5. Wedding Dresses and Other Things

“This one looks beautiful, Elena!”

Can you guess where I am right now? What a way to spend a peaceful Sunday.

Currently swaddled in lace and silk, my mother and Mirabelle had kidnapped me so we could go hunting for a wedding dress. “Why can’t I just wear Eliana’s?” I had asked, and both of them looked like I had spat in their faces.

Okay, then.

So here I was, being a doll to my mother and Mirabelle. After trying on at least 10 more dresses, I started losing my temper.

“Let me find my own dress, mother. Give me a few minutes,” I say in an exasperated tone to the surprise of the two ladies with me. If this was going to be my wedding, I might as well choose the damn dress since I didn’t get to choose the groom.

I walk into the back section of London Bride Couture and sigh. This wasn’t how I pictured myself when I eventually had to choose a wedding dress. I thought I would be a lot happier.

Scanning the room, my eyes discard every single one of the poofy monstrosities. Just when I was about to give up, my eyes fell on a gorgeous dress; A-line with a princess waistline, a Queen Anne collar and beautiful lace illusion sleeve. The back revealed a diamond shaped opening. The train wasn’t too long either, and that got me giddy to try it on.

Slipping on the wedding dress, I found it fit perfectly. I stared at myself in the floor-length mirror and could not believe how beautiful I looked.My eyes started brimming with tears and I immediately looked around the room for my handbag.

“That one suits you better,” I hear a voice behind me, a voice I never thought I would hear, especially not in a bridal fitting room.

I look up into the mirrors and spy a pair of honey-coloured eyes staring at me. Sebastian was standing in the doorway of the fitting room; dressed in a pair of black jeans, a casual t-shirt, and sneakers. He regarded me with a bored expression as I continue to dab my eyes.

“Thank you,” I say and straighten my back.

He walked into the room and stood behind me. Our eyes met in the mirror and suddenly I felt nervous to be alone with him.

As if he could pick up my anxiety, he chuckled, “It makes you look less podgy,”

If there was anything else that could have ruined my day further, this was it. My eyes blaze with a hurt that I swallow down. I stare up at him and offer him a thin smile, “Are you always so mean to people who have done nothing wrong to you?”

I don’t think Sebastian expected me to speak at all, because his eyes widened at my response. I forgot my sister was the reserved one, so she probably always let him take the lead.

Not waiting for an answer, I turn to leave the room but he snatches my wrist and I turn my head towards him, horrified.

“I want this even less than you do,”

“Mr. Dumont, they made me into an offering of appeasement, so you better suck it up and get used to me. Because I am just as pissed off as you.” I say through gritted teeth and Sebastian blanched. I snatch my wrist away from him and saunter out towards my waiting mothers.

Did I just poke the bear?

When I got outside, they met my choice with thunderous jubilation and the rest of the day goes by in a blur. Wedding arrangements here, refitting there that by the time we arrived back at the estate, I was nodding off in the Mercedes.

My mother woke me up gently and I pulled myself out of the luxury car; today’s frivolities really took it out of me.

As I sauntered up the stairs into our mansion, I spotted a familiar figure in our foyer and I took a step back.

Nicholas, with his soft blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes, turned to look at me. Hurt was evident in his face as he offered me a small smile. “Hello, love,” he greets me and my heart shatters anew.

My mother scoffs next to me and whispers in my ear, “Say your goodbyes and leave it at that.” Then she turned on her heel, greeting Nicholas as she went upstairs.

I walk towards him and gesture towards the back gardens, “Walk with me,” I tell him and he slips his hand in mine. I didn’t stop him, because frankly, I needed his touch right now.

He brought my hand up to his lips and planted a kiss on the back of it, “So tell me, what is this leaving me nonsense all about?” He asks me, trying to lighten the mood. We were walking towards the boxwood hedges, when Nicholas suddenly spun me around and kissed me. The familiarity of his kiss had me weak at the knees, and it left me out of breath when he suddenly let me go.

“Still wish to break up with me, love?” He says in a voice laced with desire. I peered up at him and he held me closer, kissing my hair. When I lay my head on his chest and inhale his Armani scent, I am suddenly brought back to the present. Pushing out of his arms, I shook my head and walk away from him.

“Nicholas, there is something I need to tell you.” I start, wrapping my arms around my body. It was now or never, and this needed to come from me. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me again, but I shrugged him off and took a few steps away from him.

“Something happened two evenings ago, my love. Something that will put a wedge between us forever.” Nicholas frowns at this, then takes a step towards me. “What do you mean by this, Elena?” He asks me and I sigh, then stare directly at him.

“We found out that Eliana has been cheating on Sebastian with his uncle, Robert. She is now pregnant with Robert’s child. Thus insulting the Dumonts and shaming our family. They have made me take her place in order to prevent a scandal from erupting.”

I see Nicholas taking in my words, then his eyes widen.

“Excuse me?” He cries out, dumbfounded.

I stare down at my feet and feel my lip trembling, “I have to marry Sebastian Dumont in my sister’s stead.”

The tears that were brimming my eyes now fell freely down my cheeks. Nicholas takes a step towards me and cups my cheeks in his palms. He glanced down at me sadly, then planted a kiss on my forehead, “I understand duty, my love. I understand it more than you ever could imagine.” He responded, and I had a feeling that he wasn’t lying as he said this. He wipes my tears away and kisses my cheeks, “I will wait for you, no matter how long.”

I glance up at my beloved and realize that I loved him more than I could even comprehend. “Five years, my father told me I need to stay married for at least 5 years then he would allow me to study at Harvard.”

This seems to surprise Nicholas, and an elated smile spread across his face. “Five years it is then. I love you, Elena.”

“I love you too, Nicholas.”

With our feelings made clear, Nicholas leans down and kisses me one last time, Our goodbye kiss rips a hole in my heart that I did not think could be repaired and I am left with a fragile longing.

“You would do well to get your hands off my fiancee.”