4 - The Games Begin

The following night, Craig insisted Greg go out with him. They went to an old boy’s club for food then to a friend’s house party.

By the end of the night, they had each found ladies willing to entertain them and had taken them home.

Greg awoke to the smell of eggs and coffee.

Great, he thought, I found a home maker. Think fast, what is her name? V- something. Vikki? No. Vivica! No. Think, G!

Just then his thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of a nude, nubile woman holding a tray of food.

“Look what Veronique made for you.”

Veronique. That’s it.

He rewarded her with a smile that made her light up like the sun. “Thanks, gorgeous. Nothing like breakfast in bed.”

She sat near him, possibly hoping for a bit of conversation but Greg ate absently, thinking of lunch with his family and the Quintons. Once again, Veronique broke into his reverie.

“You want me to leave, don’t you?”

He sighed and nodded, putting just enough regret on his face. There was no mind-blowing connection that lasted until the morning after. There never was.

“Will you call me a cab?”

“Sure.” Pause. “Thanks for understanding- and for breakfast.”

She walked into his bathroom and a moment later steam was drifting out of the open door.

With grim amusement, he wondered how he would play it with Donna as his wife. Gee, cutey, my wife will be home, can we go to your place?

Somehow he didn’t think that would work well. Maybe the house would be big enough to accommodate his own wing and he could have his own entrance for his guests.

No.

His mother would kill him for even considering such an arrangement. The woman who would bear the Marshall name- Donna, if he had his way- would be given every possible consideration and the utmost respect in her home. That meant not bringing girlfriends onto their property.

With a short laugh, Greg shook his head, momentarily defeated. “I’ll think of something.”

His life wouldn’t be changing when there was a ring on his finger. He wanted to still be able to move as freely as he pleased.

At lunch, Donna and Greg sat between their parents. Mothers together on the right, fathers together on the left.

It was a candid, friendly affair. No one seemed to mention the future or delve too far into the past, except to catch up.

Donna noted, slightly sad, that no one mentioned her sister Diana in any way. Sometimes the light and airy mask of her cynicism didn’t protect her enough and by the time coffee arrived, Donna felt as if she was suffocating. So she excused herself hastily and went outside to the Marshall’s perfectly manicured grounds.

“She didn’t look very well,” Grant’s wife said worriedly. “Greg, go see what’s the matter.”

“I got distinct ‘I want to be alone’ vibes, Mom.”

“Oh, please go check,” Amber Marshall urged.

With a sigh, he stood up and went outside. It took a while but he eventually found her on the old tree swing, which had actually been put up for her when she was a little.

Her back was to him, so he whistled a tune on his way down the hill just to announce his presence. When she didn’t make any moves to turn around, he gave the swing a push.

“I remember doing this. It’s been a while, but I remember.”

“Don’t,” she said very softly.

He caught her around the waist to stop her, letting her go soon after. He rounded the swing to face her.

Her nose was red and her cheeks were wet. Greg’s grey eyes widened in surprise.

“Hey D, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

She looked down and shook her head.

“Come on, you can tell me.”

If only he knew, he was making it worse. She recalled him saying the same thing eleven or so years ago. Then, she’d been crying because her sister’s engagement to him meant she lost her two best friends to each other. Now, she could hardly speak so she shook her hair around her face to hide her tears.

“Oh, no you don’t.” He pushed her dark auburn hair back away from her face. “Talk to me Donna.”

Greg waited a few moments in silence until Donna spoke.

“I miss Diana.” She took her handkerchief out of her tailored jacket pocket, dabbed at her eyes. “Everyone is in there acting as if she never existed and I was always an only child! She’s the whole reason our families grew apart and now she’s an insignificant person.”

“That’s because to bring her up today would- in essence- be causing me grief.”

“What do you mean?” she frowned at him.

“I never- your sister and I weren’t in love when-”

“No, I don’t mean that- I know it was ‘arranged’. I mean what’s so crucial about today.”

He took a deep breath. “It all has to do with my quest for the perfect wife.”

She waited for an explanation.

So he went on. “I put twenty-eight names in the goblet of fire and it spit out yours.”

“Come again,” her brown eyes filled with disbelief.

Never having been the type to mince his words or be overly playful, he changed his tactic and smiled disarmingly at her, pulling her close to him as she sat on the swing.

“Will you marry me, Donna?”

Pause.

