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Chapter 4
The second that Brian opened his eyes, his first thought had been the prior evening. Somehow, he had slept the whole night through. Despite that, it didn’t help in ridding him of how sour Harper’s birthday party had been. He had gone into it with little enthusiasm, with the sole goal of leaving drunk and with a pretty woman on his arm. That would have been the perfect, ideal night. But instead of a woman in his bed, he had left with a promise. That promise was to help Harper find a husband.
He was no matchmaker though. Brian could barely match himself with people let alone an old friend he found terribly annoying. What had he gotten himself into? It was enough to keep him in bed, staring at the ceiling.
There was just no motivation to get up and go. He would have to help someone else’s life when his own was not a bed of roses. His own life felt even heavier somehow. He should have been focused on finding a wife of his own, even though that would only be to appease his father. What were his goals in life? They were no longer clear. And now he had more responsibility.
After a while, Brian found the energy to pull himself from the bed and stretch by the window. He had breakfast scheduled with his friends shortly and judging by the spot of the sun in the sky, he was close to being late.
The one thing that bothered him while he got ready to stuff his face with food out of boredom and stress, was the matter of thinking about Harper. Outside of the terrible situation that had happened at the party, his minded tended to drift to things like her lips and the way she looked when she had fire in her eyes. There was also the matter of how she would always stand up to him. He wasn’t used to being treated that way.
Most women he interacted with put him on an unnecessary pedestal. He could never understand that. He was one of the most flawed men in town, yet women loved him. It was a fact that he kept from his father. Anything to give his father more of a reason to force him into marriage would remain a secret.
Once Brian looked presentable, even though he was just meeting with his friends, he brought himself down for breakfast with Connor and Michael.
On the table were bacon, eggs, pastries, and various kinds of juices. Even after a plateful, Brian still found himself to be hungry. That was most certainly the stress of things getting to him.
At first, his friends did not speak of the situation with Harper. They had been more eager to brag about the women they had almost taken home. It was always fun for Brian to chat about trivial elements like that. It made life seem less serious. His father’s words crept into his mind even then, reminding him that those days and chats were numbered.
One day his friends would go off and get married and they wouldn’t want to speak of such things. Perhaps that was why he wanted to live his own life. Leaving people before they left him was often the way he went about relationships. Unhealthy as that was, it worked.
The bragging had run out, and Connor and Michael finally drifted the conversation towards what happened between Brian and Harper. Despite anticipating it, the subject had still been hard to talk about. Brian explained what happened, and Connor was the first to laugh.
“You shouldn’t have put your nose in her business. I suppose that it was an honest mistake, but still, I’d say that one was avoidable,” Connor said.
“If I had known that putting you both together to dance would have led to that I would have kept you both at the opposite ends of the room,” Michael added while he ripped off a chunk of bacon with his teeth.
“We should have put Brian up on the chandelier where he couldn’t cause any one trouble.”
Michael and Connor laughed.
“At least I wouldn’t have cried like you with the tree,” Brian said to Connor who quickly hushed his laughter.
“All right, enough with the jokes before this gets out of hand,” Thomas intervened. “We need to help Brian here in finding Harper a mate. I know it sounds rather difficult given her stubborn personality. But if James liked her, then there surely is hope, right?”
Again, Brian’s mind filled with Harper’s smile, the way that her body fit in that beautiful dress that looked as though it had been plucked right off a princess. His friends could not know those feelings, for they would probably not understand. Especially after witnessing a lifetime of combative behaviour between Harper and Brian. His romantic thoughts towards her didn’t even make sense to Brian, so he could only imagine what they’d think.
“You alright?” Michael asked Brian. “You look like you are adrift at sea.”
Connor laughed. “He’s probably thinking about the uphill battle that he has.”
“She isn’t that bad,” Brian said.
Both Michael and Connor looked at him with their mouths open.
“Relax. I am just saying…we are talking about her like she is some sort of mythical creature that lives in a swamp…but she isn’tthatbad.”
Silence emitted from them both until Michael asked, “Are you feeling healthy, friend?”
Brian rolled his eyes, and the three of them began to list off potential suitors for Harper. It was taking them far longer than Brian had anticipated. The plethora of food that had lined the table had all but vanished.
“There is a man in Wales,” Connor said while leaning back in his chair. “He is missing his thumb, but other than that, he is of great moral character. There’s the thumb thing and the little problem of always smelling like fish. He works at the docks.”
Brian was finding their attempts at matching Harper with someone to be fruitless, although he appreciated their help. They had put in a good effort, more of one than he thought they would. Frankly, he imagined them not caring.
“Perhaps we should take a break,” Brian added. “I have this golden rule that when we begin speaking of men missing thumbs, the conversation might have run its course.”
Connor nodded while Michael laughed. “I know that it is customary to match people in society but thinking about it in concept…it is rather difficult,” Michael said.
