Married At First Glance: I Am Not Ugly

“This is nothing…. we are just two business partners who have successfully completed a task and just want to stroll around the country that’s all. There’s nothing more to it.” he told himself.

Marissa came out and smiled.

“Let’s go.” she said.

Alexander nodded and they both left the hotel to take a walk round the city that night.

While they were walking, there was silence between them as they were battling their own thoughts within.

But Alexander decided to break the silence between them and started a conversation.

“So Marissa, tell me more about your family. Any siblings?”

“I thought you said we shouldn’t pry into our personal lives. So why are you asking such a personal question?” she asked him as she placed her hand inside her pocket.

“Yes I know I said that, but I don’t know what to discuss with you about and I don’t want us to be all awkward around ourselves since we are going to be hanging out together till the contract expires.

So why don’t we just share little things about ourselves. What do you say?” he asked.

Marissa paused for a while contemplating if she should expose her personal life to Alexander because she was scared to get her hopes up that maybe something might grow between them.

She decided to give in to his request and decided to answer his question.

“Alright, just a little. I’ll tell you a little about myself and that’s it.”

Alexander nodded with a smile.

“That’s better,” he said.

“So about my question earlier…..”

“Oh… yes, I have a younger brother named Samuel Preah. He’s actually the reason I got into this whole charade.”

Alexander looked at her with a confused expression.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Oh, How so?”

“Well…. um… he needed financial support for his health. He needed money for his surgery or he would die so that day you almost killed me with your car.

I was thinking how I was gonna get the money for his surgery. That was how we met.

But I wasn’t gonna sell my dignity to someone who was arrogant, selfish and inconsiderate so I turned it down.

But when the situation was getting worse and I was given 48 hours to come up with the money I had no choice but to agree to your demands even when I found you annoying and unbearable.”

“Wow….. I didn’t know….” he said.

“I actually thought maybe you needed the money to buy yourself nice clothes and all to look rich and all, but I guess I misjudged you.

That was actually very noble of you. Family means a lot.”

Marissa smiled.

“Well… there’s a saying that never judge a book by its cover but get to open the book and read what’s inside before you judge the book.”

“Yeah…. my bad.” he said, placing his hand on his hair, obviously embarrassed for judging her.

“It’s fine…. I also judged you. I thought you were an arrogant prick who doesn’t deserve any human love, but you ain’t that bad.” she said.

He looked at her and smiled.

“See… I guess you also did what I did.”

Marissa lifted her hands up in surrender.

“I admit my crimes…. I did judge you, but you are alright.”

She noticed that Alexander was blushing by her words.

“So…. what about your family? Do you have siblings?”

“Um… yeah. I have an older sister. She’s quite the opposite of me, very laid back and easy going.”

“What about your parents?” she asked.

“My parents died when we were in college and so I had to train myself to take over the family business,” he answered.

“Oh…. I’m so sorry about that.” her expression sad.

“No, it’s fine…. it’s a long time ago. I’ve gotten used to it.”

“It must not have been easy for you…. handling your family business alone…. I guess that was why you became a workaholic and never had time to social and build a good character.” she said.

“Well you can say that I had a lot of mouths to feed in my father’s company so I had to be hard and difficult for them to take me serious and also I had to prove myself to the board that I am well capable of handling my family’s business.” he said, as they kept on strolling down the street.

“So where is your sister now?” she asked.

“My sister…” he said, trailing off. “She’s living in Paris now with her husband and kids. I see her once or twice a year when I go to Europe for work.”

I could see that the topic of his sister was a difficult one for him to talk about. He seemed to tense up and his face looked more serious.

“I can understand why you might not want to talk about her,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“But I think it’s important for you to know that I’m not judging you or thinking badly of you.”

He smiled.

“I never thought of such a thing.”

“Oh… good then.”

“So you mentioned a past relationship before. Care to share?” she asked.

“Ah, you caught that, huh?” Well, it didn’t work out because my ex couldn’t handle my work commitments.” he said.

“Balancing work and personal life can be challenging.” she said.

“Hmm-mm.” he nodded and then sited a coffee shop nearby.

“Why don’t we grab a cup of coffee while we are at it.” he offered.

Marissa nodded.

“Sure.

We found a cozy little coffee shop and went inside. The smell of fresh-brewed coffee and baked goods filled the air.

We ordered our drinks and sat down at a table in the corner.

“So how are you enjoying your trip here in Switzerland?” he asked, sipping his tea.

“Um…Adventurous?” she said.

“Adventurous?” he said, an eyebrow raised in amusement. “That’s a good way to put it. What’s been the most adventurous thing you’ve done so far?”

she considered for a moment. “I think the most adventurous thing has been meeting you,” she said.

“I never expected to meet someone like you ever in my life.”

He laughed.

“Well, I’m flattered to be considered adventurous,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.