“No. Not yet,” she said.

“It wouldn’t be so-” he stopped. “What did you say?”

“I said ‘not yet’.”

He hadn’t foreseen such a response, had been sure she was going to dig her heels in and refuse.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning ask me in a month or so and I will probably say yes.”

Probably? “Why a month?”

“You and I have our lives to sort out before we start playing happy couple for the press and I don’t see why we should get stuck until then. I have yet to speak to my lawyer about a prenuptial agreement and I have to ‘get to know you’,” she mocked him lightly in closing.

He hadn’t expected this kind of conversation, but she was right and he told her that much.

She continued, “We both have to say goodbye to a lot, so let’s give it a month before we get engaged. I’m in no rush.”

“You might not be, but I am! My dad is threatening to freeze my trust assets.” He was aware that he would still be able to live comfortably without it, but that would mean juggling his personal investments and that took an amount of effort he didn’t want to expend.

She smiled sympathetically. “Ok, you can tell him that I have agreed but I don’t want it to go public just yet because of my business or something.”

He nodded. “And what do you mean by say goodbye and play happy couple? I don’t want my lifestyle to change much if we get into this,” he said frankly.

She considered this, not too disconcerted. “It’s not exactly practical, but I get that. Goodbye to separate homes and entirely individual lives- we’ll have to do things together that we normally didn’t have to.”

“Ok. Stop right there while I establish what has been said so far.”

She cocked her head to one side and waited. He moved again and started to push the swing gently. This time she didn’t stop him.

“You want a month-long trial period to sort of establish and legitimise a relationship between us.”

“Yes. I want to make sure I can stand you before I let you live in the same house.”

He cocked an amused eyebrow at her choice of words, but let it slide. “Right. Two. You know I am not marrying for love or someone to cuddle with at night.”

“Neither am I.”

“Great. Three. We’ll get engaged a month from today.”

“Sure.”

“Alright. Now, number four you’ll have to tell me yourself.”

“What’s that?”

“What’s in it for you?”

She felt him stop the swing and when he came to face her, Donna gave him a bright smile.

In a slightly mocking tone, she said, “Have you forgotten how powerful the Qs and Ms could be together?” she tilted her head again. “It’s for personal gain mostly- on a business level. I am the only child too- which means I also have to ‘marry right’. And I’m sure by the time of old age comes, we’ll know how to get along fine.”

“Is that it?”

“Hey, if this hadn’t come along I am sure my parents would have come up with something similar to what your dad is doing to you.” Pause. “Unfortunately, my circles need to believe that this thing is real. They believe in romance,” she said drily.

He laughed, wondering how that would work if he wasn’t acting the perfect husband after they got married. They would probably think he was good for nothing but it was something he would have to take in his stride. Just like this whole Marie debacle.

Donna might as well have been reading his mind because the next thing she said was, “The media will never buy this merger if it comes out now and they will still be on your case once you get married: Greg Marshall the Bad Husband. I mean, Marie is pulling out the big guns right now. They’ll take it as a defensive ploy. Us being old family friends isn’t enough at this point.”

She had a point but it seemed she still wasn’t through thinking the entire deal out, “It’ll give us time to fill the gaps- give us a chance to back out if anything else arises.”

Anyone else, he knew she meant. “Sounds ok to me.” He already liked the way Donna thought. Hearing her speak just now, one would have thought she had almost expected him to ask her. Greg didn’t mind that. It was actually appealing to know a woman with that kind of shrewd mind.

“Great,” Donna declared.

She jumped off the swing and came to stand on tiptoe in front of him. Then she kissed him softly.

“To seal the deal,” she teased and then she started up walking up the hill.

After a moment he followed her, thinking how Donna seemed like the girl he’d known years ago until she went and kissed him then sashayed up to his parent’s house.

He caught up with her and said casually, “You know that they are going to ask why you disappeared like that, right?”

“I will tell them the truth.”

“Of course,” he said, thinking it would have been easier if Donna hadn’t known Diana, but since they were sisters he would have to understand. Future wife misses ex-fiancé... Now that would be a good headline.

Once again, she might as well have been reading his mind. “I know you would rather I didn’t but eventually someone’s going to bring her up and it might be best if I do it in this family setting.”

He nodded, not wanting to say anything else as they approached the family room where both their parents were sitting.

Amber Marshall looked up first, a mixture of concern and curiosity on her face. “Is everything alright, Greg? Donna?”

