Forced (1st book in The Forced Series)

Chapter Thirteen *REVISED*

Chapter Thirteen

The day that Hazel had nervously anticipated sneaked up on her far too quickly. The dress had been bought. People had been invited. Her mother had talked her ear off and her sister had glared at her venomously. The only thing that helped ease her anxiety over the madness was the hours she had spent away from Van. But ironically, as everything in her life seemed to be, those welcomed hours were to prepare her to spend the rest of her life with him. That notion made her sick.

Aside from using wedding planning as an excuse, Hazel had been avoiding him like the plague. Whilst they sometimes ate breakfast together before he left for work, she had been able to dodge all personal questions. Their conversations, as rare as they were, were kept to a minimum; consisting of small talk and rudimentary topics. All boring and impersonal. They were no closer to knowing anything about each other than they had been the day they met. But the sizzle was there. She just knew that it would be so easy for him to invade her heart if she ever relaxed her guard. Being near him was strangely natural. Being alone together was awkward because she obviously kept her distance, but natural.

But here she was, standing in front of a full length mirror, looking at herself wide eyed. They had joked and passed sarcastic comments about the whole process at the fitting but now that she stood all dolled up in her white dress, she felt the full burden of what they were doing. She wondered if Van was feeling the same jittery apprehension that she did.

For a moment, Hazel considered running away on the grounds of cold feet. The moment after that, she considered going back to her studio flat to live peacefully and perhaps even start adopting cats. The moment after that, she was smiling bitterly at her reflection.

"Story tail ending Hazel, just like you always wanted." her eyes traveled her body again, taking in the understated puffy ball gown dress with its lacy train, and the flowers on the sofa behind her, "Except your prince is charming isn't actually yours and you, uh, how do I put this lightly? You don't want to marry him. And the cherry on top of the literal wedding cake is that the little girl you're doing this for hates you and the lady barely remembers to give you a chance at conversation, never mind wondering at the absurdity of you suddenly turning up and getting married. And your dear father, readily pimping you out for money. Perfect dream wedding I tell you."

Her eyes brimmed with tears but she swallowed them, "Keep it together, kid."

Her eyes rested on her cast. It looked reasonably bizarre against her dress. And like her cast, her hair stood out as strange to her in all its straightened and sleekly curled glory, with the delicate flower petals.

A knock sounded on the door, followed by Van's voice, "Hazel?"

Her eyes traveled to the door as Van knocked again, "Hazel?"

"Y-yes?" her voice broke on the s.

"We need to make something clear before we go out there." Hazel could almost imagine his dark eyes going down to assess the floor, "I won't betray our wedding vows. Even if you hate me, you are my wife and I value the institution of marriage as a cherished commitment. I hope you do too."

His voice was commanding, demanding even. Hazel dared not to provoke him, so she took a deep breath and said, "I've always valued it too. But a committed marriage is for people who are either in love or in full consent. Our little agreement is neither." she shrugged, steeling her resolve further. "So I hope you to do as you desire. And as for myself, I just want to be alone."

"Now listen here –." Van started, his frustration rising.

"Van, what are you doing here? Go! Alter!" Mrs. George shushed him in the middle of his sentence.