Eight

Eva had already sent Ava her dress for the reception, her clothes, the things she would be needing, alongside the makeup artists who helped her into the dress, did her makeup and styled her hair.

If Ava thought the wedding dress was the most uncomfortable thing she's ever worn, she was wrong. The dress she was wearing right now was the worst.

It was an off-the-shoulder golden corset dress with a long slit that rode into her thighs. Her squished boobs were practically falling out of the cups, and the mesh corset did not attempt to cover her squished belly.

With a dress like this, she would definitely turn heads. Definitely Eva's style. Turning heads has always been another of her obsessions.

Her neck was adorned with a golden necklace, and in her ears were the dancing earrings.

She had been standing in front of the full-length mirror for the past minutes, after the makeup artists had left, staring at her reflection, still not believing that the lady staring back at her was actually her.

Who knew she could be this breathtakingly stunning?

Tired of standing, she sat down on the bed and sighed. It all still felt surreal. So, just like that, she's a married woman.

Sighing again, she clicked on her phone and stared at the screen as though she was expecting a text. She had blocked Cole after she caught him with another woman, but a part of her still wished he would get another number and try to reach her.

At least, it would show he still cared.

She wondered what he was doing. Knowing Cole, he would be lounging on his couch, streaming a show on N*****x with the curtains drawn, a popcorn, beer and chicken. And then after that, he would take a hike in the woods.

Hmm, that guy never jokes with his weekends.

The knock on the door jolted Ava out of her thoughts of nostalgia and longing. She sprang to her feet and answered the door.

Ben stood in the doorway, dressed in a tuxedo. His jaw dropped upon seeing Ava.

“Wow, Miss Eva, you look stunning!” He wasted no time in complimenting.

Ava blushed, tucking some strands of hair off her face, “Aw, thanks, Ben. You look wonderful, too.”

Ben flashed his teeth, “I try. We're all ready to leave for the reception. Are you done yet?”

“Oh, wait a minute,” Ava rushed back inside and hurried onto the high heels Eva had selected. Grabbing her purse, she strutted out of the room.

Pat was waiting by the door, also dressed in a tux. His eye glimmered with admiration as Ava stepped forward.

“Miss Eva, you look… amazing.”

“Thank you.” Ava replied, “You look amazing too.”

“Shall we?

“Uh, wait, where's Devlin?” She asked.

“Private elevator.” Pat reminded her, and she regretted asking, feeling embarrassed.

How could she forget that?

“Yeah, right, private elevator. Totally forgot.”

They rode down to the garage. Devlin was already seated in the limousine, calm, cool, dressed in a tux.

Ben got behind the wheel and drove off. Pat drove after them with Devlin's wheelchair in the booth.

And here again, Ava found herself unable to relax. She wanted to engage herself in a conversation with Ben, but this limousine wasn't the first limousine they had arrived in. This one was smaller, and the partition was up so there was no means of speaking to Ben.

She kept throwing furtive glances at Devlin, then remembered that he was blind. No need to be furtive if the guy you're staring at can't see you, right?

So she fixated her gaze on Devlin. This was the first time she was having a full look at him.

She had to admit that even in his blind and crippled state, Devlin still looked extraordinarily charming with features so fine and delicate that it's hard to believe he's real. And the dark glasses were just the icing on the cake.

Damn!

No wonder Eva and the other girls have been wanting to get him. Ava thought. I mean, look at this guy! Jaw as sharp as a knife, nose as perfect as a masterpiece from the Renaissance, and the lips, oh my…

“Stop staring.”

Ava jumped out of her skin and hurriedly glanced away, her cheek turning a darker shade of red.

How on earth did I know I was staring at him? Ava couldn't help but wonder. I mean, he's blind, isn't he? Damn, he scared the shit outta me.

She cleared her throat.

“I wasn't staring.”

Devlin kept mute again. As though she hadn't even spoken.

Ava frowned. “How did you know I was staring? I thought you were blind?” She asked.

Devlin made no sound.

“Um… okay. What happened to you?” She asked again, “I had no idea that you were blind and… um, crippled. I'm so sorry.”

Still no response.

“You know you can stop ignoring me, I'm a person, and it's hurting my feelings that you're treating me like this.” She said, voice laced with growing frustration.

Still no response.

“What's your deal, really?” Her restraint snapped, “I thought you would have changed since all these years, but clearly you haven't. You just got worse!”

She expected a response this time, but when she still didn't get response this time, her face turned dark red.

What's this guy's deal?

“Screw you!” She roared at him and then turned away.

About half an hour later, Ben pulled up to their destination. Pat opened the door and helped Devlin into his wheelchair.

Ava gaped at the crowd and journalists, but mostly at the venue of the reception. A cruise boat? They're having their reception on a cruise boat? Eva didn't tell her this. That girl just loves screwing with her over and over again.

They made their way through the crowd onto the boat. Speaking of the devil, there she stood, dressed in a simple nightgown, probably a dress Ava herself would have worn to the event.

Eva knows her all too well.

“Hey, sis!” She waved with a smile, then skidded over and wrapped her arm around hers. “You made it.” She glanced over at Devlin, “Hey, Dev… lin. Can I borrow Eva for a moment? Thank you.”

She dragged her through the crowd of guests into one of the main cabins and shut the door.

“What is this all about?” Ava snapped at her.

“Phew! I nearly slipped up.”

Ava blinked in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“I nearly called him Dev.” Eva answered, “Since I'm pretending to be you, I should call him Devlin, not Dev.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so you should be calling him Dev from now on because that's what I usually call him.” Eva explained, “You haven't called him Devlin, have you?”

Ava rolled her eyes, “The jerk hasn't even spoken to me.”

“That's good.”

“That's good?”

“No, that's not what I meant,” Eva tried to explain, “I'm saying that's good in the context that you haven't called him Devlin, not that he hasn't spoken to you.”

“Yeah, whatever. So, why did you drag me in here?”

“So I could brief you on the guests that you would be meeting tonight,” Eva replied, “It will be weird if you suddenly don't recognize any of them. Rosy?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Jesus!” Ava exclaimed, clutching her chest, “How long has she been staying there?”

“Since forever, now Rosy, brief her.”

“Alright, this right here is Mr Sanchez,” Rosy shoved a tablet to her face. “And he's…”

Ava groaned.

This day just keeps getting better and better.