Free Losing Pieces of Me by Rose Briner

flowers on it, it was the nicest thing I owned.  I thought it would prove to Jayden that even though we’re not really married, I want to make an effort and make this thing appear legit.  I guess I was wrong, wasn’t I?  He still doubts me.
       Now here I am, forced to stand outside of my room, which just so happens to be next door to Jayden’s, and wait for him to decide to come upstairs so he can let me in.
       “Are you sure this was the wisest decision, Jayden?  We could’ve continued to look for ways to fight the board’s decision.  There was no need to actually go out and get a wife just so you could keep majority shares of the company.  There’s always other ways.  Plus, I don’t think that girl is capable of pulling this off.”
    That damn lawyer of his.  We haven’t even been married an hour and already he’s trying to talk Jayden out of the decision he’s just made.  No way am I going to allow that to happen.  Not only did I sign the prenup and that contract, but I need that money.  I’ll just have to prove to Jayden he made the right decision.
       I think about storming over there and giving them both a piece of my mind, but I decide instead to wait and see what Jayden says to his lawyer.
       “God Rich, no wonder she wants to know when you’re going to go away.  I know you are against this decision, but I think I made the best one.  I’m running out of time and I couldn’t leave this up to chance that you would find a way around this decision.  I like Mireya, she’s a really nice girl and she’s pretty.  I’ve made my decision and make no mistake, this may be a business arrangement she and I have, but I will not tolerate you speaking of my wife in that manner. If you so much as talk out of turn in front of her or say something to make her cry, I’ll fire you.”  He sounds really upset right now.
       “But Jayden you can’t do that,” replies the lawyer.  Their voices are getting closer now and I have nowhere to hide as I lower myself down so I am sitting on the floor.  I might as well take a seat, this might take a while.
       “I can do that and I will Rich.  You know that I hate it when women are disrespected and worse than this just being a woman, she’s not just any woman, according to the law, she’s my woman.”
       I hear a door slamming and Jayden’s sigh as his footsteps approach.  I take it the door slamming was the lawyer’s door and not his.
       I sit there and play with my fingernails as I wait for him to notice me sitting out here all alone.  A strange feeling of pride fills me when I look up and see him standing before me.  He defended me and more than that, he said I’m his woman.  Okay, okay, I know, this is a business deal, but I think I’ve read one too many romance novels because that right there, was the most romantic thing I’ve ever had a man say about me.  Sad existence I know, but I might as well take advantage of the fact that I just married a rich and handsome man.
       “You okay?” he asks when I finally smile up at him softly.
       “I guess,” I shrug.  “I take it the lawyer doesn’t like me very much?”
       “He’s just worried, that’s all.  Why are you sitting out here on the ground?” he asks, offering me his hand to help me stand.
       “I don’t have my key, remember?”
       He reaches into the front pocket of his slacks and then it dawns on him that he has two room keys.
    “I completely forgot about that,” he says, handing me the key so I can go inside.
       “Thank you for defending me,” I tell him as I finger the key.
    Spontaneously, I walk up to him and kiss him on the cheek before I turn and open the door to go inside of my room.  I don’t want to see the reaction on his face, so I quickly close the door behind me, leaving him standing out there.
       I know he stands over there for a few seconds before heading over to his room and going inside.  Why?  Because the walls