Sorry had to reupload! Chapter 6 in progress hope you enjoy. xxx
Chapter 5 A Version of the Truth
When I woke up in the morning, Alice was already hard at work preparing for our "big day." Many NDA's were being signed to keep this whole thing under wraps. We also were able to find the videotape of our union. I shuttered thinking about how drunk we must have been in it. Happy we both chose not to watch it. Edward was respecting my need for space, though I could tell he wanted nothing more than to toss me around the bed. Today everyone would know we were married. Which meant I needed to tell Jess, Ang, and Charlie.
"Bella I think you should invite the girls over, tell them in person maybe they could attend our wedding." He smiled lightly, knowing I could use the extra support. It was a day before Jessica's wedding and I couldn't help to feel the guilt wash all over me.
"That's probably the best idea, I can invite them for breakfast. I'm sure they won't say anything, they will understand if I explain it fully." I smiled back. My stomach was unable to settle, though the wedding was fake it still was a real ceremony. We needed lots of photos to make our union seem as legit as possible. Edward kissed my forehead before jumping in the shower. Alice had him on last-minute wedding duties. I had a feeling she knew I needed some time alone.
I picked up my phone and sighed before dialing Angela's cellphone number. Jessica was hit or miss if she was awake in the morning. I missed them both so much.
"Bella! We were starting to worry about you. How is the handsome guy from the club? It's been two days and you're still at his?" She laughed but I could tell she was slightly concerned. This was extremely out of character for me.
"Hey, Ang I promise I am okay. He's pretty amazing" I smiled back, glad he had left the room. "I was wondering if you and Jess could come to Edward's room for breakfast? I just needed to tell you two a few things" my voice slightly shaking. Ang agreed quickly and I texted over Edward's room number. I knew they both would be shocked that his penthouse was fairly close to the top level. I think we were all unaware of how wealthy the handsome stranger in the club was.
An array of breakfast arrived shortly after, I grabbed another slice of toast settling my already uneasy stomach. I decided I would tell them both the truth. I would be lying to so many others I couldn't lie to my closest friends. Jess and Ang arrived about ten minutes later, I could hear them through the door.
"This is a presidential penthouse Ang! Bella did well this guy must be loaded!" Jess sang.
"I don't have a great feeling about this, you should have heard her on the phone. Something is off.." Ang quietly told Jess, not aware I could hear their whole conversation. I pushed away my nerves happy to see my friends and let them into the extravagant penthouse.
Their eyes roamed over the room just as mine had yesterday morning. We all could never afford a room like this. This was truly how the upper class lived. They both went to the spectacular view, in awe of the height of the penthouse. I signaled them to the table to the spread of food. Every meal I had eaten was scrumptious. I had a theory there was a private chef for the upper levels of the hotels. Our lower-level hotel meals tasted nothing like the food in front of us. Mimosas and mocktails were laid out for all of us. Jess grabbed the mocktail and drank it back. We all sat in silence for a minute indulging in the delicious meal.
"Bella, why are you still here?" Ang finally asked. Unable to not address the elephant in the room.
Jess rolled her eyes "She's probably enjoying the sex and the food" laughing at the blush that formed on my cheeks. I was glad Jess was there at that moment- she had a great way of making me laugh.
I sighed finally ready to tell my ridiculous tale of how I married a Prince. I grabbed the piece of paper and cleared my throat ready to share with them every detail.
"Before I tell you everything you have to promise you both will not repeat this to anyone else. Please this is very important" Jess and Ang quickly nodded their head in response unsure of what was to come.
"We will do whatever you need" Ang finally said and she grabbed my hand to soothe me, realizing this was more serious than they both thought.
I recalled the club to them how our connection was unlike any other I had before. How I drank so many drinks my memory was spotty, but I knew I wanted to go home with him. I told them every detail I could remember, his hands on me at the club. Him tasting me. How we ended up at this penthouse suite. I even told them about how he was the best sex I had ever had. They both listened intently unsure where the story would take us. I slid out the piece of paper next and their eyes widened. I showed them the ring on my finger. I recalled waking up realizing we were married how I cried and we both did not remember how we got married.
