"Okay, Natalie. Go and start getting ready for tonight" Aunt Christina sent me off.
"It's just 1 in the afternoon. We're leaving in what? 5 hours. Don't worry. I won't take so much time in getting dressed" I assure her.
"Karina. We all want you to look your best" Aunt Veronica said after analyzing the situation.
"Natalie! We're getting late" Natasha came and pulled me away.
We finally reach my room where Juli, Vinnie and Mary were already waiting for me.
"Now, go and take a shower" Natasha pushed me into the bathroom.
I forcefully take a shower and return to find them all geared up.
Juli applies a hint of nude eyeshadow, nude lipstick and mascara while I kept complaining about how much I hate makeup the whole time.
Vinnie ties my hair in a sleek ponytail while Natasha and Mary helped me get into the dress, despite telling them that I could get dressed myself.
"Don't you think this dress is too formal?" I asked, unsure about my dress.
"It's a formal dinner. You can't wear your casual clothes, can you?" Mary rolled her eyes before they all left to get dressed.
While I wait for them to get dressed, Tony walks into my room.
"Natalie. I need your help. It's not so important, I mean, tonight's dinner is more important but I need your help like, maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow" Tony said.
"What is it?" I inquired.
"Well, I wanted to get Tesha a gift but since this is the first time I'm getting her something without her consent, I don't think I can shop alone" He chuckled.
"Alright. We can go shopping the day after tomorrow since we'll have to attend the Sermon tomorrow" I explained.
"Sure. That'll be great" He clapped his hands together.
"Oh, Nat... are you really getting married?" Tony asked.
"Duh. It feels like a nightmare and you want to elaborate on it" I laughed.
"I mean, don't you think either Vinnie or I should get married instead?" He asked again.
"Yeah, that's true. I mean, you're 5 months older and Vinnie is a month older but I'm still getting married before you anyway" I sighed.
"Nat, don't worry. We're all here for you" He smiled.
"Okay! We're leaving! C'mon, Mrs. Maxfield. We gotta go!" Aaron shouted from the door.
"Don't use that on me. I'm still a Salvatore" I fumed.
When we all get to the vehicles we're supposed to ride in, Mom asks me, "Nat, is Tony going to drive you there or?"
"Mom, I'll drive. I mean, Grandma and Grandpa gifted me a Range Rover so I could drive myself, right?" I smiled since I hated being dependent on others.
"It's inappropriate for a lady to drive. Let a driver take you there. Chris, please call Jones. He must be waiting inside" Mom said.
In no time, Jones opens the door for me to get in.
I quietly get in the backseat and watch as he drives my car.
"Be careful alright? This car is a gift" I remind him.
"Don't worry, Miss. I'll drive very carefully" He assured me before we were on our way to the hotel that we were having dinner at.
After almost half an hour, We reach one of the best Salvatore hotels that my family owns.
When Jones opens the door, Tony comes and helps me out of the car.
"I thought we would be having dinner over the Maxfields" I whisper.
"No, Grandpa insisted on having the first family dinner at the Salvatores'. Even I don't know what he wants" Tony sighed.
"Honey, they're already here. Please be on your best behavior" Mom reminded me before we walked into the hotel, led by the hotel's manager.
There is a whole lot of people inside the hotel. Must be the Maxfields.
Grandpa walks ahead of us and gives a friendly hug to a man of his age.
"Richard, this is my granddaughter" Grandpa introduced me to him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Maxfield" I shaked his hand.
"No formalities, dear. I'm your Grandpa as well. Come here, little one" He pulled me into a warm hug.
"Diane. Come and see your granddaughter-in-law" He called somebody who I presume is his wife.
In a matter of seconds, this old woman, called Diane came. She was so elegantly dressed that I was shocked.
"Natalie. Come here, dear" She gave me a hug.
"You are so beautiful. I am so happy to have you in our family" She smiled.
"Grandma, I can't wait to be married into this family" I said, cheerfully.
Then, another couple with three young adults and a woman in her early 30s approach us.
"Natalie" The woman called me out.
