Chapter Fourteen

"Ariana?"

I heard my name called out faintly, like it was from a distance.

My eyes blurred due to the excess light that came through so suddenly. I slowly opened them and was met with Stella's pretty face.

"Seems like I'm always waking you up." She said with a tinge of embarrassment.

Is it okay to call my future mother in law cute? Cause she's absolutely adorable.

I sheepishly smiled at the thought.

"Hi," I said groggily just as my hair fell over my face when I sat up. She pushed it out of my way and sat next to me.

"How are you sweetie?"

"I'm well, how are you?" I answered.

"I'm alright."

"Your flight?" I asked.

"It was just okay." I gave a small shrug.

"I heard you came, so I came to check on you." She informed and I grinned.

"Awww, that's sweet."

She smiled.

"Since we have so little time, I have to inform you that we'll be going shopping tomorrow."

"Oh." I mouthed.

"Where's Damien?" She asked, looking around like she expected him to be around here somewhere.

"I haven't seen him since I came."

"Oh, he's such a workaholic." She sighed somewhat tiredly.

"That's just the way it is." I shrugged and gave an awkward laugh.

"I do hope your marriage changes him." She said hopefully as she held my hand. I swallowed deeply. This was getting too sentimental and I had to stop it before I made a promise I could not fulfill.

"So, at what time would we leave for the shopping?" I changed the subject quickly.

"Oh as early as possible darling. Get ready, have breakfast and take some energy drinks because it's going to be hectic."

I gulped at her description. Oh boy, this was not going to be an easy task.

"I hope I come out in one piece." I shuddered dramatically. She chuckled.

"You'll be fine love." She assured and gave me a hug before leaving.

****

Early the next morning, Stella and I were on our way to the meet up with a famous wedding planner who would oversee the planning and arrangement of everything that concerned the wedding. I was wearing a simple yellow long sleeved top with black jeans with my hair in a ponytail as usual, I paired my outfit with black loafers. I felt underdressed compared to Stella who wore diamond stud earrings, a corporate collared red flay dress with black pumps. Her hair was styled to perfection and she looked so gorgeous.

The ride took a while and we eventually stopped in front of a one storey building that had the name, 'Maris Events' inscribed in golden font on the balcony's railing.

I entered the classy office with Stella walking ahead of me.The place screamed elegance on a whole other level.

The plush seats had me wondering if it was okay for me to sit on them.They looked way too expensive.

I watched in silence as Stella hugged who I assumed was the event planner, there was an air of familiarity around them. It seemed like she was a family friend.

Judging from her looks, this woman seemed to be in her thirties. She had red rimmed glasses perched on her nose and a stern look on her face as she spoke. She had her hair styled in a short bob that made her round face even more prominent, with heart shaped lips and I pointed nose. After thoroughly scanning her ocean blue designer suit -that made a beautiful and perfect contrast with the blush pink walls and furniture- paired with a stylish pumps, I deduced that this woman was not just gorgeous, she was classy too.

I managed a small smile at her when her gaze fell on me amid her chatter with Stella. She turned her attention to me immediately.

"Hello there." She waved slightly.

"Hi" I said back, feeling a little bashful as a result of the intimidating aura she carried.

"Aww, Stella your daughter in law is a shy one." She gave made a cute face at Stella, who laughed in response. I chuckled shyly. She stretched her palm in front of me and I took it slowly.

"Hi I'm Marissa and I'm at your service," She introduced herself.

"I'm Ariana."

"Nice to meet you Ariana, Congratulations on your engagement." She said.

I mouthed a thank you, just as she turned to Stella.

"I must say, this came as a major shock to me and everyone in my team, Stella." Marissa commented.

"I know right. I was so shocked" Stella agreed.

"But I see why Damien chose her," Marissa said with a warm smile.

"She suits him perfectly."

I almost burst out laughing but I held it in. I did not want to raise suspicions.

"Thank you." I replied.

Marissa nodded.

"So, how soon is the wedding?"

"That's the thing, it's in less than four weeks." Stella replied, biting her lips with a worried look on her face.

Marissa looked shell shocked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" She exclaimed.

"What's the rush?"

"You know Damien and how demanding be can be..." Stella explained.

"He can't wait to have Ariana all to himself, I see." Marissa wiggled her eyes teasingly, I blushed at what she was implying.

"But seriously. A wedding of this magnitude takes several months to put everything in order."

"Exactly what I said." Stella nudged me.

"Can you try convincing him to give us some more time?" Marissa requested.

I thought about it for a second. I had not known Damien for a long time but from what I had seen, that man never went back on his words.

I shook my head in the negative.

"His mind is made up." I said.