"Oh my god, Bella this ring is worth so much!" Jess finally blurted out. She examined it closely. Ang was silent unsure of what exactly to say. She was the more logical friend of the two.
Next, I shared about Alice barging in. How she explained we could not annul our marriage. I then told them Edward was the prince of Cordova, next in line to the throne. I recalled how his bodyguard was sent away for the evening, resulting in our marriage. I sighed and rumbled through the rest. The bad press, how the royal family never had an annulment, Edward begging me to help. They both gasped, finally understanding why we were here.
My eyes welled up as I told them about my job at the bar and how James had driven me to quit. Something I was still struggling with. Memories of him pressed against me in the break room made my tears fall faster.
I sighed and told them I dropped out of school, which led to my massive debts. I was full-blown crying now, I was so embarrassed I had let my debts pile up this high. I recalled how Alice said they could repay debts in full. They both seemed to grasp the story in full now. Ang and Jess both grabbed my hands showing they would support me. I smiled at their kindness.
"I'm so happy I can share this with you both. It's been such a rollercoaster. I looked up Edward yesterday, he's referred to as the heartbreak Prince" I sighed. "Our connection is too strong to stay away from him. We made love again yesterday and when I say it was out of this world, it doesn't even cover it." I put my face into my hands feeling frustrated at my attraction towards him.
"So let me get this straight he's going to repay your debts and sex you up for the year?" Jessica laughed. Lightening up the mood. I laughed back needing to release some of my nerves.
"He's essentially like a friend with benefits, be careful Bella you don't want to get your heart broken" Ang smiled back. I was shocked she had accepted my ridiculous situation so quickly.
"I called him my prince with benefits yesterday" we all laughed hard. It was nice to have them both know the whole truth.
I realized I needed to tell them one last thing. The wedding. It was around 2 pm today across town at a ballroom. Alice was decorating it to be a winter wonderland theme. It was December here in Las Vegas. I had a feeling it would be the most gorgeous display I had seen.
"We are getting married today. The news article will be released tonight with photos of our wedding. I know it's a big ask since your wedding is tomorrow but would you two go with me? It would also help legitimize things if I had a few friends there" I smiled at them both. Hoping they had no plans for the day.
"We have nothing to wear!" Jessica breathed out a sigh. Clear she wanted nothing more than to be there for her friend. I grinned as I pointed to a clothing rack behind them with the most elegant bridesmaid dresses I had ever seen. Alice and Rose's doing of course. They somehow even got their sizes exactly right. How? I was unsure.
The girls giggled as they looked through the racks, aware these dresses cost more than either of us could ever afford. A knock was heard lightly at the door as Alice let herself in. She was smiling wide, happy to meet the girls.
"Guys, this is Alice. Edward's sister" I breathed out. They both went over to Alice and curtsied. I realized I would have to start getting used to more formal approaches.
"No need to curtsy here ladies! Nice to meet you both, I can tell already we all will be great friends" she hugged each girl uniting us all for just a moment.
"Let's pick a bridesmaid dress" Alice begged. She had been waiting for this all day. She brought a few more NDA's for the girls to sign. They gladly signed without hesitation. The girls fought over which dress was best, Alice's choice ended up being the clear winner of the group. It was a floor-length gown covered in lace, it was a beautiful paisley blue. It looked gorgeous on them all even though they all had very different figures.
Next makeup artists and hairdressers filled our suite getting all the girls ready for the wedding. Alice even suggested to Jessica we use them tomorrow for her wedding. We had been planning on doing our hair and makeup. Jessica was ecstatic loving the new perks of my situation. My stomach was all over the place. I knew the wedding wasn't real but something about it was so intimate. Edward and I would be getting married. I looked at myself in the mirror unable to recognize the face staring back at me. I looked regal and elegant. I truly looked like a blushing bride. My hair was pulled back halfway out of my face. My brown locks were curled. I had a rose-colored lipstick on. My dress hugged every curve of my frame. It was a more silky dress, yet just conservative enough to look extremely expensive. I felt so glamorous.
"Oh Bella you look absolutely beautiful" Jessica cried. Maybe it was her pregnancy hormones but Alice immediately ran over to fix her eye makeup.
