Enforced (Book 1)

Chapter 26

The next day my dad took me to a small restaurant to meet up with Acer for lunch.  I had originally dressed in a simple dress to meet up with Acer, but my dad told me I needed to be wearing something more elegant so Acer wouldn't think he was making a mistake agreeing to marry me. I looked down at myself sadly and went upstairs to change, wondering why he always had to put me down. I put my hair up in an elegant twist so he wouldn't have anything to say about my hair being too plain.

The last thing I wanted to do was spend time with Acer, but I knew that it was either getting to know him, and eventually marry him, or it was death. I had no choice in that matter, but I was not going to be happy or excited about it.

We took the shuttle to the restaurant. Right before we got off, my dad grabbed me by the wrist, and my eyes widened as I did my best not to pull away from him. "You need to be on your best behavior, you need to make him happy. He's agreed to marry you, and I expect you to be a good house wife." When I didn't answer he jerked my arm towards him, "Do you understand?" He said quietly, but dangerously. I nodded at him. He released my wrist. "Good." He said as we stepped off of the shuttle.

Acer was already seated in the restaurant when we got there. He stood up and shook my dad's hand and gestured me over to the chair across from him. I moved toward the chair but before I could sit down my dad pulled me into a hug and whispered into my ear, "Best behavior, Bethany." he warned me. I pulled away and sat down across from Acer. "You take good care of him." My dad said to me, nodded once at Acer, and left us alone.

"You look well." Acer said to me as he pulled the menu closer.

"Oh, you do too." I replied nervously. The waitress came over shortly after and I ordered a water with lemon, Acer ordered a beer. I kept my eyes on my menu, not really even reading it, just avoiding eye contact. When the waitress came over again, Acer ordered a steak and then asked me what I wanted, having not actually read the menu, I just said I wanted the salmon and a side salad.

Acer confirmed it with the waitress and she took our menus and put our orders in. With the menus taken away, I had no other choice but to make eye contact and conversation with Acer.

"So, uh, tell me more about yourself." I stated. "I already know you have a younger brother and that you like running and weight lifting and boxing. What else is there to know about you?"

"There isn't much else." He replied. "My parents are pretty well off so I don't need a job, they already agreed to buy us a house after the wedding."

I was taking a sip of water as he was speaking and when he mentioned our upcoming marriage I began choking on it. Acer stood up and hit me on the back to help me get the water out of my lungs. He hit me a bit too hard and I hit my stomach on the table. It was almost as if he didn't know how strong he was. "You okay?" he asked me, after he had sat back down.

"Yeah." I answered, "Sorry." He smiled at me and continued talking about himself. He didn't seem all that interesting, but the more he spoke, the less I had to. He spoke until the food came.

Once the food was put in front of us, I put my napkin in my lap and began slicing my salmon into bite sized pieces. Acer just dug into his food. He stabbed his steak with his fork and began taking bites out of it. Once again, I was happy to ignore Acer and have something else to pay attention to.

The salmon was fine, but I was nervous so I was too nauseous to finish it. Soon the waitress came by she asked me if I wanted a to-go box for the rest of my meal. Before I could answer, Acer told the waitress that there was no need for a to-go box because he would finish it.

The waitress nodded and left to go get our bill. Acer reached for my plate and I slid it closer to him. He finished my plate, paid the bill, and we left.

Next he told me we were going to see a film. We took the shuttle to the only theater near us and he chose the movie without asking me what I wanted to see. When we sat down in the back row and the movie began, I wished he would have consulted me about the movie we were going to see.

It was gory. There wasn't much of a story line, just a lot of violence. About a quarter of the way through the movie, Acer put his hand on my knee and began rubbing it. I felt incredibly uncomfortable, but he didn't move his hand up any farther, I fought the urge to shove his hand away, telling myself he was just trying to get closer to me, considering the fact that we are engaged.

Later on, I looked at Acer's face during one of the more gory parts of the film and his eyes were lit up and he was really into the scene. I hoped it was just because he was a boy and they enjoyed action movies, but his reaction gave me an unsettling feeling.

Still, I was happy to have a man in my life that could help me protect Benjamin, he was definitely strong enough. I would just tell him that Benjamin was a childhood friend. After the movie was finished, Acer and I walked to the shuttle stop and when it came, we got on and I sat next the window, Acer right next to me. I looked out the window the whole time, wishing it was Benjamin who was sitting next to me.

When the shuttle stopped near my house I expected Acer to get up and let me off of the shuttle alone, but he took my hand and walked me to my door. Something Benjamin was never able to do. When we got to the door, I opened it and Acer held it open for me.

He followed me inside, my dad was on the couch drinking a beer and I was afraid that he would act out in front of Acer. But then I noticed that there were no empty beer bottles on the table next to him, so he was drinking his first beer of the day. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Beer Acer?" my dad asked.

"Yes, sir." Acer replied. My dad reached into the mini fridge next to him and tossed a beer at Acer who plopped down next to my father. I sat in my mother's old chair next to the couch.

My dad had a football game on the TV and Acer immediately became enthralled in the game and before I knew it both men were four beers in and shouting at the TV as I sat there twiddling my thumbs waiting for Acer to leave so I could go hang out with Benjamin.

As it turned out, I didn't get to see Benjamin that day. Acer stayed until the football game was over and my father told me to cook the two of them dinner. I decided on roasted lemon garlic chicken breasts with au gratin potatoes and asparagus.

Once it was done, I served the boys and sat down to eat my own food. Before I got five bites down, Acer and my father were finished and getting second helpings. "Delicious, Bethany." Acer said with his mouth full of food. I smiled at him and went back to my own plate.

Before I could finish my father was asking if I made anything for dessert. When I shook my head no, my dad glared at me. "Bethany, your fiancée is over for dinner and you didn't prepare a dessert?"

"I didn't know he was staying for dinner or I would have prepared some." It was obvious that my father was not pleased with me talking back to him or defending my actions.

"Dessert would be good." Acer added, "How about we go out for ice cream?"

I gave Acer a small forced smile in response, glad that he was helping me out. "Well clean up, Bethany and we will be waiting for you in the living room." My dad said in response. I look down at my half eaten plate of food, still hungry, but not wanting to upset my dad further.

I put my leftovers in a container and cleared the table and washed the dishes. Then I made my way into the living room and we headed to the ice cream shop.

I got a small cone and my dad and Acer each got a large sundae. Acer offered to pay which made my father happy. Once we were finished with dessert, we boarded the shuttle again. My father and I got off at our stop, while Acer waved good bye in the shuttle window.

When we got into the house I went to go upstairs to my room so I could go to bed and wake up early to see Benjamin since I didn't have the time to today.

Before I got to the second step my dad grabbed my wrist, "I expect you to have at least three courses prepared next time Acer visits. He agreed to marry you and I expect you to be a good house wife, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." I replied through gritted teeth. He let my arm go and I went to my room, took a shower, got into my pajamas, and fell asleep.