Before The Arrangement, page 1
Before The Arrangement
J. S. COOPER
Copyright © 2022 by J. S. Cooper
All rights reserved.
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Contents
Blurb
Before The Arrangement
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Blurb
The prequel novella to Forbidden Arrangement.
Valentina Ford is the only daughter of a rich businessman. She loves her family but wants to find her own way in life. And then she meets him, Sam Valenti...and everything she thinks she knows about life and love is turned upside down.
Before The Arrangement
Prequel Novella to Forbidden Arrangement
Chapter One
"Valentina, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but I do not approve of your relationship with that man." My dad frowned at me as we sat at the dining room table. I tried not to roll my eyes at his words. My dad was way too overprotective for my liking. Ever since my mom had passed away, he’d watched over me like I was some sort of princess.
"Dad, I'm old enough to date whomever I want. Sorry." I spoke lightly as I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
"He's a loser, Valentina." He put his knife and fork down. I guess he didn’t care about my feelings.
"No, he's not." I hated sounding like I was protesting. I didn’t even want to talk about my relationship with my dad.
"I heard the song he sang to you in that voicemail," my dad’s voice cracked as he shook his head. "He doesn't have a good voice, the lyrics sucked, and..." He started laughing and I pressed my lips together.
"Dad, I've had enough. How can you be so rude about Shane? He’s a really sweet guy." I stood up and glared at him. "I'm going to go outside and look at the flowers." I made my way out of the dining room quickly and hurried into the backyard. I loved my dad, but I was really fed up with him thinking he could rule my life. I quickly pulled out my phone and called my best friend, Gabriella. She always knew how to make me feel better in situations like this.
"Hey, girl. How's dinner with your dad?" she asked cheerfully. I’d invited her to come, but she’d decided to go shopping instead.
"He's so annoying."
"Oh, no. What now?"
"He doesn't like Shane," I said dramatically.
"Oh." Gabriella paused. "Why?"
"Because he doesn't think he's talented. He heard a song that Shane left on my voicemail and he thought it was crappy. It's just so unfair that my dad thinks he can rule my life. It's not like I'm asking him to pay my way forever."
"But didn't you ask him to pay for the lease for the cafe that you want to open?" Gabriella asked softly, and I sighed.
"He's a businessman. I'm asking him to invest in me and my business."
"Yeah, and he said he would, right?"
"He said he would go up to five grand a month, but the place I'm looking at is 15 grand a month. Where am I meant to come up with an extra 10 grand?"
"I don't know. I mean, I could ask my dad if you want?"
"No," I said quickly. I knew that was the last thing Gabriella would really want to do, even though her dad had plenty of money and could afford it. "I shouldn't have to ask anyone else," I said, feeling frustrated. "My dad is loaded. Ten grand a month is literally nothing to him. He spends that on freaking food in restaurants."
"Yeah, I feel you. So, what's the song that Shane made for you?"
I cringed in the night air. "It's on my voicemail."
"Let me hear it."
"Really?" I didn’t want to play it again.
"Yes, Valentina, please. You're so lucky to have a boyfriend that writes you unique songs and leaves them for you on your voicemail."
"Yeah. Technically he's not my boyfriend. We haven't even slept together yet."
"I know, but isn't that because he wants your first time to be special?"
"Something like that. He said he wants us to go to India together to some yoga retreat, but he was asking me if I had any credit card miles to get us to India." I paused. "Anyway, hold on. Let me play you the song. I'm going to put you on speaker, okay."
"Sounds good," she said. I put her on speaker and then went to my voicemail and pressed play. The out-of-tune sounds of a guitar came through the speaker and then Shane started singing.
"Picture you and me under an orange tree. If you want it hot, I can bring the cayenne pepper to the spot. You and me under the orange tree, cayenne pepper all over me. You'll lick me because I am hot. Don't burn your mouth, because I'll cool you off." I pressed pause as I cringed listening to the song. My dad hadn't been wrong. The song was awful. I just didn't appreciate him saying that. I waited for Gabriella to say something.
"So what did you think?" Maybe the song wasn't as bad as I thought.
Gabriella coughed slightly. "A for effort, definitely. A for effort."
"Gabriella, be real. What do you think of the song?"
"Let's just say he's not going to be the next Ed Sheeran or Shawn Mendes or Justin Bieber, or even the guy that sings Baby Shark."
"Wow thanks, Gabriella," I laughed. "It was bad, huh?"
"It was really bad, but I know you give him an A for effort. And it was sweet of him.” She giggled. I found myself smiling in response. It wasn’t Gabriella’s fault that Shane wasn’t the next coming of Elton John.
"Yeah, it was sweet of him."
"What are you up to tonight?"
"Well, I'm about to leave my dad's place. Do you want to go and grab a drink or something?"
"Yeah, that would be fun, and maybe you could give me some tips on what I should wear tomorrow night to the bachelorette party."
