Love Over Everything — Chapter 21

Christopher decided he was going to be working from home today. He attended to all his conference calls in his home office and occupied himself reviewing the contracts his lawyer sent him for final verification. He hardly stood up from his desk except when he wanted to use the bathroom or refill his cup with wine.

He had no appetite to take something in and drowning himself with work was the only thing he could do to get his mind off Naomi or the thought that by this time tomorrow he would be married to Vivian and bound to her for the rest of his life.

Christopher was someone who doesn’t believe in a fairytale but this was definitely not how he had imagined his life to turn out to be.

When it was almost lunchtime, he took an hour nap and continued working. When it was a little over 6 pm, he left his office for his bedroom to take a shower.

Christopher was in the kitchen looking for something to eat when he heard the sound of the doorbell. He was surprised because he wasn’t expecting anyone but he went to open the door anyways.

“SURPRISE!!!!”

Christopher stood still in shock as he took in the people that were standing in front of his apartment.

It was Susan, Ruben, Debbie, Andre and Sophie who was seated on Andre’s neck. Ruben was holding six boxes of Pizza while Debbie and Susan were holding baskets and plastic bags and by the look of it, they contained perishable items.

“Are you just going to keep staring at us? Won’t you usher us in?” Andre teased, Sophie who was seated on his neck started whining for him to put her down so he did.

Sophie ran towards Chris and hugged his legs tightly.

“I miss you uncle Chris.”

Chris smiled and lifted her in his arms, “I miss you too, cupcake.” He kissed her cheeks.

“I was not expecting you guys.” He said to his visitors as he opened the door wider for them to come in.

“You wouldn’t subscribe for us to plan a bachelor’s party so we brought the party to your house instead,” Debbie said. She kissed his cheek before walking into his apartment.

Chris kissed Susan on her cheeks, he gave Ruben and Andre a brotherly hug.

“Uncle Chris do you have cookies?” Sophie, who was still in his arms whispered in his ear. To the little girl, it was a whisper but everyone heard what she said.

“Sophie you’ve taken a lot of chocolates today, so no cookies until tomorrow.”

Sophie looked at her mom with a frown and folded her arms.

Her mom glared at her but she ignored and turned her attention to Christopher. “Please Uncle Chris, Can I have a cookie?” She looked at him with a cute puppy dog face.

“Please don’t fall for that Christoph, She can be very manipulative.”

“Please just let her have one, Debbie.” Chris pleaded, he didn't like it when he was in this type of situation.

“No,” Debbie said firmly then made her way to the kitchen to dish out the food they brought.

Chris sighed and looked at Sophie who was in his arms. “I will beg mummy to let you have a cookie alright?” She nodded.

He placed Sophie on her feet and went to the kitchen to see what the ladies were doing.

Debbie was standing by the counter, bringing out the food from the basket and plastic bags. Susan, on the other hand, was trying to get plates from the cupboard.

“Hmm, What do we have here?”

“Varieties; Spaghetti, Cheeseburger, Pepperoni pizza, grilled chicken and drinks,” Susan said as she placed the plates on the counter.

“So what have you been up to? Have you decided on the suit you are going to wear?” Debbie asked.

“Nothing much Debbie, I’ve been pretty busy with work. And no I haven’t picked out the suit I’ll wear tomorrow. That is an easy task, I’ll probably wear the first one I set my eyes on. Hopefully, I’ll do that before I go to bed.”

“Are you kidding me? You are getting married in less than 10 hours!” Debbie said furiously. Christopher shrugged, to him it was no big deal, getting a suit from his closet was quite easy, in fact, he could decide to sort that out tomorrow morning before the wedding.

“Debbie and I will help you choose a suit after dinner. We don’t want you looking so irregular tomorrow.” Susan added.

Chris picked up a tray, placed a plate of spaghetti and grilled chicken on it and another plate of pizza. He made his way to the living room and got comfortable on the rug, Sophie came to sit beside him, he fed her before he dug in.

Debbie served Andre and Ruben their food, Susan served drinks to everyone and they settled in the living room to have their meal.

“By this time tomorrow, Someone’s status would have changed.” Andre teased before raising his glass of wine to his lips.

“Yeah, I don’t even know if She will move in with me here or she and my mom have planned something else.”

“You should know Vivian by now Chris, She has a really great taste. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has bought a house for you guys.”

“Well that’s her loss, it’s either she moves in here or we live separately,” Chris said before handing Sophie her sippy cup.

“Any honeymoon?” Andre smirked which earned a glare from Chris.

Susan laughed out loud before she said “I think there is. I kind of overheard Vivian and Mom talking about something relating to that.”

“Man, even though it’s your wedding you’re like the last person to find out things!” Ruben said.

“It’s because it’s a forced wedding,” Chris replied as he continued to feed Sophie.

As soon as they were done with their food, the guys cleaned up the living room while the ladies did the dishes. As promised, Debbie and Susan raided Christopher’s closet to get him the perfect suit for the wedding. There were lots of designer suits which made it hard for them to settle for one but eventually, they found a black one and set it aside with matching shoes.

After that, Debbie and Susan went back to the living room to join the guys and they noticed Sophie had fallen asleep in Christopher’s arms. They made many funny random conversations until it was time for them to leave.

....................................

Christopher was told his wedding was to commence at 10 am so he was up by 7:30 am. He took his time to get ready after which he went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He sat down on a couch in his living room and slowly sipped his coffee, careful not to spill it on his so-called wedding suit.

