Chapter Ten

Kenna

There's nothing better than waking up in the morning close to someone's warmth. Not just that, but being able to feel the person wrapping their arms around our waist, too. Somehow, it's an acceptance towards our presence which is undeniably soothing.

My eyes are slowly opening due to the movement beside me, making me furrow my brows. The last time I checked, there was no such things as having pets inside my apartment for me to be able to feel any sort of movement near me nor do I live with a roommate.

Familiar brown hair.

As I rub both of my eyes, I try to focus onto the familiar face in front of me. Shaped thick eyebrows and eyelashes, perfectly defined nose and puckered pink lips. It's no doubt that the person in front of me is born beautiful—then again, he seems fairly familiar.

''Who are you?'' I question, my voice low.

He pulls me closer towards him by the waist as he opens both of his eyes, a pair of brown orbs staring back at me with confusion while he frowns. Our eyes widen at the same time as soon as we realise the current situation which causes him to push me down, making me drop onto the ground with a loud thud.

Well, I've never been pushed down by a guy before. I quickly sit up straight and take a closer look at my best friend's figure who has mimicked my action—instantly staring back at me for a few seconds. Confusion has never caused me to overthink except for now which is acceptable.

''Bro, you pushed me off the couch! What a gentleman,'' I roll my eyes in annoyance before tying my hair up into a messy ponytail, rubbing onto my arm that was receiving the impact.

''Kenna, what are you doing here?'' He asks, eyes looking directly at me. Within seconds, I am already laughing out loud on the ground with both of my hands clutching onto my stomach before sitting beside him, poking onto the bridge of his nose—surprising him.

My lips curve up into a smile, ''Dude, you're in my apartment. This is my living room and we're on my couch—I should be the one asking you that question but I don't suffer from any memory loss. Don't you remember what we did, last night?'' I pout, leaning closer.

His jaw clenches immediately, ''What did we do?''

''You're hurting my heart,'' I pretend to be upset as I lift my shirt up to reveal the light bruise on my stomach near my waist which causes both of his eyes to widen in surprise. He continues to stare at my bruise as he runs his fingers through his hair—completely believing this, ''It could have gotten a bit more passionate and sensual but you fell asleep,'' I add.

''Man, I'm sorry . . . I don't remember,'' His voice low, somehow unsure. Then, he looks up into my blue eyes, ''Kenna, I'm really sorry. Why didn't you stop me?'' He asks, pulling himself closer towards the sofa as he tries his best to distance himself from me.

The look on his face shows the amount of regret which causes me to lean back and laugh, without having the strength to hold it back any longer. Aidan, on the other hand, stares at me in confusion—not understanding the meaning of my sudden laughter. Then, I lift my shirt up again, showing him the bruise which I had gotten from bumping myself into the kitchen counter.

''Aidan! Why on earth would you give me a hickey on my stomach?'' I try to control my laughter as he frowns, ''I got this a couple of days ago because I bumped into the kitchen counter and nothing happened last night! I fell asleep minutes after you did,'' I add, smiling.

''Fuck you,'' He breathes out.

Just as I'm about to say something, the sudden doorbell causes both of us to react. We turn to look at one another before quickly running towards the front door—eyeing from the camera. Our eyes widen at the sight of our mothers, standing patiently as they both wait for the door to open which freaks us out, slowly moving away from the door.

''What are we going to do?'' I panically, ask.

Aidan glances down at his wrist watch before muttering curses under his breath, ''Damn it. I'm late for work and I have a meeting that starts in half an hour,'' He runs towards the living room to pick up his phone which has—thirty missed calls from Flynn and ten messages.

''Today is my day off,'' I happily say, making him roll his eyes at my direction as he begins to pinch the bridge of his nose; thinking of a proper excuse or probably a better idea to get out of this mess with both of our mothers outside my apartment, repeatedly pressing the doorbell.

He looks at me, ''I've left some clothes here, right? My slacks, button-up shirts and coats from previous nights I've spent here . . . have you washed them?'' He asks, making me slowly nod my head which causes him to run straight ahead towards the guest room—leaving me calling out his name but without an answer.

The doorbell continues to annoy me, without a doubt.

''I'm going to just open the door!'' I shout, heading towards the front door before placing my hand on the doorknob.

Just as Aidan peeks from the room, ''Wait, don't!'' Which was a little bit too late as I've already pulled the door open, revealing Diana and my mother to stand with a confused look on their faces. My lips curve up into a smile as I glance down the street, people walking back and forth on a busy Tuesday morning.

Diana seems to have caught her son's figure as she raises an eyebrow at my mother, ''Kenna, I didn't know Aidan has started to spend the night here. It's such a surprise,'' She says, glancing at Aidan who is currently clenching his jaw before slowly making his way towards us.

