Diana

The stylist Alejandro sent over have been at it for hours. Prodding and piercing in various places. It hurt, but I had to admit, Shimmer sure knew her stuff. While she had been working her magic on my hair, her twin sister, Shine, had done some flawless makeup witchcraft on my face. Shimmer had given me a gorgeous, sleek chignon with little pearls embedded in my hair. She probably emptied 7 cans of hairspray to keep that up. Shine on the other hand had gone all out on my face, with the mascara and everything else she had used. From the neck up, I looked flawless.

Now for the other part of me. Shimmer and Shine had brought in several racks of exquisite designer gowns but couldn't quite agree on anything. While they were arguing which was better between the gold Alexander McQueen and the black Vivien Westwood, I was going through the clothes. I was just flipping through when my eyes fell upon the most gorgeous shade of blue. It was almost turquoise but not quite and the fabric felt so soft, like I was swishing my hand around in a tiny cloud. I took it off the rack and turned to them.

"This is the one", I said. They both stopped their bickering and stared at the dress and I from top to bottom. 'Please say yes', I thought.

" Ohmigod, Shimmer how didn't we notice this. It is so the one", Shine squealed

"This dress is sooo adorbs, like, I die", Shimmer replied

" Well can you die a little later?, running outta time here", I told them. They promptly got back to work. Alejandro had texted me saying he would come by the house at 7: 30 to freshen up since the gala was starting at 8: 00. I looked at the clock, it was 7: 24. 6 more minutes and he was going to be here. All I could do was hope I would survive the night.

Alejandro

I've been home for close to 20 minutes. I had showered and dressed all in that and I still had time to make some calls. Diana on the other hand, had been at home all day. The stylists came over at 3, 4 hours and 50 minutes later and she still not ready.

Women.

Shimmer and Shine descended the stairs looking all giddy.

"She's gonna take your breath away Ale, simply gorgeous", Shimmer told me. Shine just gave me that look, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, like she knew something I didn't. I just waved them off. I continued talking on the phone not really paying attention to anything around me, and then I looked up the stairs.

Bellisima

That was all I could think of as I stared at Diana. The dress she wore was a most strange shade of blue, almost cerulean. It was off the shoulder and hugged her body all the way to her knees showing off her voluptuous curves and then it flared out in a seemingly endless train. Don't ask me how I know all that, but just know it has something to do with Valeria. The slit that ran from her knee cap to the end of the train added a tantalizing, seductive edge to the ensemble making it all the more appealing. Shimmer was right, she did take my breath away. Somehow, she had managed to move from the top of the stairs to in front of me in the time I spent admiring her.

"Do I look ok? ", she asked

Dang it woman, don't you know you could have every single man in that place tearing at their clothes in a matter of seconds just because of that dress. That's what was going through my head but what came out was, " It's alright "

She looked visibly let down by the statement but I didn't have enough time to ponder on her facial reaction. "Let's go", I said and ushered her out of the house and into the Aston Martin I had packed outside earlier.

The ride was silent and as I looked over at her I couldn't help but feel she was having the same thoughts as me.

The courage to survive the night.

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Alejandro

I parked in front of the building and handed my car keys to the valet. I then went over to Diana and gave her my hand. She took it after a bit of hesitation and then we began walking. We were considerably late and everyone was already late, so by the time we entered, all eyes turned to us.

I was used to it, the states, the comments, when you're a celebrity it's an ever present part of your life. As for Diana, she wasn't used to this, even though she was from one of the wealthiest families in America and was married to a once successful business tycoon, I knew she hated the publicity. In high school, she used to diguise as a guy just so the paparazzi won't recognize her. The limelight really wasn't her thing. In all honesty I expected her to cower away in fear but instead she straightened her back and took on a strong, dominant aura as if taunting the other guests to challenge us. Every bit the alpha wolf, I thought. We eventually put an end to the stare-down and descended the little stairs that brought us to the mass of guests.

We started to mingle and more people were coming our way, probably because of the gorgeous woman on my arm. One of them was Emilio Vasconsielas. I had been trying to get the bastard to work with me for years but he only kept turning me down. I didn't enjoy refusal and coupled with the fact that he was currently eye-fucking my wife didn't sit well with me.

"Alejandro, always a pleasure seeing you", I hummed in reply, " And who is this gorgeous young lady? "

"This is my wife, Diana", I replied

" Wife?!, muy bien, Alejandro, I thought you would never marry. Congratulations. But honestly, when did this happen, because last I saw you, you were very much single? "

I panicked, but did not show it of course. I was too busy being mad at Diana, I hadn't thought of a back story to our hasty wedding. I smiled hoping he would drop it but then...

"Alejandro and I have known each other since high school. We were together back then and very much in love but, certain circumstances led us to separate", Diana told him. She then turned to me, " But he came back and as faith would have it, we met again and rekindled the fire. I guess you just can't cheat destiny", I then smiled and kissed her forehead to add a little flare.

"That's beautiful. Well Mr Delmanti, I'm looking forward to your call", and with that he walked away.

The rest of the night went by in a blur. People coming to congratulate me on my wedding and coming to ogle my new bride. Word sure travels fast.

Diana on the other hand, stole the show. I could see she was getting several envious glares from the women around the hall. She mesmerized every single man in the room. Even the married ones took a few safe minutes to stare. The way she moved, it was almost as if her feet didn't touch the ground. I was too busy ogling I didn't notice the person next to me until they had wrapped their long thin fingers around my arm. I turned to see Lorraina. I sighed knowing what was to come.

" Hi Ale", her voice was rather croaky, she had sure downed her weight in alcohol. But in her defense, the night was coming to an end.

"Lorraina, how are you? ", I tried to make light conversation.

" Great now that you're here", she replied in a flirtatious manner. Her grip on my hand was tightening, like she was hanging to me for dear life. "What do you say we ditch this party and go have a good time? ", she grinded on me in a thankfully, discrete manner. I pushed her away. Lorraina was good in bed but she really did not know how to take 'no' for an answer. She was the clingy type.

Then I felt another pair of hands on my other arm. Diana. " Sweetheart who's this? ", she asked

" I'm his g-"

"Friend", I interjected

" Oh really, well we simply must have her at that house for dinner, right babe? "

"Of course"

"Babe? ", Lorraina questioned, " Who are you exactly? ".

" Oh forgive my manners. I'm Diana. Alejandro's wife". She then extended her hand for Lorraina, the hand that bore the 1.2 million dollar ring. Sly. Lorraina just stomped her foot like a spoiled petulant child and walked away.

She had a rather exhausted look on her face when she turned to me, "Can we go home now? ", she asked.

" Yes"

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Alejandro

Back at home while we were getting ready for bed I turned to her, "What happened back there? ", I asked

" What are you talking about? "

"The Diana I knew used to dress up like a boy to avoid the paparazzi, today you were practically what everyone wanted to see"

"The Diana you knew Alejandro", she the walked to the bathroom and stopped at the door, " People change"

Yes, they do Diana. Yes they do.

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