Marissa sighed, looking around the room, most probably wondering how she was going fix her schedule.

"Well I could pull it off but it's gonna cost you." She finally said.

"Sure thing Marissa, I believe in you!" Stella cheered.

We soon got down to opening catalogues, picking out different colours schemes and bridal designs.

With several inputs from Stella, Marissa and her team, I settled for the all time classic wedding theme; white and gold. The theme spoke elegance and it was something Damien would like for sure.

The wedding invites had to be picked by Damien, I was informed. He also had the guest list which comprised about five hundred guests.

"That's a lot of people!" I exclaimed getting up abruptly, bewildered at how his team had drafted a guest list of that much people in such a short time.

"I was thinking you two had this sorted out already?" Stella asked perplexedly.

"No, I haven't spoken to him." I admitted.

"Is everything alright with you two?" Marissa asked, adjusting her glasses as she did so.

"We had a fight some days back and we haven't talked ever since." I confessed.

"Oh, that bad huh?" Marissa said.

I nodded.

" I'm sure you two will sort it out in no time. I'm sure he's just so occupied with work but he'll come around." That was Stella reassuring me.

I simply nodded while we got back to picking out things for the wedding.

We settled on going to pick a church as well as a reception venue by the end of the week. We watched as Marissa made a few calls to set up meetings with different vendors. These vendors I was sure were the best of the best, Damien Kingston would not settle for less.

After several hours of being in Marissa's office, Stella and I set out again. This time, we were headed for the mall to shop for God knows what.

We stopped by Fiona's high school to pick her up after she had begged to come with us.

"Hey Future Mrs Kingston." She chirped the moment she saw me.

I smiled at her.

"Hey Fiona, how are you?"

"I'm good."

We chatted animatedly for the rest of the ride. Fiona was really fun to talk to and was really smart for her age.

When we arrived at the mall, it turned out to be more fun than I had expected, though stressful. We had lunch after shopping for a while before we went back in. We stopped at almost every shop in the mall, bought things that were both necessary and absolutely unnecessary ranging from clothes, make up down to accessories and so much more.

They both made me try on several outfits. Now, this was the literal expression of the words; 'Shop till you drop.'

Fiona's gasp when I tried on a certain blue dress was laughable.

"Damien is going to fall to the ground when he sees you in this. Like damn girl, check out those curves. We're definitely taking this one." She wolf whistled and I guffawed, Stella joined in. I laughed because there was no way, Damien, the very cold hearted one would give me a reaction no matter how good I looked.

My legs were going to give way soon if we did not stop. Luckily, Damien's father called and asked for Stella to come home, that call was my saving grace because she did not look anywhere near tired.

I said a prayer in my heart to bless Damien's father for coming through for me when I needed it the most.

We struggled with the massive amount of shopping bags on each hand until the guards came to our rescue. They put all our stuff in the luggage compartment of the vehicle, after which we drove off, heading straight for Damien's penthouse suite.

As soon as we arrived, the bell boys helped in carrying my massive array of shopping bags to the penthouse.

Fiona and Stella bade their goodbyes with the latter reminding me of the plans we had for the rest of the week.

I made it up to the penthouse, exhausted after a very hectic day. I plopped on the bed laying helplessly with my belly on the bed. I saw the shopping bags piled around the bed and planned on arranging them later.

Slowly, I got up and made my way to the bathroom to pee and have a thorough bath afterwards.

I filled the bath tub with the sweet smelling bath shampoo and watched as the bubbles formed, it somehow looked so fascinating.

I got into the tub slowly and laid in it. Immersed myself so deep in the water that the only thing left out was my head. I shut my eyes in delight as I inhaled the beautiful scent, it was so relaxing.

I thought back to the day's events. From picking out, wedding themes for my own wedding, to going on a shopping spree, something I had not done in a long while.

My life was slowly beginning to change, I could not tell if it was for the better or worse. I just knew I was going through all this for my father. This was not the life I was used to. Yes, my father had been affluent at some point but all these luxuries were a far cry from what I had to experience at the time. Indeed, there are levels to affluence.

My thoughts soon swayed over to Damien. That handsome man I had begun to strongly dislike. Anyone in my shoes would have felt the same way. He was a manipulator and I hated him for it. If only he had extended the time to payback, I would have found a way to pay him back somehow but then he came up with the ridiculous idea to marry him. How did marrying me even make any sense to him? It sounded so dumb!

I flapped legs in the water to calm myself down. I was letting him get to me again, it had to be stopped. I truly wished I did not have to see him for until the wedding, I did not want to cross paths with him because he would only get on my nerves and unlike every other person who did such, he would come out unscathed.