~ HAZEL ~
Indy was still standing in front of the full body mirror, gazing at herself in my beautiful wedding dress while her other crazy-rich friends left the room, leaving Kade, Lila, Indy and me in the room.
“I can’t believe my daughter is finally getting married.” Lila smiled as they stopped beside us.
“It feels like a dream to me.” Kade added, grinning from ear to ear.
“Me too. I remember when she was still so small, running around the house with those tiny legs of hers.” She dabbed her eyes with her fingers. “Gosh, I’ll miss my baby.”
“You definitely remember I’m 25, right?” She said and they all chuckled.
“I wish Mom was still with us, she’d have been the happiest.” Lila sighed.
“We can’t control the fact that she was getting old and sick, her life wasn’t in our control but she’s watching.” Kade said, giving her a side hug.
“I’ll miss you both too.” She pulled them into a joint hug for a while.
Their cute family hug ended after a knock on the door.
“It must be the makeup artist and hairstylist.” Indy smiled, also dabbing her eyes with a cloth. “You should leave now. Remember, I don’t want anyone except Hazel here till it’s time to lead me to the aisle, Dad.” She frowned at Kade. “You shouldn’t know how beautiful I’d look.”
“Okay.” They replied in unison.
“It’s so sad that you’ll be unable to attend this wedding.” Lila said to me.
“I know, I feel so bad, but it’s very urgent.” It felt so weird to be lying to these lovely people. No matter how hard I tried not to, I couldn’t help but feel bad.
They took their leave then the makeup artist-hairstylist walked in.
“Remember, you know what to do.” She said to the young woman who simply nodded.
Indy quickly rushed to lock the door, running back to me and took off the wedding dress in fast motion. “Hurry up.” She said, glancing at the door at short intervals.
As quickly as I could, I got rid of my clothes then wore the burgundy charmeuse mermaid wedding dress which had diamonds around its waistline, illusion neckline, and hemline while she got into my clothes.
“I’m so scared.” I admitted.
“Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of everything.” She assured me with a smile.
“What if someone finds out?” My hands were starting to shake.
“Jeez, no one will.” She took the wine satin gloves that covered almost my entire arm. “It shouldn’t be dramatic.” She said to the woman who simply nodded again with a smile.
The woman started my makeup while Indy called Ian to proceed with their plan.
My fear was increasing at every second. I didn’t want this to end terribly. Tristan accepted this but everyone else? God, should I back out?
“You’re eloping with Ian, will you return? Your parents will be so worried, you’re all they have.” I said when the woman finished my makeup and started styling my hair.
“Of course, I will, but at the right time.” She replied, shoving her phone into her pant pocket.
After she was done with styling my hair, Indy helped me wear the floor-sweeping, dark red wedding veil that fully covered my face and hair, hiding my face from view though I could see beyond the veil, with a matching pair of silver heels.
“What if your father recognizes me?” I asked her in worry.
“He won’t. At all costs, act like you’re mad at my Dad so he doesn’t hold you properly to lead you down the aisle. Anyone can hardly recognize you in this outfit,” she assured, paying the woman so she could leave.
“Act like I’m mad at him? Why?”
“He’ll understand, just do it.”
***
The beautiful sound of the wedding songs, the wonderful decorations in the church, the well-arranged order of seating of guests, the pastor by the altar as well as Tristan, the bridesmaids, Indy’s crazy friends, the media houses, and everything about this was scary. I was internally praying to God for Kade or anyone else to not notice I wasn’t Indy. Thanks to our similar body shape, the silky gloves I had and the dramatic veil, the chance of not being caught was still kind of high.
As Indy had instructed, I was pretending to be mad at Kade so he wasn’t holding me properly.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’m very sorry.” Kade apologized, but why?
I tried to huff without sounding suspicious. My heart was throbbing crazily in its cage. This was the scariest moment of my life; the fear of getting caught.
I glanced at the congregation, Aunt Mandy was definitely doing something stupid while Luke was smiling (for probably the first time ever). My heart started bouncing around faster; this old man's face could kill me, how much more could his actions do after he found out.
I gulped.
Kade and I stopped by the altar then he hugged Tristan before taking his leave then I stood in front of Tristan.
