Trial marriage part 1

It has been days since we finished our elective and exchange program at Areela and a lot has happened since then. Luckily, the threat I issued was well received because we did not catch a gust of those rumors again though we are still suing the creator of those rumors. In any case, days have passed and now it is time for the grand finale, The Areela grand masquerade ball is drawing nearer and nearer. 

We went out to find outfits for the dance and it was totally exhausting, firstly because I dislike shopping and secondly because shopping with Dove is excruciatingly drainging. Dove is a perfectionst who will not leave the shop as long as we have not found the perfect ideal outfit for the occasion.

" I am so tired." Hannah whined 

" Can we at least take a break and grab burgers from that store?" Hannah asked because they had been shopping since the early hours and past lunchtime and they were not even close to being done. 

" We still have to find Alyssie an outfit." Dove responded

" I do not mind wearing just anything honestly." I replied 

sigh, " No we can not have you wearing just about anything when this will be the last chance you get to impress the surgeon." Hannah said shaking her head. I though she wanted to leave but what the hell? she just refused to take the escape route I offered. I guess she does not find this excursion exhausting as much as I thought she did, so much for solidarity in comrades! 

" Then it is settled let's go to next store." Dove said with a clap of hands showing her great passion for the mission she gave herself which was to find Alyssa the perfect outfit!

" No, let us have lunch first before Hannah collapses on us." I said firstly because I was concerned about them and their health and secondly because I really needed the break. 

" oh alryt, let's do that first." Dove finally gave in, anything to do with health and wellbeing was her biggest weakness. 

...

" We would like three hamburgers with fries please." Hannah said as she ordered for the three of us as soon as we arrived at a restaurant. 

" Wait, I do not want to have..." Before Dove could finish her sentence Hannah interjected 

" And a one salad as a side please." Hannah said 

" Okay, anything else?" The waitress asked 

" No, thank you that will be all." Hannah responded 

" Okay in that case may I offer you guys drinks? They are the speciality of the restaurant." The waitress offered with a smile.

"Uhmm... What do you guys think?" Hannah asked 

" Oh so now you want to hear our opinions?" Dove scoffed 

" Well yes, but it is okay if you do not want to say anything because I was going to accept them anyway," Hannah said with a bright smile which made Dove roll her eyes and I laughed.

" Are they for free?" Hannah asked before accepting the offer 

" Yes, they are." The waitress answered 

" Then yes, we would like to try them out. Thank you so much for the offer." Hannah said with a big smile because she loved free things.

" You are not acting like an heiress." I said 

" And that is why we are friends, right?" Hannah shot back and I smiled. None of us liked the idea of using our families to get the stuff we want and we certainly did not like to act like stereotypical heiresses. 

" In any case, I will be honest we have been walking around for hours and we have not found anything. Plus i did not like any of the stuff we saw earlier." I said 

" Yeah, me too. The material does not really sit well with the color of my eyes." Hannah said which earned her a big side eye from Dove and I because she has not lost her habit of buying clothes based on whether the material or design of the clothes make her eyes stand out more.

" Plus we need a wow factor for Alyssa." She added 

" Stop saying that I said. I am not going there to impress anyone." I said 

"Yeah right. I believe you." Hannah said sarcastically.

" Here is your order please enjoy." The waitress said as she placed the hamburgers on our table.

" Thank you." We said in unison 

" Han is right Alyssie. I am certain that you would want to impress him at the dance, right?" Dove said and I remained silent for a while.

" What is the point of trying to impress someone who sees you as , in his words, " An infant" ? He does not see me at all and I do not know if I want to get disappointed again." I confessed 

" Then make him notice you. Alyssie I am sure that you can do that. Find the right outfit and I promise you, you will." Hannah said as she tried to encourage Alyssa and make her feel better. 

