The Assistant (46 page)

“I’m so sorry about him,” I apologised in a hushed tone, making the guests in the first few rows laugh.

“It’s alright dear, I can see someone is eager to be married. So, by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss-”

The minister wasn’t even able to finish his sentence as I felt Adrian’s arms encircle my waist and pull me into another deep kiss, before lifting me up bridal style and making me let out a high-pitched squeak of surprise.

“My wife kisses better than my fiancé,” he announced, making both Amy and me laugh while the others looked at us in confusion.

“Does that mean I can take you to the hotel room and have my way with you now?” Adrian asked, smirking.

I gave him a flat look. “
No.
We still have to go to the reception!”

Adrian groaned in annoyance before walking me down the aisle – still in his arms. “Can’t they go without us?”

“Keep this up and the only way you’ll be having tonight is the highway back home while
I
enjoy the lovely hotel room alone,” I warned. “Oh! Did you tell Vera Wang that I said thank you for the dress?”

“Oh no.” He began in a deadpan voice. “I must have forgotten to; even after the 13 messages and constant reminders over breakfast.”

I scowled. “No need to be sarcastic.”

He began to make smooching noises. “I want another kiss.”

“Yeah, well, I want your mother to have my daughter-in-law’s boobs; but we can’t all get what we want in life can we?” A new voice spoke up just as we exited the church.

I laughed and Adrian rolled his eyes just as Mason Kingston stood in front of us and grinned. “Congrats, bestie. Now he’s your bitch for real.” Mason winked, before placing a kiss on my cheek and ruffling Adrian’s hair – who didn’t even bother to get it styled in the first place.

“Don’t worry, Mase, I’ll make sure to keep him on his toes just for you.” I winked, grinning.

“Let’s just get this day over and done with so nighttime can come faster and I can finally do what I’ve wanted to do all day – you.” Adrian spoke up, looking down at me with a broad grin.

“Adrian… I didn’t want to tell you before because I didn’t want to disappoint you on your wedding day, but… we can’t have sex. I… it’s that time of the month…” I trailed off, biting my lip to refrain from laughing at the lie I knew would shatter him.

“Don’t lie to me. I checked the bin this morning after you left to make sure-”

“You did
what?!
That is
so
disgusting, Adrian! What the hell!”

Adrian burst into a fit of laughter just as we arrived at the while limousine that was taking us to the reception hall. “I was joking Shortcake; although, maybe I should do that the next time you try to lie to me like that…” He trailed off.

“Don’t you dare or I will file for a divorce,” I warned, pointing my finger up at his nose.

“How long is the drive to the reception from here?” Adrian asked the driver suddenly, ignoring my warning completely.

“Uh… Depending on the traffic sir. It could take 20-30 minutes.”

“Good. Take the long way-”

“Oh no you don’t. Take the normal route and ignore him,” I ordered with a firm tone, before pressing the button to close the driver off completely so Adrian wouldn’t influence him any further.

“Hey! I’m paying for this service!” Adrian protested.

My eyebrows shot up. “Oh, is that the case? I guess I’ll just get out and ride with someone else. Maybe Daniel or Allen are willing-”

“No! No, forget what I said,” he grumbled.

“Do you hate people that much that you want to take the long way to
our
wedding?” I asked with a look of disbelief.

“No, I was hoping I’d get some in the time it took to get there. That’s why I wanted to make it longer.” Adrian smirked, moving closer towards and me and pulling me onto his lap – my puffy dress taking up most of the space in the car.

“Are you that impatient?!” I asked with a skeptical look.

“It’s not my fault you look so beautiful today. Have I told you how beautiful you look? Absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen anyone more beautiful than you, Emily.”

The fact that Adrian used my name instead of calling me Shortcake usually meant that he was serious – and for a moment, I actually believed him – then that familiar triumphant glint attached itself to his gaze and I found my eyes narrowing as I slapped his chest lightly. “Don’t try to flatter me into doing what you want in here.”

His victorious look instantly disappeared and was replaced with one of disbelief. “How did you know?! Is this the bad luck thing you were talking about? Me not getting any on my wedding night?”

“
No.
I’m just that good.” I smirked, pretending to check my nails out before grinning cheekily at him.

His gaze lingered on my smile momentarily before he shook his head and pulled me in for a short kiss. “I’m glad I fell in love with you.”

My grin slowly faded as I looked into his eyes. There was no glint in them this time, and my face instantly sobered up as a genuine smile tugged at my lips. “I’m glad I fell in love with you too.”

He snapped out of his glazed look after that and smirked. “So does that mean I can get some?”

I scowled and got off his lap before tripping over the layers of my dress. “Sure. If you can find a body part of mine underneath all of this material,” I mumbled sarcastically.

Adrian, however, took it as a yes, and instantly began bunching up the white material – desperately searching for any sign of a human limb; making me laugh at his determination.

***

Two Years Later…

I hated being pregnant.

You’d think I would’ve learnt to go on birth control a year and a half ago after having my first child and resembling a beach ball – but no, my lovely husband wouldn’t have that.