"Sure. You said you had a couple of different dresses, right?"
"Yeah. I want to look sexy and fun, but not slutty."
"Girl, you could never look slutty."
"Valentina, I love you, but if I wore a short skirt with a tank top, I would look like a slut because my ass and my boobs would be popping out."
"Gabriella, you're so silly."
"What? It's true. You don't have those problems because you're so tiny, but when you've got a couple of extra pounds to play with, you can't just be wearing anything, no matter how sexy it makes you feel."
"Girl, you know there's a guy out there looking for a woman just like you."
"Well, then why haven't I met him?" She sounded sad.
"You will, girl. It's hard out here for women like us. We're beautiful, we're smart."
"Yeah, but at least you've got Shane."
"Yeah. I've got Shane and his bad singing."
"True," Gabriella giggled, "He does suck as a singer, but he's really good-looking."
"He's all right." I thought about Shane and knew I didn’t have any strong feelings for him. There were no feelings of passion or love. He was a nice enough guy and I enjoyed spending time with him and hearing different philosophies about the world, but frankly, I didn't care that we hadn't been intimate. Even though going to India and practicing yoga sounded like it would be cool, I wasn't really sure that I wanted to do that with him. Not that I would tell my dad, of course.
A part of me wondered if I was just rebelling against my dad by dating Shane. My dad thought he could rule my life. He thought he could control everything that I did, but I wasn't going to let him. I was fed up of him thinking that just because he was Hamilton Ford, business owner with millions of dollars to his name, he could tell me what to do with my life. I was my own person and I wasn't run by money. In fact, I had dreams of opening my own business. I wanted to open a dog cafe. I was so close to seeing my dreams coming true, but I just had to find the perfect space. I sighed. "I'll pick you up when I leave, yeah?" I said to Gabriella.
"Okay. See you soon."
“Bye.” I hung up the phone and stood there for a few seconds. I was excited to hang out with her. She was my best friend. She was always there for me, and she understood what it was like to come from a family with money, yet not be beholden to that. We didn't care that our families were rich. We didn't care that other people looked at us as snobs and rich brats because that's not who we were as people. I headed back inside to the dining room where my father still sat eating his food.
"Had a good pout, Valentina?" He said looking up at me with a raised eyebrow.
I walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, dad. I really do, but sometimes you just drive me crazy." I smiled at him. "Anyway, I'll see you later?"
"Okay." He nodded. He looked at his watch. "I actually have to go out in a little bit. I'm meeting some business acquaintances at a bar called the Toad's Hole tonight."
"Never heard of it," I said with a laugh, "but have fun.”
"I will," he said. "What are you doing tonight?"
"I'm going out with Gabriella, dad. Don't worry. I won't be with Shane."
"I didn't ask," he said, "and tomorrow you've got that bachelorette party, yes?"
"Yes, dad. What are you keeping tabs on me?"
"Would I do such a thing?" he said with an innocent smile. "Anyway, you tell Gabriella I said hello and you have a great evening."
"Thanks, dad. I'll see you later." I headed out of the dining room and towards the front door and ran down the steps towards my car. It was great visiting
Chapter Two
"Gabriella, you look absolutely amazing." I stared at my best friend in her short black dress and smiled. "You're stunning."
"Valentina," she laughed happily. "You always make me feel really great about myself."
"Well, that's because you are great. Now, shall we go dancing?"
"Let's do it,” she said with a nod. "Heard anything else from Shane?"
I looked at her, made a face, and shook my head. "Girl. Are you making fun of me and him?"
"No. Well maybe. I mean, that song was kind of crap." She giggled. "I know you were pissed at your dad for saying that, but who sings a song about licking pepper off someone?"
"Girl, you know, Shane.” I rolled my eyes. "He's not the smartest bulb in the room."
"Isn't it the brightest bulb in the room?" Gabriella said, with a raised eyebrow and we both burst out laughing.
"I guess that means I shouldn't be saying anything about him, huh? Obviously. I'm not very smart either if I can't even get that simple phrase right."
"You are plenty smart, Valentina. So where shall we go?"
"I was thinking we should go to the Fiesta Lounge?" I looked at her.
"Sure," she said. "How was your dad when you left him? Pissed off?"
"No, you know my dad. He figures if he doesn't get me to agree today, he'll get me to agree tomorrow."
"Your dad's too funny."
"Yeah. I'm just thankful that he has his car dealerships to worry about so he doesn't have too much time to get invested in my business."
"True, true. So should we go and get our flirt on tonight?"
"Yeah, let's do it." I noticed that my phone was ringing and frowned. "Oh, man. It's Shane."
"Oh gosh. What does he want?" Gabriella said rolling her eyes. I had a feeling Gabriella didn’t really like him either.
"Let me check. Oh, it looks like he's got a standup show tonight."
"Oh my gosh. Don't tell me he's a comedian as well?" Gabriella's eyes were wide and I just shook my head.
