The outside world carried on as it always had. People were born, they lived, they died. Some of them followed their passions, while others let fear govern their every action until the very end.
Nothing had changed, everyone was still going about their lives... but for Ariel, it felt as though her world would never be the same again.
She was getting married. Not only that, her husband-to-be, was none other than Tristan Asher.
It felt as though her whole world had imploded, and yet everything kept moving on as usual. By the end of the month she would be married to a man that she did not know at all. And it was terrifying. To try and reassure herself that things would not be so bad.
Ariel, whenever she got a bit of spare time, which was not all that often, given that she was still running her food truck, was doing some digging. She had started because she wanted to know a bit more about her husband-to-be. Given that he was somebody who was constantly in the spotlight.
It was not that hard to dig up things about him from pictures to news articles. She had started looking around in a bid to reassure herself. But the longer time passed, and the more pictures, videos and articles that Ariel was able to unearth, the less reassured she felt. She was looking for even the smallest tendril of information. Just a tiny bit of data that would say that Tristan Asher had a hidden depth to him.
That he was more than the cold and calculating man she had seen. So far almost every article she read sang praises of the Iceman. Currently, Ariel was in her room. Instead of getting ready to sleep, she was reading more blog posts about Tristan Asher.
The writers did not talk about Tristan the person( which was what she was looking for). They just spoke of the business moghul. Somebody so good at calculating numbers and coming up with probabilities. That it seemed almost impossible that he had an actual human heart.
Ice prince, ice prince, ice prince, Ariel read in almost every article and that made her uneasy. She had thought that Tristan Asher being somewhat closed off to her was because he did not know her, and also because of the way in which they had met. But a lot of the articles seemed to believe that it was just the way he was. Choosing to stop reading about him, Ariel forced herself to breathe.
"It is all right. These are just journalists who do not know him personally. Maybe he's just really good at hiding his soft and caring side," She tried to reassure herself. Putting her phone down on her tiny study area. Ariel went over to her dresser and grabbed a brush. She began slowly working out the knots in her hair. Focusing on the unnecessary task in a bid to get her mind off of all of the information that she had just bombarded herself with.
She was considering going outside her room, but going outside meant increasing the chances of running into her brother, who, now that he was mostly on the mend, was more curious. She was too rattled to answer any questions from him without letting something slip. So staying in the confines of her bedroom was for the best. Putting her brush down, Ariel stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked the same way she had looked ever since reaching adulthood. But somehow, Ariel felt as though she were looking at a stranger. Because the face before her was the face of a woman who had literally given up her freedom for some money.
'Do not say it like that! You are marrying him in order to save Peter. You are not some desperate, money hungry, gold digger who is just doing this for the thrill of it. You have an actual valid reason. Family above all else,' The voice that stood up against her own inner thoughts in her defense was very welcome. Focusing on it instead of on all of the negativity that was trying to overwhelm her, Ariel tied her hair in a loose braid and stood. She looked between her bed and her tiny study area. Then with a sigh she returned to the small study desk. At first, Ariel tried to lie to herself. Picking up a recipe book, she went through it without really paying attention. But every few seconds her eyes kept sliding over to her phone until she finally gave up and picked the little device up.
Scouring the internet for information on Tristan Asher felt a bit like picking at a scab. Ariel knew that the internet was not a trustworthy source of information. But it was all that she had, so she kept going through it. This time instead of reading articles, she went for the pictures. Most of them were of Tristan on his own, posing in what Ariel now knew was his actual office, looking strong and powerful. Her eyes stayed glued on those for a while. Trying to look for something, anything, that showed warmth, gentleness.
But all that she could find was the cool gaze of a self-assured man. And so her eyes moved over to the next picture, and then the next, and then the next until she finally came over one that was different. In it Tristan was with a woman. Like him, she too oozed money, power and also elegance in spades. Things that Ariel knew she was lacking. It was bad form to compare herself to another woman. Especially a woman who was from such a different social circle to her own, but Ariel could not help it.
The woman in the picture with her glittering pearls, and shiny diamonds was the kind of person that Tristan Asher should have been marrying. But instead he was going with Ariel. She wanted to delve deeper into that, but she was too scared of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Deciding to punish herself some more by going through more pictures. Ariel took her phone as she got into bed. But no sooner had she settled down there was a knock on the door. "Sis, there's a delivery for you," Something about Peter's tone of voice was off. That made Ariel instantly get up and head for the door.
What greeted her was not at all what she had imagined. Normally, a delivery was pretty standard. Consisting of a delivery guy showing up in his work uniform, having them sign for their stuff and leaving.
This was different... very different. There was a man in a glittery suit standing in the middle of her apartment. He was holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Hello," Ariel greeted, still not quite convinced that she was not imagining things. The man inclined his head, his silver hair glinting in the light.
"Ariel Jones," He said, and it was not a question, but Ariel still nodded. With her identity confirmed. The man gave her the flowers. Then he stepped back and snapped his fingers.
Two young ladies dressed in identical dark uniforms rushed forward. One carrying a box and the other a garment bag. "We have been instructed to bring these to you," What? Before Ariel could fully process, the man's assistants moved forward and placed the items in front of her. The garment bag going on the couch, and the box on the table.
"We trust everything will be to your liking," With that the still unnamed man gave a formal bow that his assistants copied and then they were out the door, leaving Ariel and Peter blinking at each other.
"Did that just happen?" Peter asked. With a shrug, Ariel looked at her flowers and noticed the card there. Taking it out, she read it, and felt her face flame. Looking at her Peter took a step back.
"I do not even want to know," With that he retreated into his room. Taking the newly delivered items, Ariel headed to her own room. Once there, she was stunned to find a midnight blue dress that looked like it would fit her to perfection. How had they known her exact measurements?
She found a pair of red bottom heels, and she could not help but stare at the two in wonder. She had planned to have an early night in , and she had seriously been considering going to sleep at eight. But it seemed that that had to change. She was going out with Tristan Asher.