"We are choosing a classic wedding theme."
"That is too basic Lauren." Mother disagreed with a vigorous head shake.
Leo's mother scoffed, "Rose Gold is childish. We have people of caliber attending."
My mother's face contorted into a deep frown, "So do we."
I sat still, eyes darting between both women as they argued. I wanted to melt into a puddle. They had been at this for the longest. One person always disagreeing with the other's opinion and I had to sit through it.
"Can we just let the planner get it done?" I squeaked and recoiled when they both turned to me with fierceness in their gazes.
"My husband is paying for the wedding. So I get to work with the planner." Mother said and I cringed because of how it sounded. It was not unusual for the bride's father to pay for the wedding but in this manner where it was part of their business deal, it was just embarrassing to mention.
"My husband can pay for two weddings at once so shush." Leo's mother was not having it.
Neither was my mother, "Did you just shush me?"
"Oh boy," I swallowed, took my bag and somehow managed to slide out of the room as they bickered. The wedding planner looked just as frustrated as me but she was stuck. I felt sorry for her.
It took quite some time going back and forth. Luckily, they surprisingly came to a compromise, allowing me work with the planner with little suggestions. That was a faux because my mother did most of the decision making while I seemed to be at the forefront of the event planning - the perfect illusion just so Leo's mother could take a chill pill.
It was a futile attempt somewhat because she always found a way to pick out faults with everything even down to the tiniest detail. It was so frustrating at some point but I did not want my mother who could match her energy arguing with her again.
~~~
The days rolled into weeks, and soon the wedding was just around the corner. I was nervous, fearful and the least bit excited.
Two days to the wedding, my mother came into my room, holding a gift bag and handed it over to me. Unexpectedly, she was here to give me the one talk I was not ready to hear.
"Aurora, come sit." She tapped a spot on my bed and gestured for me to sit down. I went and sat there, ready to listen with rapt attention to whatever she had to say.
"I have a present for you." She said and I typically assumed it would be jewelry - a family heirloom or something like that. Mother handed me the shopping bag containing a lingerie and I held myself from screeching as I looked into the bag. It almost looked abominable because we had never really talked about sex.
She chuckled at the shocked expression as my face turned red.
"You know Leo is the only son of his parents. You have to give him an heir, and fast too. That's the only way you can secure your place in his heart and his family as well." She said, whispering conspiratorially.
"Mother, I'm not ready." I said back in a whisper, feeling my palms go sweaty.
"Nonsense. No one is every ready. We just do what is right when it is time." She waved my words aside.
"But-"
"Shh. Mia cara, we cannot waste time. Do all you must for him to get you pregnant. I will pray so hard that you be blessed with a son. That would seal your fate!" She squealed at the end in excitement. I tried to catch on to it but there was a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach.
This was a mess...
~~~
On the bright side, in the midst of all the drama and fear that came with getting married to a man I barely knew, I finally got to make my wedding dress, perfectly customized to suit me and cover up all my flaws. I went all out and got the finest of fabric and lace and intricately beaded it to my taste. The dress was the only thing I looked forward to at the wedding. Making it distracted me from the reality of everything going on around me. It tuned me out of the several arguments our mothers had about wedding planning even after my supposed solution. It kept me so busy I hardly slept for the few weeks that led to the D-Day.
The intricately beaded princess dress with long sleeves and an equally veil was a stunner. So stressful to make but it was absolutely worth it.
It was so worth it, even Leo was shocked when he saw me. I could tell with how his eyes widened though slightly when I walked the aisle with my arm intertwined with my father's.
When we took the vows (halfheartedly for the most part), I stared up at his chiseled face, stoic as a rock as he recited them after the priest. I did same in a softer tone. My voice shook as the constant realization of the implication of those words dawned on me. It became even more real when he slid the cold metal on to my ring finger and we signed the marriage certificate. I had moved from Miss Aurora Lopez to Mrs Aurora Adams. Sealed.
We moved over to the reception that was going to hold in a part of my father's estate. The tent was decorated so well, I marveled at how much was put in the night before. The busyness of the house was something else.
