Five Years for Life (dbspock and SunnyCirce)

[SunnyCirce]

"Ree-ree, please don't think I am not appreciative. I am, more than you know. I just worry, because unless he has changed a lot he wouldn't do this without demanding something in return that is worth far more than this. And this is a LOT! Sweety, what is he asking for?"

"Nothing, Mama. I promise. He just wants to help me, and helping you helps me." Reese Reverie Reid lied to her mother, looking at her father's amused face across the intimidatingly large solid black desk that sat in his home office. Black like the color of his soul, she thought angrily.

Her mother's weak voice sounded loud in the office. Ree had the call on speaker, as he had demanded.

"Are you sure everything is alright, baby? Please don't lie to me. We can figure this out…" Her voice faded into a loud hacking cough.

"Mama, I promise. Everything is fine. He even helped me move into my dorm room. I am his daughter, and he is trying."

She looked up at him again. Her father. The cruel smirk curling his lips as he listened to her lie like a professional liar.

"I just hate I won't be able to come for your surgery."

Her mother hastened to reassure you. "Of course not, Ree-ree. I wouldn't expect you to. You will be in school and you need to focus on that. You got your schedule today, didn't you? What classes did you get?"

Ree let herself relax slightly as her mother moved on to safer topics. She allowed the conversation to focus on her new freshman college schedule. Her dorm room. Her part time job at the cute boutique downtown that she had quit three days ago as part of her agreement with her father – not that she intended to tell her mother she had quit. Her new friends. All Mama needed to know was her Ree-ree was happy and thriving at school and her own desperately needed operation was now going to be paid for by her ex-lover. Along with the obscenely expensive long term medical care afterwards.

When her father began to shift impatiently, Ree gently finished the conversation, told her mother she loved her, and ended the call. As soon as she had done so, his gloating was over and he was all business again.

"Paul will be by to pick you up at nine tomorrow." Paul was the man who had been driven her to her father's house each time she had come. She had never heard his voice. All she knew was he was a massive, ugly man with a brutal square jaw and hard eyes that frightened her.

"You will sign the notarized wedding license and meet your husband to be. Wear something decent." He eyed her jeans and KISS tshirt with contempt.

John Williams. The stranger that she had agreed to marry.

Such a NORMAL name. But she had googled him and knew he was not normal at all. He was obscenely rich for one thing. He was far too beautiful of a man to be taking a reluctant bride he had never seen. Secondly there were rumors about scandalous crimes his family was involved in but honestly it was google, she suspected most of that was a lie. But if even a fraction of it was true, that was scary. Almost as scary as the things her father was rumored to be involved in. She hadn't believed that either…till she met him. Now…now she wondered.

Reaching out to Leonard Garner after the results of her DNA test identified him as her father was a mistake she wished she had never made…except if she had not then her mother would still be dying with no hope of ever affording the surgery she desperately needed to live.

It was the only way her father had gotten Reese to agree to this marriage. She would marry John Williams and remain married for five years. In turn, her father would pay for her mother's surgery and needed care afterwards.

"Ok." Her response was abrupt and cold. Her father didn't seem to care.

"Very well, you may leave."

He dismissed her as if she meant nothing.

It hurt.

She was angry at herself that it hurt. She was so naïve. Leonard was nothing like she had hoped he would be. Nothing like the father Reese had longed for her entire life. He didn't care about her in any way except what he could get from her. She didn't understand why he wanted this marriage, she only knew he was willing to do anything to force her to do it. And once he got the agreement he wanted, he no longer cared. No wonder her mother had fled from him and never told Reese about him. Quite frankly, Reese didn't know what her mother had ever seen in the man.

She left his office and stalked out of his luxury apartment. It felt like a raw wound was throbbing in her chest, his lack of any paternal warmth for her burrowing down into her heart like scraping claws. She was still fatherless after all these years. After the hope of seeing his name matched to hers, the tentative phone call three months ago when she was still back home, her voice quivering on the line as she told him that she was his daughter.

