Chapter 3: Time Slowed Down

“Which one?”

“What?”

“The necklaces. Erica is having another meltdown over this. Put her out of her misery and chose one.”

It was only then that marc noticed that she was holding something in her hands. His eyes met hers and for a moment that was all he saw.

“That one.” He pointed to the diamond cluster pendant.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I thought it looked good on her too. She wants to look her best for you. No wonder she is nervous.”

“Do people have to be nervous to want to look good for me?”

“That threw her off. That was a rude thing to say. Shouldn’t he be happy that the love of his life and he were getting married and she made attempts to align his taste too? hers. But then, she felt a wave of embarrassment when she remembered refreshing her lip tint before coming here.

She was never one for make-up but just before entering his suite, she looked at her reflection in the massive mirror on the corridor wall. Please with how she looked she nodded to herself. Erica had taken it upon herself to select the maid of honour dress.

“If I let you be, you will probably show to my wedding in your lab coat.”

“Haha. We wouldn’t want to have two women in white then. Sure. Go ahead. Pick one. I will ditch my labcoat for you for a day.”

Your Highness” teased Erica.

The dress did look good on her. Like this dress, all her clothes were picked by Erica who had appointed herself as Lisa’s stylist years ago.

She wondered if one of the groomsmen would ask her for a dance later.

She wanted to make sure to get a final check before checking with Marc about the necklace. pulling the strand of a loose hair wave behind her ear, she walked to his door.

‘What would Marc think of me in this dress,’ she found herself wondering at the door.

‘Can he read minds?’ She wondered.

“I am not nervous to look good for you.

That’s absurd,” she regretted her words as soon as they came out. That was a response she had to get out. Why had she just said that? Could the ground swallow her just then so she didn’t have to stand there?

“Let me get a closer look at them.”

“What?”

“The necklaces. Let me look at them.”

“Oh yes, of course.” Ah. Maybe he hadn’t heard her. She talks to herself all the time and perhaps what she thought was a response was a mere mutter.

Sighing in relief she made her way to him.

Every step she took made her feel a little dizzy. What was happening to her? She could blame it on the hangover. The other bridesmaid had decided to drink themselves to nearly passing out the night before.

Her stilettos clicked against the beautiful marble floor and just went she was about to hand him the necklaces, her heel slipped. The floor was wet from the champagne the groomsmen had opened on the big day.

She fell forward and Marc rushed to her to help her, but not noticing the wet floor himself, slipped too, just when he had managed to grab hold of him. Lisa landed on top of marc who was on his back on the floor.

Her hair fell on his face and it was the first time, she felt a man’s breath on her neck. Realising what had just happened, Lisa tried to get up but Marc didn’t move an inch. This is the closest he had been to her. He had wanted to be that close to her.

He didn’t want her to get up. He didn’t want the time to move.

Lisa found his gaze compelling and realised her legs were between his. Her breasts were pressed against his bare chest. She could feel the texture of the towel on her skin through her satin dress.

He smelled good. He smelled great. She found herself inching her face closer to him as if hypnotised by his gaze. Marc parted his lips in anticipation.

He pushed her hair at the back of her ear. His touch made her ears burn. His fingers lingered on her cheek for a few seconds before he traced them down her neck. Neck. She is forgetting something. Neck.Lace...NECKLACE. Oh god!

She panicked and pulled herself back, getting up. Trying to find her balance again, she ran out of the door. “I will tell her you liked the pendant.”She managed to say before closing the door behind her.

She was probably in his room for not more than two minutes and it felt like an eternity had passed. ‘Time does slow down, Herr Einstein.’ she thought to herself.

What had just happened was an accident. Her habit of overthinking everything was making her nervous. Has his face always been this perfect? Did he trace a finger on my cheek.

Did I just misread that in the heat of the moment. She could feel heat radiating from her body. For the first time in her life, a man had gotten that close to her physically.

It was an accident she reminded herself again. Wondering if Marc felt in that momet what she felt. Did time slow down for him too?