“What do you mean you’re getting married?” Kat all but shouted as the siblings stood in the elevator.
She remained rooted to the spot, but her eyes were fixed on her brother, mouth left hanging open.
Letting out a small sigh, Michael turned to face his sister.
“What does it usually mean when a person says they’re getting married?” She gave a small shrug.
“If it was any normal person who said that, I’d say ‘congratulations’ and wish them all the happiness in the world.” “You’re saying I am not normal then?” Michael asked incredulously, before stepping out of the elevator, not bothering to wait for Kat, or to check if she was following.
Michael stepped outside of the office building and walked over to the sidewalk, where the sun radiated heavily off his red Ferrari.
Without wasting time, Michael got into the car and waited for Kat to do the same.
“You’re not a normal person; even you know that.” Katherine finally replied, settling into the passenger seat and fumbling with her seatbelt.
Growing very frustrated, Michael leaned over and helped her fix it before collapsing back into his seat and starting the engine of the car.
“Since we were kids, you’ve always, always, made it abundantly clear that you would never get married,” Kat said after a while.
Michael, with his eyes never leaving the road, responded.
“Things change.” Katherine scoffed at that.
“Just last month, when I asked if you were seeing somebody, you said relationships were not your thing.” Michael gave an exaggerated eye roll at Kat.
“Well, people also change, Kat.
Could you stop talking now?
You’re giving me a headache.” She turned in her seat so that the upper half of her body was facing her brother.
“Cut the crap, Michael.
Are you being serious?” Kat asked, her voice taking on a serious note.
“Yes,” Michael answered, making sure to inject as much seriousness into his tone as he could muster.
Kat’s brows lowered a fraction, and she appeared to be deep in thought, but for a long while, she said nothing.
“Who is she?” She finally asked.
“Nobody you know,” Michael answered without looking at her.
Katherine could tell when someone was lying to her just by looking into their eyes.
Michael figured she didn’t even know she could do something like that, which was why he had to avoid looking straight into her eyes whenever he wanted to tell a lie.
Kat thought for a while once more.
“How long have you been dating?” Michael’s brows furrowed at that.
The truth was that he hadn’t given it much thought; all he’d done was assure himself that Jean would accept his proposal and then things might kick off from there.
“We met some weeks ago.” He answered truthfully this time.
Kat looked every bit as shocked as he knew she would be.
“What… why… how… how can you marry a person you met some weeks ago?” She spluttered, and Michael smiled to himself.
“Perhaps if you saw her, you’d understand that I can indeed marry a person I met a few weeks ago, if they’re extremely good-looking.” * * * * * “Mom, tell Michael just how stupid it is to marry a person he’s met just a few weeks ago.” Daniella did not respond to her daughter immediately.
She simply remained seated, crossed-legged on the patio floor, a pair of reading glasses sliding down her nose as she studied the chessboard in front of her.
Playing chess had always been Kat and Daniella’s favorite thing to do back when they all lived together.
And now, they were reliving the moment, with Katherin seated opposite Daniella, head also bent over the board and the pieces.
Michael, on the other hand, was seated on the couch on the patio, red wine in his hand.
Despite his mother’s attempt to help him learn, he had never been a fan of the game.
Besides, he never had the time, not when his father was around anyway.
Michael studied his mother for a bit.
Daniella was a woman of fifty-six, but she looked every bit as young as a forty-year-old woman.
Her dark hair was packed into a nice, neat bun, and beyond the freckles scattered across her face, her skin was perfect.
Michael had inherited his mother’s distaste for things that were too luxurious, because despite all the money Daniella had, she had opted for a two-storey home that was situated very close to a beach.
It was very quiet here, which was what Daniella had always wanted.
Peace, something she could never really have when her husband had been alive.
Michael pulled out his phone and began tapping away, breathing in the nice summer breeze and letting the sound of roaring waves in the distance wash over him.
Despite the company and work, Michael felt that he would not mind something like this.
A nice house, nothing extravagant, a perfect view, just like his mother’s, howver he did not want it alone.
“It does sound ridiculous.” Daniella finally spoke, and a triumphant smile spread across Kat’s face.
“But when have you ever known your brother to be logical when it comes to women?” She ended, and a small smile crept up Michael’s face.
Katherine frowned at that as she moved a chess piece across the board.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to let him go on with it?” Katherine questioned.
Daniella merely shrugged, never taking her eyes off the board, a wise decision because Kat knew how to play dirty.
“What can I do, Kat?
He never listens to me.” Daniella answered with a motherly fondness, and Michael’s smile grew.
“I’ll bring her over soon.
You’ll see that she’s a nice-looking girl.” Michael spoke.
Kat rolled her eyes at that, but Michael ignored her, and so did Daniella as she turned to lay her blue eyes, which looked very much like her son’s, on him.
“I am hopeful that yours will be a happy marriage.
I am grateful for you both, and I pray each day that you find people who love you every bit as much as you love them.” Daniella finished there and returned to her game with Katherine.
Michael knew what his mother was saying, and even though he knew he was forcing Katherine into a marriage, just like his father had done to his mother, he assured himself that he had her interest at hand.
I’ll never be like him.
He repeated to himself.