Convincing her

Jen fell asleep as she lay down on the massage table while getting her massage. She was there with Laura, who had also fallen asleep because of how late she went to sleep the previous night.

Unlike Jen, Laura was tossed around for most of the night and was only able to fall asleep early in the morning. The two friends lay on the massage tables motionlessly for a while before they were woken up to head out the next treatment. 

"When it's my turn, I'm going to have a day or two break between the bachelorette and the wedding. This is too tiresome; James is also too much!" Laura said in complaint, making Jen laugh in the process.

She could somewhat imagine how it went down the previous night. If she was not abstaining from Lucas, then she would probably be in Laura's shoes at the moment. 

"You'll only know once you are in the moment," Jen said with a laugh as she followed Laura out of the room. There were several rooms for massages and everyone else was scattered among them. 

"Why did the two of you rush your marriage?" Laura asked once she heard Jen's response. 

"I couldn't stand it anymore. The thought that I would have to go back to having a long-distance relationship was a bit too unbearable," Jen answered smoothly and Laura nodded in understanding. She knew for sure that she was not the type that would be able to have a long-term, long-distance relationship. 

"Understandable... Are you nervous?" Laura asked once they were in the bathroom. There were different options that were available to them, and all they had to do was pick and choose what they were in the mood for. They went to shower quickly to get ready to go into the hot tub. 

"Not really, I'm actually anxious to quickly get this over with," Jen responded as she told herself that she was not anxious for the wedding night but rather being an officially married couple with Lucas. The two quickly finished showering and went to sit in the borderline scalding hot water. Jen could already feel her relaxed muscles relax even more. 

"Are you going to move universities?" Laura continued to ask, and Jen nodded in agreement. She hadn't talked to Lucas about it yet, but she was seriously considering this, especially because she was now pregnant. With how attached she has become, having a long-distance relationship now is just going to be torture for her. 

"Good call. You were different when Lucas was not around," Laura said, and Jen raised a brow in question. 

"Really?" Jen asked, a trace of disbelief leaking into her tone. Even though she had missed him when they were not together, she didn't think that she had behaved differently because of his absence. It was at this time that the other girls were also done with their massages and joined the two of them. 

"At least the other witnesses have finally arrived. Quickly come here," Laura said, and beckoned for the girls to come over. Soon, the girls filled the large hot tub. Thankfully, it was a large one and could fit a huge crowd. Laura only started talking again once everyone found their own comfortable spot. 

"This is so comfortable," Leanna said with a sigh. Although she enjoyed being with her family, a break like this once in a while didn't hurt at all. She left the boy with his grandparents and even irresponsibly left her phone in the locker room. If anything happens, Ethan will take care of it. 

"It is," Nancy agreed. 

"I think all of you should have kids to really appreciate this," Leanna said, and Laura laughed in response. 

"I think you should all try living like me for a month and you'll really appreciate this," Laura said, and everyone silently agreed. Laura made her life look so effortless, but they all acknowledged how disciplined she actually was... especially with a boss like James. 

"I appreciate it even though I don't live like either one of you," Rachel said, and shut down the arguments. Who was more stressed out than their CEO friend? There was no point in competing with her! 

"Anyway, Jen was saying that she didn't change at all once Lucas left for his masters," Laura said, remembering to resume with their earlier debate. Alex, who was sipping on a glass of chilled champagne, almost choked on her drink. What did she mean she didn't change? They were basically living together without sleeping in the same house when she was there for her business trip. 

"I dare you to repeat that. I promise I won't hit you," Alex said, and Jen kept quiet. She had forgotten about how she acted like she couldn't live without Lucas, and Alex had to constantly make sure she was eating well and didn't neglect herself.

Alex even cooked for her several times to make sure she was eating. Alex was super lazy about a lot of aspects of her life except for when it came to work and looking good. So, getting her to cook means that she was feeling quite desperate. 

"Tsk tsk tsk, how the mighty have fallen," Laura joked and everyone laughed together. Time went faster than they had thought and soon Jen was already taken care of. With her hair and make-up done, all that was left was for her to wear her shoes and dress. 

Everyone else was ready and was anxiously waiting for Jen to come out of the dressing room. Jen had four people help her out with wearing her dress, not that it was cumbersome to put on. Besides curiosity, there was no one other reason for there being so many people in the first place. In fact, one person would have been enough. 

Once Jen walked out of the dressing room, there was silence as everyone was shocked into silence. Jen looked at her friends, who were staring at her with their jaws hanging open and couldn't help but fidget from nerves. 

"Oh My God!!!" Alex said with a squeal that snapped everyone else out of their reverie. The dress accentuated Jen's figure and fit her like a glove.

There were tiny gems that were sown into the dress and decorations on the nude coloured lace sleeves that made it look like someone placed the pearls and diamonds directly on her skin. The dress with the ridiculously long train was simple, but fit Jen's temperament to the point where they couldn't take their eyes off her. 

"Who made this dress? I think I have to talk to James to make contact. I definitely want to be their brand ambassador," Laura said with stars in her eyes. 

"Hellen's friend made it. I think her name was Hannah?" Jen answered and Laura's eyes got even wider. Hannah's brand couldn't be described as a luxury brand. It was beyond that! You couldn't just walk into a shop to buy their dresses, they have exclusive customers and you can only get the opportunity to buy something from an introduction. Even that doesn't guarantee that you'll get to buy anything! 

"She is mother's friend?" Laura asked, and Jen resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Since when was Hellen her mother? Even so, she still nodded. 

"Let's take a few photos before we go. Can you call in the photographers?" Laura said to the staff as they all got prepared to take pictures.