who helps me to select some clothing today.

   “Can we help you, miss?  Are you lost?” she asks, eyeing me over once before plastering a fake smile on her face.

   The girl behind the counter turns to the side to try and hide her laughter, but it’s too late, I’ve already seen it.

   I cross my arms over my chest and glare at her, “Does it look like I’m lost?  The car dropped me off here, so believe me, I’m not lost.  Are we going to get this over with, or are you going to just stand here and play twenty questions for the rest of the day?”

   I almost snort out loud when I see her mouth drop open.  Yeah lady, I’m not your typical rich snob, I have one hell of a mouth on me.

   “We only take appointments,” says the girl behind the counter.  She looks more out of place here than the girl who asked me if I’m lost.  “So, when would you like to make an appointment for?  We’re closed for the rest of the day, we’re expecting a very important client.”

   I almost laugh at her, clearly they are in for the shock of their lives.

   “I am your appointment,” I deadpan.

   “Clearly you don’t see how things work here and we are going to have to ask you to leave,” says the one who asked me if I was lost.  Clearly she’s enjoying this based off of the smile and triumphant look on her face.

   “Like I said, I’m your appointment.  Would you like me to call my husband so you can tell him that I’m lost?”

   She doesn’t seem to realize that I am absolutely one hundred percent serious, so I pull out my phone and dial Jayden’s number.  I just pray he answers the phone because if I tell them Jayden is my husband, they’ll never believe me and I’ll have to suffer the embarrassment of them kicking me out of here.

   “I’m really busy right now, Mireya, can you make it quick?” He sounds so thrilled to hear from me right now.

   “Yes you can, the ladies here in the store don’t believe I’m your wife and want to kick me out of here,” I tell him while glaring at the two women standing before me.

   “Put one of them on the phone,” he growls in annoyance.  I’d hate to be her right about now, he does not sound happy.

   “He wants to talk to you,” I tell her smugly, passing her my phone.

   “Hello?” the girls asks slowly into the phone.  I can hear Jayden yelling on the other end.  The girl’s eyes widen as she looks up at me.  See, I wasn’t lying to you was I?  “Yes, I understand, Sir,” replies the girl looking at the other one with wide eyes.

   She pulls the phone away from her ear and hands it back to me.  I look down at it, hoping by chance he might still be on the line, but he’s not.  He’s left me to fend for myself on this one.

   “If you will follow me this way, Mrs. Leopold,” she says, gesturing for me to follow her.  Now all of a sudden she doesn’t have an attitude.  The other girl runs to the front door and locks it just as another patron is about to come inside.

    “That isn’t necessary, you don’t have to close the place down just because I’m here.”

   The girl gives me a funny look, “Didn’t Mr. Leopold tell you?  He paid for the place to be closed today.  We are to only service you today and make sure you receive an entire wardrobe.”

   Well, I guess I can’t argue with that, it would look bad.

   “Okay,” I say with a shrug.  “Lead the way then.”  The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can leave this place.

   I don’t end up leaving for another four hours.  In that time, I am measured, poked, and prodded at, all the while being told whether or not what I have on looks right for me.  I feel like a Barbie Doll getting all dressed up and then having to change twenty five times when that outfit doesn’t look right.  I think if I were a Barbie Doll, I would’ve gone through her entire wardrobe at least five times now.

   I can only imagine how much money was spent in this place today.  When we were done selecting all the outfits for me to have shipped home and ones for me to wear for the rest of the week, they asked me how much money I had on me.  When I told them how much money I have, they kindly held their hand out for the money and told me they would charge the rest of the bill to Jayden’s credit card.  I didn’t dare ask how much the bill was.  I had five thousand in the envelope, so imagine how much more went on his card.

   I almost end up telling the girl to return some of the items she’s selected, but I decide that probably wouldn’t be the wisest decision right now.  I don’t know this girl and for all I know if she suspects something is not right with my new marriage, she might call the local paper and sell her story to the highest bidder.  No thank you, I need this marriage to work.  So I just smile at her as I take the bag of clothes for me to wear until I get back to New York and walk out of the store.

   I look back once at the many clothing racks that will be shipped back to New York and cringe.  There’s enough clothing there to fill an entire walk-in closet and more clothing than I’d be able to wear in the next three months.  I bet that was his plan too, since he said I get to keep whatever I obtain during our marriage.  It’s a nice gesture on his part, but I still don’t feel right taking it.  Maybe I’ll talk to him when I see him later.

That sounds like a good plan to me, only I don’t get to talk to him later.

   The next few days were not as bad as my first day married, but almost as bad. I’ve been to the hair salon where I was given a hair treatment to make my hair look like that of a supermodel, an entire spa day in which I was told it was to make me look young and beautiful-I was a little offended by that comment the masseuse made- and then there was the trip to the accessory store and what I like to call the finishing school.  I’ve been taught things that I thought I would never need to know.  Which fork is used during what course at dinner, how to hold a wine glass properly, and even how to walk straighter.  I didn’t even know there was anything wrong with the way I was walking until right now.  Apparently I’ve been going through life walking and acting completely wrong.  I didn’t even know that acting a certain way made it wrong, guess I was wrong.

