Her Marriage for convenience

CHAPTER 4

Days after the sudden wedding announcement, I found myself dress shopping for a wedding I never consented to.

“Natalie, isn’t this dress lovely?” my mom asks, showcasing a poofy dress in my direction.

“Yeah, yeah sure.” I waved off, not paying attention.

My mom shakes her head in disappointment and returns the gown.

“I know you do not appreciate the way this wedding is going, but at least choose the gown of your dreams.”

“Gown of my dream?” I repeat, staring at her. “Why choose the gown of my dreams when I’m not marrying the man of my dreams?”

“Natalie, don’t make a scene, not here,” my mom mumbles and looks around the store.

“Choose something you like dear.”

“Whatever mom,” I reply, and walk off to another section of gowns.

My mom has this extravagant vision of Gray and me falling in love and living happily ever after. I called her out on her ridiculous dream, but she still holds hope that we will be happy.

Despite my constant rejection of this wedding, it remained scheduled. No matter how many times I tried to make them see reasons, my parents did not budge.

Neither did the Smiths.

Now I’m stuck with wedding dress shopping for a wedding I’m objecting to.

My eyes roam around the stacks of dresses in disinterest. A gown behind a red dress catches my eyes and I walk over to it.

A small gasp leaves my lips as I examine the dress. A gorgeous white gown with an asymmetrical waist hung on its hanger. It had a sleek sweetheart neckline with glitter surrounding it. No lace, just silk.

Gorgeous.

“What a lovely dress!” my mom exclaims, placing her hands on my shoulders in excitement.

Not bothered by my response, she called for one of the dressers to take down the dress for my fitting.

“It suits you well, my dear.”

“Perfect for your wedding”, she compliments me warmly.

I stare at myself in the full-body mirror.

It really did look good on me.

I passed a sarcastic smile to my mom, “It would be perfect for my wedding, if I actually wanted it.”

“Don’t be like that dear,” my mom begs.

“Like what? Is stating my feelings too much?”

“No… it isn’t,” she stumbles on her words.

“I want what’s best for you, Natalie.”

I scoff, a bitter feeling churning in my stomach, “This wedding not happening would be what’s best.”

She doesn’t respond but looks at me with a sympathetic smile as the curtains close around me, allowing me to change.

^^^^^^^

“So how was the wedding dress hunt?” Emily asks while stuffing a spoon of ice cream into her mouth.

“It went well.”

“Found anything you liked?”

I give her an “Are you serious?” look.

“What?” I’m just asking.

“Yeah, I found one.”

“And did you get it?”

“Yeahhh.”

“That’s good,” she responds awkwardly.

“I’m sure Gray will appreciate your beauty in the dress.”

“I don’t want Gray to see me in that dress, I want the one I love, my soulmate, to see me in that gorgeous thing.”

“Your ex-boyfriend? That left you to marry someone else. Is that who you are talking about?!”

“I’m about to marry a random man I met a few months ago. I’m getting married to him in less than a week and I don’t even love him.”

“You’re being unfair Nat!” she huffs angrily.

“Gray didn’t want this marriage either, he too is in a similar position like you.

“He is not responsible for this, so you can’t blame him when he can’t do anything about it.”

I took a deep breath, my hands clenched together. “I can’t do this Emily.”

Emily reaches me, “You can.”

I shook my head in disagreement.

“What are you afraid of Natalie?”

“Natalie, you’re not afraid of falling for Gray. You’re afraid of being in love with someone who is going to leave.”

“It’s time for you to move on to someone better, someone who is going to love you and take care of you. And in my opinion, Gray seems like the one.”

Suddenly feeling exhausted, I muttered a weak excuse to Emily and headed back home.

On the way home, I kept thinking about all that Emily had said.

Is Emily right?

Am I really afraid of falling in love with Gray?

Will I ever fall in love with you, Gray Smith?

^^^^^^^^

A beautiful girl stood in front of the mirror. A beautiful girl, broken inside.

I looked marvelous in my wedding gown. Anyone who saw me would think I was the happiest, luckiest bride, but that was on the outside. On the inside, I felt nothing.

I was numb. Numb from crying.

In a few hours, I will be marrying a person I don’t know or love.

All for business.

“Oh, my daughter, you look beautiful”, my mother gushes, fixing my sleeves.

I let out a forced thank you, and moved my gaze back to my reflection.

My mom shuffles slightly, not knowing how to react to my somber mood.

“Please try to make the best out of this wedding,’’ she added, massaging my hands.

“The best out of this wedding?” I repeated, staring at my mom in disbelief.

“I’m marrying someone I don’t love yet. I have to make the best of it? For who? The Journalists?

“You’re going to make the best of this wedding,” she instructed. “Now comport yourself, the ceremony is about to begin.”

And with that, my mother exited the room.

I practically jumped back to my seat, tears streaming down my face.

How could my mother be so cruel?

" Why didn’t they understand that I didn’t want to be part of this?”

The door opened softly, revealing Emily, who was dressed in her maid of honor dress. She walks quickly towards me, and wraps her arms around me, making my tears pour out endlessly.

After reapplying my makeup, Emily led me to my dad, who walked me down the aisle to where Gray stood waiting.

I stood emotionless at the wedding altar. I hadn’t even bothered to look at my soon-to-be husband.

I just spaced out waiting for the ceremony to be over.

“You may kiss the bride,” the priest called out.

I lifted my head to see Gray moving towards me. He softly lifted my veil and leaned down to me.

I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact, but it never came. I felt Gray’s breath fanning over my mouth and noticed him moving back after a few seconds.

He didn’t kiss me?

The crowd did not seem to notice that, as they all stood up, cheers roared out.

We were on a farther angle, making it difficult for the guests to notice the ‘Kiss.’

Gray looked at the crowds, a fake smile prominent on his face. He took my arm and enclosed it into his, both of us staring at the camera.

I’m married now.

I am now a married woman.

Tired from greeting every random person that approaches. I was tired of the fake smiles I gave random people, tired of smiling at the cameras for journalists.

I was utterly exhausted.

Eventually, the reception ended and it was time for the ‘The newly wedded couple’ to go home.

The ride to the house was silent. Music was softly playing on the radio. My head was facing the window, looking outside at the moving trees.

For the past twenty minutes, I’ve been trying to distract myself from the pain coming from my shoes that were growing worse with each passing second.

I’ve been wearing heels since the wedding ceremony, my feet were killing me.

I kept on touching the soles of my feet, trying to massage the pain away.

Gray gazed towards me and noticed me fidgeting. He stops at a corner and exits the car, leaving me alone.

“Here I thought this will be comfortable,” he explained, passing me a pair of sneakers.

I smiled unconsciously at how thoughtful he was. I gladly accepted the shoes and put them on.

I mumbled a small thank you to Gray and went back to face the window.

The car hits a soft jerk, signaling the arrival at the new home.

A gorgeous modern home stood proudly at the center of the large grounds. It wasn’t large enough to be called a mansion, but it was somewhat close.

It was perfect.

“Come on, let’s go explore our new home.” Gray smiles softly.

Our?

I mutely followed behind the man who seemed to not know where he was going. We both ascended the stairs and waited for a few seconds before Gray decided to take a random turn.

“Okay!” He said suddenly happy.

“I found the bedrooms.” he beamed with excitement.

I stopped in my tracks

Bedrooms?

Do I have to share a room with him?