He reached for his phone in his pocket and went to his gallery, he scrolled through pictures of him and Naomi when he visited California. Heaven knows he would have been the happiest man in the world if it was Naomi he was getting married to.

He paused what he was doing and dialled her number even when he knew it wasn’t going to be reachable and just as predicted, it went straight to voicemail.

Even if Naomi’s number was reachable, he wasn’t sure what he would have said to her. He hoped she was doing fine. She deserved better and he would never forgive himself for hurting her.

When Chris heard the sound of the doorbell, he knew it was Andre and Ruben so he went to answer it.

Andre and Ruben were in their suit looking even more handsome than he was.

“Happy Married life to you Bro!” Andre teased before pulling Chris into a forced hug.

“Andre, Really?” He rolled his eyes but managed to return the hug anyway.

“Heyy!” Ruben hugged him too.

“Sorry, we are late. Andre kept on changing outfits and wouldn’t settle for one.”

“Don’t blame me. I’m the best man so I’ve got to look good.” He defended.

“I really don’t have strength for all these, let’s be on our way. My mom has called me three times this morning.”

“And what did she say?” Andre asked.

“Reminding me it’s my wedding today so I should show up and most importantly I should not be late.”

“Let’s be on our way then. Debbie and Sophie should be in the church by now.”

The wedding was way more than Christopher had imagined. He couldn’t even comprehend who has the most guests, his parents or Vivian and her family. He couldn’t count how many presses were present, he just wanted the day to end already.

He took a look at his Rolex and sighed.

“Don’t worry, She’s almost here.” Andre, the best man who was standing behind him gave him a comforting squeeze on his shoulder.

He replied to Andre with a sad smile. Hopefully, he would get used to Vivian and her tardiness.

His eyes met with Debbie who was seated on the third row amongst the audience. She smiled at him and he returned the smile. Ruben was seated beside her with Sophie on his lap. The little girl’s attention was on her lollipop.

The audience stood to their feet in unison and Chris heaved a sigh of relief. That could only mean the bride had arrived.

Christopher fiddled with his fingers as he watched the flower girls make their entrance. Three girls below the age of six and a boy who was putting on a tiny suit, holding a pillow which contained the rings. As soon as they got to the aisle, Andre crouched towards them, gave each of them a high five, he collected the rings from the ring bearer and then guided them to their seats in front.

Christopher did not turn up for any of the rehearsals, instead, he sent Andre to represent him. It was only when they were in the car, on their way to the church that Andre started explaining to Chris what he needed to know.

Chris took a glance at the rings and shook his head internally. It was a diamond ring, he had no doubt it was pretty expensive and was sure as hell that Vivian picked them.

The music continued and the bride appeared by the entrance. Her father reached for her hand and they slowly made their way down to the aisle.

The last time Christopher set his eyes on Robert Matthews was on his birthday which was the same day Vivian drugged him to have her way with him. Robert was his father’s best friend and he always knew he wanted him to marry his daughter and no doubt his daughter made him proud by trapping him into marriage.

Sick family. Chris never asked Vivian's parents for their blessings to marry their daughter. Yet, they were so hyped to plan a loveless wedding.

As a soon to be bride, Vivian was looking gorgeous and she had smiles all over her face, unlike Christopher who had a plain expression, If only it was Naomi that was walking down the aisle instead of Vivian.

“Take care of my daughter Christopher,” Robert said, his statement came out as a plea instead of a warning. Christopher did not give the old man any response. Robert placed his daughter’s hands in his. Vivian smiled at Christopher but got no response from him too.

Everything went by in a blur for Christopher, his body was present but his mind was somewhere else. They took the vows, exchanged the rings and had their first kiss.

Christopher reluctantly initiated the kiss, it was a quick one, a quick kiss on her plump lips. He saw the hurt in her eyes but he couldn’t care less.

The priest pronounced them as husband and wife, they walked out of the church, took pictures with family and friends and they were congratulated by all.

Christopher didn’t like the idea of riding in the same car with Vivian to the reception but he had no choice. In as much as he would prefer to ride with friends, he had to go in the same car with his wife. He cringed internally at the thought of that title. Vivian was his wife and now he was her husband.

“We’ll meet you at the reception,” Ruben said with his hands in his pocket.

“Sure, I hope I survive the ride though” he replied, playing with Sophie who was in Debbie’s arms.

“Debbie chuckled, “You’ll survive, sweetheart. You have to start getting used to her and now that she is your wife, you will have to start bringing her to our little gatherings I guess.”

Chris looked at Debbie with a frown on his face. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Oh, so you won’t bring her along whenever you come to visit us?” Andre, the best man chipped in.

“No.” He replied immediately. “I’m sure she has her people she hangs out with. I’m only sane whenever I’m with you guys and having Vivian there will not be a good idea.”

“Alright guys, see you all later.” Chris kissed Sophie’s cheeks and made his way to the limousine. Vivian was already in so he slid in beside her.

“That little girl is so lucky. She gets kisses that you don’t shower me with.” Vivian said with a sad smile.

Christopher ignored.

But Vivian was determined to make things work between them so she tried to keep the conversation going.

“Do you like my wedding dress? I actually came up with the design and my designers helped me bring it to life. I wanted to look good for you honey, I wanted to make you proud.”

Seeing she wouldn’t stop disturbing him, he replied without looking at her. “The dress is okay.”

She was about to say something else when Christopher raised his hand to stop her. “Please just drop the conversation. I don’t feel like talking!!!” His voice came out harsh with finality.

Vivian swallowed painfully, she tried to keep her tears at bay and focused on enjoying the silent ride.