So, the Muffin did a somersault...down the back steps. Thought he had broken his nose, but all is well. Shows two things: my child has a hard noggin and that my life is never boring. Yay for rwo year olds!

 

The lawyer was bewildered. It was carefully obscured by his dry professionalism, but Renee could tell. The quick looks to Colton as the estates were outlined, the barely noticeable hesitation before each ‘Mrs. Savage.’ Renee felt sorry for the man, more than anything, since Colton had noticed as well and was giving his best glower. That made the man, no doubt urbane and shrewd before a judge, visibly sweat.

“Are there any questions?”

Renee shook her head; she would never have understood it even if she had been paying attention.

“Then sign here, Ma’am.” The lawyer commanded, proffering a sheath of papers. “And here, here, here, here, and here.”

“Good thing I trust you,” Renee said with a weak attempt at humor. “Not that I have any money to sign away.”

Colton followed her example and inked his spiky signatures next to hers. He didn’t even half-smile. “I want notarized copies of this made and the original sent to my holding box. This as well.” The tattered, bloodstained paper declaring their marriage slipped into the lawyer’s briefcase. “There is to be no ambiguity as to the validity of this marriage, understand?”

The lawyer’s gaze flicked between them. “Yes, sir.”

“I’ll be ready in a minute.” Colton announced once the lawyer had left with the mound of papers.

Renee was dreading this afternoon. She felt stupid, since an afternoon of shopping at the choicest retailers in London with basically unlimited cash should be a dream come true. She wasn’t even into fashion and at first was thrilled at the idea. Now she felt sick.

Colton was back in a fresh shirt. Renee summoned up the courage everyone kept saying she had.

“Colton, I don’t want this.”

He looked up from his phone. “What do you mean?” He asked in sharp voice.

“Please, I really don’t need much. I can pay for some new clothes myself. And I don’t need estates and trust funds and things.”

He relaxed a little, it seemed like. “Oh. It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” Renee insisted. “You father worked hard for you and I don’t want to take it just because I am your wife.”

Surprisingly, he smiled; a real smile, wide and showing his teeth. “I never thought to hear those words from a woman’s mouth.”

“What, you expected your wife to be gold digger?”

“I never expected to get married at all.”

Renee flinched and did her best to hide it by leaning to retie her shoelace.

“Come on,” he said. “I know some places you’ll like.”

Her uncomfortable emotions made her sarcastic. “I’m sure you do.”

He had moved to help her to her feet and held her from walking away by gripping her elbow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She tried to recover. “Have you seen the way Alice dresses? I don’t think she gets that stuff at Sears.”

He didn’t quite believe her, she could tell. But nothing was going to induce her to bring up Felicia’s name or mention any other previous girlfriend. He examined her for a moment, then let it go.

500WC - what: two in row?

Renee had thought she had the man’s measure. But sitting at the breakfast table watching him absentmindedly eat scrambled eggs whites while reading his phone…if she had thought him unapproachable, he was now downright glacial.

“Do you have to work today?” she asked as he took a drink of mineral water. That seemed a safe question.

“No.” He shifted his focus to a slim laptop and typed, a crease deepening between his eyebrows.

“What are you doing?” She asked finally, once it seemed unlikely he would expound on his monosyllable.

He moved back to his phone, texting almost as fast as he had been typing. “Work.”

Another monosyllable and as enlightening as the last.  She shrugged and took a bite of her extremely unhealthy breakfast. Rosa had presented the steaming, aromatic dish with a flourish, waiting expectantly by the table as Renee took a satisfied bite. The woman’s beam of pleasure was worth every calorie of the concoction of pastry, cinnamon and cream. Renee had no idea what it was, but she could die happy having tasted it.

Piqued by Colton’s general terseness and unhuman adherence to spinach smoothies, Renee loaded up her fork and breathed a sigh of contentment.

“You should try this, Colton,” she said, a smile her parents would be wary of plastered across her face. “Its wonderful.”

He grunted, sparing a glance for the perfectly caramelized custard adorning the creation.

“It won’t kill you,” she cajoled, offering the fork. “Besides, all that rabbit food will cancel it out.”

A small success: he half smiled, one side of his mouth twitching up before he could stop it.

“No.” He countered. “But thank you.”

