Chapter 3

"Kayla told me you are a smart girl" Adele  told the intern once she parked in the restaurant's parking lot.

The young intern who was about nineteen years-old blushed hard as she fiddled with her fingers. A gesture which Adele found to be very cute.

When she worked  as an intern back at a publishing company in her home city in England, her superior had been a complete jerk to her and she hated the woman to the core. She only hoped that her colleague, Ciara, was not like that.

"Miss Kayla is too kind." Ciara replied with a bright smile.

"Ciara, I'm going to trust you with a very important task right now. I know this is wrong, but my hands are tied. I really have to do this."

"What do you want me to do?" Ciara asked, looking at her.

Adele took out a piece of paper on which she had written the questions that were to be asked to the Manager and handed over to Ciara.

"That is a list of the questions that I intended to ask, I want you to do the interview for me. I really have to be somewhere right now. Can you do that for me?" She asked and immediately, the girl beamed at her while vigorously nodding her head.

"Yes! I will."

"Alright then" Adele took off her ID on her neck and wore it around the girl's neck. "You will not address yourself as an intern, but as a worker by the name Adele Mackenzie. Ciara my entire life depends on this. Please don't fail me" She pleaded.

"I won't fail you. I promise."

"Thank you. When you are done with the interview, send me a text and I will meet you here. And please, this should be our little secret, no one at the company can know about this, especially Mr. Franck"

"My twin brother and I keep each other's secrets all the time, you can count on me to keep this one"

"Thank you, thank you so much"

"You are welcome. So, can I go now?" She asked boldly and Adele quickly nodded her head.

She watched in fascination as the girl got out of the car and walked over to the door of the restaurant. When she saw how confidently she spoke with the guard, she knew everything was going to be alright.

"Shit!" She cursed as she looked at the time on her phone. It read One thirty pm.

She was thirty minutes late and she was terrified of what Jamal would do to her once she arrived.

She stepped on the gas and drove over to "Wangis restaurant" which was situated at the next building.

When she got to the parking lot, she quickly parked the car and rushed into the building. The restaurant was located on the sixth floor, so she took the elevator and while in it, she could not help but fidget with her clothes.

She wasn't flamboyantly dressed. She simply had on a pair of long jean trousers and a thick white sweater over it. On her feet were a pair of white converse which complemented her shoes.

She had the habit of completing her shoes with her sweaters as she always had on one because of her cold intolerance.

She didn't want anyone to suspect that she was someone Jamal knew personally.

Once the elevator dinged, she patiently waited for it to open and when it did, she stepped out of it and into the restaurant. She held her crossed bag closed to her chest and pushed a few strands of loose hair behind her ear as she tried to spot Jamal.

The place was occupied by humans, but the only sounds she could hear were the sounds of cutleries clattering as the people ate. That was very unusual of Wangis restaurant.

Soon, she spotted Jamal sitting elegantly by the window, not minding at all, all the attention that surrounded him. All the customers inside the restaurant were staring at him like he was some god, some silently took pictures of him, but no one dared to approach him any further.

He just simply sat there calmly in his black Armani suit, reading the restaurant's menu.

Adele walked over to his table and she could feel the eyes that were on her. Once she stood before him, she cleared her throat to get his attention and she succeeded.

"You are late, Adele" He stated as he glanced up at her with a graceful look.

"I apologize. I … had some things to take care of." she explained smoothly as moved the chair before him and sat down. She was feeling nervous about the whole situation.

"Like the young girl you had to send to interview the restaurant manager for you?" He asked with a raised brow and Adele's eyes and mouth opened wide in shock.

How did he know that?

"How did you… how did you know that?" She asked, stunned.

"Does it matter?" He asked quietly as he sipped some water from his glass.

"I…" she opened her mouth to speak but she decided against it and stayed quiet. She had no idea how he knew about her plan, but then, on a second thought, he was Jamal King Dominick.

He knew everything!

Jamal suddenly held his phone and called someone and the call was immediately picked up.

"Clear this place" He ordered the moment the person on the line called his name and then hung up.

The words he just spoke had not reached Adele's compréhension when men in black attires barged into the restaurant and made everyone leave.

People who were in the middle of having their meals were kicked out. The waiters and waitresses were escorted out too and in the end, just the two of them were left in the restaurant.

Adele watched all of that unfold with terror in her eyes.

That was the first display of power that she witnessed him doing and she was truly intrigued. She began to wonder if he would later on pay the people he just dismissed or…

"I believe you have your own objections to this marriage" He stated curtly, snapping Adele out of her thoughts.

She looked up into his menacing gaze and swallowed dryly as she prepared to say what she had on her mind.

"I do. You too, I guess?"

"Indeed. Marrying right now is not convenient for me" He further stated and Adele's hope twinkled. She grinned wildly as she leaned towards him.

"I'm not planning to marry anytime soon either. Since we both agree on this, why don't you try talking to grandma again. I'm sure she will listen to you. I tried to talk to her but she brushed me off" She suggested and the man looked at her pensively for a long time.

"I'm afraid it is impossible to stop the marriage from my end" He  calmly stated and that made Adele lose her cool.

"Jamal, since you knew this was impossible, why did you agree to meet me here? I thought you understood we were to meet and put a stop to this marriage?" She asked furiously and Jamal on the other hand calmly observed her little rage episode.

Usually, when she threw a fit and her opponent kept calm, she felt all the more insane about it, but somehow, that man's attitude only sent peace and steadiness in her.

So she simply relaxed and kept staring at him , wondering what it is he was thinking about behind those quiet lips of his.

Speaking of lips, she was shamelessly staring at his lips. There was really nothing special about the anatomy of human lips, his included, but she just  stared at them like they were a piece of art.

She only stopped looking at his lips when he began to talk.

"I am sure when we spoke on the phone, this purpose wasn't suggested. You did not say you wanted to meet me to end the marriage, therefore I did not say I will be here to help in doing that"

"Then why did you come?" She asked calmly.

"What reason should a man have to see his fiance, Adele? I am here to see you… to get to know you more."

His answer was rather silly and unexpected for Adele and what baffled her the most was his ability to maintain a blank countenance the entire time.

He neither frowned nor smiled.

The only part on his face which moved were his eyebrows and lips.

She was truly taken aback by his response and didn't know what to say or do next.

"Since we are both obliged to do this, why don't we just do it sincerely and wholeheartedly? I'm not the kind of person who engages in matters reluctantly. I have given this matter great thinking and I have no problem with it.  If we get married, I will be your husband for a lifetime and I will protect you. Like I said, it is impossible to end things from my end, but if you think you can… then good luck trying. However, if you change your mind and decide to get on with it, then I expect you to be a sincere wife. " He spoke calmly but firmly and strangely, Adele felt comfortable hearing his words.

She even felt more comfortable the way he was looking at her.

She leaned back on her seat and looked at him long and hard.

"Can I pass my order now?" She asked out of nowhere.

"By all means." He said as he handed over the restaurant menu. "I'll eat whatever you order." He added and Adele caught something like a smile at the side of his lips.

It was hardly noticeable, but she considered it a smile because she knew that was the highest he could do.

The rest of the time they spent together passed in total tranquillity and Adele thanked her stars because she  had nothing else to say to him.

Her husband to be.