"I don't know. Let me call him and see.”
"Hey babe," he said answering the phone immediately.
"Hey Shane, how's it going?"
"Not bad. I'm going to be performing tonight."
"Your poetry or your music?" I said chewing on my lower lip trying not to laugh at the faces Gabriella was making.
"Actually my standup routine."
"Oh, your standup routine." I held my thumb up to Gabriella and she shook her head. "I didn't know you were a comic as well."
"I'm a master of all trades," he said, sounding smug.
"Oh cool."
"You want to hear one of my jokes?"
"Sure," I said. "I'd love to."
"Knock knock."
"Who's there?" I answered.
"Boo."
"Boo who?" I said chewing on my lower lip.
"There's no need to cry. It's only a joke." He burst out laughing and I stared at Gabriella shaking my head.
"Oh, funny. But I kind of heard that joke when I was in elementary school."
"You did?" Shane sounded shocked. "I made that joke up."
"You did?" I said. Was this guy for real?
"Yeah. You want to hear another one I made up?"
"Sure," I said.
"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Banana."
"Oh no," I mumbled under my breath.
"Sorry. What did you say?" Shane cleared his throat.
"Banana who?"
"Knock knock," he said.
"Who's there?"
"Banana."
"Banana who?"
"Knock knock."
"Oh my gosh. This is absolutely ridiculous," I whispered to Gabriella.
"Are you there? You're ruining the joke, Valentina." Shane sounded annoyed.
"Sorry. Start again."
"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Orange."
"Orange who?"
"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" He burst out laughing again.
"Oh, so you made this one up as well, Shane?"
"Yeah. Do you like it?"
"Yeah. It sounds very familiar to another joke I've heard just like that one, but maybe you and the other great minds just think alike."
"Yeah. Most probably. Okay. One last joke before I go on. The crowds are waiting on me."
"You're heading on the stage now?"
"Yeah. Do you like my set so far?"
"These are the jokes in your set?"
"Yeah. I think I'm going to kill it tonight." I pressed my lips together to stop from laughing. He sure was confident.
"Yeah. Something's going to die tonight for sure. People aren't paying for this show, are they?"
"No it's donations afterward, but I'm going to give people my cash app and Venmo and suggest that they make a $20 donation. I mean, you're not around a genius like me this often."
"Yeah. Okay. Let me hear that third joke."
"Okay. There was a chicken walking down the street."
"Okay?"
"And he started running and a cat saw him."
"Okay?"
"And the cat said, why are you running little chicken? And guess what the chicken said?"
"I don't know. I want to get to the other side of the road?"
"No, you get one more guess."
"I don't know. He's practicing for a 5k?"
“Oh, Valentina. You could never be a comic. No, the chicken said I got to get past KFC fast before they drop me in the oil fryer."
There was silence on the phone as he waited for my reaction. "Oh ha ha," I said loudly and he burst out laughing.
"I knew it. I'm going to kill tonight. I'm so hilarious. I'm actually thinking about going on America's Got Talent."
"You are?" I quickly cleared my throat. "I mean, of course, you are. You're so talented."
"Thanks, babe. You're one in a million. I couldn't do it without your support. When I make my first million, I'm going to give you a shout-out."
"Well, thanks, Shane. Gabriella is actually here with me and she's waiting on me because we're going out, but I'll speak to you later?"
"Okay. You two have fun, but not too much fun."
"Yeah. Okay.”
“And remember what I said, Valentina?"
"What's that?"
"No masturbation."
"Hmm? What?"
"Don’t you remember why?"
"I'm not really going to talk about this in front of Gabriella."
"Because you're saving yourself for when we get to India and if you masturbate and you come, it will be like you're cheating on me."
"Okay. Well bye, Shane," I said and hung up.
Gabriella looked at me through narrowed eyes, "Girl, what the fuck are you doing with that guy?"
"I don't know," I said pressing my lip together. "When I first met him, I thought he was sweet and fun. And his first poem seemed really good."
"Girl, I told you that was Emily Dickinson."
"Yeah. Well, I didn't realize he was a plagiarist then," I said with a sigh.
"Girl, his jokes are going to bomb. He's going to bomb period," she said, rolling her eyes. "He doesn't even have to tell a joke to bomb."
"Gabriella, I thought you liked him."
"I mean I'm trying to be supportive for you. If you have a connection with him and...”
I grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, "I love you for being so supportive, Gabriella. You know that right?"
"Any day, girl, I got your back. Now let's go and party."
We both looked at each other and nodded. Neither one of us wanted to waste another second talking about Shane. I really needed to dump him, but I just didn’t want to give my dad the satisfaction.
Chapter Three
“Ugh, I’m still drunk from last night.” I giggled as we made our way into the bar the next night.
"Me too. Oh my gosh, I can't believe she's getting married." Gabriella waved her hands back and forth to the beat of the music.
"I know. This is absolutely insane, but so much fun."
