The Best Friend's Contract novel Chapter 14

Aidan

''What if I told you that your bride-to-be has somehow ran away?'' Dimitri appears from the door, his hand gripping tightly onto his phone as he looks at me with slight worry—causing my eyes to wander across his face in search for lies.

Just as I'm about to speak up, he has already burst out into laughters before entering the room and closing the door behind him. ''You, nugget. You should've seen the look on your face. Can we do that again because I need to record it?'' He raises his jet black phone up with a wide grin plastered on his face, clearly enjoying my reaction.

''That was not funny,'' I reply as I turn to look at the mirror again, fixing my tie. ''In fact, you shouldn't joke around with things like that. What if my mother heard you?'' I question before I start to take a few steps away from the mirror, eyeing down my suit; wanting myself to look very attractive and mouth-watering on my wedding day.

He rolls his eyes, ''Diana and apparently, most of the XX chromosomes in your family are with Kenna.'' He continues to speak as his lips curve up into a smile, ''I also heard that she's very beautiful today. I'm not sure if you'll be able to stand up straight when you see her,''

''Who?'' I ask, continuing to eye myself in the mirror before turning to look at him.

''Kenna. Obviously,'' He replies.

''I thought she has always been beautiful? How can she be any different today?'' My questions seem to have cause him to laugh, again. His lips remain curved as he mutters quite something under his breath in French—something I would be able to understand if he'd speak a little bit more louder than just mumbling.

''You . . . my man, has a lot to learn.'' He takes a seat, ''I'll tell you 'I told you so' when you see her walk down the aisle. The moment your breath hitches, your hands shake and your lips remain speechless at the sight of her beauty . . . that's when you'll lose grip of gravity. Trust me, I've been there.'' He says, confidently without a slight fear of being wrong.

''You know what, Dimitri? Sometimes I don't understand you,'' I reply before looking up at the door, seeing my father standing with a smile on his face.

Marc, my father, looks down at me with proud and happiness glistering in his eyes. He takes a few steps towards me, ''You clean up well, son. Your mother and I will always be happy for you and proud of every decision you make,'' He says, leaving me nodding my head with a smile.

All of a sudden, Alain appears near the door with Ava holding onto his hand. As soon as she sees me, her eyes widen before running towards me—causing me to pick her up from her feet. Her lips curve up into a smile as she bursts into laughters, ''Uncle Gabby, you look pretty.'' She says, both of her arms wrapping around my neck.

Both Alain and father watch with smiles on their faces.

Uncle Gabby . . . Ava calls me that ever since she learned how to talk. Just because she heard her grandmother calling me 'Gabriel' all the time whenever she's being serious and that's where she picked up the pieces—decided to call me Gabby. At first, I wasn't very fond of it but it started to sound cute, coming from her mouth.

I did search about the name Gabby on the internet when Dimitri told me it matches my personality whenever I nag. Apparently, Gabby means excessively or annoyingly talkative. That was definitely not true . . . I am not excessively or annoyingly talkative. In fact, I do not nag.

''What about me, Ava? We played dolls together,'' Dimitri starts to speak up as he pretends to be slightly hurt from not receiving any compliments from her, ''We even had our own tea time and I thought it meant something in our friendship,'' He adds, crossing his arms.

Ava chuckles, leaning closer towards me. ''You look okay, Dim.''

Dimitri is being called Dim by Ava. She likes giving people nicknames of her own choice because it's easier for her to pronounce and remember. Unlike my given name Gabby, I actually tease him with the name Dim because it's easily mistaken for Dim Sum. Ever since then, he wouldn't want to get anywhere near Chinese food—what a funny excuse?

''I think I look more than okay. Probably, perfect but beautiful, at least.'' He turns to look at Alain, ''One of the reasons why I taught my son to say nice words to people because sometimes, the truth can hurt.'' He says, leaving Alain to scoff at his childish behaviour.

Just as the four of us men, start to enjoy the company of Ava, my wedding planner starts to knock onto the door before stepping in—her eyes wandering around the room. ''Ava, honey. Are you ready to go and walk down the aisle with Aunt Kenna? We better get you in position,'' She says and I slowly place her down on the ground, letting her run towards Marie.

''We better get going, then.'' Alain says.

My eyes wander to the mirror beside me, staring at myself a little bit longer than before; wanting to look handsome—especially in Kenna's eyes. Instead of finding myself staring at her in awe or losing the ability to stand straight when I see her, I'd want her to find herself pulled towards me as her heart beats fast when she sees me.

''Father, would you please give us a moment?'' Alain asks, looking at our father who nods his head and walks out of the room with Dimitri trailing behind him.