   All the while, I’m lonely.  I miss my sister and the person that should be here giving me these lessons is off working somewhere or hiding from me.  Who knows what he’s doing right now.  I’m going to have to talk to him when we get back to New York because this isn’t working.

   I eat every single meal alone and entertain myself at night with watching movies and reading books.  At least I was allowed to buy some books, I think I would die of boredom at night if I didn’t have something to occupy some of my time.

   By the end of the week, I realize where I stand and how the next three months will go.  I should be glad that I’ll be left to myself, but like I said at some point it won’t just be me and him in the room and without him telling me about his friends and family, this is sure to fail.  Perhaps this whole situation was never meant to be.

Chapter Ten

   “Welcome home, Sir,” greets a man at the front door.

   This place is much bigger than I thought it would be.  I expected the gate and the manicured lawn, but this place is
massive
.  The houses here are far apart due to their size and I am absolutely in love with this place.  I’ve always had a life where I was left living on the edge of poverty, so to move into a place like this is a dream.  I just wish that I would get to stay here.

   The second we pull up front, Jayden steps out of the car and opens the front door to walk inside, leaving standing there looking up at the house before me.  A Beautiful white home with rows upon rows of windows for natural light and as I look around me, I realize that this is the white picket fence life that every girl wishes she could have, this one is just on a much larger scale.

“Mrs. Leopold, are you coming?

I turn to find the same man standing by the door staring at me.  His voice is pleasant enough, but I sense a level of disdain in his voice as he speaks to me.  I’ll have to watch myself living here, I can tell this man is suspicious of me even though clearly Jayden had told him I was coming here.  How else would he know who I am?

   I expect to find Jayden inside waiting for me, but he’s nowhere to be found when the door closes behind me.

   “Stay here and don’t touch anything, I’ll get Bridget to show you to your room,” the man says as he passes me and heads off further into the home.  What a nice warm welcome.

   I don’t dare move as I stand there in the doorway staring at the space around me.  Clearly a woman doesn’t live here because everything is masculine and this place lacks a certain woman’s touch.  There’s no paintings or any decorations, the furniture I can see from here is all leather and masculine.  He doesn’t seem like he does a whole lot of entertaining here.  I want to go into the living room and look around, but I’m afraid I’ll make an enemy if I move from this spot and the last thing I need right now is someone who is suspicious of me.  I bet he thinks I’m here to wipe Jayden clean.

   “Hello there,” I turn to the sound of a feminine voice and find an older woman who I would assume is Bridget.  “You must be the new lady of the house, my name is Bridget.”

   “Nice to meet you Bridget, my name is Mireya,” I smile shyly at her as I offer her my hand to shake.  She takes it willingly and returns my smile.  I think I’m going to get along with Bridget, she seems so much nicer than the man who let me in.

   “What a beautiful name,” she compliments me as she lets go of my hand so she can smooth hers over her apron.  I think she’s nervous because her apron doesn’t have a single crease or wrinkle on it.

“I am the housemaid, please allow me to show you to your room,” she says, walking a short distance away from me and towards the set of stairs just inside the front entrance.

   I slowly follow her up, admiring the beauty of my new home as we walk.  We get to the second floor and instead of continuing towards another flight of stairs that I assume leads to more bedrooms upstairs, she takes a right and leads me to a single door at the end of the hallway.  She pushes the door open and stands to the side so I can enter before her.

   I stand to the side so she can enter behind me and take the time to look around my new room.  Much to my dismay, this room is not Jayden’s room.  So then the maid must be aware that this marriage is fake or thinks we are already having issues.  Don’t get me wrong, the room is beautiful with a bed raised on a platform, a desk in the corner, a settee, and my own private balcony outside.  Anyone would be happy to be staying in a room like this, the issue is that I’m supposed to be Jayden’s wife, not a guest staying in the home for the weekend.

   “Can I ask you something, Bridget?”

   “Of course you may ask anything you would like, Mrs. Leopold,” the maid says as she comes to stand before me.

   “Please call me Mireya, Mrs. Leopold is too formal for me.”

   She gives me a funny look and inside I curse myself.  That probably wasn’t the way I am supposed to behave.

   “Okay then, Mireya, ask away.”

   “Why am I not shown to Jayden’s room?” I ask her.  I probably shouldn’t ask, but I have to know what reason he’s given her about why we are not sharing the same bed.

   “This is just a room in case you need your space, Mireya.  Jayden will show you to the master bedroom later when the time is right. I’m sure he’s just making sure everything is in order before he brings you upstairs.”

   “His room isn’t down here?” I ask her as I tilt my head to the side and stare at her.

   She shuffles nervously from foot to foot, clearly she knows something she’s not telling me.