As soon as he's close enough, he casually places his hand around my waist in which I respond back with a wider smile plastered on my face. Both of us just stand, looking at them without muttering a single word, only curses in our head—of the sudden situation.

''What do you expect? She's my fiancée,'' He replies, chuckling as he pulls me closer.

Diana smiles, ''Can we come in?''

Aidan and I stare at one another before nodding our heads, taking a few steps back to let them in. My mother, glances at our direction with a smile as she walks inside—making me close the door behind them. As expected, Diana starts to eye the whole apartment, instantly catching the attention of a messy living room and sofa, my blanket over the floor.

''Movie night?'' She asks, smiling.

Yet, her smiles have never failed to make me think it as a sarcasm which leaves me to nudge Aidan on the waist, making him chuckle, immediately.

''We need to take a shower,'' I say before quickly pulling onto his hand, walking straight towards my bedroom—closing the door behind me with a deep sigh.

Aidan, is currently staring at me with a confused look on his face as I slowly point towards the bathroom door. ''You're going to be extremely late if you don't take a shower and get ready in less than fifteen minutes,'' I say, causing him to pull his shirt up—revealing his perfectly toned stomach, leaving me blink a few times, going unnoticed by him.

As he turns to place his shirt on my bed, I am left pressing my lips into a thin line before licking onto my lower lip—staring at his toned back. My heart begins to beat utterly fast, not expecting myself to react this way . . . when seeing him shirtless.

I've seen him shirtless before, countless times but that was probably years ago. When he was not as toned as he is now nor was he actively going to the gym.

He turns to look at me, furrowing his eyebrows before pointing at something near my lip in which I quickly touch, ''You have something. Is that a drool? You're such a kid,'' He says, seconds before he makes his way towards the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

Within seconds, I am already running towards the nearest mirror on the wall to look at my own face—wiping away the drool. Just like that, I quickly make my way out of my bedroom and peek down the hall, seeing it empty as I run towards the guest room, choosing his office attire.

Something colourful and cheerful. Unlike his normally worn clothes, always plain and grey or even black. There's no running away from the professional colours when it comes to him dressing himself up but there's also no point in complaining as he would always dress to impress.

''Kenna,'' I turn to see my mother standing near the door, causing my heart to skip a beat as I hold tighter onto Aidan's shirt.

''You surprised me,'' I mutter.

She chuckles, entering the room. ''I hope we weren't bothering you two. You told me yesterday that today is your day off but I didn't expect Aidan to be here,'' She continues to say before taking a few steps closer towards me, ''Look, I don't want to pressure you but Diana has decided for the wedding to happen next month which is an undeniably short time to plan it all. That's why I'm here with her . . . today, to go and plan the wedding,'' She breathes out.

Julia, my mother, has always been an understanding woman. Ever since I was young, she was my role model—by far, the one and only. I still remember how she used to dress whenever she goes to the office, in her dark red stilettos. She was absolutely an inspiration for someone like me to grow up and appreciate the qualities of dressing, nicely.

Up till now, she has never failed to impress me. She didn't even prove me wrong and she's almost in her fifties yet she would know how to 'rock' it.

''You're right and I don't blame you,'' I grab onto her hands, ''Aidan and I are just very busy with our careers and I'm more than happy that you understand. It's just . . . at times, I'm not able to fully dedicate myself in planning my own wedding—I know that this would only happen once in a lifetime but sometimes, my work just comes first.'' I add, honestly.

She sighs, deeply. ''You're really determined and I can't disagree how much your career would always come first in your daily life but Kenna, no matter how busy or how hard it is to try and just set aside, your family and your future husband will always come first. Your work is very important and I respect that but . . . don't forget how you get to be where you are,'' She replies.

''I know,'' I mutter under my breath.

''Kenna, where are my clothes?'' Aidan appears near the door, surprising us both. My eyes wander down to the droplets of water on his bare skin, making me mentally curse for having an attractive best friend who would soon be my husband for a year, ''Uh, I'm sorry.'' He adds as he sees my mother, chuckling before exiting the room.

I take my time to eye down his body, seeing him standing there with only his towel covering the lower part of his body—leaving me cross my arms, ''How does it feel like to walk around my apartment with only a towel wrapped around your waist?'' I ask, handing him his shirt as I pass next to him, leaving the room.

Without further ado, I am already making my way back into my room. Once I'm done choosing casual clothes to wear for today such as a long-sleeved grey cotton shirt and black skinny jeans, pairing them up with a skin-coloured flats, I instantly make my way towards the bathroom to take a quick but proper shower.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I was never born with perfect skin as soon as I hit puberty but I was grateful at how much I've made myself to appear better. There would be a couple of flaws here and there from my past acne experience but I'm happy at my own skin's improvement—making me stare back at the smooth, mostly-cleared skin.

