Ariel was pretty certain that she was currently in the middle of an out-of-body experience. She was, as the old folk used to say...betrothed. Pretty soon she would be a married woman.
Not only would she be married, she would be wed to one Tristan Asher. A man literally made of money and power. Mrs Tristan Asher. That was who she was going to be. But that reality for her future did not seem to make sense to the Ariel in the present.
When she had walked into the building, she had done so by sneaking in. Something that she was embarrassingly familiar with. But now, walking out, Ariel was not sneaking anywhere. In fact, the person escorting her out shared a name with the building. Sneaking a look from the corner of her eye, Ariel found Tristan facing ahead, his steps slow and measured, no movement wasted. Everything about him just oozed self-control. Next to him, with his expensive suit, watch, and even shoes that looked like they cost more money than she had ever seen in her lifetime. Ariel with her simple jeans and shirt. Probably looked as though she were the help.
They drew gazes as they walked past, Tristan did not seem to notice, but Ariel did. His employees tracked him the way sunflowers did the sun. Their heads instinctively turning towards him as the two of them moved past. Being in close proximity to Tristan meant that once the people had had their fill of him. Their gazes instantly slid over to Ariel and she could see the gears turning in their heads.
All of them clearly trying to figure out who she was. To amuse herself, Ariel tried to think of all the possible things that the workers at Asher Industries could be thinking. There was a nervous looking man who was pressing the elevator button repeatedly as they walked past.
He tried his best to look completely focused on the task. But his attention was completely on them. In her mind, Ariel gave him a high-pitched nervous voice.
'Oh no, oh no, come on, work, work, work. The big boss is coming! I need to get out of here. He's with a lady who's probably my replacement,' She even imagined the man fainting from stress for good measure. When they passed by him, she winked in his direction and he clutched his chest, looking a few seconds away from passing out. It was very alarming and also kind of funny. It made Ariel wonder which department he could possibly be from.
"That, is Martin. He's a whiz with tech, but he fails in all other things related to humanity," Ariel startled at Tristan's smooth voice, and she could not hide her blush. He'd caught her messing with his employee after all. After being caught toying with Martin. She tried to keep her thoughts to herself but she found her self-thinking of what the other people might be thinking about her.
Is she a new hire? Somebody handpicked by the CEO himself? Is she here for some sort of project? Maybe she's here because she's representing a charity. Looking down at her cheap threads. Ariel realized that no matter how many guesses the people around them took. None of them would ever land on the correct one. The CEO was walking side by side with his fiancé. Fiancé, that was what she was to him. And as the two of them finally made it to the exit, and Tristan saw her off. It dawned on Ariel that this would be the last time that she would ever be able to just be able to blend into the crowd without the employees going...
"That's Mrs Asher!" Pretty soon they would all know who she was and things would change. There would be no more sneaking in, (not like she planned to do that anymore...). But still, she found it kind of sad that in a very short period of time, she would go from being just Ariel to Ariel Tristan Asher's wife. She knew that for the people in the building she had just left. Her title would be more important than who she actually was. Rubbing at her eyes, Ariel decided to stop thinking about such heavy things.
Sure, she was getting married, but that did not mean that her life was over. She was still Ariel to herself. It did not matter to her what people would be thinking of her. She was doing this to save her brother.
Whatever people thought or said behind her back was none of her business. Deciding to enjoy the rest of her day instead of over stressing. Ariel saw a street musician playing guitar in the corner, and decided to go and make a song request. She would take just a few more hours to herself. Then she would go home to her brother and break the news to him. She really hoped it went well.