The greatest marriages are built on teamwork. A mutual respect, a healthy dose of admiration, and a never-ending portion of love and grace.
Author Unknown
The bright morning sun beamed through my blinds as I laid still on my bed. Everything felt like a dream the night before that I had to pinch myself to know that I wasn't dreaming. A heavy sigh escaped my mouth as I admired the ring on my finger. I still hadn't told the news to my family yet, as I came home late last night, and I didn't know how they would take the news.
"Aleiah, wake up!" I heard my mom's voice on the other side of my bedroom. At twenty-four, I still lived with my family. My dad had a stroke a couple of years ago, so he had to retire early from work, and I became the sole breadwinner. My mom was a stay home mother, patiently taking care of my father; while my younger brother, now a fourth year college student at University of Santo Tomas taking up Business Administration. We used to be doing well before my father got sick. Now, we were surviving out of the meager salary I was making, and the savings my dad had put aside.
"Coming!" I pulled away my blanket, and walked hurriedly to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I went out of my bedroom, just as I saw Kendrick whizzed past me in his school uniform.
"Excuse me, sis."
He nearly bumped into me, and I almost lost my balance. I shook my head at my only brother 'cause he still acted like a kid even in his late teens. When I reached the dining room, I saw my parents and my brother were already having breakfast.
"Mano po!" I said this to my father as I held his hand and let it rest on my forehead. I did the same thing to my mother who was busy feeding my dad.
My mom immediately noticed the new ring on my finger. "What’s that?" She asked, with a quizzical look on her face.
I put on a happy face, and said slowly, "Oh, I'm engaged now mom... to Andrew." I inhaled deeply, looking expectantly at each member of my family, hoping that they would be as happy as I was.
After what seemed like an eternity, my brother finally stood up, gave me a hug, and greeted me. "Congratulations, sis."
"Thanks, Ken!" I replied with much enthusiasm, and hugged him back.
There was an unmistaken glint of happiness in my father's eyes when I stole a glance at him. Although he couldn't utter a word, but he tried his best to move his mouth. I just knew right there and then that I got his blessing. I felt relieved.
The only person who had not said anything yet was my mom. She just sat there in her chair quietly, the spoon of my dad still in her hand, hanging in mid-air. Her expression was unfathomable. It took her a while to finally utter one word, "So..."
"So, what mom?" I asked, nervous as ever. "Why didn't he ask for our blessing? He could have talked to us first, out of respect." Clearly, my mom was upset. She never really liked Andrew for me, so her reaction was not a total surprised to me.
"Actually, I-I was the one who proposed to him." I spoke so softly that I wondered if she had heard me at all.
"You did what?"
This time, I spoke a little louder for them to hear. "I said I was the one who proposed to Andrew, and not he to me."
Gobsmacked, my mom buried her mouth in her hand. I must have really let her down, because she didn't speak to me anymore all throughout breakfast.
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Later that evening at the Manila Peninsula Hotel...
The party was already in full swing by the time I arrived there alone. Clara Santos quickly approached me when she saw me. As I handed her my gift, I gave her a peck on the cheek and greeted her, "Happy Birthday Clara!"
Clara looked divine wearing an emerald evening dress by Michael Cinco, and accessories by Rafé Totengco. Her beautiful brown hair was swept up into a chignon, and to complete the look, her make-up was impeccable. "Hi, Ally. So nice to see that you could make it today," she quickly added when she saw my engagement ring, "Without your fiancé."
"Yeah, well Andrew is busy with his new online job that's why he couldn't make it. He said Happy Birthday though." I tried not to notice the sarcastic tone in her voice, and smiled at her. She must still be steaming that I didn't listen to any one of them about not pushing through with the proposal.
Just then, I saw heads turned at the opposite direction where I was standing. It was Janine Castro striding elegantly in her Monique Lhuillier's creation, and Jimmy Choo's stiletto.
When Clara saw this, the more livid she became. "How dare she come to my birthday party looking like that?" Indeed, Janine looked more like the celebrant than her now.
"Hi lovelies!" Janine greeted us, while she gave us both a kiss. She pretended not to notice Clara's murderous look on her, and went right away to look at my ring. "Oh Ally, your ring looks so...what's the right word to describe it? So...simple and yet elegant, yeah." She said this unconvincingly, while nodding at the same time. She herself was wearing a colorless one carat diamond ring that night that matched the Swarovski crystal beadings on her dress.
"Well, Ally looks beautiful and elegant regardless of what she wears, unlike someone here who has to really dress herself up to look beautiful." Clara pointed out beadily at Janine.
"Are you referring to yourself?" Janine crossed her arms, and said coolly.
"Why you!!!" Clara snorted at her friend, and stormed off, leaving Janine and me alone. She went to entertain her other guests.
"You shouldn't fight with Clara. It's her birthday after all." I said quietly.
"Well, she started it." Janine shrugged, held my hand, and led me to a nearby table to find seats. Once seated, she exclaimed, "So have you told your family about your engagement?"
"I did." I replied curtly, not wanting to touch the topic. My mom hardly spoke to me when I bade her goodbye earlier today.
"What about the wedding date? Have you discussed it with Andrew already?"
Huh, I wondered why Janine was all of the sudden interested with my wedding plans? Wasn't she against about the whole thing in the first place? "Well, we plan to have it in March, since the flowers are quite expensive in February. This way, we also have seven more months to prepare for the wedding."
"I see... So have you thought of who would be included in your entourage?" She asked sweetly.
"We still haven't completed the list, but you and Clara will be my bridesmaids for sure."
"But I prefer to be your maid of honor." She blurted out, quite gloomily.
"Sorry... I already plan to give it to my cousin, Maria. You remember her don't you? She joined us once during dinner last year."
Disheartened suddenly about the whole of idea of me getting married, Janine only nodded and focused on the emcee who had just came out.
I was glad I made the right choice of giving the role of bridesmaid to her to avoid any further fights between her and Clara. Knowing them, there'd be no end to their bickering.
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