AVALYNN'S POV

          "Are you ready?" I ask again when I look at my watch. Almost an hour has passed, and I'm still waiting for Nicole to be ready. What is taking her so long to choose her attire?

          "Almost!" She shouts over the door.

          "You know, 'you said almost' an hour ago!"

          She finally walks out of the closet looking .... Wow.

          "I found this buried under your other clothes. This is such a beautiful dress, Ava. Why don't you wear it often?" She asks.

          "I was seen in that dress twice." I reply.

          She gives me this look that shows how ridiculous my reasons are.

          "Come on. It's almost time to go." I stand up from the bed and offer my arm for her to hold. "I like your jumpsuit today. Simple yet elegant and our colours match as well!"

          She seems excited. "Thank you for having the time to be my date for this reunion. I was planning to go with Mary, but she got a date." She sighs.

          Hold on, Mary got a date?!

          "It's fine. It turns out I'm free tonight as well."

          We get into the car and like always, she has this awestruck expression on her face.

          "Seriously, just how many cars do you have?" She asks when I start to drive towards our destination.

          "A few?" I try to think while focusing my eyes on the road.

          "How many?"

          She's still asking that question? "In our house, we have five cars; two super bikes and a helicopter. I have this hobby that I inherited from my mother who loves to collect cars as well."

          "What about your father?" She asks.

          "He ... likes to collect dresses and dress up my mom and Veronica like a human sized barbie doll." I sigh heavily. My dad really needs a new hobby. "He tried to dress me up one time, but I punched his face instead."

          Nicole chuckles upon hearing that. She may be laughing now, but the horror of when he's into his work too much is a situation I really hate to be in.

          The rest of the drive is in complete silence except for the music she puts on the stereo.

          This is the first time I've gone to a reunion that's held inside the school's gym. To be honest, I think it's a budget reunion. It feels like a prom rather than ... but, oh well, a reunion is a reunion after all.

          "Wait, where's the valet?" I ask when I can't find anyone.

          "What valet? Giving your car to a complete stranger in this part of town? You must be joking."

          Then, where am I suppose to park? I face her with a troubled look.

          "Don't tell me you've never parked your own car before? That's just impossible. Anyway, let's park over there, next to the Nissan."

          I do as told. When I finally pull the handbrake, we both get out and take each other's arm. "It's weird to have a reunion here. Plus, you haven't been out from high school that long as well."

          She shrugs. "I received the invitation from Mary. She said that the whole  class year wanted to make an early reunion."

          Mary was the one who told her?

          "Why the gym?"

          Nicole chuckles. "As you can see, we don't have that much green on us. We kind of pitch in ourselves. The school was probably kind enough to let us have it here." She seems distant.

          "What's the problem?" I ask.

          "It feels like we're going to prom but without Chris."

          Him again. So she went to prom with him, huh?"

          "He couldn't even dance. But yet, we went to prom and dubbed at the prom king and queen on our senior year."

          That vote was probably rigged.

          "Nicole!" Mary shouts to us. She comes to us before hugging Nicole and me. "I'm so glad you could make it." Mary winks at me before she talks to Nicole.

          She's glad that I decided to come? I'm not even the one who attended this school. I look around the school compound. This must be what they say is the under privileged school huh.  And, here I thought a government based school probably has the best facilities available. Even the school pool is out of service. How would the students be able to learn something without the proper tools? Nicole must've been facing the same problems when she was in this school.

          "Ava, what are you waiting for? Let's get in."

          I nod and take her arm again before walking inside the gym together. "So Mary, where's your date?"

          Mary points to a man in a red suit not far from us.

          "Who's that?" Nicole asks.

          "My doctor."

          Her doctor? She's dating her doctor?!

          "Mary you naughty beast."

          Nicole chuckles while playfully poking Mary's cheek. "Your doctor? You mean Verns?"

          She nods.

          "Your dating that man?" Nicole voices out while checking him out.

          Mary shakes her head. "Not dating. I just asked him to accompany me today. He was free."

          He flew all the way to Maestropolitan from London?

          He is all smiles before he comes face to face with me.

          "Ugh, seems like my luck has changed. Hello Lady Avalynn."  I hear him say as I cross my hands.

          "Hello Doctor. What brings you here?"

          He gives me a nervous laugh.

          "I told you many times before that you shouldn't date your patients, doctor."

          He takes a step back from my gaze. "Honestly Lady Avalynn, your gaze just made my spine tingle."

          I lean in a bit.

"Good. That's what I planned to do to you. You better watch your back, Verns. If you do anything indecent, I will not hesitate to kill your career." I feel Nicole's hands pulling me back.

          "Don't be such a buzzkill."

          I smile. "Don't worry. He's my friend. Close friends." I give him my sinister smile as he gulps down his saliva.

