Clara

Six years ago

Five days before the wedding, both families went to the bungalow of one of Mr. Vincent's friends where the wedding was supposed to happen. The wedding planners have already started their work and from the last two hours, the tall brunette was irking me with her different questions regarding the decoration.

"Rose or orchids?" she asked both of us and Aaron looked towards me, giving me the choice.

"Whichever you find better." I said, showing her my wide smile which was more fake than her extensions.

"Okay so what kind of seating arrangement do you-"

She was saying something but I didn't listen. My eyes zoomed on the tall figure that was entering through the huge entrance right in front of the collosal lounge. This was the first time I was seeing Ryan after that kiss and her face brought back all the memories of the kiss, making my heart go haywire inside my chest.

"Listen Catelyn, Aaron will guide you about everything. I need to go." I passed a smile to both Aaron and the girl and made my way towards Ryan. When he noticed me coming towards him, a smirk appeared on his lips and he entered inside the room just beside the lounge.

After making sure that Aaron was not looking towards me, I followed him inside the room and gasped when I found him stripping off his shirt. My eyes took in every inch of his ripped, muscular body and an urge to trace his abs with my fingers erupted inside my heart.

"Like what you see?" he asked, smirking at my reaction and stepping closer to me.

"Nah, I have seen better." I retorted, mimicking his devilish smirk.

"Really?" he took another steps forwards and my lips dried when my gaze fell to his soft ones. I swallowed the lump inside my throat as the desire to kiss him senselessly overpowered me.

"We haven't talked about that night yet." I said, licking my dry lips.

"Do you want to..." he put his arms on my sides, caging me in. "talk about it?" His intense gaze kept me frozen on my place. My stomach tightened in knots and I let out a deep breath.

"I don't know." I mumbled under my breath, my eyes once again wandered to his lips.

Moving my head forwards, I closed the distance between our mouths. The kiss started off as a soft peck but it grew urgent with every passing moment. His hands felt really good as they ran up and down my waist and it made me want to erase every distance between us.

By the time we parted, both of us were panting hard. His green eyes were hooded and his mouth was slightly parted. Passing me one of his signature smiles, he went into the shower while I saw down on the bed, dreading about my wedding with the person who could never make me feel like Ryan.

...

It was Friday and the wedding was supposed to happen on Sunday. My wedding dress just came today and at the very moment, I was staring at the gorgeous dress with a frown on my face.

I didn't have courage to change into it because it would mean I was really going to get married with Aaron. I pondered over the dress for almost two hours after which I finally stripped out of my jeans and top and slid inside the smooth fabric.

It had sweetheart neckline and a strap in the middle. The bodice was covered with intricate lace pattern and the dress flew down to my knee in a body-fitting way. From the knee, it just spreaded outwards to my ankle, giving it mermaid style look.

In the mirror, I could see my reflection. The dress hugged my curves and looked really amazing but it was not part of my plan. I was not supposed to get married at such young age. Period.

Before I could rip the dress off my body, the door to my room opened and someone stepped inside. Hiding my sour expressions, I turned around and found Aaron staring at me with his widened mouth.

"You... You look.. Um.. Wow." he said and the adoration in his eyes calmed my anger a bit. He was too innocent to understand how much I despised the idea of marrying him and it was not his fault. It was just bad luck and bad timing.

He is just not my type. My type was a smart, elegant, handsome man with green eyes and dark brown hair, whose hands can make me feel things I have never felt before. Ryan!

"I don't have my makeup on and I haven't even combed my hair. I look like a homeless bride." I joked, staring at my reflection in the mirror.

After few minutes, he walked towards me and stopped behind me, our eyes met through our reflections in the mirror. "You don't need makeup to look beautiful. I swear you can wear a sack of potatoes and look good." he muttered in a really low voice.

A smile involuntarily appeared on my face at his words. "Liar." I rolled my eyes and turned around to face him.

His face suddenly paled when I looked into his eyes and a drop of sweat appeared on his forehead. I chuckled at his reaction and walked past him into the bathroom to change out of this dress from hell.

After I had changed into my pajamas, I exited the bathroom, expecting him to leave already but when I came out, he was sitting on my bed, running his fingers along my veil.

"You're still here?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"Yeah." he stood up and stepped towards me. "I needed to tell you that.... I.. I was not lying. You're the prettiest girl I have ever seen."

He didn't say anything I haven't heard before but his courage was surprising me. I assessed his nervous face, his  moving Adam's apple, his hands trembling in anxiety.

"Thanks." I passed him a smile because as much as I wanted, I couldn't find the nerve to be blatantly rude to him at that moment.

But he misinterpreted my smile and the next thing I knew, he leaned towards me for a kiss. Thanks to my quick reflexes, I ducked in time and threw a glare towards him, that made his face pale ever more.

"I.. I am so sorry Clara." my name rolled off his tongue as he apologised.

"You should leave now. It's late." I said in a blank voice and turned around, hearing the door shut behind me after almost a minute.

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