1

The beautiful view of the summer afternoon sky was blessing my sight as I was gazing out the window of the three-storied building. Cars that were clearly very expensive were speeding along the road, heading to heaven knows where, and the chilly afternoon breeze kept sweeping my skin, finally restoring calmness to me.

"Wow, this one's actually very beautiful." Indy Ricardo, my best friend, said, breaking the calmness from absolute silence. 

I turned around to Indy who was staring at the sweetheart neckline mermaid-shaped wedding gown worn on a mannequin in front of her.

"Nah… it's very awkward, it won't suit you and it doesn't scream its expensiveness." Jade, one of Indy's extremely rich, rude, spoiled brats she called friends, commented, waving a hand dramatically with her face crumpled in disgust. 

"Yeah, I don't like it either." Claire, the other, added, clearly loathing the gown that was just perfect to me.

Why were they even here? They were going to make poor Indy spend her father's entire money on just a wedding dress. Jeez... Well, at least she didn’t care to waste money on things whether or not they were important.

I grabbed my purse from the upholster bench in the all-white room filled with lickpenny wedding dresses for sale and sauntered to them.

"I actually think it's okay." I shrugged, earning dirty looks from Jade and Claire.

"You think?" Indy smiled, her close set sky blue eyes shimmering with delight as she traced her hand on the dress, brushing her shoulder-length dark blonde hair away from her face.

"Yeah." I replied, taking a step closer to her and the witches in human form.

"No way, sweetheart. It's too cheap. Common, it's your wedding, you need to be the talk of the Town. This is pure shit." Jade scoffed, glaring at me.

"Yeah, sweetheart." Claire added, scanning the beautiful fabric from head to toe. "It doesn't even have a single diamond on it." 

"Let's take you to a better section." Jade entangled her arm with Indy's, and all three of them walked out of sight. 

"These people are simply crazy."  This was probably the 100th dress those morons hadn't liked and Indy, though she was 25, still didn't have a mind of her own.

I admired the dress for a while before heading towards the direction they left but my movement was halted by a, "hey!" My heart froze and my breath quickened at the sound of that voice. 

I twirled around and my quickened breath seized completely as Tristan Shane Hendrix sauntered to me. 

As always, anyone could tell he was bored and tired from those enchanting electric blue eyes he possessed that definitely contrasted his naturally silky black hair for his almost too perfect look.

"Hey," he snapped me out of my trance. "Where's Indy?"

Oh yeah, Indy. "She's… she's…" I glanced behind me. "I really don't know. They were all here a while ago but they went to a different section upstairs." I shrugged. Talking was seeming like the greatest and most difficult job right now because I was speaking to him. 

"Didn't she already buy a wedding dress?" I couldn't tell whether or not he frowned because his diamond-shaped face always possessed that very grim look.

"Yeah… her wedding dress got ruined accidentally." I explained.

"And it just had to happen a week before our wedding?" He scoffed. 

"Yeah… your wedding…" I trailed off, feeling a weird and dangerous emotion settle deep in my gut. 

Remembering the fact that Tristan was Indy's fiancé and they were getting married in a week from now always made my heart shudder in fear and pain. 

"I'll check for her upstairs." He walked out of sight, giving me the chance to breathe properly again. 

I know, I know, it's very crazy that I'm in love with my best friend's fiancé but I couldn't help my poor heart from falling for this devil-looking dude. He was irresistible.  

How did I ever fall in love with him? If you care to know: a few years ago, I had been saved from drowning by Tristan, saved from being bullied, by him, once again, and favored by him multiple times in these years. He was like a hero to me, like in books and movies.

What I had expected to be a one-night crush on this world-famous billionaire had blown out into a really immense and uncontrollable feeling, an undeniable attraction that was always causing an intense heat of what I eventually identified as "love" burning in my heart for him. 

There was clearly no chance for me to be his at all and I definitely didn't want that. Indy and Tristan had been arranged to get married to each other since they were children and they've been best friends since Indy was born 25 years ago. I only met Tristan again and knew him properly because Indy and I met in our second year of college, 7 years ago, when we became best friends.

Tristan was always and still is everything on my mind everyday and every time. Believe me, I'm not a terrible person and I had no interest in stealing Tristan from Indy or anything like that, I was just going to keep my emotions to myself till it disappeared. 

Indy was the best best friend I could ever ask for, she was the reason my crazy Aunt Mandy and I weren't living in the streets. There was no way I could betray her, she was a very amazing sweetheart and I loved her.

I quickly caught up with Tristan and headed towards the direction Indy, Jade and Claire left. 

I found them in another section of dresses I assumed were the most expensive ones. 

"This is good, but I must've seen it in a commercial before, it must be outdated. I have to have an exclusive wedding dress that the whole of America will remember forever." Indy groaned.

 "Where is this silly Daisy?!" Claire exclaimed. 

"Right here!" Daisy, the fashion designer, said, walking from the opposite direction of Tristan and me. "I'm so sorry for being late."

"You better be, because none of these dresses suits our dear friend here." Jade spat. 

Indy only chuckled. "Good afternoon." 

"Would you like a new style?"

"Yes. Jade and Claire here will tell you the best style." She chuckled. 

"Oh, so—" 

Jade cut Daisy off, gazing in our direction. "Oh my gosh.” 

"He's here.” Claire nudged Indy.

Indy turned to us. "Tristan," she grinned, pulling him into a hug the moment we stopped in front of her. 

