chapter 30

Josie POV

wedding day

"Here we are. Come inside,'' Pierre said to me as he escorts me to the dressing room. His assistants prepared for my wedding dress. I had makeup artists and hairstylists doing pampering me up for the big day.

''Madame (my lady),'' Pierre said to me ''Today is your day, and you are going to make the crowd speechless. Are you excited, love?''

I faked a smile. ''So excited, it's like a fairytale.''

''Oui, (yes), just how we want it to be.''

An hour has passed and we were set to go to the venue at Garden Hills. So many people showed up to see Matthias and me quote-on-quote tie the knot. He literally invited his friends from college, business partners, and even a few family members from Greece who looked similar to Matthias.

The music started and Flynn was gesturing me over to walk down the aisle. Everyone stood up and face their bodies to me. Instead of giving me that awful sympathetic look that I was so used to, I nodded in an understanding way.

Phones were out and there were flashes going left to right. There were the awhs with murmurs coming from each person as I made it to the aisle with Matthias. I was anxious, my eyes shifted to the side again and became glazed with a glossy layer of tears.

I sighed and placed my head chin up. ''You got this Jo, you're going to be okay'' Maya's voiced echos through my mind and I drew a small smile.

''You may be seated,'' the pastor said. ''Our Father wanted me to be here today to bless the young couple Matthias and Josephine to become husband and wife. I would say, I never thought this day would come from Matthias,'' the crowd laughs ''But if you're father was here, he would've been so proud of you.''

Matthias nods his head and placed his head down. Pastor Warren begins his sermon about love, trusting, and having loyalty to each other.

Behind the masked smile, Matthias wears on his face there were sadness and guilt. The tension was there between us, it wasn't visible.

We said our vows, The I Do's, and finally ''You may kiss the bride,'' the pastor said to us.

His head was angled slightly to the side as his lips came closer and closer to mine. My heart fluttered inside my chest. At first, it was a delicate butterfly of a kiss. Then his arms encircled mine and our lips crushed on to another; the crowd went wild.

Slowly I opened my eyes and sadness came over to me, I took his hand as we walked down the aisle.

''Congratulations!''

''So happy for the both of you!'' The guests say to us as we continue to walk out of the venue. Flynn and his assistants escorted to our reception area.

After taking our wedding pictures and whatnot, we head back where everyone else was, there were cheers and someone whooped. After a few moments, the toastmaster, Bernard, rose from his chair and everyone else sat down.

He had his champagne and rose it high. ''I feel like I deserve to make a toast. Please join me as I raise a glass to these two newlyweds. To Josephine and Matthias Lekas, may you find joy with each other each and every day from this day forward? Congratulations and remember this special day always, as it is the day that brought you two together as husband and wife. To the bride and the groom.''

''To the bride and groom,'' everyone else echoed back. Together, everyone drank their champagne. Servants were around, taking orders from everyone, Flynn was making sure that we were okay, and classical music was playing softly in the background.

We ate the Italian cuisine that was provided at the reception.

''Congratulations to the both of you,'' Bernard said to us while Noami was wrapped around Bernard's arms. ''You know Matthias, I can give you a special treat at a Villa when you and Josie go to your honeymoon.''

''Uhh, thank you, Bernard, but I got it covered.''

''Ooh, a man with his own demands, that's very appealing,'' Noami adds herself.

''Yes indeed, we'll see you soon Matthias, Josephine, take care of yourselves,'' Bernard said.

''We will,'' Matthias and I said together.

.....


....

I hated that I liked him so much, that he was the first person for me to feel so much chemistry with. It made this so much harder. I couldn't think as objectively as I'd like.

"- And, what did he say? Was he an asshole? Do I need to punch someone?" Maya said through the phone. I was sitting across from Matthias while he was typing on his laptop. The flight attendants came and gave us some more champagne and a small dish for our flight in Paris.

"No, he didn't exactly say anything,'' I mumbled.

''Josie, I'm sorry. You know I need you to make sure that you're gonna be okay with that son of a bitch.''

''I will be. For now. I'll talk to you soon. I'm on the plane now." I closed the phone and heaved a sigh. My phone bleeped out at that moment with a message from Maya.

''Josie,'' Matthias said.

''What?'' I chided, not paying close attention as I was texting Maya.

''Can we please talk?''

''About?'' I finally looked up to him.

''The elephant in the room.''

''I have no idea what you're talking about.''

''Josie, let's just hash this out.''

''I rather die.''

He scoffed. ''Seriously?''

I shrugged. My words came out so fast they almost tumbled over one another. I hated spinning this game over and over again, but what could I do?

''Josie.''

Ignoring him, I pulled out my air pods and placed them in my ear and tuned into my Spotify playlist ''Listen to the sad songs'' Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith started to play and I laid back on my chair, looking through the window.

The plane flew off from the ground to the sky. I refused to look away, even as my lips trembled and my shoulders heaved with emotion, unwilling to back down.

Damn this song.

Matthias hands gently touched mine and I looked at him with a glare. Without hesitation, I pulled back and looked away again.

Just another uneventful day in the world of Matthias Lekas...