Well, she had tried. She ate the forkful a little rebelliously. She really should be eating better. But Rosa made such wonderful food and was obviously starved of appreciation for her talents.

“So, what are we going to do today?” Renee asked, assuaging her conscious by peeling an orange. And she had read that cinnamon was good for heart health.

Colton shut his laptop. “My lawyer is coming at 9. He will go over the estates with you.”

Before she could answer, Colton had dialed a number and was speaking Spanish much faster than she could follow. He repeated something several times, an order she thought, that the other person did not want to carry out.

“Llámame cuando oyes la palabra. Then you’ll get some clothes.”

Renee didn’t have the stomach to make a quip at his rudeness. She set down her fork. “Clothes?”

“The best way to stop this lesbian nonsense is to be seen together.” He looked over her. “You need some different clothes.”

She knew she was blushing and was cross. “What’s it matter?”

He answered both implied questions with one answer. “Its bad for my company and the shareholders.

She seriously contemplated hurling her breakfast all over his very lovely suit, perfectly creased and worn effortlessly. Instead she took another bite.

“Won’t it be dangerous to be out in public?”

He always had an answer for everything and it was annoying.

“Any known links will have trouble getting into the country. I have hired some security, as well.”

Renee managed a smile. “Aren’t you handy.”

He said nothing and went out. Renee sat and ate another helping, just to spite the universe.

500WC

I think I figured out what will happen next with these two. Enjoy!

Renee knew if she allowed her smile to slip for a moment, she would start bawling her eyes out.

“You sleep in here,” Colton announced, tossing her bags onto the wide bed. “I’ll be next door.” He left the room and the door shut. The walls in this residence were diametrically different to the worn elegance of his Spanish home. No sound penetrated between the rooms.

Renee sat on the bed and simply stared at the floor. The carpet was beautiful, a soft grey with the faintest hints of a pattern in the weave. It matched the coloring of the bedding and the rest of the room. The monochromatic tones were soothing, easing some of her tension after the day of hectic travel.

She slipped off her shoes and crept into the hall. Peeking around the corner, she double-checked his door was shut, then went back out to the main room.

The condo was in the upper half of a skyscraper, looking out over the lights of downtown London. Giggles rose up inside her as she took in the view out the floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows. Real giggles, not ones dredged up to dispel her worry and fear.

She had not realized what Colton meant when he said he was wealthy. “Just my luck” she had quipped to her parents, likely now fast asleep in their luxury hotel. Rosa and X were lodged in yet another small house, commuting to work so Colton could have his condo to himself.

Not anymore. Renee scowled at her translucent reflection. She should have gone with her parents. No one knew her here and likely wouldn’t care if she was around or not. Especially if all his friends were of Felicia and Y‘s sort.

Remembered mortification made Renee cringe. What do you do or say when a six foot, one-hundred twenty pound beauty slinks across the floor and calls you a cow? Most of her, the rational part of her mind that didn’t have a constant headache, knew that her own weight was perfectly healthy, that she was pretty, and that personality was more important anyway. The other part of her…the other part of her needed to get some sleep and stop worrying about it.

Apparently the floors were built to be silent as well.

“What are you doing up?”

Renee jumped and whirled around. Colton turned on a light, scowling across the room at her.

“It’s late.”

Renee summoned up her tartness. “And since I haven’t had a curfew since junior high…”

His scowl only deepened.  “You need to rest.”

Of course he was right. He was always right, but she refused to admit it. “So do you,” she retorted. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

She had him there. He winced a little and looked away. He was really bad at lying. She wondered at him being a successful businessman. Didn’t that involve him making shady deals with unsuspecting buyers?

He sighed and looked sheepish now.  “I just wanted to check the front door.”

As she had been contemplating checking the door herself, notwithstanding the armed doorman, he keycode in the elevator and the electronic doorlock, she said nothing. He grunted and went to the foyer. Renee shook her head in disbelief. This apartment had a foyer. And cashmere throws on the leather couches. Silk sheets?

“What are the sheets made of?”

Colton looked confused. It made him look younger and endearing. “Sheets?”

“The sheets, in the bedrooms. What are they made of?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Why?”

Renee smiled for real for the first time all day. “Nevermind. Go to bed.”

He grunted and left. She sighed and went to her own room, hoping tomorrow would finally be better.