" I agree. Just get the perfect outfit and you will get results." Dove said

 " I do not know guys. My opinions about relationships differ a lot. Even if he were to notice me you know my ideals." I said 

" Then follow your ideals. " Hannah said as she nibbled on her fries while Dove nodded her head to show her agreement with Hannah's suggestion

"How? I have proposed before and we all know how that turned out. " I said dejected 

Sigh. The table was silent again.

" Excuse me. I am sorry, I happened to be passing by and I overheard your conversation. May I suggest something?" A lady with blonde hair and big round blue eyes said.

" It is okay." Hannah said politely. She is very welcoming. The lady quickly grabbed a chair from another table and sat with us. She was very beautiful and her facial features sort looked familiar but I could not put my finger on it.

" Well, I will get straight to the point. I once read this webnovel and when I heard your conversation, I was reminded of the novel I once read. So here is the idea, try a .... a trial marriage" the lady said with so much excitement that people who have thought she had invented the greatest idea of the century.

" Excuse me?" I said puzzled

" A trial marriage. It will solve your issue I guarantee." She said as she raised her right hand in the air so as to make an oath that I could take her word for it.

" Listen, a trial marriage is just you saying that give me a chance and let's see if this will work out. If he still considers you a child after the amount of time you spend together at least you would havd tried to convince him otherwiswe and if he does not see it by then, then he is the problem not you." she said. Who was this lady? 

" she has a point." Hannah said as she nodded to the lady's idea. Dove remained silent, I bet she was contemplating over the idea I found ridiculous.

" All you have to do is to propose the idea and set a time limit right?" Hannah said as she asked for confirmation from the unkonwn lady. 

" Exvuse me, May I ask for your name? You give really good advice and this might work for my friend so I will like to thank you in the near future." Hannah said 

" Oh you are so sweet, I like you! My name is Emmy but you can call me Em." the lady said

" Em. I am Hannah. This is Melissa ( referring to Dove) and Alyssa, the lady with a dilemma." Hannah said to Emmy. 

" Oh, nice to meet you lovely young ladies." Emmy said with a big smile when her phone suddenly rang and she answered it and said one word. 

" Coming." She said then ended the call. "Unfortunately, I have to go now. I hope the idea will work for you. All the best and see you guys in the near future." She said to us after ending the call.

" Wait! How will we contact you when we get the thank you gift for you? Please share your contact details." Hannah asked as she abruptly stood. Honestly who would give someone they just met their contact details? I tried to pull Hannah to make her sit down when the other party shocked me as well. 

" Sure, Here you go." She said as she handed Hannah a piece of paper with numbers. I could not believe it and Dove could not as well. I guess it is true when they say birds of a feather flkock together. This lady was Hannah's match!

" Bye ladies." She said again as she gave a back hand wave and let the restaurant.

" Bye!" Hannah waved excitedly

" Guys? Can you believe it?" Hannah said, she was so excited.

" No we do not." We said in unison

" Right?! She is so cool! I liked her aura." Hannah said 

" You are dumber than I thought my friend." Dove said in a conclusive tone as she looked at Hannah with fake pity. I did not say anything and just laughed at her comment.

" What? I am a person with a great eye for these. She is a nice person I guarantee." She said as she mimicked what Emmy did earlier. Dove and I face plammed.

....

On the other hand, Emmy was elated that she had accomplished something from abruptly leaving the main house. She had planned to just observe Alyssa from afar when she overhead their conversation and realized that her idiotic brother would lose the lady he loves if he kept playing his mind games so she decided to help him a bit mainly because she liked Alyssa too. The young lady seemed to be well groomed and so she approved of her plus her friends are not bad either. 

" Where are you? " Lion asked over the phone 

" I went to give dating advice on the other side of the world." Emmy said with a laugh

" Whatever. Calix asked for you to come back." Lion said 

" Sure, I am done sorting things out this side." Emmy said 

" You left in a rush to a different country only to stay for 2 hours and come back?" Lion asked incredulous 

" Yep. see you soon minion." Emmy said 

" Weirdo." Lion said 

Emmy laughed and said, " Can't help it. It runs in the family."