          "Yes... a friend who's continuously threatening me as to destroy my achievements. That's Avalynn all right."

          I face him when he calls on me casually.

          "I mean Lady Avalynn. The oh-so-great lady Grimaldi." His hands are shaking from fear again.

          "I don't like the tone you're giving me. Anyway, Nicole, who's that group of people walking towards us?"

          Nicole waves at them. "My classmates. Say hi properly okay?"

          By now, everyone must've known about the marriage between us. I need to make a good impression.

          "Nicole Bonavich? Is that you?" They squealed upon meeting each other.

          Oh God .... this type of meeting always gets to me. Why can't they just have a civilised meeting? I put a smile on my face to cover my annoyance towards these people.

          "Seems like you're trying hard to keep the good image." I hear Verns whisper to me.

          "Oh yes, I am trying to keep my good image in front of these people. You should, too." I smirk..

          "Ava, meet my friends." She begins to introduce them.

          Watching their reactions, they probably know me.

          "Oh wow. So it wasn't a rumour? You really married a woman? And to add to that, a famous model from an important family."

          Yup, they know me.

          "You have ... quite friends." I whisper to her before her friends begin to annoyed me even more.

          Ugh, can I just go home?

***

          "That reunion was ... something else. Who knew it was a dying wish of one of your classmates huh."

          Nicole hasn't said a word since we got in the car. The news must've been shocking.

          "Who knew that she was suffering from cancer all this time? She  always was the active type in school.  She even represented the school in every sports meet." She sighs before looking outside of the windows.

          It's so weird to see her like this. I have to do something to cheer  her up. I make  a sharp turn at the first traffic light and drive as fast as I can towards a spot just outside of the city. This is the place where I find peace and quiet I need in my busy life.

          "What's wrong with you?! You nearly hit that other car!" She fears from my recklessness.

          "Shut up." I say before stepping on the accelerator even harder. "It's unfortunate for your friend to suffer, but you on the other hand, you have a lot of things happening in your life!" I say when I pull the handbrake. I may sound like I'm angry at her but I am not.

          She flinches when she hears me and seems confused when we arrive at the beach. I open the door and walk out to the beach. She follows me after taking off her heels.

          "Why are we here of all places?"

          I take her hand and raise it up."Those stars represent all of the things you'll have to face in the future. I am the moon who will be there for you every step of the way and the path you choose for your life. You may think that our marriage is just something our parents planned, but for me after living with you and watching your every step, I'm beginning to think that you need me."

          She doesn't say anything.

          "Nicole ... tonight's reunion shall be your eye opener. Life is not yours to be decided. If that man in the sky decided to take you away, He shall take you away. What I'm trying to say here is that, yes it's sad that she doesn't have many years to live, but you, you have me and the rest of the family and friends to live life with."

          She blushes.

          "I don't like the gloomy Nicole. I hate it actually."

          She wipes her tears as she starts to apologise to me. "When did you become so wise? And here I thought you hated everything that happened tonight."

          Oh don't get me wrong. I truly hated tonight's event. I never knew that my Nicole had a lot of suitors.

          "Oh, don't mention it. I truly hated those men who talked to you. I was this close to killing them all with the folding chair."

          She gives me a nervous laugh. "You're not even kidding. Are you?"

          Why should I be kidding about my true feelings?

          "Thank you ... for showing me this place. And, thank you for being willing to attend the reunion with me. I totally introduced you to all of my classmates as my wife. Geez .... it was so embarrassing."

          She looked like she' enjoyed it though. The attention she got tonight was more intense than I had imagined.

          "Say, I overheard something about you tonight from one of those friends of yours. He said that you and Chris were together since forever. You never dated anyone besides him?" I ask.

          "There's another guy who I dated when I clashed with Chris. But that relationship didn't last, and then, I went back to Chris. He was sorry about his wrong doing, and I gave him a second chance."

          Theres another guy?!

          "Who? Did he attend the reunion?"

          Nicole nods when I face her.  "He is the husband of the  friend of mine who has cancer. Still though ... I wish I could help her. It's not fair that she is like that. She was such a great friend to me and Mary."

          Help? She wants to help her ex's wife huh? How noble of her.

          "Well, I could give a call to one of my friends if you want."

          Nicole is speechless when she hears what I said. "Really? You have a friend who can help her?"

          I try to remember my friend list. "Yes. I do remember this one friend of mine. She's a genius, and the last time we met, she said she was working in a hospital. From the stories, she's a magnificent doctor. There's no harm in trying to help her, right?" I smile.

          Nicole suddenly hugs me as tight as she can. "Oh Ava .... I was so wrong about you when we first met."

          Huh?

