Chapter 7 MEET THE PANDORA LADIES.

CHANGI BEACH HOTEL.

"What took you so long?" Aella complained when Valkyrie finally joined her at the hotel lobby.

"Forgive me girl, I had issues with my outfit and stuff," Valkyrie explained running into the already opened car.

Aella took a while to check her out. But apart from the lazy jean and baggy crop shirt Val put on, there was nothing to see.

"Is this what you spent almost an hour putting on?"

Valkyrie looked at herself, she too was convinced she didn't look dazzling enough for a girls day out.

"I guess?" she made it sound like a question.

Aella raised an eyebrow. "Girl! You have no fashion sense!" she declared starting her car, a golden zenvo ST1, then zoomed away from the hotel.

"Where are we headed?" Valkyrie asked.

"To meet my personal designer"

"What, why?"

"One, because you obviously have none, two, you'd look outrageous going out like that with highly sophisticated rich girls, they are gonna check out everything on you down to your toe nails,"

Valkyrie forgot to close her mouth.

"Three, you are going to be my maid of honour in place of the most sophisticated of them all, you might as well win in the looks area"

Last night, the phone call had lasted way longer than expected. Aella had gone on and on about how she has had to put up with what everyone expected her to do, and how this would be her first step at rebellion. She also mentioned that she would be elated to have Valkyrie because she had the perfect sassy and snobbish look.

Valkyrie wouldn't have said yes, but she had done some research on the family. Although, members of Pandora were not publicly known, the Raven family among a few others were frequently associated with the group. She knew, if she wanted to slowly infiltrate the mafia, she had to get along with Aella, so she said yes to her absurd request.

"Thanks again for agreeing to all this, I know you don't know me and you have no reason to trust me,"

"Well, I also don't have a lot of friends," Valkyrie said.

Aella's head spun so fast Valkyrie was afraid it would snap.

"What!? No one could look at you and believe that," Aella shrieked. "How many?"

"Let's start with zero!" Aella's jaws dropped.

"But, you have the perfect body, how could you not have friends, even a guy friend?"

They both laughed at Aella's comment but Valkyrie shook her head in the negative.

"Nope"

"What the hell?" they stopped at a red light and Aella turned to look at Valkyrie. "No 'boyfriend'?" she drawled at the word 'boyfriend'

"Nope. I used to have one!" Valkyrie added quickly before Aella opened her wide mouth again. "I'm not impotent okay" she joked.

"Gosh! No! I wasn't gonna ask that" She continued the drive "what happened, you used a past tense there"

Valkyrie pulled a stray hair behind her ear. "We just couldn't work" her tone didn't sound like she regretted the outcome. She looked very passive about it, which led Aella to ask the next question.

"Didn't you love him?"

"You know, based on the feelings and enthusiasm I get when I see him, I suppose I did"

"So why'd you break up with him?"

"What makes you think I did?" It was Valkyrie's turn to drop her jaw.

"It's obviously you Val, I can see it in your eyes. The argument within yourself that what you did was right"

"Of course it was" Valkyrie pouted. "Love doesn't keep a relationship"

Aella was taken aback at this. Valkyrie didn't strike off as someone that would believe that. 'was it money?' she thought within herself.

"Why do you say so?" she asked anyway.

"There are other things that are major factors in a relationship Aella, it's not just love. My beliefs, his goals, my standard, his preference" Valkyrie shrugged her shoulders. "We were worlds apart"

"I totally get it" Aella stepped on the brakes. They had arrived at a very tall glass building. "Let's hope Priscilla Gates will change that. You definitely have to catch a boy this weekend" she declared getting out of the car.

Although Valkyrie thought it absolutely impossible, she didn't express it in words obeying her better judgment, Aella would never let it go without a fight.

When they got to the top floor, the elevator door opened and they stepped into the most beautiful scenery of a fashion house. Every single thing was screaming expensive.

Valkyrie didn't lack the money to get nice things for herself but she never allowed herself sway off her goals and always pursued with the sole purpose of being successful, she has never had the time to look girly. But in this case, it was necessary that Valkyrie was the brightest one in the room.

Nobody's didn't get to enter Pandora so freely.

"I present the true home of fashion!" Valkyrie didn't miss the part where she used a golden card to get up here so it was safe to assume this designer wasn't the kind you would see on the sidewalks of Singapore. "She personally designs my red carpet gowns. Valkyrie, she's amazing. She's gonna turn you around in no time!!" Aella seemed to be of the opinion that Valkyrie cared about her looks.

A middle aged looking asian woman walked gracefully to Aella and gave her a heart warming smile as she hugged her. Anyone could tell they were close by how intimately they related.

"Baby girl, have you finally come in for your wedding dress?" the lady asked. "I heard you were getting married, congratulations. I must say I was surprised, but I'm looking forward to the ceremony"

Aella turned red at the compliments.

"Thank you aunty, but I'm not here solely for myself, " She turned to Valkyrie so she walked closer. "This is Valkyrie Hunter, a new friend of mine. She's gonna be my maid of honour. I would like you give her a few of your touches, she needs to be transformed"

"Good morning " Valkyrie greeted with a slight bow. She wasn't sure of the appropriate way to greet such a person.