The pastor adjusted his glasses before beginning the officiant's remark; explaining the importance of the wedding vows, the do's and don’t of the marriage…
Noticing the smiling faces of everyone (of course except Tristan who looked so uninterested in everything), I was internally panicking already.
After the pastor had made his remarks, it was finally time for the vows, increasing my fear.
Remembering that Tristan had agreed to this made me feel slightly relieved and I smiled at him though he couldn’t see my face.
“...Do you, Tristan Shane Hendrix, take the woman you’re holding,” uh? Wasn’t it supposed to be Indy’s name? She probably took care of that, “as your wife, to love her, to cherish her, nurture her, and support her, in times of joy and in times of difficulty? Do you promise to remain by her side regardless of what trouble befalls you, and in the presence of temptation to forsake this love, do you promise to remain steadfast and true? Do you promise with all your heart and soul to honor this vow till death do you part? If so, answer now, ‘I do'.” The pastor said.
Tristan answered, "I do.”
He turned to me with a smile. “Do you take Tristan Shane Hendrix as your husband, to love him, to cherish him, nurture him, and support him, in times of joy and in times of difficulty? Do you promise to remain by his side regardless of what trouble befalls you, and in the presence of temptation to forsake this love, do you promise to remain steadfast and true? Do you promise with all your heart and soul to honor this vow till death do you part? If so, answer now, 'I do'.”
“I—I do.” I answered quietly and breathlessly.
The ring-bearer walked to stand beside us, smiling at me.
The pastor continued, “And so we come to the presentation of rings by which you symbolize and bind your love.
Let the seamless circle of these rings become the symbol of your endless love and unending faithfulness. Your wedding rings are most special because they say that even in your uniqueness, you have chosen to be bonded, to allow the presence of another human being to enhance who you are. As you wear them through time, they will reflect not only who you are but also the glorious union that you are now creating.
“Groom, place the ring on bride's finger,”
Tristan took the ring from the pillow, took off my glove and handed it over to a random woman then slid the ring into my finger.
“Now repeat after me,” the pastor said then Tristan repeated after him, “With this ring, I pledge my love and faithfulness to you for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live.”
“Bride, place the ring on Groom’s finger,” oh my God, I was loving the fact that he wasn’t mentioning Indy’s name. I also took the ring from the pillow and wore it on his ring finger. Gosh, the feeling of relaxation that swam in my body after touching him directly… I couldn’t explain it.
“And also repeat after me: With this ring, I pledge my love and faithfulness to you, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live.”
I repeated after him in a very low voice, stuttering a bit as I tried to sound like Indy.
“With joy in my heart as a representative of binding this union, In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife! You may kiss your Bride!” He exclaimed with a bright smile, resulting in applause, squealing and other cheering noises from the crowd. Multiple flashes from photos filled the room.
Tristan held the tip of my veil, still looking so bored.
I rumpled a portion of my gown in my hands, feeling my chest rising and falling, enough to rip my gown.
The moment he threw my veil backwards and my face was in full view, gasps erupted from the crowd.
Glancing at everyone, I could predict that I was going to pass out from fear, from the widened eyes, frowning faces.
My gaze returned to Tristan— he also had his brows furrowed and lips quirked in confusion. “Hazel?” He asked, sounding extremely surprised.
How on Earth could he be surprised? Wasn’t he aware? Holy shit, that meant only one thing… Indy lied to me!