Leo and I made a not so grand entry after taking all the pictures after the vows with stiff smiles. The fact that we did not even share a kiss was enough reason for everyone to know we were not the couple the media thought we were or rather what our parents tried to portray to them.
At the reception, I got a chance to dance with my brothers but the conversation with Antonio, my immediate elder one, stayed with me for the longest time.
"I hope he keeps you happy." He said, looking skeptical about everything that was going on.
"He will." I said with more hope than conviction. Leo did not want me but not a lot of people knew that. He could keep up the act so well, I felt ashamed for not being able to do same. I constantly had to fight looking as sad as I felt about this marriage.
"If he tries anything stupid, if he ever hurts you, I will beat up his ass. And if his snobby family try to mess with you, I'll fuck them up." He gritted out as he spun me around gently.
I chuckled, cringing at his graphic use of language. Antonio was the hotheaded sibling. He meant every word he had just said but I would never let him make true those words. I knew I would never tell him whenever anything went wrong. I knew I would smile into the phone and tell him I have never been happier if he asked if I was being treated right. Somehow I knew that my life was about to take a turn into a rocky path.
When I danced with Leo, I'm sure the people present believed it was the worst first dance they had ever seen, so stiff and awkward. He barely looked at me and my eyes were glued to his bowtie itching to adjust it. When it ended, I heaved a sigh of relief. There and then I knew I was never listening to Ed Sheeran's 'Perfect' again.
It wasn't until we got to my supposed matrimonial home that I realized things just got real. We were going to live with his parents. Shit.
Our wedding night was a disaster. I had waited and waited for Leo in our 'matrimonial' bedroom, draped in a robe covering the scandalous lingerie my mother had picked up for me. I sat there, fidgeting the moment he walked in. How was I supposed to seduce a godlike man in such an unattractive body? How was he supposed to even want me when I looked like a sack of potatoes?Low self esteem you might think but I had to tell myself the truth that this was a futile attempt and there was no point in trying. "I'm not going to touch you. Don't even think about it cause it's never going to happen." He said, straight to the point."I don't want this either," I said as a tear escaped my right eye. I knew he was going to say that so I did not understand why that tear had to betray me."Good.""But-" I tried to say something but of course, he cut me off."There's no discussing this Aurora. Let's not force things." "Good night then," I laid on my side, back turned away from him. "Night."Maybe
"There's the newest husband in town."Rick was at my office the moment I walked in. I grunted at his tease. He was my best man and he never missed out on the opportunity to tease me about my unexpected union. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on your honeymoon.""What honeymoon? We both know that's not happening." I let out a disgruntled sigh as I took off my jacket and placed it over my swivel chair."Come on man, I saw her, she's not that bad." He shrugged.I scowled, wondering what he meant by that. "How do you mean?" He shrugged again, "I mean you exaggerated how unattractive she looks. She's actually pretty, she just needs to shed all that weight.""I did not exaggerate anything. She's not my type and that's all there is to it. Don't you have work to get to?" I needed him to get out of my space. I had seen and heard enough of Aurora at home, there was no need for it to continue in the office.Thankfully he got the message and backed off, "I didn't mean to get you
"Hey Riv," I smiled tiredly into the phone, picking up after the third ring.Her smile faded as soon as she saw mine, "Why do you look so worn out?" "I just had so much unpacking to do." I lied."Unpacking? The Aurora I know would do it immediately. It's been days. Or is it the honeymoon?" She wiggled her brows suggestively at the last sentence.I chuckled, "There's no honeymoon." The truth is my mother in-law had given me a never-ending chore to clean up a dusty basement because in her opinion I wanted to busy myself so bad. I could not tell River that."Why not?" "Leo has some things to work on." I said. Leo, the same person I had hardly had a conversation with. She huffed, "I don't think I'm convinced. Is he treating you right?" I was reluctant to answer that. Was he treating me badly? Not exactly, he only was not talking to me, never smiled when I was in the room and sometimes ignored me when I spoke. That's not so bad right? I was being delusional with my thought process.
