Marriage and Business

"One last question for today," Jasmine said. She read through the comments on her live stream. She sighted a question. She laughed.

"'Do you have a boyfriend?' No. I don't. If I do, my Jasmits will be the first to know."

'Cute'. 'You are a princess'. 'You're so cool'. Jasmine smiled as she read those comments on the screen of her iPhone.

"Our next live stream will be on Thursday. Let's go with the hashtag 'HelloJasmits'. I will be telling you something about myself that I have never told anyone," Jasmine said. And with that, she ended the live stream.

She quickly stood up and ran to the toilet. She forced her hand in her throat and vomited everything she had eaten in the past thirty minutes of her live stream.

Getting to this point of her life as a celebrity was something that had taken her almost everything she had. She had a list of food she shouldn't eat otherwise she would gain weight but she dare not let her fans be aware of that.

She washed the makeup on her face and wiped it with a towel. To her fans, shs appeared like someone who could eat any junk food in the world and still not add weight. It isn't new. That is what all online celebrities do. Pretend as if you are some sort of person who doesn't live with a diet and you get more love from your fans.

She went to the sitting room. It was some minutes past nine. Her father should be home by now.

She heard a rush of water from the kitchen and went there. Her father was washing his hands.

"Welcome, Dad."

"How was today?" 

"It was fun."

"Are you busy now? I have something to discuss with you," he said.

"What is it?" Jasmine opened the refrigerator. The chocolate juice was tempting. She had one of them two days ago, having another one today would be a disaster to her weight. She settled for a bottle of water.

"You remember Brayden Patterson?" Her father asked.

Of course, why won't she remember? Brayden is the only guy she has had a crush on since she could remember and there was no time she thought about him that her heart doesn't tingle in excitement. But she isn't going to admit that to her father.

"Brayden Patterson?" She pronounced the name as if she had never heard it before.

"Yes. He is the president of the Mari&I conglomerate. His parents are very close friends of mine. We do double dates when your mother was alive," her father said. "You and Brayden used to be friends before he went abroad after elementary school." 

Even though Jasmine was aware of all these, she still nodded her head as if she was hearing everything for the first time.

"Brayden's parents want to partner with my company but on the condition that you get married to Brayden. They… um, sort of, want to continue the friendship thing. Not as if you have to get married to him if you don't like the idea."

Jasmine wanted to scream and tell her father that she loved the idea, but she stopped herself and frowned. Deep inside, she was wondering if this was one of her dreams where she got married to Brayden, had three kids and lived happily ever after.

Noticing the frown on her face, her father shifted uncomfortably. "I have not given them any reply because I wanted to hear your opinion first. But you don't have to get married to someone you don't like. You know that, right?"

"So, if I get married to Bryan…" she pretended to have forgotten his name.

"Brayden."

"If I get married to him, your company is going to partner with their company?"

"Yes. You know, I have always wanted you to get married to someone who will be able to manage the company when I am gone. It sounds like a good idea to me," her father said.

"Have Brayden agreed to it?"

"I suppose his parents would have told him about it before making the offer."

"I will think about it and give you a reply tomorrow morning."

Her father's face lit up. "Thanks a lot."

Throughout the night, Jasmine thought about how great her life would become when she gets married to Brayden. It is rare for people to get married to their crush and here she is, with that opportunity. Too good to be true.

The next morning, Jasmine applied make-up on her face and lay back on the bed. She took a picture and posted it on her Instagram account. 'A hectic day ahead'.

She met her father in the sitting room, he was ready to go to work.

"Dad, I thought about it and my reply is 'yes'. I checked up on him on the internet and he seemed like a pretty good man," Jasmine said.

She could hear her father sigh in relief.

"You are really the best thing that has ever happened to me," her father said.

He hugged her before going to work.

Back in her room, Jasmine checked her to-do list. She needed to go shopping today and after that, she would go for her yoga class before heading to her mall. A pretty hectic day.

After she was done and ready to go, she took some pizza and took some pictures of it, with a piece of it in her mouth. She posted it on her account. 'Quality over quantity.' 

She discarded the pizza in the waste bin and drank some water. To avoid adding weight, she doesn't eat before twelve in the morning. But anyone seeing the posts she makes on her account would wonder how it was possible for her to eat those foods and still maintain her normal weight. Again, all celebrities do that.

She got into her Ferrari and drove to the mall. It was one of the malls in New York where those who go there are only rich people. As she pulled over in the garage, she heard a sound. 

Through her rear mirror, she saw a car behind hers. Sensing that the car might have hit hers, she got out of her car to see what happened. 

The driver of the Bentley limonene had also gotten out. One of Jasmine's back bulb light had broken. She stared in horror at the damage that had been done to her baby.

"I am sorry, ma'am," a male voice said.

Jasmine took out her phone and took pictures of the car and herself.

She turned her attention back to the man who had caused the damage. His hair was shaved at the sides and swept up in the middle, he was wearing a fairly expensive three piece suit.

"I am really sorry. I didn't know you were about to stop the car," the man said again.

"You deliberately did this, right? You knew who I was and you wanted to have a conversation with me, that was why you did this. Now, tell me, what are you going to do about my car that you damaged?" This is just one of the issues that people like her face.

"Jasmine Dixon?" The man covered his mouth, eyes widened. "I didn't know you were the one. I am really sorry."

Jasmine was going to say something when she heard a familiar voice.

"Let's get out of here," the voice said and at once, the man who had hit Jasmine's car gave her a rueful look and started moving toward his car.

Jasmine glanced at the owner of the voice. Brayden. It took a lot of self-control not to blush.

"Hey, don't you see that he just damaged my car?" Jasmine directed her question at Brayden. He looks striking as ever.

Brayden was about to open the car door when he stopped and glanced at Jasmine. 

Brayden glanced at his driver with a frown on his face, expecting an explanation.

"I hit her car as I was trying to park," the driver said. He turned to Jasmine and gave her another rueful look. "I am really sorry."

"Is that the case?" Brayden dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out a card. He gave it to his driver. 

"Give her. She doesn't have to pay to repair her car there for the next six months."

Jasmine was surprised. He wasn't even going to apologize? Does Brayden not know her? Even the other guy, whosoever he is to Brayden, had been able to recognize her at once. Even if Brayden didn't recognize her, he is supposed to know that only rich people come to malls like this. How he dare insult her by giving a card to an automobile company?

"Tell him that I already have a company that offers me exclusive services," Jasmine told the guy. She didn't collect the card from him.

"What do you want then? Mo