“Adrian, have you called Maria and checked up on Mason?” I spoke up randomly, cutting Adrian short of his sentence in the middle of the interview with a new neighbouring industry.

Adrian frowned at the interruption. “Yes Emily, 15 minutes before we came into this room, remember?” he asked with a warning look etched onto his features.

A brief flashback of the both of us standing at the entrance of our biggest meeting room as Adrian spoke rapidly over the phone to Maria, our babysitter and housekeeper, while I stuffed my face with the 5
th
Krispy Kreme
donut that was meant for the CEO sitting two chairs down from me.

I nodded sheepishly and took a sip of water in an attempt to avert the attention from myself before rubbing my stomach with a small smile on my face. The small life that currently inhabited my uterus was due any day now, and the amount of impatience Adrian was feeling towards this baby’s birth was annoying and amusing at the same time.

I didn’t want to know the sex of the baby this time around; I wanted it as a surprise for the both of us. Adrian, however, was beyond pissed off at that fact because he was no longer able to buy toys and presents for the child based on its gender like he did with Mason – and it was killing him internally.

“You could always buy yellow things, you know,” I spoke up, unaware that I accidentally interrupted the meeting yet again.

Adrian looked up, a frown of confusion engraved onto his forehead. “For what?”

I frowned. “The baby!”

Adrian’s frown increased. “Okay, I’ll buy it yellow things when this
very important meeting
is over.” The tone in his voice was final, and another warning look was given from him.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“Mr. Kingston, the price you want to sell these products for is barely enough to boost both your hotel’s financials as well as my company. We should increase the pricing by at least $15.00 to earn a fair share of the products sold-”

“Oh right, and make our
future
customers broke from their first purchase? Keep in mind that not everyone comes from a particularly wealthy background,” Adrian pointed out in a stone cold voice, narrowing his eyes at the CEO.

“You tell him.” I nodded, frowning angrily at the CEO myself.

“Emily, one more chance,” Adrian growled, almost losing his temper completely.

Then I felt it happen. It wasn’t painful – it felt more like a popping sensation throughout my body, before the velvet material of the chair began to soak up all the water that was currently running down my leg.

“Shit,” I muttered, before looking up at Adrian helplessly.

“What now?” he snapped, glaring down at me in complete rage. His glare instantly transfigured into a look of panic once I nodded in his direction and my hand flew to my stomach.

“Now?!” he asked, hazel eyes widening at the sight of me.

“Right now,” I confirmed in an uncomfortable voice, not liking the feeling of moisture in between my legs.

“Fuck,” Adrian muttered, before looking around the room. “Gentlemen, we’ll continue another day; I’m about to be the father of another one of my creations.”

“
Adrian.
” I groaned through clenched teeth as my first contraction ripped through my stomach, causing me to moan out in pain again.

“Oh shit. What the hell? Why is it happening so fast? How fucking eager is this kid to see the light of the world?! IT’S NOT THAT GREAT, STAY IN YOUR MOTHER!” Adrian yelled at my stomach.

“Oh my
God, Adrian!
Get me to a hospital and stop talking!” I snapped, trying to lift myself off the now soaking chair.

“We’re just going to go…” the CEO trailed off suddenly, looking in my direction with a horrified expression.

“I told you to do that 5 minutes ago,” Adrian barked, glaring at the men once again. Their eyes widened at his tone and scurried out of the conference room before any other words could be shared.

“Please, please I don’t want to do this again,” I begged, looking over at Adrian with a desperate look. “Why haven’t you called anyone yet?!” I screeched, just as another contraction tore through my lower stomach region like a ripple effect.

Adrian looked around the room again, hurriedly nodding to himself in the process. “Oh shit, right, um, here! Hold this!” A thin black inked pen was suddenly shoved into my grasp, before Adrian froze in front of me and realised what he had just done. “…Break it. Maybe it’ll make you feel better?”

I started laughing hysterically – partly because of the fact that Adrian had given me a pen in his moment of panic and partly because I was feeling another contraction coming along soon and was not ready to experience the pain again.

“Hospital,” Adrian squeaked, his usual deep voice also being overridden by panic.

“Why are you so nervous this time? When I was having Mason, you were all like ‘yeah that’s cool. Oh wait, what?
Oh
you’re in labour. I’ll talk to you at the hospital then. Shut up and stop your moaning, Emily it can’t be that bad.’ Remember that?” My eyebrows shot up as I gave him a condescending look as I recalled my first birthing experience.

Adrian cringed. “Yes, I do remember that, but that was before I… before I experienced the miracle of life.” His cringe increased as he shuddered – most likely due to recalling a memory of his own.

I clenched my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut tight just as another contraction violently attacked the inside of my stomach. “Yeah, I get it. Seeing the thing you like sticking your penis into so much open up and produce a baby within 8 hours isn’t great. But do you want to know something worse? Making that freaking thing open up for a freaking head to pop out of while
you
stand and watch! So get me to a freaking hospital
now
!” I cried, clenching my round stomach in pain.