Chapter 5 IV

"WILL FETCH YOU BEFORE 4:30, BUT IT'S ALREADY 4:51 AND HE'S STILL NOT HERE."

That's all I could mutter to myself, annoyed. I started to prepare for the "wedding" exactly at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. And as he requested, I tried my best to be at my prettiest. I was finished getting ready a little past four, and I thought that was the perfect time so I wouldn't have to wait long for Damon. Yet, here I am. I've been waiting for over half an hour, but I haven't seen even his shadow. And the wedding's at 5 P.M., huh? Nine minutes left until five. What does he think this place where we're getting "married" is? Just downstairs from his house? Or maybe next door?

"Miss, Sir Damon's already outside. He said you can go out now," Paulson announced, out of breath.

"Good, he finally decided to show up. I was about to change back into my clothes," I said irritably.

I walked past him and quickly went outside. I saw a black car parked outside. Black?

Damon was sitting in the driver's seat, smiling as soon as he saw me. I didn't smile back. Instead, I walked towards him with a serious and blank expression. I slammed the car door open and shut. I chose to sit next to him because who cares if I wanted to?

"I understand that you're mad. Sorry, I'm late. But I can explain later," he said as I got in.

I didn't say anything and just nodded slightly.

He quickly sped the car away. He was driving so fast that I felt like I was going to fly out of my seat. But still, I didn't bother to ask him to slow down. We were already late for our call time. Almost late. It was 4:56 and it was impossible to get there on time-

"We're here," Damon suddenly announced as he stopped the car. He stopped abruptly, causing me to almost fall forward.

He immediately removed his seatbelt and got out of the car. For a moment, I just sat there. I waited for him to open the door for me, but he didn't. He just knocked on the window, asking me to hurry up.

When I got out, I was surprised to see his hand outstretched to help me. But I chose to ignore him. He had already done one streak of being the non-gentleman. Let him continue, right?

I walked ahead and he followed right behind. He immediately grabbed me by the hand. His grip was tight enough to prevent me from taking my hand back. So I just let him and we walked into a building hand-in-hand. Then into a room.

An elderly man in a judge's uniform greeted us.

"It's so glad to see you, Mr. Damon-"

"Please, let's get to the point. I still have so many things to do and... my future wife here still needs to go out of the country."

Damon pulled out a chair for me in front of the judge before he sat down next to it.

"To be a husband and wife, one should possess-"

"I thought I already said let's get to the point. No need for that... damn quotes," Damon interrupted the judge again.

The judge paused for a moment and couldn't speak. I was suddenly embarrassed and annoyed by Damon's behavior.

"Okay, may I request you to please stand up, Ma'am, Sir," the judge said moments later, probably recovering from the shock.

Damon and I stood up. The judge instructed us to face each other and hold hands.

"Mr. Damon Ignaci, do you accept Miss... uh, Miss Soirye Galveza to be your lawfully wedded wife?" he said.

"I do," Damon said. Instead of sincerity, impatience was evident in his voice. Well, what should I expect? This wasn't a "marriage out of love," but a marriage out of each other's convenience. It wasn't much different from the contract marriage trope you read in novels.

"Miss Soirye Galveza, do you accept Mr. Damon Ignaci to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the judge turned to me.

"I do," I answered, nodding slightly.

To my surprise, Damon took out a ring and put it on my finger. He also handed me another ring, and I put it on his finger.

"I now pronounce you... husband and wife!"

Damon grabbed me by the waist and started kissing me right in front of the judge. It was a long, deep kiss. It was a simple kiss, yet it made my whole body ache and feel hot.

After he kissed me, he pulled me out of the room without saying a word. He didn't even say goodbye to the judge.

We were in the middle of walking when suddenly, he grabbed me and started carrying me-bridal style. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the hallway we were passing through, so not many people noticed his sudden action.

When he put me down, I was already inside the passenger seat. Then he got in and drove away without saying anything.

"Guess where we're heading, My Soirye," he broke the silence after a few seconds.

"To your bed?" my mind playfully asked. I even smiled because of it and I'll admit that I was a little excited. Thinking about the wildness we did last night. What would it be like now that we're "married"? But instead of saying that, I just asked him where we were going.

"To the field. Get ready, Paulson is about to fly you back to the Philippines."

Disappointed, my smile instantly disappeared.