His laughter on the other end…she hadn't understood. She thought he loved her, was happy to meet her. Instead, he was just happy to be able to get his claws in her and use her. Never once since she had first spoken with him had he shown her any sign of affection, of fatherly concern. Everything was to manipulate her. Paying for her college got her into the same city he lived in made it easier for him to control her. Paying for a small apartment near the college until dorm rooms opened and orientation for her first year started got her under his control sooner. Paying for the cell phone she could not afford because it gave him access to her anytime he wanted and allowed him to track her. The "security" he provided each time she went out with some of the girls from work.

Ok, so she had only gone out once and it had been so awkward she hadn't gone again. The three girls were in the dance club trying to giggle and flirt and dance and have fun with the glowering Paul always nearby like a wet woolen blanket, his aggressive vibes chasing off any guy who even looked in the direction of the girls. It had been awful, and she hadn't gone out again.

She had stepped into her father's world like a naïve pretty butterfly being caught in a spider's web. The first night he had invited her to dinner after she moved here he had told her about John and his desire she marry the stranger. She had laughed, refusing, treating it like the joke she thought it was. It had not been a joke, and he was persistent. When she realized he would never be the father she needed and started trying to pull back, he made his move. Marry John, and her mother would live.

She couldn't say no, no matter how much she hated the triumph in her father's eyes. Ree adored her mother, and her mother adored her in return. It was never a question. Ree would happily sacrifice five years of her life for her mother. Hadn't her mother sacrificed 18 years of her own life for Reese? Reese could get a divorce after five years if she wanted to, it was in the agreed on contract. Indentured servitude was preferable to slavery. She had insisted on an end to it. She had also insisted on being able to finish college, though she could not insist on living there at the college.

Reese stood silently in the elevator as it shot down to the ground floor of the building, arms wrapped around her middle in an instinctive defensive gesture. Just outside the doors of the building she pasted a strained smile for the friendly doorman. Paul waited near the car patiently. By now she knew he would never respond to a greeting so she simply slid into the back seat of the car while he held the door open. The silence in the car was oppressive as he drove across town, dropping her off in front of her dorm room.

It was such a relief stepping into her room. Her side was fairly utilitarian. A small bed with a cheap dusky pink blanket and gray and white pillow, a cheap college provided laptop on her student desk with books and notebooks scattered around it. A picture of a nine year old Reese hanging smiling over her mother's shoulder (she was the spitting image of the older woman) standing in the corner of the desk was the only personal item visible except for the tattered Eeyore plushie propped in the corner of the bed. Reese was poor and it showed in the stark lack of pretty things on her side.

The other side of the room was the opposite. An explosion of bright colors and piles of brand name clothing and accessories. Pillows and plushies and squishy things covered the bed. You could hardly see the desktop under the macbook and Ipad and books and notebooks and adorable frog lamp and a pretty vine plant and piles of makeup. Everything that Reese did not have, her roommate seemed to have. Including a smile.

But Brioni Mattingly's smile was infectious and Reese couldn't help but return it. She and Brioni had become instant friends when Reese had moved into her dorm room yesterday with the silent Paul carrying her few things – her father's interest towards her did not extend to pocket money for more than what she had brought from home. When Brioni heard Reese's nickname she had immediately adopted it and insisted Ree call her Bree-bree.

So of course the girls greeted each other with delighted squeals of…

"Ree-ree!"
"Bree-bree!"

They laughed, hugged, and then Brioni immediately started throwing plushies at Reese.

"Come on, I have too many. Take some of these! Oh, let me see your schedule. Do we have any classes together?"

Brioni made it easy for Reese to forget her troubles, to sink into the exciting life of college and new friends and possible bright futures. They celebrated their one class together – American Literature. They went together to the cafeteria for dinner, Brioni's bubbling personality somehow making it not weird when the girls held hands all the way there. Reese got the Balsamic Chicken Stirfry with veggies, Brioni a Philly cheesesteak sandwich with fries. They split their dinner with each other, chattering. Excited vibes were everywhere. It was a fresh start for everyone. They met two familiar girls they had seen earlier at orientation and the four prowled the campus together, exploring and laughing and flirting with boys who walked by.