          "At first,, all I could think about you was that you probably were one of those egghead know-it-all types of people with such a complex and close mind. You know, only think about yourself and not about others. You kinda give that vibe out." She is chuckling while talking bad about me."And when we lived together, that's when I realised that .... I was right all along. You seemed to be having fun making my life miserable. But, now ... it's different. You are actually being nice to me and my friends. That's so not you Ava." She smiles.  She takes my hand and sighs in relief. "I think I've finally made a decision regarding your question about the contract."

          The contract?

          "I decided that .... I want to try to live with you. Yes ... I don't have any experience regarding a relationship with the same sex but ... what's the big deal right? It's easy... like eating cake? Right?"

          Wait, she whats to revoke the contract?

          I start to laugh at her.

          "What? Did I say something bad?" She asked while puffing her cheeks.

          "No... you just said something I never thought you'd say, that's all. You were all 'like, 'I hate you, and I hope you die!'' when I made your life miserable." I laugh again as she apologises.

          I decide to take her hand and lift it to my lips. I actually kiss the ring that I gave her when we married each other. She blushes a deep shade of red before looking up into my orbs. "Lets make the best of it together, alright?" I smile.

***

          "Smile." I whisper into Nicole's ear when someone from the media decides to take a picture of us. She is so engrossed in the pamphlet that she smiled to the wrong side. "There, honey." I point at the camera.

          She  gives the photographer a nervous laugh before we pose. She waits for the person to walk away before she sighs in relief. "I've never been to this kind of event before! You should teach me a thing or two!" She's beginning to get nervous again.

          I notice my parents waving at us before they take the empty seat next to Nicole. "You two are late! Don't tell me you both altered those clothes again! That's not your call to make!" I warn my parents.

          "Oh, relax, honey. All we did was hook up in one of those VIP rooms. Your mother needed a stress reliever."

          Thats too much information dad.

          Nicole is blushing hard.

          "What's wrong, honey? A cold?" Mother is being such .... Ugh ... I don't even know what to say anymore.

          The lights begin to dim, and the show starts when the sound of music can be heard.

          "Oh my God! This seems like a concert rather than a fashion show!"

          She seems excited rather than nervous now. It is when Fiona walks down the runway that she begins to lose the excitement altogether. "Ugh, ... why is that bitch here of all people."

          I chuckle before watching Fiona walk down the runway with such a perfect expression.

          Not long after, Veronica walks down the runway as well, and she even gives us all her famous flying kisses.

                   "Veronica looks different when she's working, huh? She looks so serious. It's so not like her personality."

          Since when did she become a judge?

          The show goes splendidly, and it's almost time for me to show myself on the runway as well. I stand up from my seat and am about to go backstage when Nicole grabs my wrist.

          "Where are you going? Don't leave me."

          My mother touches her shoulder. "Ava needs to show herself on the stage. She's the designer."

          Her face is surprised. Wait. Don't tell me she didn't  even know that I am the designer for tonight's show. She even read the damn pamphlet!

          She lets go of my wrist, but I offer my hand to her. "Come on. Let's walk down the runway together."

          She is  reluctant, but I take her hand and pull her body towards me.

          It is  sudden, but the people from the media will  probably love the idea. Time to make use of this situation for a  publicity stunt.

          A series of flashing lights hit us before we go backstage. It is hectic like always, and I notice some of the models form a line.

          "Finally! Stand here." I hear the head crew's voice. Well, it's nice to know he's bitchy as always.

          Nicole seems so out of place.

          "FIONA! Come on. Stand behind the boss."

          Nicole's whole demeanour changes when she hears Fiona's name.

          "Umm.. boss, who's that girl?" The Head crew asked. He claims to be my right hand man, but he doesn't even know about my own wife? Pitiful indeed.

          "My wife." Is all I say  before we are given the 'okay' to walk out on the runway.

          "Listen to me." I smile at her when we face each other. "This ... is your stage. Flaunt your inner beauty and make them surprised by your aura. You have it, but you just don't know how to express it. It's not a bad thing to smolder once in a while you know." I wink before we show ourselves to the world. With this, I've officially introduced Nicole to the world she never even dreamed of stepping into.

          There's no more half ass rumours about me and my personal life. I wave and smile at the audience, and so does Nicole as she follows my gestures. It's so natural for her that she even smiles and  thanks everyone with a bow.

          Only one word plays in my mind at this moment, and the word is perfection. She's perfect in my eyes. There's no doubt in my heart anymore .... she's the one for me .... my wife, Nicole Grimaldi. There's no one better suited for that name to be their last.

          I don't know why I did what I did now. She is as shocked as I am when our lips touch each other in front of all these people and probably the world. At first, it is awkward, but when I pull away, her redden face tells me that she likes it as much as I did. I chuckle before we face the world ..... this is my life now .... with Nicole.