06

"His eyes full of mischief. His lips forming a smirk. She was sure. He was the devil himself."

Genevieve woke up disoriented and uncomfortable. Why was her bed so hard? It used to be soft and fluffy.

She carefully opened her eyes, the lights from the ceiling blinding her for a moment. But those weren't her lights, and ceiling. She had the moon and stars in her own bedroom, lighting up the dark room whenever night came.

'Where am I?' she wondered.

She was about to call out to her mother before she remembered what happened. What was supposed to happen today.

It was her wedding day!

The room she was in, she realized, was an office room. It had a desk in the middle, bookshelves leaning against the walls. The sofa, which she was sleeping in, was in the middle of the room, together with the table. 

Was this her husband’s office?

'Soon-to-be-husband', she corrected. They weren't married just yet. When were they going to get married anyway?

Genevieve's brow creased, her confusion clouding her mind. Where was she? And why was she alone?

The door behind her opened, and her head turned quickly, causing a headache. A man entered. It was the man who drove her to the city, Mr. Alvaro's driver.

"Hello, Ma'am." the man greeted Genevieve, and she smiled back, swiftly fixing her hair just in case it looked like a bird's nest. "Señor Dominguez is waiting for you at the Mayor's office."

Mayor? Why were they at the Mayor's office? Did she do something wrong?

Her questions just doubled in number, none of them answered. Not that she would bother to ask anyway, Genevieve was too shy.

Genevieve merely nodded her head to the man, his name unknown, and followed him out the door. 

They passed a couple of rooms and a woman who sat in a desk. A secretary, maybe. Was she the Mayor's secretary? What was her job like?

Genevieve's mind was like a cloud of wonder, like a child's mind that was full of questions. She was so fascinated at the things around her.

The colors of the walls, and the modern touch of infrastructure that surrounded the building was new to her eyes. 

They passed a window that was overlooking the busy city, the building tall and bright in Genevieve's eyes. It took everything in her not to skip on her toes, she was just too excited.

Would Mr. Alvaro allow her to explore the city after their wedding? She wanted to look around and wander in the city.

Soon, they stopped in front of a door. Genevieve looked behind the man’s head and read the name that was on the door.

Mr. Mario De Castro, City Mayor.

Genevieve's eyes widened. The place she was in was really the Mayor's office, and she was meeting the Mayor himself!

She looked down and almost immediately, a blush covered her cheeks. Her outfit wasn't fit for a meeting with such a powerful man. Her Mama Emilia insisted that she wore a simple, yellow summer dress. Her Mama didn't want her to feel the summer's heat. 

She wished she wore a more formal dress. She didn't want to be embarrassed in front of the Mayor. 

She frowned, disliking her outfit for the day. She thought she would have the time to change before her wedding. She thought that she would be able to wear a beautiful, white dress.

Genevieve didn't have enough time to ponder her thoughts when the man knocked on the door, opening it right after. The bright and lively office greeting them both.

Genevieve saw three men inside.

One, dressed in a suit, standing rigid by the bookshelves at the wall. He had a serious look in his face, and Genevieve realized that he was a guard. 

'Was he nice?' she asked herself, glancing at the man and wondering if he knew her.

The other two were by the desk, one sitting down and the other standing.

The standing man had his head bowed, his hands together, with a frown on his face. 

The other was seated on the expensive looking chair, facing the window behind him. It was like he refused to look around and see his guests.

The Mayor was a rude man, Genevieve concluded. You had to face and greet your guests whenever you had them, not ignore them. And it looked like he was bullying the poor man by the desk, too.

Genevieve frowned, not expecting that the man leading the city was a rude person. She thought that he was a warm person, being a public servant and all.

Were they always like this? The people in power?

Genevieve was lost in thoughts while the Driver spoke a simple greeting to the Mayor, the man not bothering to greet back.

'How rude.'

"Señor." the bodyguard called, and the man who had his head down looked at him, his eyes wide.

Was this Mr. Alvaro? Poor him.

The Mayor was such a bully. How could he be so rude to this nice man? 

Genevieve glared at the man who had his back turned to her, precisely at the chair he was in. She was badmouthing him in her mind.

Her Mama taught her not to be a bad person, but this man was bullying and ignoring her husband, she couldn't just ignore it.

Having courage, Genevieve stepped away from Mr. Alvaro's driver and neared the man who, again, had his head down.

'Poor Mr. Alvaro.' she thought. People said he was bad and a rude man, but she didn't think so. Especially now. He was such a scaredy-cat, and he needed Genevieve to protect him.

Genevieve decided at that moment. She was going to be her soon-to-be-husbands protector.

Starting now.

She stopped her steps and positioned herself at the right side of the man, her eyes training on his old features. She wasn't aware that Mr. Alvaro was this old? How many years were their ages apart? 

Mr. Alvaro looked alike like Papa Carlos before he died.

Was Mr. Alvaro a Papa already?

The guard, Marco Roman, and the driver stared at her, watching her movements. And ending with confusion. Why was she there?

Genevieve smiled at the man beside her, but all his replies were confused eyes. Why was he so confused? Is the wedding not today?

Again, her head was filled with questions.

Moments later, the man on the chair turned, facing his guests. 

'Finally.' Genevieve's sarcastic voice filled her mind. 

A man with a large body greeted her, his face stoic. Genevieve didn't want to meet his eyes. As much as she disliked how he was acting, she didn't want to be at the other side of his rudeness. 

She was a scaredy-cat too.

But she had to be brave. She had to. Mama didn't raise a quitter.

"We-we are here to get m-married, Mr. Mayor." she stuttered, her eyes still not meeting his. She also felt the eyes of the other people in the room on her. Why were they staring too much?

To prove her point to the rude Mayor, she side-stepped a bit closer to the man beside her. He was shaking now. Was Mr. Alvaro that scared of this man?

The man at the chair raised an eyebrow at her. Oh, no. Was he mad?

The never-ending questions on the girl's mind was making her dizzy.

She heard a cough, and she looked at the man beside her. He wasn't the man coughing. She looked around the room and saw the guard looking back at her, staring.

"I think you're mistaken, Genevieve." he knew her name. Who was he? She tilted her head at him, what mistake was he pertaining to?

"The man beside you isn't Mr. Alvaro Dominguez" he continued. 

Genevieve's eyes widened. This man wasn't her husband?! 

Then who was Mr. Alvaro?

She quickly looked at the man who drove her to the city, but he quickly shook his head. No, it's not him. Why would he drive her here, anyway? He was a busy man.

She looked back at the guard; her eyes full of confusion. Was it him?

No, he shook his head too.

But then he did something that made her say just one word.

He gestured his head to the sitting man behind the desk. The man who was now smirking at her, his eyes full of entertainment, teasing sweet Genevieve.

'Oh.'