"Tristan," both Jade and Claire greeted him but he simply ignored them (intentional or not, I didn't know). 

"We're so glad to have you here." Jade grinned. Who knew she could smile, judging from the crazy glares she was always shooting at me. Why? For not being in their level of wealth, duh. 

"You can help her out with selecting the dresses." Claire suggested.

"Actually… I'm here to pick her up for something more urgent." He said, flashing a millisecond smile at her. 

"Oh… I totally forgot about the meeting. I'm sorry." Indy apologized childishly, giving him a kiss.

Just a kiss, but it felt like my heart was darted with an arrow of grief. I didn't even realize I cleared my throat, interrupting their kiss. 

Both Tristan and Indy gave me a skeptical look for the obvious interruption. 

"Sorry, my throat has a—" I touched my neck, grimacing.

"Let's discuss the design, please." Jade and Claire led Daisy out with them. 

"You'll sleep over at my house tonight? Please…" Indy pouted at me— such a child.

Not sleeping over at her house tonight meant returning to my crazy Aunt Mandy. "Sure, I will."

"Thank you!" She exclaimed.

"My driver can drive you home, I'll go with Tristan." She held him and pulled him out with her. 

I heaved a sigh after they left. It was definitely so crazy to be in love with your best friend's fiancé though they were getting married in a week. I hated myself for it, so much!

Oh my gosh! Where on Earth did I place my manners? How could I have forgotten to introduce myself to you lovely people? I’m so sorry about that– I'm Hazel Evan, 26 years old. My parents (wherever they were right now; dead or alive, I had no idea), they would've clearly named me Hazel because of the beautiful upturned hazel eyes I possessed that complimented my long, beachy waves, dark brown hair (though it was mostly straightened).

I had to hurry up to attend the small but profitable bakery I worked in. Good thing Indy’s car was available. 

***

"So you're sleeping over tonight, Hazel?" Luke Ricardo, Indy's extremely terrible grandfather, gruffed. 

"Uh… y-yes, s-sir." I had to stutter; he was always so scary-looking, like he was on a mission to eat my soul.

"Goodnight, grandpa. Goodnight, Mom. Goodnight, Dad." Indy grinned at Luke, Kade and Lila; her grandfather, father and mother respectively. 

"Goodnight, sweetheart. Goodnight, Hazel." Lila grinned.

"Dad, please don't forget your promise to me." 

"Of course not, sweetheart. You'll receive your diamond earrings tomorrow," Kade said, playfully rolling his eyes. 

"I love you so much!" She hugged him. "My wedding would be perfect." She said in a sing-song manner, returning to me. 

"You’re always treating her like a baby." Lila scoffed. 

"Mom, money is meant for spending when it’s available. I love you too." She giggled, encircling her arm around mine then led us to her room. 

We got in and locked the door, staggered to the queen-size bed then dropped on it like star fishes.

"Gosh, what a long day." She sighed. 

"Yeah, I'm so exhausted."

We stayed silent in the same position till she rolled over to fix her gaze on me. "I can't believe I'm getting married in a week. Tristan—"

She was interrupted by our own screams after a tall figure rose from the floor. 

We jerked to sit up straight and I started throwing pillows in an attempt to hit whoever it was, my heart was pounding ten times faster than ever. 

"Calm down, calm down." A familiar masculine voice said in a whisper. 

I glanced at the extremely tall blonde man with mesmerizing emerald eyes standing in front of us. He looked really familiar but I was unable to place my finger on where I had seen him. 

"Ian?" Indy called in shock, quickly rising to her feet. 

"Ian?" I had heard that name but I had totally forgotten who he was. 

"What are you doing here? Are you crazy?!" She whisper-yelled, glancing at the door. 

"Baby, I missed you so much and I was scared thinking of your wedding in a week. Will you go with my suggestion?" The dude said, curling an arm around her waist. 

"I–Ian, y-you…" she stuttered, glancing at me at short intervals.

"I know you're scared I might get caught. I climbed the trees and got in, no one could see me, I'm good at tricking the security. I missed you so much, baby. You're too busy to even pay me a visit so I had to come to you."

"You must be out of your mind, you know grandpa is here tonight."

He shushed her by pressing his lips against hers for a soft and short kiss. 

My jaw dropped to the floor and my eyes popped out of their sockets immediately.

"Is everything fine now?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll pay you a visit tomorrow and we'll discuss further. Now leave before you get caught. They'll kill us if they see us together now." Indy said with her face twisted in worry, still glancing at the door. 

"I've seen your beautiful face now I can feel good again, I have to go somewhere urgently. I love you. Bye." He kissed her cheek, letting go of her and they both walked towards the widely opened window then he climbed out. 

I rose to my feet with my mouth and eyes still widened, and also walked to the window to watch him climb down the trees beside the window till he stealthily walked out of sight. 

Indy heaved a sigh of relief and closed the window. "That was close."

She froze, staring at me like she just remembered I was here. 

With my arms folded across my chest, I lowered my eyebrows, giving her a look that clearly meant I was demanding an explanation. 

She sighed again, averting her gaze from me. "I know you must be shocked and confused right now but I only need your help with one thing. If you would help me out, please… Will you marry my groom?"

"Uh?" I raised an eyebrow, unsure of what I just heard. 

"Please," she joined her palms together in prayer form, "please marry Tristan. I'm not blind or that stupid, I know you love him, please marry him..."