There was screaming downstairs. My ears perked up at that. I left my sketchbook and immediately stepped out, curious to know what the yells were about.My inquisitiveness made me find my way halfway down the stairs where I saw two slight brunette girls who looked very alike who were hugging my mother in-law. She smiled so widely as she engulfed them in her embrace one more time while I looked on almost longingly. Somehow I wished that she would ever hug me like that or at least smile at me.As I turned to head back up seeing that they were caught in their own bubble, I heard her call out to me. "Aurora?""Ma'am?" I answered. She had sternly instructed me to call her that and who was I to go against it? River asked me if she thought I was one of their employees and I just shrugged."These are Leo's cousins, Leah and Lira." She said, smiling in my direction for the first time."Hi..." I said with a small smile. "You're twins." I stated the obvious. They were so identical."Yes we are."
Leah was actually such a breath of fresh air. She eased me into a fluid and fun conversation. Even when I went quiet, she found a way to bring me back in.We talked until breakfast. I headed back to my room afterwards. But before lunch she was back at my door and we were talking again. I showed her my sketchbook without even realizing it."Your sketches are so pretty. Why haven't you started working on them?" She looked so amazed, you'd think Picasso showed her one of his masterpieces."I don't know..." I shrugged.How was I supposed to tell her that I was not sure if I was allowed to work? It had never been mentioned. No one seemed to be concerned about it and I did not know how to ask."You have a degree in fashion?" She asked me when she saw the photos on my social media page."Yes I do." I nod, picking at the hems of my shirt, wishing for my sewing kit that was all the way upstairs so I could fix it up."So you're free to practice..." It sounded more like a conclusion than a quest
"Dad, you asked for me?" I asked him the moment I got into his office. I was in the middle of an online meeting when he called for me to come up to his home office. "Yes son. I have an event to attend tonight and I'd like for you to represent me." He said. "Sure dad." I shrugged. I did this all the time for him so it was not unusual for him to ask me for such but what he said next threw me off. "You're taking Aurora with you," "What?" I wasn't sure I heard right. "She's always cooped up in the house, she needs to get out a little." "Dad, no." I shook my head. "I wasn't asking." He looked me straight in the eye when he said that. "But-" The words hung in my throat. The plain indignant expression he had on proved to me there was no room for further discussion. I stormed out of his office, banging the door behind me. I walked back to my bedroom. "We have a function to attend." I said when I saw her, straight to the point, clenching my jaw in anger because my father had compelle
I almost thought that the night would never end. Seeing my parents at the event was surprising yet not unexpected. They were social butterflies. I wished I did not attend. I felt so odd and awkward to be standing next to someone like Leo. I wondered if people knew I was his wife and if they did, I wondered what they thought about someone that looked like him marrying someone that looked like me. Speaking to his friend wasn't so bad. At least someone acted like I existed. Rick was funny and bubbly, very unlike his friend who was as cold as ice. It was always a miracle to see Leo crack a smile. He did not even smile at my parents. Oh God, it was so obvious. Why couldn't he just keep up the act like he did before we got married? When he said it was time to leave, I subtly let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was over and I did not have to continue to hide how awkward it felt to be out with him for the first time since our marriage. I found out later that this was his father's idea. In
Headache. I had a searing headache after falling asleep in the most uncomfortable position and since my husband did not come up after the party, there was no one to wake me up to get into a good sleeping position.I managed to get up and clean up the mess I had made, thankful that Leo had not walked in on it. When I got out of the bathroom, I felt refreshed and ready to spend another day cooped indoors having almost nothing to do.I unknowingly dragged my feet around the room, feeling like I had a hungover. "Can you stop that?!"I flinched as I sighted him in the room looking disheveled. "I'm sorry I didn't know when you came in." I said in an apologetic whisper."Of course you didn't." He muttered, looking annoyed."Leo, are you okay?" I asked out of genuine concern. No offense but he looked like he had been hit by a truck."I'm fine." He grunted out, forcing off his jacket."You seem upset.""I said I'm fine!" He yelled."Alright," I backed off, not wanting to argue with him any