It was easy to feel like a normal person. To forget she was going to marry a stranger. To literally sign her life away for five years tomorrow. But that night as she lay in bed with Brioni snoring with adorable little snuffles across the room, Reese cried silently, overwhelmed with fear and anxiety.

She knew she was signing a marriage license tomorrow. One already notarized…wasn't that illegal? But what happened after? Was she married right then? Was there going to be a ceremony? Would she be able to stay in the dorm? Could she be friends with Brioni still? Why hadn't she asked these questions during discussions with her father? All she had been worried about was her mother and finishing school. She suspected there were a lot of things she should have been asking about besides that, and her father had taken advantage of her lack of experience with any of this.

Tomorrow was Saturday. Classes started Monday. By the time Monday came her entire life would probably be different.



Good lord, what would she even wear tomorrow? What was the dress code for getting married to a stranger to save your mother's life?



When Paul rolled up to the dorm room doors at precisely 9am on the dot, Reese was ready. Her long brown hair curled, dripping over her narrow shoulders. In a nod to the importance of today she went with a dress instead of more casual wear. She didn't have a white dress and wouldn't have had the nerve to wear one if she did. She had thought of black, but that might make someone angry. Maybe John. It didn't seem wise to start out her marriage insulting her husband, though the thought of an actual husband made her stomach twist with anxiety.

She had chosen a mid-length, snug buttery yellow sheath dress with narrow straps curling over her shoulders and paired it with beige kitten heels. Once again, Paul never said a word in greeting. Opening the car door for her and driving her all the way to her fathers in silence. When they pulled up to their destination, Reese felt like she would throw up. Usually Paul did not go inside with her. Today he did, leaving the car there for a valet to park somewhere.



Anxiety and stress and fear bubbled inside her as Paul walked her to the elevator and rode with her up to her father's penthouse suite. Neither of them said a word. She focused on taking big deep breaths to try to calm her rapidly fraying nerves.

Paul did not knock likeshe normally did. He simply opened the door to her father's apartment and walked in, with her following behind.

 

[dbspock]

"Are you sure this is a good idea, John?" Alice asked.

John was currently standing in his bathroom, but he didn't consider it an intrusion as Alice had changed his diapers once. True, that had been close to two decades ago, but the familiarity had earned his nanny a good deal of latitude. Besides, he was fully dressed in his tuxedo with the exception of the tie, and the door was open, so if wasn't like she was prying.

"I think its an excellent idea." John stated as he looked at his image in the mirror, complete with bow tie, then nodded in satisfaction as he turned to face Alice, who tsked when she saw the tie and moved towards him. Alice removed the tie and began to fasten it for him. "Father's behind it, for one, and you know how upset he gets when things don't go his way. And if I didn't do it, he'd probably find someone for Caity to marry, and what would that do to my sisters education?" Father had never been happy with Caity's decision to go into the medical field, as he was old fashioned enough to believe it was no place for a woman, despite the fact Caity's skills had already come in handy on a few occasions. Still, John knew Father would have never included in the agreement the stipulation Caitlin could continue his education like he was being forced to do. Not that he minded, really. It would give his wife...he had a hard time wrapping his head around that one...something to do, at least, beyond bothering him.

That wasn't the only reason, of course. John loved his sister, he'd die for her, but he wasn't sure he wanted to live with a wife who was butt ugly and a total shrew. He had no idea if the second part was true or not, but as for the first...well, Father had shown him a picture of...Rey? Was that her name? Like the Star Wars character? No...Reese...like the candy bar. That was it. Father had shown him a picture of Reese, and, well, John couldn't say he'd object to having her around. Besides, it was only for a couple of years, and there was no stipulation about where Reese had to live during that time, so he could send her on a prolonged vacation or stick her in a dumpster out back if letting her in the house didn't work. The marriage was pretty much just for show, anyway, a way to unite the two families, and given the choice between marriage or war, well, there wasn't much of a choice, was there?

