11. Living a Lie

Aiden

"If anyone here does not wish that these two be joined in holy matrimony...." The pastors voice and other noise around me trail off into nothing as I focus on the one person that mattered. I doubt if my eyes had strayed off her since since the officiant started to give the joining speech. I wanted all this to be over as soon as it started.

"You may now kiss the bride" The feel of nails digging into my arm brings my attention back to what was happening. I take my glance away from her and focus on the woman in front of me.... really focused on her. She was gorgeous. I hadn't really noticed how well the makeup she had on complimented her skin, almost as if there was nothing there. And her eyes, could be the way they were looking up at me right now but they were the most perfect doe eyes I had ever seen.

"Kiss me" She whispers lowl. Bringing my mind back to the present situation. Her voice reminded me of what was going on and where i was, all the lurking eyes on us. I could see the flashes from camera's go off every minute and i knew i couldn't fuck this up. I place my hands around her waist and pull her close against me before closing the gap between our lips. None of these people mattered right now. The cameras, our family.. None of them. All that mattered was the show we were putting on for them. I could hear the cheers and clapping that proceeded immediately our lips touched as they fed into our lie. This moment. the soft body pressed against mine and the first five seconds into our kiss that made me forget every other thing around me, including my girlfriend who was several feet away from me in the crowd. I tore apart from her putting an end to the action. She's breathless and so am I. Her eyes are on mine and her lips are pulled apart for a brief amount of time. I let my hands fall from around her waist and hold her hand to lead her down the stairs. The cheering from the crowd immediately goes crazy as they rise to their feet.

I feel a tap on my arm and I turn to look at Amaya "If you know you're going to stare longingly at something or someone in the crowd other than your fake wife, who was right in front of you might I add. Can you atleast respect me enough to keep it private for another time." she smiles and waves to everyone while we walk down the long aisle to the door. Once we're at the door I let out a sigh of relief immediately i notice the car. I turn around and spare one last glance towards Melissa, she's gone. I look around searching frantically for her. My heart was racing in my chest, all I could think about was if she decided to carry out what she had intended to do. I slip my hand from Amaya's arms and linger around using that opportunity to continue searching for Melissa.

I give up on my search and get in the car with Amaya, once I'm sure she's no where near this vicinity.

"You can come to my place if you want, just incase there's paparazzi following us" Amaya says

"Hm?...oh Yeah, sure" I reply without taking my eyes of the window.

I tell the driver to go and I'm glad she doesn't decide to roll down the window to wave to anyone or anything of the sort. I'm just glad we are over this day.

I take out my phone from my front pocket and text Melissa. She reads it a few minutes later and I wait to see those three bubbles that indicate she's typing, to appear but nothing.

"fuck!" I exclaim angrily

"What's wrong?" Amaya asks. She sounds worried

"Nothing." I reply easily

"Look, just because we got married under odd circumstances doesn't mean we can't be friends. If you need someone to-" I cut her off

"If I want to talk to someone I'll find a therapist, not you" I reply sharply and look away.

The car is quiet the rest of the ride. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional honking and sound of cars passing by us.

When we get to her house, I'm not surprised to see that my dad was already here along with her parents. I come down and walk around to the other side to get the door for her but she's already out and on her way inside.

"Hi, Mr Carter." she greets with a smile. They shake each other. She walks to her mum and gives her a brief peck on the cheek. "Can we please get this over with?" She asks and they all reply before she leads the way into her house. The lawyers arrive few minutes after we do and everyone is ready to proceed.

"So, Mrs Jones you need to sign the final document" He slid the document across the table to her. I notice how her husband is standing at the other side of this interaction with a scowl on his face. Mrs Jones picks her pen and signs the document, finalizing that Amaya was now the CEO of J&E. Tiffany hands it back to the lawyer.

He collects the document and places it in a file and brings out another. "Thank you," he murmurs "Miss Jon- Mrs Carter, can-" Amaya cuts him off

"I'm Amaya Jones, Mr Phillips. Nothing else" She corrects him without hesitation.

I feel eyes on me and I turn to see my father, his lawyer and her parents staring at me for a brief minute.

I excuse myself and leave their presence. I make my way to my car and just sit in it for a while. I try my best to ignore the annoying emotion that was building up in me. Her denying my last name is not supposed to hurt at all or even as much as it does.

But it does and I hate it.