Make-Believe Marriage (14 page)

- Thank you! - She said
unsteady. - You also left nothing to be desired, you are very handsome. - He
thanked with a nod and the two went up to the small makeshift altar to start
the civil marriage.

The Wedding Judge said a
few words as customary in this type of marriage, but for the two it looked more
like a mass, as nervous as both were thinking about how it would be from there
on. After the usual words the two were asked to exchange rings and sign the
logbook where the marriage was made legal. Once the legal proceedings were
over, both received the greetings from the few friends who were invited and
that’s how it went, until her assistant and wedding planner called them for the
bridal dance. At the sound of a violin, they began to dance.

- Thank you for everything
you're doing for me and my son. - She said next to his ear causing him a delicious
shiver down his spine.

- Do not mention it, I'm
really enjoying it all myself. - He said affectionately. Tony enveloped her as
the newlyweds protocol called for. His hands skirted her thin and delicate
waist in a protective way and tender as a loving husband.

- Remind me to thank you
every day for your goodwill and dedication to us. - She wanted him to know how
much she was grateful.

- Don’t worry; I won’t
forget to remind you. - He did not intend to charge anything from her, but if
Amanda could reciprocate by loving him he would accept that most willingly.

They danced the first, and
several other songs, accompanied by other couples who entered the romance mood
that reigned on the dance floor. Amanda was carried away and they shared many
smiles together until they were called to different locations and had to get go
separate ways. Although Tony was talking to his coworkers and Amanda enjoying her
son and her parents, she could often feel that he was watching, because she
also could not stop looking for him either when he was not in focus and in some
situations when they bumped into each other and exchanged a few quick kisses,
at a peck style, to better represent the scam. However, at each meeting, both
were thrilled and renewed.

The party had come to an
end and from there would be only the three of them. Lucas, however, had been
asleep for some time now, which left an air of mystery and even greater
uncertainty. After the catering staff ‘s previous cleaning, Amanda said goodbye
to her parents who were the last ones to leave and headed for what would be her
greatest ordeal in recent years: to be alone with her friend and now husband,
who was driving her out of her mind and she needed to rescue her rational way
or have major problems from that night on.

Breathing with some
difficulty she went inside the house. Tony was no less tense than her. He knew
exactly what he wanted, there was no doubt about it and it made the situation
even more difficult because he had no more excuses created to try to camouflage
the desire he felt for her. His mind sent him constantly alert messages to go
in search for what he needed, a clearer position expected from Amanda that was
his mission that first night as a married couple. He just did not know how to
go about it.

- Tony. - She said when
she saw him near the door waiting for her to say goodbye to her parents. - I'm
going upstairs to take a shower, I'm exhausted. - He followed her in silence.

The room was all tidy as a
newly married couple deserved. Amanda watched the huge bed in front of her for
a few seconds, it looked inviting, but would only serve to her rest and nothing
more; that was the deal they had and would be kept to the end.

- We need to keep our
agreement and sleep in the same room - said Tony feeling chills just to imagine
her in the same room again. She agreed, though she felt like getting out of the
agreement.

Knowing that it would not
be an adult attitude to do what she had thought, Amanda tried to relax her
muscles in the bath. The cold water ran down her body making it shiver. She had
chosen a cold bath to calm the fire that began to sprout out of control and was
making her numb. There was a beautiful man on the other side of the wall and
her feminine instincts were aware of it making that moment more painful than
she thought it would be. That was not the reaction she expected to have;
therefore, her desire was to stay there and not leave until dawn, but she had
already been there too long and needed to make room for Tony to take his bath. Still
not knowing what to do, she got dressed.

Amanda got out of her bath
more tired than she had come in. She was struggling a huge fight with herself
even before returning to the room. Tony pretended he was looking for something
when she came in. But Amanda realized he was sitting down looking toward the
bathroom when she left.

- The water was so
delicious that I did not notice the time go by. – She said embarrassed.

– After a full and tiring
day, there is nothing like taking a nice, long bath. – He said to get rid of
the unrest between them. – Now, it is my turn to enjoy it. He smelled her nice
bath scent as he passed by her and felt sort of woozy.  Yes, he would have a
cold shower to soothe him.

When Tony finished his
bath Amanda was already in bed under the covers. He had an open robe showing
his semi-naked chest. He wore small sleeping shorts that made him look even sexier
at any woman’s eyes, especially one that had not been touched by a handsome man
in a long time.

At each step in the room, Amanda
followed as she could, because Tony was not supposed to see that she was
watching him, although he felt that she did.

Opposed to what they had
agreed Tony lay down in the bed and not in the couch. Since the day had been
tiring for both, Amanda didn’t mind. He’d be more comfortable. His movement
brought her near resulting in an electric spark through his body and making
Amanda wish to be touched by him right away. She closed her eyes forcing to
speak mentally that they were only friends and so they should continue to be until
the end of that make-believe marriage. Almost certain of that, she tried to
relax her body and fall asleep.

During the night, one of
them would wake up and slantly looked at the other. Although there were no
touches or caresses, they both felt well with each other’s presence and warmth
and at times their hearts sped up when one turned in sleep and rolled closer to
the other. At a given moment Amanda, deeply asleep, noticed an accelerated
breath on her face. Opening her eyes slowly she saw she was much too near him.
Their mouths almost touched. The day was not light yet, but they could see each
other centimeters away. They remained quiet and looking at each other until Amanda
decided to turn to the other side and pretend she had fallen asleep again.

