Chapter 6:

LORRAINE'S POV:

My golden haired boy, my safe space, my Venus and my haven….Matteo. Ever since we were kids he has always fascinated me, from the way he viewed the world to his platinum white hair and brighty coloured grey eyes, he was always did do something to me, things I has never been able to leave my mind.

My body still replayed his hug on my skin, his voice, my memory kept on recalling his scent in my olfactory lobe and it made my mind lose its actual thoughts.

“It's your wedding Lorraine, the least you can do is smile you know..God!” My mum complains as she walks into my room.

Despite the fact that mentally I wasn't here, it is however my wedding day, I've been up since 5am, taken so many pictures that I'm sure I have lost my smile, missed my normal routine for what? a sham of a wedding.

“If you want me to smile, call of the wedding mother” I look her dead in the eye through the mirror. The makeup artist, my designer and Ava all turned in shock to me.

“Everyone, leave. Now” she commands.

Everyone feared my mother, no one questioned her, no one dared to. The last time someone did, they wounded up missing for almost half the year so they all scribble away.

“We have talked about this Lorraine, what is you problem?” She asks almost, almost concerned.

“My problem? Mum I'm getting married! Married! To Dexter of all people, gosh, you know, hell everyone knows that I hate that man with every fibre in my fucking being yet you want me to smile and get married to him. How cruel can you be?” I say with every emotion that I was feeling I didn't even realize when tears started streaming down my face.

“Wipe your eyes Lorraine. It's a marriage not death, and it's for the comp….”

“My life has been this company!” I shout, “my entire life has been this goddamn company. Every day of my life has been dedicated to the company. A company that my efforts are never appreciated and when they are they are questioned? I have dropped my whole life to be here, my dreams…my…my…heart,” I squirm in tears, “How…have you have ever asked me what I want? You don't know anything about me…God. You're so…so..power driven and greedy to see past your bloody ambitions Mother, I'm sure dad would be rolling in his grave right now knowing what you're doing to me” I scoff and I feel her hand fly across my face before I could blink.

She slapped me?

“Don't you ever talk about my husband in your life Lorraine” she points a warning finger at me, “wipe your eyes and smile. I won't repeat myself” she leaves and slams the door behind her. I fall to the floor and cry even more.

************

“You look tired” Ava whispers as she holds my hand at the door while we're waiting to walk in, my mother refused to walk me down the aisle so Ava stepped in.

“What I need right now is to actually sleep” I smile, “and eat something other than oat packets” I groan.

“Lorraine,” Ava says worriedly, “I heard everything between you and your mother. I'm sorry”.

My heart sinks and tears return to my eyes again, “it's okay. We've always been like that you know. We'll…we'll find a middle ground somehow, we always do” I take a deep breath in swallowing my tears.

The doors open and all hundred guests stand up, my heart starts pounding and my head starts spinning. Slowly, I and Ava walk towards to the altar and the first person my eyes land on is Matteo. In a finely tailored black suit that compliments him really well, I couldn't stop staring at him, how beautiful his existence was.

“You're staring at the wrong person Lorrie” Ava whispers.

“That's kind of the whole point” I smile then refocus on Dexter. Dexter wasn't bad looking, quite the contrary, he was really good looking, extremely good sense of fashion and a beautiful body,should know I always see him jog past my house almost everyday but I couldn't just see past his infuriating and aggravating attitude that always threw me off.

“Standing in front us today is our lovely, Lorraine Withmore and Dexter Grayson wanting to be joined in holy matrimony” the priest says, “before we continue is there anyone who stands against this union? Speak now or forever be silent”.

It took will and power to not raise my own hand against my own wedding, which would have been the perfect revenge against my mother.

“No one? Let's proceed then” the priest smiles looking at us but the stare down between us burned like fire.

********

“I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride” The priest says after we exchanged rings.

Me and Dexter froze almost at the same time, we've never kissed before, the thought has never crossed our minds how were we supposed to do so in front of all these strangers?

“People are staring, Lorraine, come on” Dexter urges.

I close the gap between us, stand on my toes and give him the shortest kiss known to mankind but my head goes blank for a second when he holds my waist and pulls me in so close that there wasn't even nothing like space between us, our breaths hitched for a second and I stared into his eyes, the eyes I hated more than anything yet my body was on airplane mode with his touch. He tucked my hair behind my ears and kissed me, kissed me so deeply I could actually feel his tongue and I let him, I didn't know why but I let him. One hand held my waist with a strong hold almost like if he let go I'll disappear, while the other steadied my face.

We went on for what felt like ten minutes till the shutters of cameras and loud clapping drawed us back to reality,

What the hell just happened?