Six

Vows were exchanged and in the blink of an eye, I became Mrs. Rodriguez. Not once have I imagined myself to become a Rodriguez. Life tends to surprise us after all.

Kissing Nathan at the altar will forever be one of the weirdest moments of my life. I never thought I would kiss him one day, let alone kiss him at the altar. There was no spark, and it was quick with no emotions. This isn’t how I wished my kiss at the alter would be like. I wished my kiss would be passionate, something that would forever be imprinted in the back of my mind and carved in my heart. I wished my kiss to be with someone I loved, someone I was ready to give up my life for. I guess we don’t get all that we wish for.

The venue where the wedding reception is held is breathtaking. The chairs are gold just like I requested and the roses are blue and white. Each table has a few flowers in a small basket and the table itself isn't covered by any cloth just like what I wanted. Although my mum wasn't a fan of that, Malory supported my decision. When I think about it now, I realise that Malory supported whatever I wanted. Perhaps, she wanted to give me some kind of normality because none of this is normal. Perhaps, she was scared of me bailing out of the deal.

“Linnea.” I turn around when I hear Nathan's voice. He has been nice to me so far. I feel like he's going to pull a prank at any moment. He can't just become nice out of the blue. “I got you something.” Does Nathan Rodriguez sound nervous? Because this isn't his normal tone. I have known him for more than twenty years and when he talks to me, his tone is usually full of cockiness, or teasing.

“What is it?” I wonder.

“So I did some digging,” he nervously chuckles. Digging? To get me a gift? “I was told that Amethyst is your favorite stone, so I hope you like this.” He takes a slim rectangular box out of his inner pocket and opens it. I gasp as my hand flies to cover my mouth. This is the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen in my entire life.

The necklace is so simple yet gorgeous. The chain is simple and bears no jewelry, but I'm totally in love with the pendant. It is horizontal and has the shape of leaves that are obviously made of diamonds. At the end of each leaf, there's a small amethyst stone.

“Oh my… Nathan, this is perfect,” I whisper, placing my hands on my chest.

“Can I put it on you?” I immediately nod and turn around. I feel like everybody is watching us and my cheeks heat up. His fingers make touch with the back of my neck and a chill runs down my back.

“Thank you,” I murmur, touching the necklace with the tip of my fingers as I turn around.

“You look gorgeous, Lenny,” he smirks. For the first time, I do not resent him for calling me Lenny. “Do you want to dance?” Why is he being nice? “We barely danced, and people may get suspicious,” he quickly adds. Without saying a word, I nod and follow him to the dance floor.

I do my best to keep my eyes away from him as we move our bodies to the music. I don’t know why I am nervous like that. His touch is setting my body on fire; why does he have this effect on me when I can barely stand being with him in the same place? How am I going to spend 365 days with him?

“So silent, Linnea. Counting the days until this deal is over?” His question almost makes me laugh, because I'm actually doing that.

“Glad to know that we understand one another,” I tell him.

For the rest of the dance, we stay silent because there's nothing to talk about. I don't think there's anything in common between us. Perhaps how we can barely stand one another is our common ground.

“May I steal the bride?” Uncle Gabriel interrupts our dancing and I prevent myself from signing in relief.

Nathan steps aside and I place my hand in Uncle Gabriel’s hand. I have always loved this man. He is a good father and a great husband. He did inherit the enterprise from his father, but he did his best to grow it and he succeeded; an outstanding success that anybody would wish to achieve.

“You look beautiful, Linnea,” he tells me and I smile. A real one.

“Thank you.”

“You seem tense,” he notes. Is it that obvious? “I’m honestly glad that you’re the one Nathan ended up with.” His confession takes me by surprise.

“You do know that this is only temporary, right?” I feel the need to remind him.

“I know, but still. I’m happy you agreed to marry him. He needs someone like you,” he continues.

“Someone like me?” I’m a bit confused.

“You’re a great girl, Linnea. You’re successful, you have a good image and you’re loved, and… you’re not afraid to call him out for his mistakes,” he explains. He has so much hope for this marriage. It’s just marriage on a piece of paper, but it seems like he doesn’t quite understand that. Why would somebody raise their expectations when they're well aware of the circumstances?

After dancing with Uncle Gabriel, I manage to keep myself busy for the rest of the night, hoping it will come to an end soon.

“Ready to go home, babe?” Nathan’s choice of words makes my heart skip a beat.