Get out, you ungrateful girl! shouted her father, and Alice left the house with a sigh dramatic enough for the neighbours to peek behind their curtains. It had been eight years since shed lost her mum, and now, at eighteen, Alice had just graduated top of her class from her final year at medical school complete with a gold medal and enough pride to fill the Thames. She dreamed of following in her mothers footsteps, but her dad, never one for subtlety, had a different plan. He presented it as a surprise, like a dodgy present: Alice was to be engaged to the son of his old mate.
Uncertain but determined, Alice moved into a slightly questionable student halls in Manchester and started working part-time at a local café, serving cappuccinos and existential dread. One evening, finishing her shift, she noticed a sharply dressed chap dark-haired, handsome, and absolutely not someone youd expect to see in a place that specialised in burnt toast and mediocre tea. Alice couldnt help but wonder what he was doing there.
On her way back to her halls, the same mysterious man was waiting by a sleek car, definitely more Audi than Ford Fiesta. He called out, Alice, I need to talk to you. Mildly suspicious, but intrigued, she stopped. He explained that he was the surprise fiancé her father had promised for her eighteenth birthday, only he hadn’t turned up on time because, apparently, fate is always late.
My names Robert, he said, shaking her hand. Lets stick to first names. Ive got a business proposition for you. Hear me out before you say no. Alice, bemused, agreed to listen.
Robert explained his dilemma: he wanted to start his own business, but his father was threatening to take away the company unless he married a suitable girl. He suggested a sham marriage, promising financial support, her own room, and complete independence absolutely no sticky beak into her life, not even the odd question about whether shed remembered to buy milk.
Alice, both gobsmacked and intrigued, asked for time to think. Robert handed her a business card very posh and said she could call when she made up her mind. After several episodes of tea-fuelled contemplation, Alice rang him.
The wedding was held with just their parents present. When their lips met for the ceremonial kiss, a spark flew between them something that would have set the fire alarm off, had they been in student housing. Whispering during the festivities, Alice admitted she rather liked Robert, and he responded with an eager grin. Over the next few months, their initial spark flourished into full-blown love, and soon enough, both realised their feelings werent just contractual they were completely and irreversibly genuine.