Tony was not in the room
when Amanda woke up, which made him feel relief. In the bath, she thought about
their first night together. It had not been as she had imagined, because they
both seemed to repel each other the whole time, more like foes than friends,
but she tried to understand because it was all too new to them and as days went
by, they would return to be the good friends they had always been.

When she left the
bathroom, she heard voices that came from outside the house and after getting
dressed, she went to see what Tony and her son were doing. The two were in the
pool and did not see when she came.

– My mom is awake – said
the boy, when he saw her. Lucas swam from the corner of the pool, where he was,
and went to the edge near Amanda. The child was faster than her in the water.
This, because Amanda’s father had taught him since he was little in the pond
there was on the farm.

– Get in the water; it is
great –Tony invited from the other end.

– I don’t think I brought
a bikini – she said sitting in a lounge chair.

– There are some in the
bathroom’s closet, if you want. – Tony said without questioning; not to take
the joy away from her son’s eyes, Amanda went to get dressed. Tony had bought
some models weeks ago knowing that Amanda enjoyed spending her rest days
getting a tan at the club she belonged to. Amanda came near the pool, dropped
her yoke to get in the water.  

– Come Mommy. – Lucas kept
drawing Tony’s attention to her. He watched her from head to toe, making her
body burn from his mysterious look. Quickly she threw herself into the water so
her body would not burn.

– The bikini looks fine on
you. – He said as soon as she got near.

- Thank you! It was
difficult to choose one, all were beautiful – she thanked heading toward the
child. Not letting the child notice the atmosphere between the two, which grew
more and more intimate. Tony made no attempt to hide his admiration and Amanda
could not control her eyes, which searched for him without mercy. When one
grabbed the other’s hand, looking too intently at each other, they smiled a
little smile and tried to go on playing with the child and so remained until
the end of the morning.

The banter went on during
lunch. The glow in her son's eyes was a source of life for Amanda. In fact they
looked like father and son, such harmony and friendship between them. Tony sat
next to the child and helped him cut the meat as she watched the scene smiling.
“The friend would make a great father if life had not taken that right from
him," she thought, happy to provide him with such moments.

That night, after Amanda
accompanied her son to his room, after an afternoon of amusement among the
three, Tony took the opportunity to prepare his sofa bed to sleep. His body
could not bear all this torture the night before. He'd better stay away or he
would no longer be responsible for his actions.

When Amanda returned, she
had mixed feelings of joy and sadness to see that Tony was sleeping on the
couch. She had no more right than he did to the bed, but agreed with the
attitude he had taken. Surely he realized that she was in conflict and did not
want to turn the situation even more complicated for both. Grateful, but less
happy, she went to bed alone. On Monday, Amanda was already in the store when
Carol arrived.

- I do not understand that
decision of yours to come to work two days after your wedding - criticized the
girl when she came and saw her boss starting to work.

- We both know that my
marriage is not what we call a relationship in every way, with all the spices
needed for us to spend the day together - Amanda blurted out getting a dummy
dressed. She would also like it to be different, but fate had it that that's
the way it was, maybe even unfair, but necessary.

- If you had taken the
chance to allow a moment of intimacy, you certainly would not be here now or at
least be less nervous. - That creature made her dizzy. Amanda concluded after
hearing Carol complain.

- What if I told you that
I would have loved making love to him? Would you leave me alone? - Amanda
blurted out leaving the girl astonished. It was exactly that what Amanda wanted
since the first night along with Tony in that bed. But she knew that the main
cause was lack of affection and that was no reason to create a greater bond
with her friend.

- I knew this would happen
- Carol said. - You make a lovely couple, friend. I see chemistry between the
two. What's missing is someone to get this romantic adventure going - The young
girl’s eyes shone to the point of Amanda regretting having confided this to
her.

- No one will do this -
Amanda said softly. They had not planned it, so neither one of them would run
away from the schedule.

- It's a pity! You could
make each other happy. - After Carol finished they started the week’s work
arguing no more about it. Sometimes Amanda noticed her employee watching her
with some regret, but it was only she who saw the opportunity to seize the
situation and engage in a romantic relationship. Everything was still under
testing and new decisions could emerge over time, but nothing that would
undermine the plans and friendship between Antônio and her. Amanda was not
about to let it happen.

Although they talked no
more about her and Tony, Amanda spent the whole day thinking about it. When she
was home with the child at lunch time it was the period in which she thought
the most about the two of them. The husband had said he would have lunch with a
client giving her more time to prepare for the second night. The day was ending
when Tony and Lucas came to get her.

- We have come to pick you
up – he said watching the expression on her face.

- Great, my guardian
angels came to rescue me. - Amanda joked returning his gaze. She didn’t have
her car because it had gone to be serviced at the dealer's.

Carol watched the scene and
was pleased with what she saw. That relationship had so much seasoning and if neither
one of them took the initiative, she would have to help in some way. Her
friends deserved happiness and, although they were foolish enough not to
realize it, it was possible to see that both were happy near each other. They
had just made the wrong interpretation of the relationship and eventually tried
to prevent it from blossoming.

At home, after taking
their bath, they went to the dining room, Tony dressed casually in his jeans
and polo shirt. Amanda was wearing thin cloth shorts and a comfortable and
simple blouse as well as light flip-flops decorated with rhinestones.