"Oh, this is your mother-in-law, your father-in-law and their kids" Grandpa said.
"Hello, Mrs. Maxfield" I greeted her.
"Call me Mom. This is your Dad. And these are Enzo's younger siblings, Rose, Karen and Peter. And she's Enzo's older sister, Evelyn" She explained.
We exchanged smiles.
"Natalie, we're very sorry for not meeting you before this. Actually, we were planning on visiting you but since this dinner was already arranged, we thought it'd be better to meet you here" My future Dad explained.
"It's not a problem" I smiled.
"Lorenzo's not here yet. Please wait for a while. Let me introduce you to the other family members" Mrs. Maxfield a.k.a my future Mom took me to meet all of Lorenzo's cousins, aunts and uncles.
They all seem so nice.
I started to feel nervous because I would be meeting Lorenzo in a few minutes.
Rose and Karen comes over to me.
"Mom, we're borrowing her for a minute" Karen said before we went to meet the cousins.
"I've met them just now" I said as Karen began to name them one by one.
"Oh... but you've had no inner sources to explain who is what. Lemme help you with that" Karen said making me laugh.
"Natalie, have you met Enzo before?" Rose asked.
"No, I haven't... it'll be my first time to meet him tonight" I answered her.
"By the way, I'm 23 and Karen's 20 and Peter is 17" Rose explained.
"Ah, you're a year younger than me. But all three of you have to drop all formalities. Treat me like your own" I assure her.
By this time, all my cousins and siblings had gathered around us along with Enzo's cousins.
I sat in the middle while they kept bombarding questions and I answered them.
Just then, Karen shouts, "Enzo's here" when she hears his laughter in the other room.
"Enzo! Come in! Your wife is here!" Karen shouted and all his cousins and siblings started making tease shouts.
My stomach dropped. I was nervous as hell. I wanted to run away from everything but I knew that I couldn't. I had to face this day. I was born to face this moment.
As soon as he enters the room, the first words that comes out of my mouth is, "You?"
"What are you doing here?" He growled.
"You?""What're you doing here?" He growled.Seeing the rage in his cold eyes, I trembled with fear. He had such a scary look."Wait, you guys know each other?" Natasha and Karen asked at the same time.By now, everyone went quiet and the atmosphere felt quite tensed up."Well, we did meet. He came to our University for a board meeting. I was with the Managing Director so he must've seen me" I quickly speak up."She was-" He spoke again.I didn't even know his full name."I'm Natalie Karina Salvatore" I extend my hand."Lorenzo James Maxfield" He shook my hand while giving me a suspicious face.Oh right. Mom texted me his name. I just remembered."Okay, you guys can have your space" Chris said, sounding more suspicious."
Lorenzo's POV"Lorenzo James Maxfield! How dare you raise your voice?" Dad's voice thundered making my younger siblings flinch while they ate their breakfast."Are you serious? How can you decide my marriage without my opinion?" I belted."Enzo, we're doing this for your good only. And it wasn't us who decided it either. Your marriage was fixed the moment you were born. Your grandparents took the decision and we couldn't go against their will. Can you?" Mom reasoned."You should've told me, at the least. It's not that I don't listen to you. But I can't marry at this age. People get drunk at this age and pass out at parties. Don't you think I deserve to enjoy a bit?" I said, and I sounded really pathetic when I did so."Then is there anybody who you have in mind? Anyone who can replace the girl you are promised to so that you can get out of this marriage?" Mom asked me.I had no answer. At all. I did have a lot of one night stands but I didn't
"You?""What're you doing here?"For a moment, I thought I got the wrong person."Wait, you guys know each other?" Karen and another girl asked at the same time.By now, everyone went quiet and the atmosphere felt quite tensed up."Well, we did meet. He came to our University for a board meeting. I was with the Managing Director so he must've seen me" The lady who was rude to me quickly speak up."She was-" I spoke up to tell everyone how I was treated."I'm Natalie Karina Salvatore" She extends my hand."Lorenzo James Maxfield" I shook her hand while giving her a suspicious look."Okay, you guys can have your space" another man in his early thirties said, sounding more suspicious."Don't worry, we won't disturb you. Anyway, a different room with se
