Choose Wisely

Chapter One: Daddy's Little Girl

I staggered through the streets, wondering how my life had spiralled out of control. Everything had seemed so perfect... so beautiful, that my lovely mirage that had woven itself around me had become tangible to the touch. But now, that mirage had been shown to be what it was- a fake. A dazzling fake- like a diamond that shattered.

You must choose. I felt sickened to the stomach at the thought and ducked into a back-alley, retching up, what felt like my insides. Sick splattered the grey pavement and I cringed at the sight, almost whimpering at the ghastly picture. Bent over, I retched a few more times, each time plunging my whole body in a kind of shivering convulsion.

Sprawling away, I collapsed onto the shadowed asphalt, my whole body trembling. It had to have been the food. Looks like L'amore served out food poisoning as well as escargot. A bitter laugh escaped me at how I had thought everything to be like a glistening dream. Now that dream had shattered my entire future and made me sick.

Tears followed the laugh and I found myself weeping into my hands. My nails had been angelic gold, polished to perfection and shining. Now, they were bitten to the quick and ragged strips of metallic gold remained, just a further taunt of how far I had fallen.

“My dear Natalia, Father had lovingly said. “You are one of the Chosen. One of the upper-class, that are able to have this luxury of the Choice. My beautiful daughter, seventeen years of age, and proceeding to make her Choice.”

You have never made me more proud.

That was the only time he had uttered such warm words. Yet even those words had been underlined with a touch of slick pride- that any other daughter might have felt heart-warmed by. But, my father did not have pride in his daughter. He had pride in his possession.

And when the little doll did not mimic, utter and act the words he wanted.....

Slap!

“You have been an arrogant fool,” Father spat at me. “Acting like some whore off the streets- what were you thinking? You can have no other life, no other little romance, with none other than your Choice- do you understand me?”

“I..I'm sorry, Father,” I cringed, hiding my tears. He hated tears. “I will never see him again, I promise you. Please forgive me.”

“Forgiveness is for those who deserve it,” Father said derisively. “And you are far from any forgiveness of mine.”

Sixteen years old at the time and I had kissed a boy. A boy who was not part of my Choice. I hadn't understood how our lives revolved around our Choices, how we had to be so careful with our lives and how it occurred. It had all gone so wrong before.

“Get out of here!” Father roared at Daniella. “You have no right to be here!”

“I don't want to be here,” she spat at him. “You rule over everyone here, with the fear that you have, trying to make everyone elses' lives as miserable as yours.”

He grew so still, you might have thought him to be a statue. But soon, his face morphed into a terrible anger, an anger that only came out every once in awhile.

When it did, you knew you had to be scared. Your stomach would drop and your palms would grow clammy. You would back away, but you could never run away. And you would wait, with each terrifying second, for the bomb to tick down and for him to explode.

A step. One step and Danielle flinched, as if he had struck her with his hands. Another. She swallowed, her bravado fading in a flash. There was no real anger like Father's.