“The entire third floor is his room.  If you have everything you need, I’ll just be heading back downstairs to help prepare for tonight’s dinner,” she abruptly announces as she hurries to leave the room.  She didn’t even ask me if I needed anything.

   For some reason, Jayden has given my own room and won’t bring me up to see the master bedroom.  In a way I appreciate the fact that he’s given me my own space, but I would’ve settled for having a private room that I can hide in when I don’t want to see him.  Having my own room with my own bed raises too many suspicions about what’s really going on here.  Suspicions lead to questions, questions lead to investigations, and investigations eventually lead to the truth.

   I walk to one of the closed doors on the other side of the room and find the bathroom.  Frustrated, I open the other door and find a closet, unfortunately the damn thing is empty.  So my clothes aren’t here yet, what am I supposed to wear until my clothing gets here?  Not to mention I don’t have my bag up here yet so I can at least look for something clean to wear.

   I have no choice but to head back downstairs and look for Bridget so I can ask her where my bag is.  I head down the stairs, but when I get to the bottom, I scratch my head because I have no clue where the kitchen is in this place.  I smell something cooking and banging of dishes against the counter, so I head in the direction of the sound.  I get to the kitchen and am about to enter when I hear voices inside that stop me.

   “Who is she?” I recognize the man’s voice.

   “I’m not sure, all I know is that’s his wife.  I didn’t even know he was dating anyone.  This should be rather interesting don’t you think?” that’s Bridget he’s speaking with.

   “Indeed, it should be very interesting, especially since he’s given her a separate room.  Probably so he can still bring his women here.  I feel bad for the poor girl, she seems like a nice person,” I didn’t know he thinks I’m a nice person.  Honestly, I didn’t think he liked me very much.

   I feel like a creep standing out here listening to their conversation, so I back up and stomp my feet a little bit harder than necessary so they can hear someone is coming.  I make sure their conversation has stopped before I round the corner and enter the kitchen.

   “Excuse me, I hope I’m not interrupting,” I tell them as I enter the kitchen.

   “Not at all,” smiles Bridget as she sets down the spoon in her hand and steps closer to me.  “What can I help you with?”

   “I’m trying to locate my bag, I have some things inside I would like to put away.”

   She turns to the man still standing with the pot in his hands, staring at the two of us, “Alfred, can you please show Mireya where her bag is?”

   Alfred doesn’t look very pleased that he has to help me, but he sets the pot down anyways and proceeds to walk out of the kitchen.

   “He doesn’t like me very much, does he?” I ask when I’m sure he’s gone.

   “He’s just worried, that’s all.  He doesn’t know you, just give him some time to get to know you,” she says as she pats me on the shoulder.

   “You’d better go and get that bag before he wonders what happened to you,” she tells me, giving me a gentle shove out of the kitchen.

   “Thank you,” I tell her when I turn back to look at her before I turn once more and head back out towards where I think Alfred ran off to.

   I don’t have to look very long to find him, he’s standing by the front door with my bag in his hand.  “Here you go Mrs. Leopold,” he says, handing me my bag.

   “Thank you.  Alfred, I would prefer it if you called me, Mireya.”

   He gives me a horrified look, “No, I must insist that you remain Mrs. Leopold.  Calling you by your first name is highly unacceptable.”

“Okay then, I guess Mrs. Leopold it is then.”

I don’t say anything else as I head back up to my room and put what little clothing I have that’s clean in the empty closet.  I then grab one of the outfits and put it on.  I feel so much better when I have on a pair of jogging shorts and a tank top.  This wasn’t part of the clothing I bought in that store in Mexico, I went out of my way to find another store so I could purchase this.  I can’t always be expected to wear such fancy clothes, that’s just not who I am.

   I then stand there looking around the room wondering what I’m supposed to do now that I’ve put away what little clothing I have.

I decide to go and sit outside on the balcony for a while hoping that I can come up with something to do.  I find a porch swing outside so I sit down on it and pull my feet up underneath me as I stare out at the ocean in the distance.  The view out here is so beautiful, in the distance there’s just mile upon mile of ocean.  I can see a very nice pool from here, but I’m not quite in the mood to get up yet and go explore the rest of the house.  If this is what I’m going to spend most of my time doing, I’m going to need to take my time exploring this place.

   Instead, I sit there and think about what my next move will be to try and find my sister.  I still don’t have the money to hire a private eye because I don’t get the money until the three months is up so I’m going to have to see what I can do from here while I wait for that money.  Who knows, maybe I’ll find Katrina before then and I won’t have to spend the money.

   I finally decide that tomorrow will be the day that I start to explore the rest of the house.  I bet he has an office somewhere that might have some clues into what his brother has been up to and perhaps even where he lives so I can try to pay my new brother-in-law a visit.

Wishful thinking, right?  Yeah, I know that, but I don’t have a whole lot of options right now.  Unfortunately, soon that becomes the least of my worries.