Once I'm done applying a thin amount of makeup onto my face, I quickly change into the chosen clothes; leaving the room with my hair in a ponytail and my handbag in my hand. My eyes wander to Aidan who is standing in office attire, talking to his mother before turning to look at me, eyeing down my outfit.

''I thought . . . you were late?'' I ask, confusingly.

''I forwarded the meeting. It would just be a discussion with my employees and I had given them a worthy excuse which is to plan my wedding,'' He replies, ''I'll head to the office around three, after lunch.'' He adds, clearing his throat as I eye Diana, who remains where she is.

''Great,'' I breathe out. My lips are curving up into a smile, not realising how fake it is. This whole wedding is not even supposed to come in between both of our careers but due to his mother's request, he had no choice but to agree.

Apparently, Gerald had drove both my mother and Diana to my apartment and is currently waiting for them near Aidan's car which was parked right in front. I make my way with Aidan towards his car, entering it before letting out a deep sigh before looking out at the window.

''I know. You don't have to say it,'' He says as soon as he has entered the car before starting the engine, ''That's what she's good in. Trying to alter my life into something better as if my life is not any better than my brother's but I don't blame her . . . she wants the best for her son. I'm just annoyed by her actions on trying to make me agree,'' He breathes out, driving forward.

''I'm not trying to be rude,'' I turn to look at him—his right hand on the steering wheel while his left hand is currently on his lap, from the moderate traffic in front of us. ''I know how she is. I've known her ever since I was a kid and you've never stopped complaining about how much she wants the best for you. I understand because every single mother would want that,''

He chuckles yet it sounded insincere, ''Sure, every mother would want that but I don't see it as an excuse for her to make the decisions in my life such as forcing me to get married or else,''

''Exactly! She has the right to make your life better but she's only making it worse because she's not trying to alter your life . . . she's living your life for you. Aidan, you're an adult and you are old enough to make the decisions on your own without others to decide for you. You can think it through and all you have to do is be honest with her,'' I reply.

''What makes you think she'll understand?'' He glances at my direction before looking down at the road again, pressing harder onto the gas pedal as soon as the traffic has cleared up. ''I'm not her favourite child. It's as if that everything I do is wrong,'' He clenches his jaw.

''Aidan . . . don't say that,'' I mutter as I look away, not knowing other things to say.

Neither of us said anything and the rest of the ride was accompanied with silence until we arrived at the New York Public Library, stopping near the entrance. My eyebrows furrow as I look around if we're just stopping for a short amount of time but as soon as I see him turning off the engine and unbuckling his seatbelt, I am left questioning myself.

We both step out of the car, turning to see Gerald has parked the car behind Aidan's and both my mother and Diana has stepped out—making their way towards the entrance.

''At least I got to choose the venue,'' He says as his lips curve up into a small smile, leaving me turn to look at the public library again.

From what I heard, wedding ceremonies at the New York Public Library are quite expensive, starting from the range price of fifty thousand dollars but the ceremonies here are held with a lot of beauty . . . no doubt, would manage to attract people in getting married here.

''What do you mean?'' I ask.

Having my wedding here is quite a dream come true. Honestly, the public library was in my lists of venues to get married at—a list I made when I was just a teenager. The only person who knows about the list is Aidan because he has always been the one who knows everything about me . . . my darkest secrets and my deepest regrets.

''I don't know if your mind have changed but from what I knew and remembered, you wanted to get married here. If you wouldn't be able to achieve it in the future with your other half . . . I might as well, have our wedding here. At least, you'll experience it.'' He says.

''You're kidding,'' I am left gaping before turning to look at him, seeing him laughing as he shakes his head—leaving me quickly making my way towards him and pull him in for a hug. Our bodies collide with the amount of comforting warmth radiating as he wraps his arms around my body, ''I can't believe you remembered about my stupid list,'' I mutter.

''It was not a stupid list,'' He chuckles. ''Your expectations were high. I mean, a wedding held in Maldives or even Bali? I couldn't put that into consideration because no way would we travel that far for our wedding. Good enough you had the public library in your list,'' He adds.

I pull away, smiling up at him.

''You're the best one-year-future-hubby ever,'' I whisper and he starts to laugh again, revealing his perfectly straight teeth—making me stare at him in awe at the beauty he holds. Something I should've noticed years ago but only now would I come to a realisation of his own features that has managed to attract different women.

''Let me own that title,'' He pretends to flip his hair.

With a wide smile plastered on my face, I begin to pull him towards the entrance of the public library—our fingers entwined.