The Wedding Preparation

Preparing for the wedding wasn't tricky for Helena, even though she only had one month to go. Many professional wedding organizers could make it happen. She just needed more money to pay for their services that had to work under tight deadlines with the maximum results. There would be many vital guests presented at her wedding. And of course, she didn't want that moment to be an embarrassing thing to both two families and ruined their reputation due to the wrong choice of a wedding organizer.

Honestly, Helena didn't need to find a wedding organizer. The wedding party would take place in the ballroom of her family's hotel. It also included the food catering during the party. For the decoration, the hotel staff was no less slick in designing the place. After all, the hotel offered a service package for those who wanted to have any party there. Just explaining about it, and they would be ready to make it happen.

However, there were still some preparations that required the direct intervention of the party's owner. For example, about the food and beverage selection to be served during the party. The family of the bride and the groom must choose the menu themselves by having tried the taste through the samples provided. There was also a list of guests that no one could make it to other than those who would have the party. And the most that couldn't be replaced by someone else was the fitting session of the wedding dress. Liked it or not, the bride and the groom must be present in person.

That was what Helena was doing now. She was visiting her regular boutiques and trying on a dress that she had ordered for quite a while. Long before the day of the family gathering, Helena had already prepared for it. She knew sooner or later the marriage arrangement would still happen, and the wedding would take place according to their grandfather's plan. So, she asked the boutique owner to make a beautiful dress for her. And sure, for Aaron's too.

Helena was looking at her reflection through a large mirror in front of her. It was the second dress she had tried on—a long gown decorated with floral lace. The plan was she would wear it at the evening party. Meanwhile, the white wedding dress became her choice for the vows in the morning.

She let out a deep breath. Her face turned gloomy when thinking about Aaron and their future life. What would happen to their marriage? How about her relationship with him later? Would the vows be able to last long? Helena had absolutely no answers to those questions. Nothing.

She certainly loved Aaron. If it weren't for love, she could have rejected her grandfather's wishes. Her grandfather might grant her request, although the opportunity to be refused remained. However, if she was firm in her stance, Helena was pretty sure that her grandfather would approve it. Her grandfather couldn't exchange her granddaughter's happiness for the sake of a promise that didn't guarantee her happiness.

But, she never refused the plan. Instead of being angry after hearing that her future life had been determined by her grandfather, Helena was curious about the man she would marry. Then she found out. And the interest came when she saw him busy with a pile of the company reports he was trying to understand. At that time, Aaron was only working in a branch of her family's company. So, he had a lot to learn.

Next, she looked for a way to approach Aaron. She must know his nature before deciding on things regarding her life. She didn't want to be fooled by his charm, which she saw was just a physical matter. She wanted to know Aaron's behavior in his daily life, how he treated other people, and much more. But on the other hand, Helena didn't wish to reveal her identity for fear of being rejected before she even tried. And the idea came. She pretended to survey to find out customer satisfaction. She also had to work with the cafe owner to avoid misunderstandings later.

At the first meeting, Helena couldn't get anything other than an answer to her fake questions. In the second meeting, she only gave a fleeting smile when the two were reunited. The third time was still the same—this time with an extra small talk about her fictitious activities. It was at the fourth meeting that the opportunity arose. Perhaps, because they often met—she knew very well that Aaron was a regular visitor who spent his time there almost every day after coming back from work—they felt close. Their conversation began to sound natural and automatically opened a new friendship between them.

Then, Helena expressed her desire to open her cafe. Aaron supported the idea and said he would help her manage her new business. However, she knew Aaron was very busy with his office work. "If you want to help, then come often to my cafe," she said at the time. And yes, he agreed and changed his favorite place to Helena's Café, founded one month later. Because of that, their relationship grew closer and culminated in a romantic love story between the two of them.

"You look so beautiful," said Jane, the boutique owner and the designer who had accompanied her to try on the dresses she had ordered.

Helena had a smile on her face. She stared at the thirty-eight-year-old woman. She was grateful that Jane's designs never let her down. "Thank you, Jane. The dresses are amazing. That's why those who wear them also look beautiful." She made a joke.

Jane chuckled. Her hands were still busy tidying Helena's dress and making sure it fit her body well. "The dresses are beautiful. You also look beautiful. So, your attractiveness comes out," she replied with another joke.

Helena smiled. What else was she expected from someone who had designed a dress for her? It must be a compliment because it indirectly showed satisfactory results.

"Finished," Jane said while looking satisfied at her. Then, she pulled aside the curtains to show Helena's beauty to the people who were waiting for her outside.

"You're beautiful, Ma'am."

Instantly, Helena received praise from Olive, her makeup artist. In addition to the fitting session, she also used this time to do a makeup test for her wedding. She could save more time and energy, agreed?

"You're so gorgeous." Rachel gave the same compliment to Helena. Rachel had been her assistant since four years ago. She faithfully accompanied Helena in almost all of her activities, mainly related to work or business things.

Helena gave them both a smile in return. She then sat down on the large sofa they were also sitting on. "What's the best makeup that suitable for this dress?" she asked Olive, who was right beside her.

"We can create a romantic look. Pink seems to match the dress. Later, it can be made bolder on the lip so that it still looks elegant," explained Olive plainly.

Helena could only nod at her words. She knew quite a bit about makeup and how to use it. However, Helena had to leave the decision to someone who was a professional in the field. She didn't want to try her luck and ended up getting a disappointing result. Worse, she became the main gossip of her guests. "Okay. Try the look first."

Olive started her work. She removed all the makeup on Helena's face and went back to applying it from scratch. As she already said, she used a combination of pink in her makeup this time. Starting from the eyes with the rose-pink color, blush on in the same color, and bolder pink on Helena's lips.

While being dressed by Olive, Helena's ears caught someone's arrival and a very familiar voice. Aaron. Yes, He just arrived, which meant Aaron was almost three hours late from the appointment. Unbelievable. "You just arrived?" she asked sarcastically as the man came within her sight.

Aaron didn't answer. He just stood there with his eyes fixed on Helena and… her dazzling appearance.