Patrick

Chapter 4

Sheryl stared at her best friend in shock! Carrie had stopped working at the club, and her mother had spoken to Marty, so she had had a fairly easy time telling him the situation. He had looked at her for a moment and then shook his graying head. “I hope you know what you are doing, honey. Rich folks are not like us ordinary people. Too much money makes them very different.”

“You could have warned me,” Sheryl told her grimly, pushing away her ice cold latte. They were sitting in the café near to where she worked as clerk in a large department store and was on her lunch break.

“How would I have done that?” Carrie asked her wryly. “Call you on the phone and say, ‘Hey, guess what? I am knocked up by a man who I had a one-night stand with? And the man happens to be Patrick Copeland?’”

“That would have done the trick,” Sheryl said with reluctant smile lighting up her chocolate brown skin. They had been friends since kindergarten and straight through to high school, but Carrie had gone on to college and Sheryl had decided not to go because she claimed that having too much education turned one into an idiot. She had just gotten married recently to her childhood sweetheart. “Honey, you have certainly hit the jackpot.”

“I expect that from anyone else but you, Sheryl,” Carrie told her friend soberly, pushing away her fruit punch suddenly feeling full. “This was not how I expected my life to be, and I hate the fact that this will be a marriage of convenience.”

“I am sorry. So, what now?”

“I have fittings this afternoon for my wedding dress, so I am going to the manor to meet with Patrick’s mother and the wedding planner,” she said with a grimace. “I am no longer employed, but when I told them that I wanted to pay for the dress at least, they looked at me as if I had grown two heads. When I heard the price for the dress, I almost agreed with them.” Carrie smiled grimly. “Apparently, no bride of the Copeland men are supposed to wear anything but couture and the small amount of money I have in my account will only work for department store prices.”

“Listen to me.” Sheryl leaned forward and took her friend’s hands. “I know this is a strange situation, but you can make the best of it. I know you, girl, and know that you do not allow anyone or anything to change you.”

“Nothing ever will,” she vowed. “And speaking of dresses, I would like you to be my matron of honor. The dress will be paid for so you don’t need to do anything but show up to try it on.”

“In that case, I am honored,” Sheryl said with a grin.

*****

It was sent out in the society pages of the newspapers, and there was a big write up about it. ‘Son of billionaire software giant and vice president of Copeland Software playboy Patrick Copeland set to marry Carrie Maitland, a former waitress at the Elite Club where he and his father and grandfather before them have been members. Patrick Copeland had been paired with the likes of Lisa Montague, the star of the famous long running soap opera ‘To Love Again’ not to mention numerous supermodels and various actresses and more recently the heiress to the ice cream fortune, Sophia McBride! One has to ask the question, ‘Is this a love match or is some kind of an arrangement?’ Their wedding will be held on September 30^th and is by special invitation only!’

Patrick read the piece in distaste and flung the paper back onto the table. He was getting ready to go to the office and was already running late. He had meetings from the morning until late in the afternoon and his mother had told him that Carrie was due to come by for a fitting. “I will send a car for her, darling, don’t worry,” she had assured him last night as soon as he came in. He was grateful for her input in the whole damned mess! He had stayed away from Carrie since that night after the mindless function and he had gone to her place.

He was coming by tonight to catch her because he had a paper the lawyers had drawn up for her to sign. “Get her to sign it and make sure she does,” his father had told him brusquely.

He had read the document himself and had to acknowledge that the wording was fair to her; after all, she was coming into the marriage with nothing! So, why did he feel so guilty about giving it to her?

*****

“You said simple,” Linda murmured as she stared at the girl draped in the stunning champagne colored dress with the deep plunging neckline revealing her generous bosom. It was slim fitting and it was fortunate that she had not begun to show because the dress molded her like a second skin and was made of lace and very high grade satin. It transformed her into such a woman of ethereal beauty that it was hard to believe that it was the same girl who had come by a little while ago in faded denims and a light sweater. Veronica, the stylist, was also present and had done something with her hair that moved the heavy curls from her fine featured face to reveal the stunning cheekbones that would make her very photogenic. She had elegantly tapered eyebrows and long lashes and her complexion was flawless. “Darling, you are going to drive the fashion magazines to a frenzy!” Veronica told her reverently as she brushed a light foundation over her cheeks. “You could have been a model.”

“I am not empty headed enough,” Carrie told her dryly, causing the woman to stare at her and then laugh.

“She is a winner, Linda,” the woman said in approval.