Chapter 18: Chapter 18

“Ma’am, how is this one?” Camila, the PA, asked her enthusiastically. She seemed like a cheerful person. How could such a cheerful person become the PA of such an arrogant employer was beyond her.

“It’s beautiful. And please call me Olivia.” She said frankly and Camila smiled.

She did not take interest at first. She wanted to pack the first dress she laid her eyes on, but Camila was picky. She made her change into five dresses, but she did not seem to like anything. Seeing how she pulled off the beige skirt and tea-pink blouse, it was not hard to guess that she had good sense of clothing.

At first, she wanted to deny putting on any dress and pack the first one instead, but she looked so happy to help her choose her wedding dress that she did not want to hurt her. Besides, she wanted to take her mind off the things that were bothering her—like how she would tell her mom, how to manage everything after getting married, how to bear the arrogant man who was going to be her fake husband for a year.

It indeed helped her get her mind off those things. She wanted a peace of mind for a moment.

That was why she was going along with the dress-up thing. Camila seemed to enjoy herself fully.

“Okay, let’s get you changed into this one. Then you can decide from all the dresses you have tried.” She clapped ushering her to the changing room. She helped her into her dress along with the assistants the designer had provided them with. She had never been into such an elegant and extraordinary outlet. She felt a bit awkward to be there. It did not help how one of the assistant gave her weird looks when Camila said she was the bride.

It might have been because of her old shirt and jeans.

“I like this one.” She said firmly after Camila showed her all the pictures in which she had worn the dresses, making comparisons between them. She had been tired trying on different dresses for hours on end.

Besides, it was not like she was going to have a real wedding.

“Are you sure?” Camila asked giving her an uncertain look.

“Yeah!” She nodded fervently making her give a nod in return.

She herself was confused, it seemed, “I like all of them to be honest. Everything is so beautiful here. Mr. Thomas must have a great taste to select this outlet.” Camila commented with a laugh. She smiled.

“Must be! It is not like I really know him.” She mumbled to herself as Camila went to talk to the salesperson. They already had her measures which was why they provided them dresses with her size. It was lucky of her to find a few dresses her size which she could choose from. She did not want to wait for the dress to be made. She wanted to get it done with quickly, and everything else for that matter.

The dress was stunning. It was a white satin dress with fitted bodice and a heart shaped neckline, long sheer sleeves embellished to the elbow with small beads, and full round skirt that reached the floor. It was not extravaganza. It was a simple yet beautiful dress.

They were done with the wedding dress finally. Camila took her to the nearest restaurant. She did not have her breakfast, and it was already lunch time. She was glad that at least one job was done.

They were waiting for their orders when Camila received a call.

“Hello sir…Yes, she is here.” She smiled while giving the phone to her. She looked at her with a questioning look.

‘Mr. Thomas!’ She whispered. Olivia nodded and took the phone from her hand. Why didn’t he call her if he wanted to talk about something?

“Hello.” She greeted in a clipped tone. She still could not get over his authoritative tone earlier and the fact that he had woken her up so early in the morning.

“Hello, did you buy a wedding dress?” He asked in his usual arrogant tone.

“Yes.” She replied shortly while looking at her nails. They were getting long. She forgot about clipping them.

“Great! Now, I want you to go to the salon and do whatever Camila says—once you are done with your lunch of course.” He ordered--again. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She did not want to create a scene before Camila who was looking at her with a smile. She smiled as well.

“Anything else?” She asked in a taunting way. She did it in a way not to make it obvious to Camila that she was being sarcastic, but she knew that he would pick up on it. That was what she wanted.

“No. Good day.” He said and ended the call.

‘I must have hit a nerve!’ She thought giving Camila’s phone back.