"Bella you really do! You look stunning" Ang smiled tears in her eyes as well.
Alice place my veil onto my head and we were off to the venue unsure what was waiting for us. I was so happy to have the support of the three women with me. Alice and I had grown close in the short amount of time we had spent with one another. Our secret had bonded us.
I decided on the way over to call Charlie. It would take us about 30 minutes to get to the venue with the traffic. We all went over the story together for continuity. Jess and Ang would need to repeat this to others, like Mike. The story was I met Eddie online through my school chat form. We became pen pals which blossomed to more. We decided to meet in Las Vegas and eloped not wanting to be a part of one another. I decided to have Charlie believe me I would explain Edward needed to take a bride and we wanted to be able to be in the same country. A version of the truth. It was much more palette-able to swallow that not everything would be a complete lie. I wasn't a very impulsive person so I felt Charlie would understand this better if he knew we could divorce if it didn't work out. The whole story was far-fetched but I would send Charlie a few photos and I hoped it would legitimize our union. I sighed dialing his number smiling at the girls knowing this would be the most difficult conversation I would have.
"Bells! So great to hear from you, are you girls having a great trip?" Charlie asked. We hadn't spoken much over the last week. I'm sure he missed hearing from me.
"Hi dad, yes we are having a great time. Jess gets married tomorrow I'll be sure to send lots of pictures" I smiled. I took a quick sip of vodka to ease my nerves happy the limo was filled with many alcoholic drinks.
"Dad I actually have something else to tell you"
Charlie grunted in reply, unsure what it was I would say. Charlie was a retired police chief of a town called Forks. He lived a very calm routined life. I think his fear was I would leave him one day just as my mom did. My stomach was in knots knowing I would be doing exactly that. We were extremely close.
"I know this seems sudden but I met someone. His name is Edward, we've been pen pals for a while" I started my lie. Trying to be as believable as I could. "It's a bit complicated dad, but he's a Prince of a country called Cordova. We decided we wanted to be closer to one another and we eloped while in Vegas."
Charlie was absolutely silent, I was worried he hadn't heard me fully or the connection had broken.
"I'm telling you because a news article will be released today. Somehow the press found out about our wedding. You may have reporters try to talk to you. We didn't want to be far from one another and Edward needed to take a bride. We can separate if it doesn't work out. We just didn't want him to marry someone else." I was starting to believe my own words as I was sounding rather convincing.
"You're married?" He sighed out completely confused about how this could have happened.
"Bells this is so unlike you" he grunted out. The disappointment was apparent in his voice.
I was silent unable to say anything else to convince him this was the right choice. I knew with Charlie sometimes less was more.
"Does he make you happy?" He finally asked. I smiled and thought to Edward for a moment and answered honestly "Yes dad he does"
"Do you love him?" Love? It was a question I was not prepared for. I had to pretend- this question would come up more.
"Yes, dad I do" I sighed, feeling uneasy about being married to a stranger I most definitely did not love.
"Then that's all I need to hear. Bella, this is a lot to take in, couldn't you have chosen someone more normal?" He sighed again. Feeling uneasy that his daughter would now be in front of the public eye.
I laughed lightly he was right this was a lot to take in. "Trust me, dad, I was just as surprised when I learned he was a Prince." realizing I could tell versions of the truth. "He's a good guy daddy. We can visit one another, I'll be going to Cordova in a few days. We will stay in touch."
"What will I do without you?" He sadly asked. I sighed feeling guilty leaving my father to fend for himself while reporters most likely beat down his door.
"I can call often I promise" I smiled again. We said our goodbyes and he actually congratulated me. I felt awful lying to him but too many people knew the truth. Charlie would never understand why I chose to continue this lie. It was better to leave him in the dark. I felt relieved it was over with. Charlie, Ang, and Jess all knew we were married, it was nice to not be in this whole mess alone.
The rest of the ride was silent. We all were unsure what to exactly expect. Even though it wasn't real I was so nervous to see him. This was our wedding. I took another shot quickly to let go of my fears. This was all happening I might as well enjoy the event Alice and Edward had planned.