THE CEO'S FAKE WIFE

Wedding Dress

"So, we're getting married in that place?"

"Your family will be there, won't they?"

"What about my family? Well, it's just my dad and a few friends, but I still want them to come and witness my wedding day,"

"What about the marriage documents?"

"Have you booked the place? At which hotel exactly?"

Beatrice kept mumbling and couldn't keep quiet when they had laid down on the bed to rest, because the next morning they had to leave for the airport and at that time, Luke, who was quite worried that Beatrice would have a fever again like the other night, decided to sleep in her room.

"Why are you talking too much! I'm trying to sleep for God's sake!" snapped Luke resentfully. Beatrice pursed her lips, then turned around with a gloomy face.

Feeling not yet sleepy, she put AirPods in her ears and played her favorite song,

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

You'd be like Heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much...

She was singing softly in a voice that according to her friends was quite melodious while behind her Luke peeked a little and only found her back, he smiled and closed his eyes, his face still felt sore in some parts because of the fight with Matthew. Since when did he follow him? Who gave him the detailed information about everything? His mind kept wandering, curious.

At 6.00 in the morning, the alarm on Beatrice's cellphone rang, she immediately jumped because the alarm sounded loudly in her ear.

She lazily opened her eyes, trying not to fall asleep again. After checking her cell phone and replying to messages from her best friend, Leah, she walked towards the bathroom while still yawning occasionally.

"Luke, wake up! It's six o'clock already you sleepyhead!" Beatrice rocked Luke vigorously. When she was sure Luke was wide awake, she went to the cupboard and tidied up her things.

"Are you going to leave the car here?" she asked, zipping her trunk. At that time Luke was drying his hair with a towel, just finished bathing. "Yeah, someone will take care of it later," he said flatly.

An hour later they were ready with their stuff, "We'll have breakfast downstairs, then we'll check out right away," Luke said, his hands were busy typing something on his cell phone.

The hotel restaurant was still a bit deserted, only a few people seemed to be enjoying breakfast.

Beatrice and Luke ordered two cups of Chamomile Tea and two full English Breakfast sets consisting of fried bread, sunny-side-up eggs, bacon, sausage, and mushrooms.

"What about your hand? Is it fine already?" Luke asked, tilting his head, studying Beatrice's palm which was still in the bandage.

Beatrice touched her hand gently, then shrugged, "It's getting better," she replied lightly, she felt very fit, maybe because she was too excited about their trip to Positano. She looked up and realized that Luke's face still have a punch mark with a slight purplish bruise on his cheek.

"So what do you think Matthew's purpose for following you?" asked Beatrice curiously.

Luke was silent for a moment, hearing that one name made his appetite go away.

"Maybe to find out about our sudden marriage, surely he could sniff that our marriage is just a contract," he said, staring into the distance.

"Well if you failed to get married then it's Matthew who will be appointed to replace your father's position, I don't understand, why him? Is he married already?" asked Beatrice, still clueless.

Luke wiped his mouth with a napkin, then shrugged his shoulders,

"Dad just gave me that condition, he said I'm different from Matthew, he thinks even without marriage Matt is very mature and wise, while I'm the opposite of him, bullshit!" he said, remembering the last conversation he had with his father.

In her head, Beatrice silently confirmed Luke's father's words, she agreed that indeed his son was still very childish sometimes, well just like her, they were like a couple of teenagers who decided to get married!

After finishing their breakfast, they checked out and took a taxi to Heathrow Airport. Every few yards Luke would look back, afraid that Matthew would follow them.

Two hours later they were on British Airways which would take them all the way to Naples. Beatrice couldn't stop smiling with excitement. Meanwhile, next to her Luke was busy with his laptop, working on something.

"Buon Venuto Signor Carter!!!" Beatrice spread her arms as they landed safely at Naples International Airport. Luke snorted at Beatrice's silly behavior which was often out of the box. At the arrivals terminal, they were greeted by Luke's old friend,

"Carter! Long time no see bro!" Bryan gave Luke a brief hug while beside Luke, Beatrice grimaced, unable to understand how Luke could have friends everywhere around the globe.

"Bea, this is my friend, Bryan," Luke said cheerfully.

"Good to see you, how do you guys know each other?" Beatrice asked after shaking Bryan's hand warmly.

"We're high school friends, if you knew how bad Luke did in high school, you wouldn't want to marry him," joked Bryan, who already knew that Beatrice was Luke's future wife.

Beatrice just laughed, staring at Bryan and Luke who were teasing and elbowing each other, nostalgic for their high school moments.

"So, how was everything?" Luke asked Bryan after they had finished reminiscing their old times together.

Bryan pulled the files out of his bag,

"Done, there's nothing money can't buy! Trust me!" he joked, laughing heartily.

A curious Beatrice struggled to see the contents of the large envelope Bryan had given Luke.

"What's that?" asked Beatrice, looking at the two of them in turn.

Bryan turned to her with a furrowed brow,

"What is it? You don't know? Documents! For the two of you, I've taken care of everything at the Italian Embassy," said Bryan proudly.

Beatrice still didn't understand,

"But I haven't given you any documents yet?" she muttered.

Luke waved his hand impatiently,

"Just don't think about it, the important thing is that everything is done! Where did you park the car?"

Bryan took the car key from his pocket and gave it to Luke,

"I'll catch up the day after tomorrow! Have fun! Bye Bea!" Bryan shouted and then walked away from them, all smiling, because he got quite good money for helping Luke take care of everything during their visit to Italy.

A few minutes later they were in the car driving to Positano, the place Beatrice had always wanted to visit.

The road to Positano was quite empty. Luke was driving carefully because the road was quite slippery and the wind was quite strong. However, the effort did not betray the results, after driving for about an hour and a half, Beatrice was made gaping by the beauty of Positano.

A village on a cliff with colorful houses, hotels, and villas. Underneath the cliff, there was the Mediterranean sea that stretches beautifully. All this time she had only seen that scene on her laptop screen saver,

'But here I am in Positano...'

They headed for a luxury villa that was deliberately rented for a few days. The villa was dominated by white as opposed to the colors of other buildings in Positano which tend to be colorful.

When an officer unloaded things from the car, Beatrice was quite confused because she saw a large suitcase that did not belong to them.

"That suitcase? That's not ours, is it?" asked Beatrice, frowning deeply, at that time they were already inside the villa's bedroom.

"Open it, I haven't checked what's in it either," Luke said as he opened the balcony door wide, allowing cold air to enter directly.

Curiously Beatrice rushed to open the suitcase and found a black tuxedo set that was neatly wrapped, she lifted the tuxedo and something under it made her eyes widen for a moment.

"OH MY GOD LUKE! IS THIS MY WEDDING DRESS?!" she screamed when she saw a white dress neatly wrapped in a canvas bag engraved with gold letters 'VERA WANG'.

Luke looked out over the Mediterranean coast and chuckled, pleasing someone like Beatrice Miller was easy, she could be happy over anything even only for a plate of good waffles.

He turned around and found Beatrice twirling around while placing a wedding dress on her body, her smile was very wide and sincere, making anyone would think that she was really going to marry the person she loved so much...

*****