Follow your heart of family, chapter 2

After talking to Susan for an hour, Robert excused himself and snuck out to the terrace It was chilly outside, but he needed the fresh air. Susan was always so negative about everything, even her face screamed, I hate this world. On the terrace was an art exhibition, Robert never had any interest in art, but even he could see this was something special. He didn’t know who the artist was, but he liked the work. He looked inside and saw Susan talking to somebody else. He was getting cold, so he decided to go back in.

When he opened the door, he almost smashed into the face of a woman. He excused himself but got some harsh words from the guy next to hers. She said it was alright and walked on. He looked back at this pretty woman in blue. Violet was trying to get him back to Susan. He followed, he wasn’t in the mood to argue with his mother. He tried focusing on what Susan had to say, but kept looking for that woman, he was intrigued by her. He saw her for a split second, but her eyes were blue like the ocean, he never had seen someone as beautiful as her. Why didn’t he see her before?

“Robert, did you see the artwork of Mr. Bricker outside?” said Susan. Robert’s mind snapped back to the conversation: “Sorry, who is Mr Bricker?” Susan sounded annoyed: “The art outside, you went outside to look at it. Technically it isn’t from Mr. Bricker, he is just the art dealer that made this exposition possible, the artist is an unknown fella, it is nice isn’t it” Robert made use of this excuse to look outside and said: “It is definitely interesting” He wasn’t sure if he was talking about the art, or the woman that was looking at it right now. “It is a shame you didn’t took the opportunity to talk to him, you almost walked in to him when you got back inside” “Susan, I couldn’t, he was talking to someone, and to be honest, I didn’t even know who he was” he looked at her empty glass: “Do you want another glass of wine?” He took her glass and walked over to the bar.

Glad to be away from her, he found an old friend at the bar. He knew James from his time in Scotland. “Robert, sometimes I think you are the luckiest man walking on this earth, women are always waiting to talk to you, why aren’t you married yet, just look at that lady you are spending your evening with, isn’t she lovely” Robert looked back at Susan and forced a smile: “You know, why aren’t you going to talk to her, here take this glass, I need to use the bathroom, so keep her company for me” James didn’t need another hint, and walked over to Susan. Robert felt a little bit guilty, to try to connect those two together, but he couldn’t stand it to spend the rest of the evening talking to her and who knows, maybe they would like each other.

He made his way through the crowd to the bathroom and could feel his mother’s eyes on him. He knew she would be waiting for him once he returned. He did think of sneaking out, but Violet would be furious if he did that.

As he predicted, his mother was waiting: “Robert what are you doing, why is James talking to Susan, look at them, they are having fun, it is the first time this evening Susan is smiling, why wasn’t she smiling with you?” “Mother, love can’t be forced, we aren’t a match, you know that, if she and James like each other, I can only be happy for them” “No, Robert, NO that’s is not how this works, Susan is perfect, she is the right age to start a family with, and her family is wealthy, very wealthy, you need to go back and talk to her” Robert felt his anger coming up, he whispered: “I will only marry for love, I am not settling for anything less, please make my excuses to Susan” He turned around and walked away. He got his jacket, stopped a taxi. “New Cavendish Street please” and drove of into the dark night.

Follow your heart or family, chapter 1

Robert took a deep breath, he hated events like this, and especially this one. Violet kept pushing him to find a wife and get married. She had nothing else on her mind since Patrick, her husband, died 2 years ago. Robert needed a wife, who would give him children, so the business would stay in the family.

Robert never liked going to these events, the only reason they existed, was so that mothers could show off their daughters, and a wealthy man would chose her. He had already so many nice women introduced to him, but none of them made his heart flutter, he needed a woman who he could love and cherish. He knew that he had to take care of posterity, there were to many distant family members standing in line to take over the business. But he could not marry without love.

He loved his job, the branding agency was a well-known agency, they had several departments and it had grown from just (an) advertising (company) to a branding company. Many small businesses had become famous because of their work. He made the company big, working alongside his father.  He knew that the contract was made, so the business would always be in family hands, but his mother wanted it to stay in their family and not her cousins. So, he needed to get a wife and children, she made her husband change the contract, so it wouldn’t matter if the children were a boy or a girl. Robert was turning 28 this year and knew there was time pressure.

Violet came out of the door: “Robert, what are you waiting for, I found the perfect woman for you, come on in and act like a man. Her name is Susan, go and introduce yourself” Robert, sighed and walked in to the hotel.

Cora was sitting in the backseat of the car, her mother sitting next to her, rambling on about her finding the right man tonight, she was turning 25 this year and it was high time. She would finally open up and act like a grown woman. Cora wasn’t really listening, she didn’t want to get married, she wanted so much more out of life. Marrying a man she met at these events would mean she was a breeding machine, to make sure the man she was going to marry would not lose his estate or business.

Most men loved Cora, just for the way she looked, she had a slim figure, long legs, the smoothest skin and her eyes, were as blue as the ocean, her dark hair made them pop out even more. The way she moved was graceful, always a straight back, but her head tilted a little lower so it would break her height. Wherever she went, men would turn their heads to look at her. She could feel their eyes on her body. But none of the men who came to talk to her were interested in her as a person. Nobody ever asked what she loved to do, they were only interested in her fortune. She would love to talk about her interests. She was interested in art and would love to follow a study in that department, but she was working in the family business.

She worked for several years now as her brother’s assistant, but she hated that job. Looking after his agenda and booking the uncountable lunches and dinners he had. There was nothing interesting and challenging in this, and she knew that anyone could do this. She had asked for a more challenging job, like being part of the marketing team, her father was thinking about it, and had said that when she had more experience, he would look in to it. But when he died 4 years ago, she got stuck with her brother. Her mother was adamant she worked for her brother as long as she didn’t marry.

Her mother shook her arm: “Cora come on, get out of the car, we need to go in” Cora got out of the car and followed her mother. She was wearing a dress, that fitted perfectly around her body, it had a high neckline, and a lower back. Her dark blue shoes were exactly the same shade as her dress, and she felt pretty in it. The moment they walked into the hall, she felt a knot in her stomach. The men who had spotted her, were undressing her with their eyes, and she felt extremely uncomfortable as always during those partys

Martha , her mother, had already walked in to the room and was talking to a guy who, Cora knew, was called Simon. He worked in an art gallery, but that was the only interesting thing about him. He looked at her in a very disturbing way and was only talking about himself.