“Yes, Mom. Everything is fine,” Greg said, sitting down in his favourite chair.

“Donna, honey, your nose is a little pink,” her father said.

She wrinkled it and shrugged, sitting with her parents on a long sofa. “Yeah, well...”

“Well,” he prompted , frowning ever so slightly. “Have you been crying?”

She wasn’t going to lie to them. Even Greg could see that.

She nodded once and gave a deprecating smile. “Call me sentimental but being in this house after so long brought back a lot of memories.”

Amber smiled. “You did spend a lot of time here when you were younger,” she said fondly.

“I did,” Donna agreed, toying with her watch.

“What is it sweetheart?” her mother asked, placing a hand on her wrist.

With a sigh, Greg spoke softly. “Being in this house, Donna couldn’t help remembering Diana, her sister.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Well,” Donna’s mother began, glancing at her husband “it was bound to come up.”

Both Grant and Bob nodded.

“I just felt very awkward with the way we carried on this afternoon. I mean, when did you last see one another and what were the circumstances?” Donna asked no one in particular. “Diana was my sister and she almost married into this family! But no one has even said her name today.”

“Except you,” Amber said, smiling a little. “It’s not that any of us have forgotten her, Donna, but can you fathom how disappointed I was at the way things turned out all those years ago? My only son was left- jilted before the wedding. Your mother lost a child! How can we forget?”

Some of Donna’s anger left, hearing Amber say her piece. At least she knew her sister wasn’t forgotten.

“Does the pain ever go away?” Donna asked in a small voice. “I mean, this house is such a reminder of her absence! Its emptiness resounds because she’s gone.”

Greg’s eyes widened as his mother paled. Donna’s hands flew to her mouth.

“Donna!” her own mother chastised.

“Well, I’m sorry!” Amber said indignantly, hurt also.

“No, I’m sorry, Amber. That came out wrong. I didn’t mean to insult you or hurt your feelings!” Donna stood up and moved over to where Greg’s mother sat. She crouched beside the seat. “Please don’t hold that against me- this day has been extremely tasking for me.” Pause. “We were all here when we got the news of the train accident... when they told us there was no body to identify I- couldn’t quite grasp that she was gone. Now that we’re back here- even though it’s been so long, the absence of my sister is so obvious to me. Don’t you remember how she used to sing everywhere she went? That’s all I meant... I’m sorry,” she said again, reaching for Amber’s hand.

Greg watched from across the room, a slight frown on his face. Donna’s parents exchanged glances. Grant Marshall was the next to speak.

“I suppose we all dealt with the situation differently. We- having to live in this house since then- have learnt to forget what the day brought on our doorstep. You haven’t been in the house since that day, Donna and I can understand how it has affected you coming back here.” He looked around at everyone. “I just hope you can get past that feeling of sadness because we have always enjoyed having you in our home and it’s been a long time since I talked business with someone who truly understands the concept like your father does.”

Amber nodded. “Yes. Our families used to be so close. I truly enjoyed having lunch with you today, my dear.” Pause. “I never considered what this would do to you. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry!” Donna protested again. “I have gone and ruined this pleasant day with my morbid memories.” She turned to her parents and apologised. “I can’t imagine what my outburst has done to you two.”

“It’s alright, honey,” her mother said. “I’m ok with this. I’ve always known that you needed closure, but I couldn’t give it to you. Maybe this is where you will get it.” She shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘who knows?’

Bob said, “So, Amber I guess that means we will take you up on that invitation to lunch again next week!”

Amber’s face cleared and she managed a laugh. “I suppose you must.”

The next three weeks had social columns speculating about the biggest event of the fall season. And while the trees dropped their leaves and bared their souls, nothing came out of the Quinton and Marshall camps.

Both Greg and Donna found it amusing to hear how people guessed and tried to figure out the buzz- they also enjoyed keeping them at it.

One of Donna’s more serious suitors returned from Europe and she spent a week going about town with him. At that time, Greg was in New York, where they had offices and he was reportedly sleeping with a Broadway celebrity.

Sources told papers that they came from families that had known each other for decades. It wasn’t a surprise that they were becoming close, especially since the Diana Quinton Memorial Park had been opened, a year after construction and landscaping had begun. The occasion had brought the families back into contact- Donna could use a friend who understood her feelings. At least that’s what one paper said.