Am I Married?

6. The Legal Papers

"Remember everything I told you. Follow my instructions. When lights go off at the Church, hide somewhere or runaway, okay?" Samara reminded me.

I nodded wordlessly. I was almost ready in her wedding dress, ready to be at her place in front of her groom.

She fixed the veil, covering my face through it, "Do not think you're trusting me because we both are trusting each other. I chose you to handle everything here so don't let this occasion get ruined. I'm trusting you Sanaya. I hope you won't get caught."

The shock, the fright took my voice away so I couldn't respond to her words. My insides were petrified and my mind was no more working at all. It was blank – completely blank. Samara was forcing me to be a part of her fraud. I was still not willing, still not sure that I would come out of this situation safe and sound.

She moved away from me, took her purse from the bed and wished me luck one last time and afterwards left the room, left me all alone. Hesitantly, I turned towards the mirror to see my reflection. The bright white wedding dress was simple, yet elegant with a sweetheart neckline and lace sleeves. It hugged my body perfectly, defining my curves before flaring out into a subtle skirt-style.

I recalled the argument of Ashar and Samara that I overheard few weeks ago. This dress was Katherine Hobsons's design. I didn't understand why Samara disliked it. It was beautiful. The thick, white, double veil she fixed on my face was long from behind and shorter from front. It was thin enough for me to see everything, but thick enough for everyone to not to notice the different face. People could only see through my skin color and obscure look of me, surely couldn't find out the deception.

This veil would work as my rescuer until Samara would be back, but I don't know what I would do if someone ask me to move up the veil. My heart ached as once again strong wave of fear hit me. Taking deep breaths, I tried to divert my mind. I put up the light fabric from my face and ambled close to the mirror. My eyes widened to its full length when I saw my reflection. I couldn't recognize the face I was looking at.

Samara's makeup and hair style techniques were near to professional. My already big eyes were looking bigger due to light smoky eye makeup. My lips were perfectly shaped and coated with bright pink coral shade. My overall face skin was radiating with a lightest pink hue as if I was blushing. I looked good. I looked beautiful. She had rolled all of my hair above my head and adjusted the long veil on them.

Someone else's wedding dress was fitting perfectly on my body as if it was made for me. The way I was looking right now, I felt like a real bride momentarily. But, the goosebumps on my arms pulled me back to reality and reminded me that this was someone else's wedding. Whatever things I was wearing were not mine.

I pulled down the veil again on my face and moved around to avoid looking at my reflection. The few soft knocks on the door startled me to the highest level possible. My face turned white, draining all of my blood from there.

My heart thumped in my chest in response to the knock. This fear in me would be the death of me. Involuntarily, I sat back on the bed, rubbing my sweaty palms together. The continuous knocking took away all of my strength.

With trembling and weak legs, I padded to the door and opened it a little, "Yes?"

"Miss Samara, sorry to disturb you, but your father has sent you some papers. You need to sign them right now." I heard the female voice from the other side of the door.

"What...papers?" I stammered.

"These are the legal documents of your marriage. Take this and sign them. I'm waiting outside for you." She extended her arm through the little space between the door and the door frame. I saw the black file folder her hand was holding.