Even though this whole wedding and marriage is planned, I want it to be one of the best memories we've ever had in our friendship. I want to be able to talk about it when we grow older other than just seeing it as something . . . unwanted or fake. It'd be better if we can see it as a memory worth telling or worth knowing.

''Cold feet?'' He asks, making me turn to look at him.

There are differences between Alain and I but there are also a lot of similarities. We're quite the opposite when it comes to our personality or attitude but when it comes to our features, we can actually be mistaken as fraternal twins. Other than that, both of our bodies are lean but his are slightly bigger than mine, yet it's unseen without observation.

''No . . . not really. Just scared if I might trip,'' I answer, leaving him laughing at my respond before joining him, afterwards.

He clears his throat, ''I was at your spot once and I know how it feels like. There's a lot of fun things when it comes to getting married, especially to the love of your life but there are also a lot of responsibilities. You're no longer a single man and things will start to change. In fact, a lot of things will start to change—when you buy dinner, you have to buy one for her. When you go grocery shopping, you can't just shop for one. When you sleep, you have to make sure that she's sleeping beside you. If not, you have to start worrying.'' He says.

''Well, you've been in the husband department for quite some time and I'm just here, minutes away from joining you.'' I reply.

''I still remember when we were kids. We were busy playing around and teasing Mia but now . . . we're both adults. We worry about a lot of things,'' He stops for awhile. ''I'm actually happy that you've come to your senses and I want you to be happy, too.'' He pats onto my shoulder, leaving me smiling.

Within seconds, Marie appears at the door and gestures for us to make our way towards the wedding hall. Alain trails behind as we both trail behind her, making sure we're heading towards the right room instead of being lost in the public library which is something pretty often being experienced by other brides and grooms, here.

My eyes wander around the amount of people that are seated as they turn to look at me, walking down the aisle with a smile plastered on my face. Fortunately, the wedding is a private wedding where only both of our families and friends are only attending. I've made sure of it as Flynn was the one who was checking the list of guests, not letting anyone in without an invitation card.

Dimitri, Alain and Flynn was trailing behind me when I was walking down the aisle but now they're all standing near me—waiting for the arrival of the bride.

To my surprise, an instrumental version of My Heart Will Go On starts to play by two violinists which causes me to clench my jaw in order to hold back my nervousness. For some reason, my heartbeat is beating faster than usual as people are starting to stand up and leaving me glancing down the aisle, waiting for the familiar face to show up.

Just as I look up, my eyes widen at the sight of her. Both of her blue eyes are nervously looking at the people around her as her lips are slowly curving up into a smile, leaving me stare at her in awe. As her eyes look up to meet mine, everything around me stops—somehow, we're in a world of our own with no people surrounding us.

I can't believe I'm saying but . . . god damn.

It takes me awhile to realise the sudden hitch of my breaths, the shakiness of my hands and the speechlessness of words at the sight of Kenna. My eyes couldn't look away from my best friend who appears to be breathtakingly beautiful, causing tears in my eyes.

Everything about her shows an infinite amount of perfection. From head to toe, she's the definition of beautifully mesmerising. There's not a single flaw showing through and even if there is . . . she'll be able to conceal just by the way she looks, completely silencing me and leaving me stand here in disbelief.

''Wow,'' I breathe out as I hold back the tears from forming again.

All I can think of at the moment is, what's happening to me? Why all of a sudden am I fully attracted to her? Is it the way she walks? The way she's smiling? Maybe, it's her gaze. There's just something radiating from her that causes me to forget about the world as she would be mine in a matter of time.

I take my time to eye her wedding dress, finding it a long backless dress which reveals her perfectly tanned skin but is being covered by the veil.

Just from the sight of her, I am completely blinded by the sight of others including my niece, Ava who seems to be throwing petals of roses onto the ground. It takes me awhile to let my lips curve up into a smile at Kenna as our eyes are still staring at one another—not a single care in the world for anyone else.

John pecks onto his daughter's cheek as I step down, slowly making my way towards her. As soon as we're close enough, he places her hand onto mine; leaving me grip onto it as we both turn to look at one another, everyone is being seated down and the music stops playing.

The hall is left with no sound as the priest starts to say, ''We gather here to unite these two people in marriage. Their decision to marry has not been entered into lightly and today they publicly declare their private devotion to each other. The essence of this commitment is the acceptance of each other in entirely, as lover, companion and friend. A good and balanced relationship is one in which neither person is overpowered nor absorbed by the other, one in which both give their love freely and without jealousy.''

The priest continues, ''Marriage, ideally, is a sharing of responsibilities, hopes and dreams. It takes a special effort to grow together, survive hard times and be loving and selfish.'' He adds before turning to look at us both, again. ''I assume you both have your own vows.''