our troubled love ᵒˡᵈ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ

+~six~+

         I sat silently as a woman and her two assistants prepared me for the date, doing my makeup, styling my hair, and even removing the hair from my arms and legs. I thought it was a bit too much for a first date, but I knew my dad loved to exaggerate. I had to bite my tongue, suppressing a scream as one of the women ripped the strips off my skin. By the time they were done, I felt like I'd been there for hours.

         I reached for the small mirror that was laying on the table, but one of the women snatched it from my hands. "You can't see yourself just yet! It'll ruin the surprise!", she exclaimed.

         She signaled me over to a rack of clothing that stood on the other side of the room. A man stood beside it. He looked young, and he had a good sense of style. You could tell his profession was designing clothing.

         The young man bowed politely, and I curtsied in return. "Hello, Jianna. I'm Asher. I'll be helping you choose a dress for this evening. I made all of these myself, by the way." He took a good look at me, examining me from top to bottom. Then, he turned to the rack and chose a few dresses—some simple, and some elegant. "I think these dresses would suit you well. Would you mind trying them on?"

         "Yeah, sure!" I nodded, fairly excited to try them on. Each dress had a different and unique style, and they were stunning. I had never gotten the chance to wear anything of that kind in my life! But I was really disappointed that the first time I'd wear such beautiful dresses would be to impress some rich man that my dad wanted me to marry.

         Asher handed over the dresses and I went behind a changing screen to try them on. I started with a short yellow lace-up dress. I slipped the dress on and stepped out from behind the screen. Asher considered the dress for a moment before shaking his head and sending me back to try another dress. I took a better look at the dress in the mirror before taking it off. It was very simple, but was still beautiful. I actually thought it suited me well, but I knew there were more dresses to try on.

         I think I went through seven dresses before finally finding the right one. It was a strapless, flowy white dress with a long tail. It didn't look too extravagant, but it was fancy and perfect for a date by the beach. My heart ached when I looked in the mirror. I thought it was going to be easy to get through this date, but I now wished that I could be with Aiden instead. It made me feel guilty to be dressing up all nice for someone else. But there was really nothing I could do about it now. I reminded myself that I would find a way out of this later.

         Asher chose a pair of shoes that matched the dress—comfortable brown sandals—to finish the look. He had me twirl and walk around a few times to make sure it was perfect, and then we were done, which meant it was almost time to go.

         I had a horrible feeling in my stomach as I waited for it to be time to leave. It was a nervous feeling. I had no idea who this man was, or how this would turn out. I didn't know what to expect. I just wanted to get it over with and go home. But then I remembered I had to share a room with him. I sighed, asking myself how I would get through this. I tried to make a plan in my head, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep if things went according to my dad's plan. I can try to sneak out of the room at night and find some other place to sleep and come back in the morning before he's up.

         It was exactly eight o'clock when I was called down by one of my dad's servants. I walked down the stairs slowly, being careful not to trip on the long dress. I met my dad—along with his wife, Marlene, and their five-year-old son, Finley—at the entrance of the mansion. Marlene grinned as she pulled me into a hug.

         "Oh, Jianna! It's been ages! How have you been?" She seemed so ecstatic to see me. I actually really missed Marlene. She was always so sweet and acted as a mother to me. But I pitied her. She always had to deal with my dad's bad temper and selfishness. But she was so patient with him, so kind. She also always tried her best to defend me when he was being unfair.