He shared none of these thoughts with Alice, though he suspected the older woman was well aware of most, at least, of the other reasons he had agreed to this, but Alice simply nodded in satisfaction as she fixed his tie.

"In that case...everything is ready. The manager of the Grand Plaza hotel has assured us that both the ballroom and the...ahem...honeymoon suite are available." Alice informed him. John doubted it had been that simple. The ballroom had likely been booked well in advance for another event, but frankly John didn't really care how the manager had pulled off the scheduling. John's family owned the hotel, so there had never really been a question of holding the event anywhere else. "And the cake is being delivered as we speak." Alice continued. John figured that had been a bit easier to pull off. Three months of not having to pay protection money added up to a lot more than the cake was worth, John knew, and he didn't really care if the Ferguson's had stayed up all night making it. It was better than having their shop trashed, the other alternative they'd been offered.

"And...Reese?" John inquired as he walked with Alice down the hall. Alice remained silent as she knew the question was really directed at Grant, the man who had been John's bodyguard almost as long as Alice had been his nanny. Grant had silently appeared and joined the walk down the hall, snot speaking until he was addressed.

"Reese was gone when we got to her room. Paul came by to get her, so its pretty much guaranteed she'll be at the ceremony. I grabbed her stuff and put it in my car...didn't take long, there wasn't much. Oh, and I did leave her room mate an invitation to the wedding. I think you'll like her." Grant informed him, the smirk on his face indicating he thought John would appreciate her appearance,

"I think that's everything, then." John said as they exited the house, walking past the fountain to where the limo waited. The vehicle was a bit fancier than John liked, he preferred the Porsche, but tradition was tradition. They all climbed into the vehicle, Grant climbing in the back for once as they had a driver, and it wasn't like there wasn't room, and the vehicle slowly began to head back down the driveway. There was no hurry, the wedding wasn't for another couple hours, and it wasn't like they had to tell anyone what was going on when they got there. Word of the pending merger had spread like wildfire, and John expected there would be quite the turnout to see if this actually happened.

********************************************

Leonard glanced up from his desk. It didn't look like he had moved since she left yesterday, except he was now wearing a tuxedo rather than the suit he had yesterday. His eyes raked over her form, and he shook his head. "Better, but not good enough. A lot of important people are going to be at the wedding, and we want to make a good impression on them." Clearly he regarded the entire affair as an elaborate act, and her as a piece of the puzzle to be maneuvered as he saw fit.

Another change to the room from yesterday was a box on the end table next to the couch, and her father pointed at the box. "Put that on." He ordered her, and if Ree opened said box, she'd discover it contained a white dress, along with a piece of paper that seemed to be the order form, an order form that had her measurements on it exactly, right down to her bra size, which she would discover was also included when she picked up the dress.

She would also discover that the room had only one exit, an exit that Paul was standing in front of, and it seemed Paul had no intention of letting her leave to change.

The only other difference in the room was a blonde woman sitting on the couch next to the box. She was wearing a black dress that matched the color of Leonard's tuxedo, and her hair, piled in a bundle on top of her head, appeared to have been styled that morning. She gave Ree a tentative smile. "Hello...I'm Sara, your maid of honor, it seems. As well as your new bodyguard, as of today." Sara rose to her feet, and though the two were the same height, Sara's heels gave her a two inch advantage as she held her hand out for her new charge to shake.

Sara hadn't been happy when she heard about the arranged...or forced, really...marriage, but she'd been undercover with the family for two years by this point, and while she had gathered plenty of evidence, she knew the FBI had had plenty of evidence before, and while they had taken down a few of the middle men, the upper management had escaped unscathed. That wasn't good enough for Sara, the ambitious agent wanted it all. So when she'd suggested to Mr. Garner that Reese be assigned a bodyguard as part of the agreement, the man had laughed, clearly not caring about his daughters well being. Sara had expected as much, and so played her trump card. She'd be living in the William's mansion, potentially with access to the son's study if Sara played her cards right. The treasure trove of information that kind of access might grant was too much to resist, and Garner had approved her request.