House Rules

~~~~~???~~~~~

If only he could be older, maybe Marcus's age instead of fourteen, he thought. As soon as that woman walked through the doors in her pretty white dress, sense flew out the window. Julia Sinclair looked like a pure angel as she walked down the aisle, her curly, strawberry blonde hair pulled up elegantly. The sweep of her eyelashes behind her veil revealed pretty green eyes, and her posture was perfect as she took one step after another to his brother. He felt entranced as he watched her, to where his eyes traced the lines of her body, from her narrow neck, down to her perfect breasts, thin waist, and wide hips. He was sure the skirt of her mermaid dress hid beautiful long legs.

He glanced at Marcus, who seemed bored as the ceremony started, and back at the beautiful woman at his side. He could not believe just how lucky Marcus could be in winning over a woman as amazing as she looks. Everyone around him focused on the ceremony, while he could not help but focus on the angel at his brother's side. He often heard this day was the happiest day of any woman's life, so why does the smile on her lips seem forced? His mind could not help but focus on that fact, though he knew it would do him no good. What does a teenager know of adult issues?

"You may now kiss the bride." The words of the priest echoed in the church and in his head.

Marcus leaned forward to lift her veil, fully revealing her oval-shaped face, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Perhaps it was true what they said about brothers having similar tastes, he thought, watching as his brother wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her. As cheers went up in the crowd, his mind focused on her tense body, and how she did not seem to respond to the kiss. When Marcus leaned back, however, he also noticed the soft smile he gave her before they turned to the crowd. Is she nervous because of how many people are here? He questioned himself as they left the alter and made their way down the aisle together. Maybe he was thinking too hard on it, though.

~~~~~Julia~~~~~

A short while later, in a large reception hall rented by their parents, Julia and Marcus found themselves to be the center of attention. As they answered the questions about their relationship with rehearsed lines, three men made their way over to the table. Once she looked at their faces, though, she realized they must be of some relation to Marcus. All three had the same hair color, facial structure, and chocolate brown eyes Marcus had. She gave them the brightest smile she could muster, given the circumstances, and reached out to shake their hands. Marcus mentioned previously he had three brothers, so perhaps these are the three he spoke of. Height and attractiveness must run in the family, she thought.

"We were so busy with planning; I did not meet you." More lies to people she did not know. "It's nice to meet all of you. My name is Julia Sinclair… though I suppose it's Julia Thomas now…"

"Ah, Julia. These are my little brothers." Marcus started, pointing at the first one, a man wearing a green tie. "This is Trevor, the oldest out of the three." Then the next who wore a red tie. "He's Aiden," And the final, wearing a white tux with a black tie. "And this is Zachariah, who's fourteen. I know, right? The males in my family always end up on the larger side."

Her eyes widened at the youngest, who still stood far taller than her. He was only fourteen years old? She thought he was at least in his twenties. Given the height difference, she never would have guessed he was only a teenager. She shook his hand with a gentle smile before nodding at Marcus. Regardless, all four brothers were handsome, though she did not want to give more thought than that to them. They may be like the parents that forced her to marry their son, after all. Her safest option was to keep the distance from them. It would be much harder to explain the truth in the future if she got closer to them.

"It's nice to meet you." The one named Trevor said with a gentle smile. "Welcome to the family."

"We heard a lot about you from our parents." Aiden continued where Trevor left off, kissing the back of her hand. "If Marcus ever acts cold, let us know. We'll set him straight."

"Marcus really has all the luck. You look beautiful, Miss Julia." Zachariah stated, crossing his arms over his chest, a pout on his face.

Even though she smiled at the compliment, her heart clenched at the fact all of this was a lie. She does not love Marcus, no matter what his family thinks, and probably never would. Their future would end in one of two ways. They would finally divorce and marry the person they love, or the two would end up dying never knowing love. She mingled with the guests of this fake happy wedding, maintaining the image of the couple her parents wanted them to be. When she finally had enough, she had to step away to use the bathroom. The lies kept piling up, making her sick to her stomach. Lying was easy to do, but she never liked the concept. It all begins with one and spirals until it goes out of control.

"Sweetie, you looked so beautiful today." Her mother seemed to have followed her into the restrooms. "So, have you fallen for him yet? He really is the best for you. Wealthy and handsome."