“Oh my God, it is so weird to see him like that. It has not been that long since he joined the company, and it has only been a few days since I started working for him. I used to work for Mr. James Walker, his grandfather before. He had told me to be patient as his grandson could be a hard person to handle. I have seen that in the past days, how he talked so little and seemed so strict with the employees. I was surprised when he asked me to give you a helping hand and not to tell anyone that he was getting married. It was so unexpected that such a strict boss at work would be such a softie and romantic person in reality. He must truly love you a lot to get married at an early age.” She commented with heart-eyes. She was about to choke on the water she was drinking when Camila said he must love her a lot.

It was so funny that people would get the idea that he was getting married to her for love.

A person like him was never capable of loving someone. She had seen how stuck-up and selfish he was. Not that she wanted him to love her… the truth was that she wanted to be as far away from him as possible, but her compulsions came in her way. She was bound to have him in her life for the time being and for the world to see. After all, it was all just an act of pretend—a huge and stupid act.

“And I feel like you two complement each other perfectly. You seem to have a soft personality and he the strong one. I ship you two.” She squealed like a little girl. Olivia liked her a lot despite not liking what she was saying. Olivia and him as a perfect couple? Impossible!

She seemed like a young girl who believed in fairy tales. Unfortunately, Olivia was not that. She had seen enough ugliness of the world not to believe in such things. That was why she never really involved herself with anyone.

“Yeah.” She had no choice but to agree with her, but she could not bring herself to praise him either. She could not go ahead and say how great he was and how they loved each other. Both would have been wrong.

Their orders arrived, and she started devouring the food. She had ordered herself cannelloni. She had not tasted any of the food that was on the menu, so she mad a wild guess and ordered herself the food that looked the most appetizing to her.

Thankfully, the taste was heavenly.

"Are we done? I have to go to home." She was worried about leaving her mother alone. Although Aunt Mary was with her, she wanted to be beside her. She worried about her getting unwell suddenly. That happened a lot lately.

"Oh no. No. Ma'am. Please we have to do a lot today. My boss will fire me if I don't do what he says." Camila looked worried to no end.

She thought that they just had to go with the wedding dress selection. She did not know that they had a lot to do.

"Okay, don't worry. He won't fire you. I am here" She comforted her with a smile. Camila sighed with relief. Who would dare to fire such a sweet girl? Thomas of course. But she would not let him do that.

"So, what's the plan?" Olivia asked as they went to the car.

"I can't tell you ma'am. You will know once we are there." She said mischievously making her chuckle.

"Okay. but what did I say about calling me ma'am?" Olivia asked with a raised brow. She looked a year or two older than olivia. It fel weird to be addressed so formally by her.

"Oops!" She giggled. Olivia really liked the girl.

When she first saw her, she was intimidated a bit looking at her outfit and charisma. But she turned out to be a great company.

"We are here." Camila announced as they went to yet another designer outlet.

"Why are we here?" She asked looking at all the beautiful dresses on display. She had never seen such a variety of dresses in her life. From short to long dresses and skirts, it had everything.

"To pick out some gorgeous dresses for the gorgeous Mrs.-Thomas-Walker-to-be." Camila announced in a loud voice attracting a few glances. It seemed like when she was excited, she could not be stopped.

"Did you say Thomas Walker?" A lady who was busy shopping came to her and asked with shock. Camila looked taken aback.

"Did I say that? No, you must be mistaken." She shrugged with an embarrassed smile. The lady walked away giving her weird glances. Seemed like she knew him.

"Oh my God, Mr. Thomas clearly said not to tell anyone about the wedding and that you are going to be his wife. I am so stupid." She shook her head. Olivia patted her hand. She worried a lot.

"It's okay. I won't tell." She made a sign of zipping her mouth. Camila smiled brightly.

"Thank you. Let's go and find you a few beautiful dresses." She said and urged her to follow. Olivia did so with a shake of her head and a smile.

What if she did not want to do any of the things she was doing? At least, she had someone to brighten her day. She could not believe that she was actually having fun despite the fact that it was another one of Thomas's orders.

"I won't let you control me." She thought going along with the shopping thing.