Everything happened so fast that Anna felt as though it were a dream. She had always dreamt about being married but she had never imagined that by the time she would get married, it would happen this way. She was just staring at the hair stylist that kept on playing with her hair, but her head was still filled with doubts. Was she really the one getting married? Even though like Katharine said, it was just a silent and small wedding, maybe she knew they might have a change of mind by the time she would be discharged from the hospital. Maya walked into the room with her gown in one hand as she smiled brightly at her.
“Anna, I made sure the designer did all the fittings as we’ve measured you yesterday night. Are you sure you haven’t added some weight due to wedding jitters?” Anna wanted so bad to turn and see whether the look on Maya’s face was genuine or she was just faking it because of the presence of other people in the room but then she couldn’t move due to how the hair stylist was holding everything that concerned her face.
“The right thing to ask me should have been if I had lost some weight in one night.” Maya stared at her through the mirror and Anna didn’t miss the soft look she had flashed her. When the hair stylist was done, it was time for the makeup artist but before she came inside, Maya rushed and locked the door before she came back to where Anna was perched lifelessly on the chair as she stared at herself wordlessly through the mirror.
“I can’t believe this, Maya.” She said with a low voice as she turned to have a better look of her best friend. She didn’t know what she was feeling or what she was supposed to feel. Because when Katharine suggested that they get married in just two days, even though both her and her Mother kept on emphasizing that they would have a big wedding that they would invite all their friends and everyone there after at least a month which will give them the chance to prepare for everything, Anna knew she was going to get married to Jack, and that was what that mattered.
She hadn’t seen him since that day, and she wished she had a way of avoiding meeting him today as well. She wanted to run away, but she knew Maya would rather sacrifice her life than let her run away. Maya placed her hand on her shoulders, and she smiled at her, “You’re strong Anna, I believe you can do this, okay?”
Anna shook her head to revoke what Maya had uttered to her. Maybe she used to be strong, but she wasn’t strong now. She knew she wasn’t, because she could feel the way her heart was slowly cracking because she knew if she got herself married to Jack, that would be the end of her life. They might have ended things good the last day they had met, but that didn’t mean that he had forgotten what she had done to him nor did she forget what he did to her as well. His hatred was still afresh in her heart and she knew it was the same for him.
“He hates me, Maya and I hate him even more than he hates me. How can I get married to him? I know that this is the only way out for both of us, but must we get married to each other?” Her eyes were pooled with her tears and she stared at Maya that was flashing her a sad look.
“What do you mean? I know everything that had happened between you and Jack, Anna. I know of the hatred both of you had nurtured for each other but that doesn’t mean that it was a note craved on a rock which can never vanish, does it? That hatred might turn to love and…” Anna immediately cut her off as she began to shake her head because she knew what Maya was about to say will never happen.
“I know what it feels, Maya. We can’t love each other, and I can assure you that Jack didn’t just agree to this marriage, he must’ve had something in mind.” She sighed and stared at the way her hair was styled, if it was okay and there was no other huge thing going on in her mind, she would have smiled at how beautiful it looked, “Besides, it’s like a contract marriage, just five years. I’ll get my company rightfully under my name and he’d get back his license. From then, we can all have our separate ways and live the lives we are meant to.” She didn’t know why she had never mentioned Dad’s letter to anyone and even when Mom asked her what it entailed, she only smiled and shook her head, because she felt that was a deep connection between her and Dad which shouldn’t be revealed to anyone expect the two of them.
“Can you please change your mindset, Anna? You know that for a reason I hate him so much as well, but doing this to yourself, thinking that this is just another way of torture for you is you making things hard on yourself, don’t you realize? He might be there eager to see you walk through the hospital garden, Anna, maybe he couldn’t wait for the priest to pronounce the two of you as husband and wife. You don’t know exactly what’s in his mind, do you?”
Slowly, as Maya’s words began to register into her brain, there was a knock on the door, and she tapped her shoulder softly before she got to the door. “It’s the makeup artist,” she announced as though telling Anna that she shouldn’t say anything further, whatever she had in her mind should wait until they were the only ones left. “Come on in, my best friend couldn’t wait to get her face all cooked up for her handsome husband.” The word husband felt sweet if only she didn’t know who was addressed as her husband.
