30 Days Marrying You

chapter 5

For the next one hour, Jessica went through what she would call, 'a living hell'.
JoJo, a professional beautician was set up in making her pretty for that night.
After so much struggling and refusing which turned out to be in vain, she closed her eyes, hoping she'd be able to nap through it and let the beautician did her job. She did drift in and out a little bit while JoJo masked, buffed and polished every surface of her body.
Jessica could feel as Jojo combed through her hair, hefting it, twisting it, shaping her hair into what-they-called beach wave style.

She was almost done, done she would say if not for the meticulous beautician who insisted on making her wear a headband, when Xavier gave her a call, saying he was waiting outside for her.
To stop her from making any more fuss, Jessica took the headband and put it on.
But, she secretly took it off as she was heading outside.

There, she saw Xavier, leaning on his car, wearing a black Armani coat over a linen shirt, a red silk cravat Windsor-knotted at his throat, eluding a sense of elegant all over him.
Xavier' stiffening face welcomed her as she approached his black sport car.

"Yeah yeah, I know I look weird right now. Laugh if you want." jessica said in the best sarcastic tone she could manage as she saw Xavier staring at her, non-blinking.

As if on cue, Xavier let out spontaneous laughter that sounded awkward for Jessica. "Yeah, you look weird. I'm staring at you not because you look pretty, but because you look weird. Hahaha. You look so weird." Again with that awkward laughter.

In fact, Xavier was lying when he said that. From the time Jessica stepped outside of the mall, she looked astonishingly pretty. If he did not know any better, he would say a princess just emerged from a fairytale movie. With knee-length white dress, half-covered with sparkling, precious white gems, the mermaid-style dress highlighted her perfect curve and the flared skirt added up to her breathtaking beauty. For a moment, he forgot to breath and he thought his heart seemed to freeze.

"Xavier! What are you doing? I thought you said we are late." Jessica's voice cut of the rest of his daydreaming.

Xavier cleared his throat before he answered, "Ye... yeah! We are late. We should go. Yeah, we are going now." It was clear on his voice his miserable failure to hide his giddiness but Jessica was too preoccupied with her dress to notice that.

"Maybe it's better if I change my dress."

"NO!" His yell shocked him even. He cleared his throat again. "I mean, we are late. There is no time. So, just go with the dress." His excuse sounded lame, yet made sense to Jessica.

Jessica just nodded. Then, they got into the car. The drive to Xavier' house took about thirty minutes.
Along the ride, it was a total silent. Awkwardly silent. She could be wrong, but she had a feeling Xavier was stealing a few glances at her here and there.

'Do I look that much of a clown?'

She dismissed the thought as they arrived at Xavier's house. The view of the house reminded Jessica of those house lived by the billionaires of which she always saw in the dramas.
The blue, crystal clear pool, the large parking area, the green, neat garden and most importantly, the great, big house made her wanted to gag at the luxuriousness. She always knew Xavier was a billionaire, but, knowing and seeing were a lot of differences.

As she entered the house, she could almost feel like she was entering some sort of palace. Her eyes were blinded by more expensive and classy furniture and accessories. If she was not afraid of tripping on her dress, she would be sure to close her eyes to get rid of the view that looked more and more shiny and glowing in her eyes.

Xavier led her to the dining hall, where she could see a few more people were already seated at the dining table.
It was a long, wooden dining table. Everything in the house was big and long. Now, she understood the reason xavier was that tall. Err, ok, what's the link?

She greeted everyone there whose she assumed they were a part of the family. She already realized, as soon as she entered the dining hall, all eyes were on her.
And she could feel the sharpest stare from the end of the long table. An old lady, which she guessed to be at least 65 years old, scanned her from head to toe, making her felt like she was standing naked there. With half-white hair that was shaped into a bun, creased face that was covered in light, sophisticated make up and the aura that showed she had the most authority and power in the house. The grandma!