Natalie's POV"Honey, the wedding date has been fixed" Mom informed me as she walked into my room with my Dad's sisters, my aunts.Juli, Natasha, Vinnie and Mary were all discussing about their dresses with me."Okay, Mom" I answered."Don't you want to know the date? Are you not curious?" Mom asked me, somewhat disappointed.Well, if you guys didn't plan my future without my consent, I'd actually be really excited."Umm... any date is fine, Mom" I smiled."When is the wedding taking place, Aunt Chloe?" Juli asked.Typical of her to be sweet enough."It's exactly 4 weeks away. The wedding will take place on the 30th of November" Mom said, sounding excited."That's fine" I commented before getting back to the sketch Natasha was making."So you guys can decide on the theme colour by tomorrow and inform me so that I can tell the wedding planner. She wants to come prepared too" Aunt Christina informed
He walks in, completely ignoring me so I quickly wipe my tears before waddling behind him."Oh, Enzo, why didn't you tell us that you were coming?" Karen asked, taking a bite of her lasagna."I finished work early so I thought I'd swing by" Lorenzo answered before giving everyone a big smile and taking a seat.Tony quickly sits next to Lorenzo while Evelyn sat on the other side of him.Tony was well aware that I wasn't comfortable enough to sit next to Lorenzo."Natalie, sit and have dinner" Chris offered, noticing the pissed look on my face.I quietly sit between Chris and Juli and have dinner.All through out the dinner, everyone bombards questions at Lorenzo and he answers them with patience.After dinner, we all head to the living room and sit while discussing more about the wedding."Hey, Lorenzo, let's head outside once. Y'know, a man to man talk" Chris said sounding serious.I was completely sure that Chris
"Nat, I don't know what to get for her" Tony choked, almost on the verge of crying.We decided to go shopping to get a gift for his girlfriend, Tesha. But everytime we'd decide on something, Tony would question himself on whether she would like it or not."Tony, if we go on like this, we won't be able to get her anything" I sighed.We came across designer bags, jewellery sets, clothes and shoes but he would have a second thought on all of them.I turn and walk around to the watch section."Hey, Tony, come here. I got the perfect gift for Tesha" I squirm, my eyes lighting up.He rushes over and I show him the watches for couples.The boutique manager comes and as I ask, he shows us the pair of platinum watches which were so exquisite."Look, Tony. These watches are really going to suit you and Tesha. She has a huge collection of watches and I swear, she's gonna love this one" I said.Tony also agrees and we get the watche
My wedding is in a week's time and well, today is my first and last fitting.Juli, Vinnie, Natasha, Mary, Evelyn, Rose and Karen decided to tag along since they also had their dresses to pick up."I'm still not quite done with your dress yet but you can still try it on" Ken, my gay cousin, said helping me into my dress.The sleeves weren't quite done yet and the stitches weren't double stitched.Overall, it looked good enough. I smiled while all the others tried their dresses on."Hey, Nat, your phone is ringing. It's Aunt Christina" Natasha informed me handing me my phone."Hello?" I said as soon as I picked up."Natalie, where're you?" She asked."I'm at my dress fitting but we're almost done so I'll be home in maybe half an hour" I answered."If you're done there, please get to the company. Your Grandpa needs you to sig
"You're doing great" Tony cooed."Look at her face" Natasha chuckled."Enzo isn't any different" Karen grinned."Shut up""Shut up"Both Lorenzo and I spoke at the same time making the others burst into laughter.We're currently practicing our dance for the wedding and we both are doing everything to avoid eye contact.We danced inches apart, yet no emotion welled in us.After all the dance practises, we practised the bridal march and Chris decided to walk me down the aisle instead of Dad because he was getting the father-daughter dance.Did I not mention the wedding's tomorrow?Well, it's not that big of a deal anyway."Okay, let's all head home. I'm so tired" I remarked while searching for my car keys."We're all having dinner together since there is no rehearsal dinner" Chris informed."Can we skip that too?" I groaned."I'm afraid not" Chris smiled."I can't find