❦
Jack waited as it was announced that the bride would be walking into the garden now. He felt how clammy his palms felt when he heard that and as he turned to his left side where his Father stood and the expression on his face would’ve been said to be a proud and happy one and his beautiful mother that even though still looking weary and still, wore her evening gown and managed to look as happy as she felt, then Willa was there, beaming with so much happiness that one could doubt if she had ever cried in her entire life.
When their eyes met with Willa, she flashed him a cool smile that was enough to calm down his racing mind, but it did nothing in doing. All that was in mind was how would he see Anna? Will anything change now that she was going to be his bride? Will his thirst for revenge on her vanish or it will make everything easier since she had become his wife and she would be living together with him?
He thought about Clara and wondered whether she was fine, because he had been trying to reach her but to no avail and he knew the right thing was to go to the village and see if she was doing fine. But he knew if she wasn’t alright, her Mom would’ve complained or took a few days off, but she always came to work with a smile and relaxed look on her face which made it easier for him to calm down but in the actual truth…
The exquisite appearance of Anna into the garden with her Mother holding her arm firmly and proudly and Maya walking behind the two as she made sure the drape of her wedding gown didn’t get stuck or get held by anything made his heart stopped as he fixed his eyes unmoving on her face. He had always known that Anna Brayden was beautiful, but he had never imagined that she would be as beautiful as she did today. Because, what the hell?! How could just one woman look both a goddess, an angel, and the exact thing he had always been looking for?
She shook beside him and when their eyes met, Jack couldn’t help but hold her gaze and he saw the uncertainty that roamed through her eyes. He knew that feeling, because up until she walked through the garden, he felt the same way but not anymore. He didn’t care whether this feeling was going to vanish in a few days or even hours, the fact that he felt this way toward her was everything. He couldn’t smile at her because she knew if he did it was a fake and that would give her more reasons to contemplate his sincerity henceforth. So, he resorted to just staring right through her eyes through the net she had draped over her face.
He didn’t know what the priest was saying but when he felt the slight nudge of his Father’s elbow on the side of his stomach, he cleared his throat, still not taking his eyes off her. “Yes, I do.” And he had never felt the assurance of doing something like he did of marrying Anna, which felt both real and unreal. Who would have thought that the day he should feel sad and worried was the day he was feeling calm and relaxed.
Anna sighed when she heard the priest repeated the questions to her, she gulped down a lump in her throat, closed her eyes as she knew if she said yes, that would be the end of her freedom, but she had come this far to break free from this bondage. “Yes, I do.” Her voice came out as though it were a muffled cry and she watched the way the end of Jack’s lips twitched into the beginning of a smile and from then, Anna knew she had chained herself with these simple words, ‘Yes, I do.’
“You may kiss the bride.” Those words fell right into their ears even though the first sentences he had uttered went unheard because they were both carried away by their train of thoughts. Anna felt as her heart lost a beat while Jack took a step toward her and her palms became sweaty, she knew this wasn’t the first time Jack had ever kissed her, but it was different now. She was no more Anna Brayden. She was now Mrs. Anna Roberts; how ironic life could be?
She stayed rooted to her spot until he stood right in front of her and he lifted the net they had covered her beautifully made-up face, he smiled genuinely at her, but Jack doubted if she could ever see the sincerity in his smile. “You look so beautiful, Anna.” This was the first time he had ever admitted that she looked beautiful and it was like a blow to her heart.
She didn’t utter a word and he leaned closer to her lips, “May I kiss my bride?” She gulped down a lump in her throat, scared of everything that was happening around her. But she knew that people had their eyes on her, and they were waiting to see her reaction and she slowly nodded her head. Jack used his thumb and lifted her chin and with their eyes merged together, she felt as he took her lower lip in a slow yet passionate kiss. There was no rush in it, only mere passion she had never thought he had in him.
He slowly broke their kiss and stared into her eyes and when he smiled, she would be damned not to believe that it was a genuine smile. “Congratulations, Mrs. Roberts.” He pulled her to his body and hugged her as firmly as he could, Anna sighed, heaving out a breath she didn’t know how long she had been holding and she closed her eyes, aware of the stares and the swoons of the small circle of people that had attended their secret wedding.
When she opened her eyes, her head still rested on his chest, she fixed them on Maya that was snapping tons of pictures as she mouthed to her, ‘Right there, girl, this is love.’ She wished she was right, because somehow, she was beginning to be happy about this union.