On the Road

“Don’t talk to him,” her husband said and suddenly kissed her.

“What are you doing?” Vivian gently pushed Zander away.

First of all, she was still uncomfortable with suddenly getting kissed. Her heart was beating wildly but that doesn’t mean she welcomed it. She’s truly not used to a man’s ministrations. Rather, she’s entirely not used to having a man in her life at all.

“Let’s turn this into a hotel as he said,” he glanced at his doctor who was busy eating chips.

“No way! I’m not into PDA,” Vivian said and opened a snack as well. Her husband was simply unbelievable. She didn’t know he was a pervert who had such kind of tastes. She started eating and ignored Zander who was staring at her incredulously like she had just chosen a snack over her husband.

The doctor meanwhile looked amused. Albert was focused on his driving like he could not hear a thing but he glanced at Zander through the rear-view mirror.

“Want some?” Vivian offered her open snacks to her husband to drive away his silly thoughts. She would never make out with him in a car with other people watching.

“No,” her husband replied coldly and turned to the window as if he was interested in watching the scenery outside. He looked like he was sulking. But she couldn’t care less.

‘Did he think I would agree or soothe him? Hmph. Suite yourself,’ she thought.

Vivian ignored her husband and ate a pack of chips. She couldn’t possibly indulge him in such a place. And the doctor was there watching their every move. She could feel him observing them.

“Come on. Sit on my lap,” Zander patted his lap invitingly when Vivian finished what she was eating.

“Huh?” Vivian stared at her husband incredulously. She thought he had given up on the idea. He carried her to his lap when she didn’t obey.

The pack of chips she was about to open, almost fell from Vivian’s hand when her husband hugged her and started kissing her neck.

“S-stop it!” She couldn’t believe he was so shameless. Two of his cohorts were there.

“Hey boss, we can’t get you slapped with a child abuse and sexual harassment case,” his doctor commented.

“What child abuse? I already told you she’s older than she looks.”

‘Child abuse? What are they talking about?’ Vivian glanced back and forth from her husband to the doctor. She thought that perhaps the doctor misinterpreted her reactions. She did have an age gap with her husband but she was twenty-seven now.

“How old are you Beautiful Miss?” the doctor turned to look at her.

“I’m 27,” Vivian replied nonchalantly and the doctor fixed his glasses as he eyed her. He obviously did not believe her.

“Your face looks fifteen. But with that body, you could pass for seventeen or eighteen,” he glanced at her chest and hips.

“You bastard! Where do you think you’re looking?” Zander hissed, covering Vivian’s bust with both his arms. He wasn’t yelling or anything but his voice sounded ominous.

“I was just making it clear,” the doctor nonchalantly responded. He was not at all threatened.

“Eh? I look that young to you. I thought I looked older than my age though,” Vivian wondered. Zander’s doctor just said that without her ample chest and curvy hips, she would look fifteen. That was twelve years younger than her age.

‘Wasn’t that a bit much? He was exaggerating, wasn’t he? This doctor is quite humorous.’

“You seemed that way to everyone. We can’t have Alexander slapped with a child abuse case. Surely, everyone in the country would start making up stories when they see the two of you together and brand him as a pedophile. They would pile up fake cases of child abuse and get other countries to help just to bring him down,” the doctor explained.

“But I’m really twenty-seven. Why won’t you ask Albert? He had seen my papers,” Vivian blinked. She did not understand why they would even think she was so young.

“Albert always sides with Alexander. Are you sure you are not underage?”

Vivian laughed. She could not believe she was facing an issue like that. People had often mistaken her to be older than her age, not younger. Even her husband had actually thought she was older than her age so he had approached her.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just never thought I would face an issue like this,” Vivian responded.

“Dear husband, do I look that young? How could you marry someone that looks so much younger than you? If I’m fifteen I could be your daughter you know.”

“I know your age anyway. But you do look so much younger in black hair and black eyes. You looked more mature in blonde hair and brown eyes,” Zander explained.

“Is that so? This is good then. People I know would not recognize me so easily. Still, it’s hard to believe I looked so much younger just because I changed my hair to black.”

She always preferred having a more mature look because she started working at an early age and from her experience, people tended to underestimate youngsters at work. They were often treated as trainees or new hires that still lacked experience.

“Young Miss, Alexander had not threatened you to pretend you are old enough to be his wife did he?” Zander’s doctor persisted.

“No. Not at all,” Vivian looked at the doctor in wonder if her husband had done that before.

“Had my husband done it before for you to suspect something like that?” She had to know if her husband had suspicious hobbies.

“No. But who knows. He was pressured to get married as soon as possible, after all. So he could have just grabbed the first woman he saw and made her marry him,” the doctor jested.

“Oh my, dear husband. Are you the type to do that?” Vivian glanced at Zander who looked irritated.

“No. Just ignore that bastard. It’s not worth your time talking to him. Why do you have to prove anything to him?” Zander spat.

“Because you might get slapped with a child abuse case,” the doctor answered before Vivian could.

“Why won’t you re-read Albert’s report about her?” Zander sighed.

Vivian pretended to not have heard that. She knew that her husband had her investigated before he offered her a contract marriage but it was still weird for her to hear them talk about it like it was normal. They do live in different worlds.

“I’ve already memorized it,” the doctor proudly beamed.

“Then shut your mouth already,” Zander sighed and just hugged Vivian tighter instead.

“You could have made him fake it,” the doctor still insisted and Zander glared in annoyance.

Vivian decided to help her husband before he gets angry. She felt that his patience was waning thin. She fished for her valid ID cards in her bag.

“Here is my passport and company ID,” she showed them to the doctor.

“This is how you used to look? Isn’t this your older sister or something?” the doctor tilted his head.

Vivian then showed the doctor her photos with her husband when they were in Paris. They had dated in Paris before they got married in preparation for props when they were asked about their relationship.

“You really look different,” the doctor blinked.

“Oh, look at this too,” Vivian showed the doctor her wedding pictures with her husband. The doctor gawked and Zander instantly grabbed the phone.

“That was also you? You looked different yet again,” the doctor stared at her.

“The makeup artist and hairstylist were magnificent,” Vivian said as an explanation. She, herself, barely recognized herself after the makeup artist and hairstylist did their magic. Add her expensive and gorgeous wedding dress to that and it was like she was whisked from some kind of fairy tale.

“Women are so scary,” the doctor said and finally relented. Zander childishly humped at the latter and Vivian giggled.

It earned her a kiss on the cheek so turned silent and once again tried to get off of her husband’s lap but he didn’t let her. He embraced her tighter instead.

“I’m sleepy,” he yawned. “Let me sleep like this,” he continued and buried his face in the crook of her neck and closed his eyes.

Vivian sighed and in exasperation, she decided to let him be. She could tell from his eyes that he also barely slept the past few days just like her. She was still not used to him but the warmth of his body felt nice and his tight embrace was reassuring.

In a few minutes, she could tell that her husband fell asleep. The weight of his head settled on her shoulder and his breathing was regular. She also yawned. The lack of sleep also caught up to her. And before she knew it, she also fell asleep.

* * *

But who would have thought that when she woke up, something bad was going on. Vivian was startled when was awakened by the sound of guns and police sirens blaring.

A/N: What happened while they were asleep? Was Vivian dragged into a deeper mess than she previously thought?