"No, mother, and I never will. You and father are horrible people. "She countered turning to glare at the older woman. "I hate you both."

"Oh, honey, you will come to love him soon." She replied, ignoring her daughter's statement as she adjusted her makeup in the mirror. "We picked him because of how perfect he is."

"Are you delusional?! Or what, do you just want me to suffer?!" Julia yelled, causing her mother's eyes to widen as she turned to look at her. "It doesn't matter how 'perfect' you think he is! I have NOTHING in common with him and you only wanted the merger that comes from our marriage. This is another DAMN business transaction to you and dad, so do me a favor and STOP acting like you did this for me. God, I hate you both so much!"

Instead of remaining there, she left the room to return to the party, hoping she put her invisible mask back on her face. She just had to keep smiling and pretending that everything was okay when it felt like her insides were a churning mess. She hated this was what her family reduced her to. It was not the future she imagined for herself when she was a kid, at least, not to a complete stranger. Beyond every other emotion curling through her veins, the biggest one was a cold numbness, one that stemmed from the lies, hatred, and anger her parents were the reason for.

***

"The guest bedroom over here can be yours." Marcus said when the two finally made it to his house that night. "I don't care where you go in the house, but please stay out of my room."

"I understand." She replied, turning the knob to open the door. "I'll only clean the rest of the house and avoid your room. I don't really want to go in there, anyway."

He nodded before turning to walk away, his broad back not showing the slightest hint of irritation with their situation. She walked into her new room to look around and noticed all it held was a dresser, a queen-sized bed, and a small desk. Clearly, there are things she would need to purchase to make this feel like home. She would need to talk to Marcus about that in the morning. Maybe he would not mind, but she felt they needed to at least try to talk to each other. However little that was, since their parents forced them to live together. She took a shower before pulling on her pajamas and turning in for the night. Tomorrow is a new day, after all.

***

The next morning, she woke up before Marcus and walked into the kitchen for some breakfast. She often made her own meals, having trained in cooking since she was a small child. Of course, she never thought about it, but that 'training' may have been to prepare her to become a wife in some situation similar to this. As the smell of sausage and eggs filled the air, Julia frowned a little at the dark spiral her thoughts seemed to take her. The sizzling, popping sound of the sausage in the skillet snapped her back from her moping to the present and she flipped it before adding some cheese and salt to the scrambled eggs.

"You're up early and whatever you're cooking smells good." She startled a little, forgetting where she was, and spun to face him. "I didn't mean to startle you. There are a few things I wanted to mention today."

"Sure," she replied, pointing to the bar and turning back to the food. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes if you want to sit down."

The unfamiliar man took a seat, and a new tension filled the air. Even though she knew he would not expect it, when she started the meal, she prepared enough for two. She figured the least she could do was provide a meal for the man letting her live in his house. Of course, they were 'spouses' so it made sense, but they were also strangers. She did not know what to say to him, so she just remained silent, opting instead to cook their breakfast without complaint. The fact they only used her marriage for business upset her greatly, so she did not know what to say to him besides venting her frustrations, and that would do her no good.

"Okay…" He seemed shocked, before she heard the bar stool being pulled out. "You can do whatever you want with my money. I don't really care. You can decorate however you want, as long as you stay out of my room. No bringing strange people over to my house. I think that's all I had for now. I'll probably think of a few more as we continue living together."

Though she expected rules like that, she hardly enjoyed having things spelled out in that manner. As he spoke, his face was impassive, as though he were telling the rules to a child. She may not be a college graduate yet, but she was far from a child and did not appreciate being treated as one. She crossed her arms under her breasts as she turned to look at him, a glare on her face. Julia would not allow herself to be intimidated by him when she had enough on her plate from her parents. When he locked eyes with her, he flinched for a moment, before his face returned to that impassive expression; she quickly associated with him.

"Number one, I have my money, my allowance I saved before I married you, so I won't be using yours. There is no way I'm going to change your house without talking to you about it first, and like I said. I don't want to go in your room." She replied, sitting a plate of food in front of him before taking her own seat across from him. "I don't have many friends, and even less of those are men, so you don't have to worry about strange people coming here. So, in the future, please refrain from making me sound cheap, Mister Thomas."