Priscilla clicked her tongue, she didn't say anything and just checked out Valkyrie, walking around her until she was satisfied. Throughout, a smile was plastered on Aella's face. She was clearly proud of the woman's work.

"You are a beauty" she finally spoke addressing Valkyrie "A rare one, although your choice of clothing baffles me. I've not seen such a body in a long time. I would be thrilled to work with you"

Aella yelped and clapped excitedly.

"Thank you" was all Valkyrie could say.

Aella excused herself to call the rest of the bridesmaids while Pricilla took Valkyrie to her office.

********************

AELLA'S POV.

Valkyrie was nearly naked when I walked in later. She only had on a panty short and bra top. Priscilla was decorating her with a measuring tape. The smile on her face was just too broad, she was elated to be working with her, I could tell.

Valkyrie had a pretty impressive body. More impressive than mine I must admit. She was an inch taller than me, she had impressively long and full golden hair, the natural color amazed me, and the fact that she didn't use hair extensions to achieve such volume was remarkable. She had tiny lips, but when she pouts, they become fuller and enticing. I don't want to get started on the curvy body aspect, she had an outstanding hip and a good sized buttocks that could be easily enhanced by a good dress from Priscilla. Her breast wasn't too big, wasn't too small, she was perfect for my maid of honor, maybe a little to perfect.

"Aella come here, this legs! Mmm, I think I know the perfect dress for her" Priscilla called distracting me before I started a distraught against Declan.

"Doesn't the other girls like have to agree on a dress first?" Valkyrie asked. I noticed she wasn't faced with the complimets at all, it's either she was used to a lot of compliments or she was super confident about herself even though she had a tinted skin color.

But being tinted didn't make her dark and ugly like some cow, no she was actually a delicate color from white. It was like that delicate tint was God's way of saving her from freckles and sun burns. How lucky was she.

Thinking again, I think this is exactly what my brother would like. But then again, I don't want him anywhere near my maid of honour.

"No Val, yours is gonna be different no matter what the others want" I replied.

"Okay" Valkyrie agreed. "Now enough about me, why don't you pick out a design for you dress"

I shrieked as I got an adrenaline rush at the mention of my wedding.

Spoiler alert, the girls came in shouting and popping up wine bottles. I mean, how the hell did they get here so fast?

They encircled me clapping and making beats with their mouths as they sang a very unpleasant song about my wedding night. Valkyrie was surprisingly singing along...wait, was I set up?

How the hell did she meet the Pandora ladies?

"Girls?" I shrieked, this was overwhelming. "Valkyrie, are you in on this too?"

"Yeah!" she shouted over the commotion.

"I've missed your lazy ass girl!" Starfire shrieked, giving me a hearty hug. I've missed her.

"I've missed you too Starfire," I said.

The other girls which I had randomly picked from the elite families were also happy to be a part of my wedding. I was a very influential person in the country, it couldn't be helped.

"Let's get this girls day officially started!!!" Starfire shrieked resulting in an eruption of screams which Priscilla had to cover her ears to. They didn't wait for another word before running off into the changing room with a dress each from the mannequins.

Priscilla sighed. "The brighter side is, my store would be perfectly sold out by the end of this day" she said as she followed the girls to control the hurricane of mess that would follow.

Valkyrie turned to me flipping her hair naturally from her face.

"Earlier, you mentioned a replacement. What did you mean by that?" She asked.

"Long story Val"

She shrugged. "I have all day babe"

I sighed. "My ex-maid of honour was my brothers girlfriend who is also my fiance's sister. But they suddenly broke up, don't want to get into their dirty stuff now. She declared social war on my brother and didn't show up for his welcome dinner so I reckon she wouldn't want to have anything to do with my happily ever after"

"Are you sure that's what she wants? I mean I don't wanna be infringing or anything but she should be crazy to not wanna support her brothers happiness."

"I think that's what she meant when she sent me a text last night saying 'I hope you fall and drown on your wedding day b***h!' three devil maniac emojis and a 'f' word you"

Valkyrie was tranfixed. "Your lives poped right out of a magazine," she remarked "Weren't you friends, isn't she happy for her brother? Why would she not wanna be a part of this?"

"There's a lot of answers to that Val, but the best suited would simply be because she's a bitch!" I shrugged my shoulders.

"How were you even able to get in contact with the girls, it's like you bonded with them or something?" I finally asked.

Valkyrie waved her hand demonstrating dusting something off her breathing space. "Was a piece of cake?" she declared and without giving me further explanation, she walked off.

I liked the girl, she was quick to fit in with all the right attributes, but she was also too quick to fit in. Key word being 'too quick'.

The rest of the day was a well planned girls day well spent. We went all around Singapore having fun and making most of every moment of the last days of my spinster life. We went to a karaoke, went to a cake shop and ended up leaving after a cake fight, that led us to a spa where we had mani-pedi's then a salon where we got our hair styled back in shape.

Valkyrie took us swimming at Changi beach where she had saved me, she expressed her ignorance that the area was my family's VIP area. After the crazy swim, it was late so we had a light dinner before Starfire surprised us with new sets of clothes because we just had to end our day clubbing the night away. I was reminded though, that this wasn't my bachelorette's party.