Love Drunk

Signed & Sealed

THIS COULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED! HOW? WHEN? WHY?

"We're m-married?" Alex almost choked on her words.

Her blue eyes popped out of their sockets as she stared at the incriminating piece of paper wherein it's stated that she and Jacques were now lawfully wedded.

"B-but h-how did this happen? I c-can't remember anything!"

Try as she might,

Panicking, she stood up, her eyes transferred to Jacques in alarm, but the latter waved her back onto her seat which she followed without protesting since her legs wobbled.

"Why are you so spooked? We decided to get married anyway so it doesn't matter that it's already done with, right?" he reminded her reasonably.

"R-right," Alex agreed absentmindedly before she stood up again, perplexed. "I mean no! What kind of people get married and then forget the ceremony?" she blurted which earned her a thoughtful look from the equally forgetful groom.

"Ehrm…drunkards like us?" Jacques offered and Alex rolled her eyes in frustration as she collapsed and leaned back on her seat, her hand zeroing on her temple which began to throb.

"That's exactly what I was going to say!"

With a heavy sigh, Alex squinted at her husband who remained staring at her. She took this opportunity to really study the other and let out another sigh as she contemplated.

Earlier when the man asked her to marry him, she wanted to say no. The proposal wasn't just so unromantic. It was also not so her to agree to a marriage with a random guy. Even if she felt sorry for him, for what Jacques had to do to hold on to his inheritance, she still wanted to refuse him.

But of course, Doichi had to choose that time to call and change everything.

Hearing Doichi's voice, Alex was reminded of her mission. Having the person she loved the most congratulate her, telling her that he's looking forward to visiting her and her spouse soon, she felt trapped.

And so she suddenly said yes to Jacques out of desperation.

Alex was somewhat regretting that now – most especially since she found out that they're already married. The idea of having wed to the man without remembering anything felt constricting, she thought as she frowned.

"Are you okay?" she heard Jacques asked and her frown deepened.

"No," she answered honestly and watched as the man leaned back on his own seat.

Unlike a few minutes ago, Jacques' aura seemed to have become calmer. It was as if their marriage had put him at ease considerably.

Well, it was expected, Alex surmised. The guy had nothing to worry about now anyway.

"What's bothering you?" Jacques asked her softly and Alex locked eyes with him again. Before she opened her mouth to answer, however, he interrupted her. "If you want, we can have another ceremony. We're in Vegas anyway, it's not hard to arrange," he offered and she pouted.

"It's not that," she said in a voice laced with annoyance as she placed her arms across her chest, her leg over the other. "You don't have to spend money for another ceremony, you know," she continued.

"Then why are you frowning?" Jacques countered and she sighed as she sat properly.

"It's because we got married before I said yes to you. I didn't like that," she answered stubbornly and watched as her husband took on a cajoling stance making her irritation grow.

"But you already agreed to marry me without knowing we're already married, so what's the difference? The only thing that's changed is the wedding date," Jacques reminded her very rationally, and Alex felt like a child being told to see reason.

She didn't like that. No, she didn't like that at all. Her frown turned to a full-blown scowl.

It seemed she had married someone who's good at persuasion, Alex realized. But she's not some "yes sir or yes ma'am" dumb individual who'd do everything to please people. Nope. They might be married, but if this guy wanted it to last, they should set some rules between them.

On the other hand, as Alex was in her semi-panic mode, Jacques was starting to settle down.

"You know what?"

"What?" Jacques asked, his brow arching in question at his new wife.

Now that his initial woes— no scratch that— his only significant woe had been solved, he'd started to retain his formidable pre-will reading self. The desperation in his voice that was a little bit there since waking up was now gone. It completely disappeared after the phone call from his lawyer.

As for the insignificant ones…

His thoughts trailed off as he watched his wife, appreciating her beauty regardless that she looked a bit not pleased about something at the moment. Okay, the other problems were not really insignificant per se, just less important. These, he could deal with ease and confidence.

Alexandra Lee was now Mrs. Cole— legally his wife. Whatever worries she had or qualms about this marriage, it's too late for her to back out.

"Signed and sealed," he muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" her voice cut his thoughts, and he focused on her once more.

"Nothing," he assured her. "What were you saying?"

Alex scowled at him, and Jacques knew she must have heard him mumble earlier, but it didn't matter.

"I was saying that if we wish to be really together, there should be some rules we should set up between us. It's better for us to be clear with each other to avoid conflicts. If we want to be very effective for people to believe us, we should let them out now," she told him cautiously.

"I don't really care what other people think. We're legally married. Nothing anyone can say can change that." Jacques' scowl deepened.

"But you should." Alex was dead serious, and Jacques wondered why. "One of the two reasons I am agreeing to this marriage is because I need to make someone believe that I married out of love. If you cannot help me with that, let's forget this sham. I don't need you."

"Whoa…" Jacques was shocked. No woman had ever said that to his face.

"No need to be angry. I apologize." It would be hard to pretend to be in love when he wasn't, but he could act like a good husband— and he would be a good husband. "I will of course act however you want to convince whoever you want. It's not a problem," he stated, and he watched as she visibly relaxed.

It was Jacques' turn to feel cautious. Who was this person his wife cared so much about?

"I don't want to butt into your business, Alex, but I also want to ask you to be faithful," he said with a tiny bit of a warning in it. "You obviously care about someone so deeply, but you're married to me now."

"If you're talking about affairs, rest assured," she told him. "Adultery disgusts me. I will never cheat on you."

"I'm holding you on that promise then," he said, relieved.

One day, he was sure he'd meet the man who made Alex smile tenderly. The thought about that unknown man gave him a bad taste, but he would make sure Alex would not forget what she just promised him today.