Then he retracted his head, and the door was shut again.
“It’s time to prepare, the wedding is starting soon,” Ksenia explained.
It had been over an hour since Ksenia brought my food. I had eaten, had a bath, and considered soaking the silk wedding dress in the toilet a million times since then. I didn’t do it, though, not because I didn’t have the nerves to, I totally could.
But the fact that someone who could have people procure a wedding dress just a day before the wedding could very well find another damn dress in a few hours. It wouldn’t change anything; soaking the dress would just be a small tantrum. And I wasn’t a kid that threw tantrums, I was an adult that wanted her life back-and would stop at nothing to get it back.
“I’m Gina. I’ll be styling you and doing your makeup,” the older lady uttered. “It’s my job to make you fabulous.”
“Let me guess, because your life depends on it?” I drawled, plopping myself on the edge of the bed.
The girl with the box let out a muffled laugh as she moved to drop the box by the couch.
“You could say that,” Gina whispered, then asked in a higher tone, “You’re American?”
“That obvious?”
“I guess so,” she answered. “We should start now. You’ve freshened up, right?”
With the unavoidable knowledge of the fact that I couldn’t escape this stupid wedding, I dragged myself from the bed.
In another hour, I was staring at my face in a round mirror, which Ksenia held in front of me. The mix of dread and anger I felt couldn’t undermine Gina’s efforts. I had had a number of makeovers that made me smile at mirrors and head out happily with fresh bursts of confidence, but none of them made me look this good. While the best of my YouTube-assisted makeovers sat on my face like odd costumes, the face I stared at in the mirror was still me, just a bit bolder and much more beautiful. Even the professional makeovers my dad paid for before the few balls we’d attended together didn’t make me feel like myself.
My face felt and looked smoother, giving me a younger look. The silvery eye shadow, which darkened into pink and then into a darker bronze, added a bold flair. My lips had a very light pink tint; my nose somehow looked like a dainty little, shiny thing. The mascara was volumizing magic. Overall, I looked like a bride who might be happy about getting married. Only, I was anything but.
“You did a good job, Gina,” I remarked, smiling at her despite myself.
“Please,” she vocalized. “You’re beautiful… makes the work easier.”
The tiny conversation the four of us had while Gina did my makeup had loosened everyone up a bit. While they didn’t press further when I waved off questions about myself, I learned a few things about them.
One, that Gina was an undergrad at the University of California in Berkeley, and she came highly recommended byone of Viktor’s business, er, criminal associates or whatever they were called.
Two, Svenik was 19, and she had plans to study nutrition and dietetics when she reached 21, aka, when she had saved enough to go to college in the United Kingdom.
Three, Kiara, Gina’s assistant and trainee, was actually her younger cousin.
Well, it wasn’t exactly news that Viktor was paying Gina a fortune to do a good job and had promises to fulfil that I was to be ‘the most beautiful lady to walk the garden today.’
“You’ll be at the wedding?” I asked, looking from Gina to Kiara.
“Um…no,” Gina answered.
“We weren’t invited,” Kiara added.
“You won’t be missing much anyway,” I said, a sarcastic chuckle leaving my lips.
Ksenia opened her mouth to say something when the doorknob turned and the door opened, revealing Mr. Bald again.
Why the fuck can’t he knock?
It felt demeaning that he never felt the need to knock because I was just a prisoner.
“Time for the bride to come down,” he announced, still not fully entering the room.
Well, I’m about to be his boss’s wife, too.
I stood from the couch and, instead of turning towards the open door, went in the opposite direction, towards the bathroom. With my back to him, I casually explained to Ksenia, who was standing by the bed, “I’ll just wash my hands.”