My hands immediately began to tremble as they were still gripping my gown, murmurings filled the hall and the infuriated look on Luke’s face made it known to me that I was doomed.“You may kiss your bride.” The pastor repeated in a different tone.Tristan still had his eyes drawn in askance at me. After glancing around shortly, he wore a smile, obviously to not make things look awkward since people from different media houses were here.“Bride,” he said through his smiling teeth, held my hands and pulled me closer to him, connecting his lips to mine.His kiss made every form of worry leave me instantly, it immediately felt like we were alone, in a heavenly place, as sparks continued to travel from my lips to my lungs, spreading to every part of my body in a twinkle of an eye.My entire world of sudden comfort came crumbling do
Stretching my arms out and yawning, I rose from the beautiful and most comfortable bed I had ever slept on (a lovely king-sized bed) and I have never had such an awesome time sleeping like this.Oh yeah, of course, my so-called husband was nowhere to be seen in this room that was surprisingly 'ours'.I arranged the bed, did my morning routine in our excessively classy gold-themed bathroom, made sure to spend enough time during my bath and washed my hair with the wonderful strawberry-scented shampoo. I returned to the bedroom, straightened my hair then wore a red dress I found in the wardrobe that clearly belonged to Indy.I left for the kitchen, not crossing paths with Tristan at all.“Good morning, madam.” Two of the male workers in the kitchen greeted me.One thing I had noticed in this house was that there was only one female worker and the
“Are you my driver or someone else is?” I asked Mike, making breakfast for everyone and of course definitely not Tristan.“Yes. I’d be so honored to drive you.” He said with a bow that caused a smile to appear on my face.“I have to go to work today, my boss is so mad at me for taking such a long break.”“The boss' wife has a boss.” David chuckled, passing a glass of juice to Mike.I didn’t respond to him but finalized the meal while Mike took his leave to arrange for the car.I had breakfast with David and a few other make workers at the dining table, chatting with them whi
Tristan finally pulled over in front of the bakery I worked at. I would’ve asked him how he knew where I was working but of course he must’ve driven Indy here.“Don’t move.” He said with that annoying authoritative voice of his. Curious to know what he was up to, I didn’t move.He got out of the car, turned around and surprisingly opened the door for me, stretching his hand to me.I raised an eyebrow at him but he only wore a smile.“Just give me your hand.” He said angrily through his smiling teeth.What sort of weird man was this?I accepted his hand then he helped me out of the car.“Thank you?” I said, still wondering what had gotten into him all of a sudden. He stood up for me, drove me to work though he said I shouldn’t work here anymore, he al
What on Earth could be more frustrating than living your life the same way everyday?It had been three months since that crazy man called Tristan had left for God-knows-where, not even a call to say hi, he only ever called to say stupid things or give orders, or he must’ve accidentally butt-dialed because he says nothing.Images of him with different models always flooded the internet, frustrating my life so much!My feelings for him had almost washed away 100%.Except the good food and mansion, nothing else was different in my financial status; I wasn’t swimming in money or anything of the sort, just the same poor me.Well… it was probably till at least 9 months I was going to see that devil again.“Hey, what are you thinking of again?” Mike asked, passing a glass of orange juice to me.&nbs
~ TRISTAN ~I was finally done with work for today. I had tried to hurry up in order to cover up for my honeymoon break.“Finally free,” I got up from the chair with a smile of relief on my face, arranged all the necessary files accordingly on the desk, placed the photo properly then left the home office.“Hazel, Hazel—” I had to tell her about the honeymoon immediately. We needed to leave tomorrow so we could return quickly.I got into the elevator to convey to the living room.After the elevator doors re-opened, a frown was plastered on my face at the sight of Hazel with Mike; he had his arm around her shoulders and they were laughing at something I could tell was definitely stupid.Storming to them, Mike immediately flinched from her and rose to his feet.&n
Tristan didn’t return home last night and neither was he home this morning.I had packed my bags for the so-called honeymoon but still no sign of him. Despite my numerous calls, no response.“Where is Tristan?” I asked a random man who suddenly approached me.“I have no idea.”“Gosh, I've been trying to call him since yesterday but no response. What’s going on?”“I really have no idea. I was only told to drive you to the airport. He said you shouldn’t be late.”I let out a heavy sigh. “Please pack my bags.”“Of course, I will.” He bowed politely.I left for our room to give him and another man my bags then locked the door after they left, stripped my clothes off then got into a long black rhine
My chest was burning with excitement from simply hugging him, it felt like I had an entire world of joy in my arms, like I had achieved a world goal.“What are you doing?” The vibration of his deep and husky voice against my chest caused me to flinch.He gently pushed me from him, looking confused. “What was that?”“You don’t know what a hug means?”“What was that for?”"Tristan.... I'm really confused, I don’t know where to begin.”“Why did you just hug me?” He frowned again, walking towards the bed and