“A bachelorette?” Fernando raised an eyebrow as he sliced the onion. “You and Lily?”
“Yang Mi is coming with us too…” Lily nodded. She rested her elbows on the center island of the kitchen and propped her chin on her palms. She watched both Fernando and Zhuo Jingren cook with Secretary Go assisting them.
“We are all brides. I mean… me and Lily.” Li Shanshan said. “We totally deserve this before we get married.”
“Both of you are already married.” Fernando declared, unamused. “Why are you acting like a single woman?”
“It’s natural for a bride to be have a bachelorette. Plus… we won’t have any male strippers all right? We are just going to have some weekends for ourselves!” Li Shanshan reasoned.
“Hmmm… just one weekend.” Lily uttered as she thought about all the paperworks that will be delayed because of this party. She could not even think about the amount of work that will wait for her after this ‘weekend’. She sighed inwardly.
“Wait… you said that President Zhuo is going to marry you in every continent that you go to. Does this mean that… we will have a bachelorette party every time?” Li Shanshan beamed at the idea.
“OF COURSE NOT!” Both Fernando and Zhuo Jingren answered at the same time. Making Lily and Li Shanshan laughed out loud.
“One bachelorette is enough.” Zhuo Jingren said.
“You are okay with this idea?” Fernando frowned.
“Why not?”
“You are okay with letting them go to the beach, wear two piece clothing and lay in the sand without us?”
“Why not?” Zhuo Jingren shrugged.
“You are okay with them partying all by themselves?”
“Is there any reason I should not approve of their plan?”
Fernando stared at Zhuo Jingren in disbelief. He then shifted his gaze at Secretary Go. “Oi… Jichen… are you okay with your woman having a party without you?”
“No.” Secretary Go answered. “She can have bachelorette but I should come along.”
“See?” he held his hand at Secretary Go. “See? That is what I’m talking about. This is a true man.”
“Fernando… why are you making such a big deal out of this?” Lily asked when she saw Zhuo Jingren shook his head. “What’s wrong with us partying without you?”
“Everything.” Fernando said, sternly.
“See? This man is crazy.” Li Shanshan whispered. “This is what I was talking about. He is like a glue. A strong one at that.”
“Well… you can also have your own party, you know.” Lily laughed.
“Absolutely not.” Fernando shook his head. “Not going to happen. I have been to a lot of parties. I don’t need another one.” Surprisingly, Zhuo Jingren nodded at Fernando’s words.
Both women looked at each other. “Then… maybe we could have a party together?” Li Shanshan said after a few seconds. Defeat apparent in her eyes. She sighed in disappointment. However, this only made Lily laugh.
To be honest, Lily does not care about any parties at all. However, she would not want to disappoint her friend.
“That is such a great idea!” Fernando beamed. “We can have our parties together!”
The group of friends continued their banter as both Fernando and Zhuo Jingren cooked for their Christmas Eve Feast — something that Lily always celebrated with her grandmother in the past.
After a few hours, Bei Tian also arrived, bringing some wine for their dinner.
“Enjoying the party?” Zhuo Jingren’s whisper interrupted Lily. She titled her head and looked at him before she shifted her gaze back to the fireplace in front of them. She was currently sitting in her grandmother’s study looking at some family pictures.
“I am. Thank you.” She smiled. This is her study. It’s small, but she liked it that way.” She eyed the wedding portrait of her grandmother on top of the fireplace. “How are you?”
“Hmmm.” He sat beside her and pulled her into a hug. “I quite liked it too.” His voice was light and carefree. “I think… it is nice to live a life like this.”
“Something quiet?” she asked.
“Yeah… away from trouble. Just peaceful and happy.” Lily let out a small giggle. “What’s wrong? Did I say something funny?” he asked.
“You reminded me of my plans before I met you months ago.”
“Plans?”
“I was planning to live somewhere far once I retire. Alone and away from all this drama.” She answered. Memories of her first meeting with Zhuo Jingren came rushing inside her. She smiled. She would treasure those memories forever.
“And? Did you change your plans?”
“Nope.” She felt him stilled at her answer. She giggled and continued, “I only added you to the equation. This time, instead of living alone, I planned on living with you!”
He let out a low chuckle. “Do you have a place in mind?”
“Nope. I don’t know. What about you?”
“Anywhere with you is fine.” He answered.
Silence followed as Lily felt the warm and assurance from his words. Both of them watched the flickering fire, casting shadows on the carpeted floor. She leaned hear head on his shoulders.
“Here…” she said. “I know we still have a few hours before midnight but this is my gift to you.” She handed a small box wrapped in red mesh.
“What is this?”
“You can open it later.”
“Please don’t tell me this is some condoms, or something like that. Aw! all right… I was joking stop pinching me.” he laughed at her.
“Why would you even think of that?” she asked, wide eyed. Sometimes, she really could not understand how her husband’s mind work.
“I don’t know. What if you wanted to have some protection or something?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know… sometimes I wonder if you are really the same person that those magazines had talked about.”
“Why?”
“You are not cold or anything like that.”
“Oh… do you like cold people better?”
“Of course not. If I marry someone as cold as me… we will freeze.”
“I agree.” He nodded and smirked. “Since this is not some condoms then… all good.”
She instantly lifted an eyebrow at his reaction. “Don’t tell me…”
“We still have a few hours before midnight.” He kissed her cheeks and started trailing kisses on her neck.
“Jingren… not here.” Lily said as she eyed her grandmother’s portrait. On the photo was Lilian with her husband, smiling. She shivered. “We should go to our room.” She rose from here seat and left the office. There is just nothing more creepy than making love in front of her grandmother’s portrait.
Just the thought of it made Lily shivered again.
