Pain

38

"What do you mean get married?" I question her.

"Honey, I think it's better if we have this conversation inside" she says turning to send off the taxi.

"No! It's better if you tell me right now!" I was more than furious to even listen to her. She turns around as the taxi leaves and hands me my phone eying me from top to bottom.

"Are you sure?" She asks looking at me. I look at myself. I blush to see me wearing my night wear which consisted of a short which would easily be mistaken for a longer panty and Jake's oversized t - shirt. I blush and look around me to see if anyone has noticed.

To my dumb luck and it being Sunday, almost all of the student body had been fraternising outside. I see a group of boys checking me out, as one would say. Among them sat Chris on a big motor bike. He held a helmet in his hands and unlike all the other boys whose lips stretched all the way to their eyes at my half naked sight, Chris's expression was unreadable. He looked like a mixture of irritated and displeased. He shook his head in disapproval or disappointment, I couldn't tell but suddenly that made my heart sink.

Chris was nobody to me, but having someone judging you, and being disappointed at was not a pleasant feeling. I ran back inside in embarrassment with my mother's high heels clicking behind me.

I went to my room to see Caroline looking out the window. "I guess you saw all that huh?" She turns around surprised by my presence. She gives me a warm smile sitting on her bed.

"Yeah, I heard some whistles all the way up here, so I was wondering what was up and then your clothes" she says wrinkling her nose which couldn't stop me laughing "It is a bit too less for this chilly weather don't you think so?"

"Shut up" I say laughing at her sarcasm. My mother clears her throat from behind me and my mood instantly dropped to zero tolerance.

"I'll wait outside" Caroline says getting up to leave. I push her back to the bed.

"No, you stay. We'll be outside." When she opens her mouth to argue I stop her with a look, kind of like the look she and Chris always exchanged around me. "It's fine, really." I go outside to my mother impatiently tapping her feet on the floor with her loud shoes, closing the door behind me.

"Speak" I command to my mother.

She seemed hesitant at first but she started to speak anyways. "You see Ashley, your father's treatments didn't pay themselves. Your father's former colleague, one of his college friends as well, is now the owner of a big business industry. We didn't have enough of money for the treatment plus the medical bills, and the monthly dose of medicines prescribed."

"I thought that you used my college fund for father's cancer stuff" I say accusing her of lying.

"We did, but that barely got us through the month. It spiked up as the treatments became more advanced. We had no choice but to borrow. Well, coming to the point, your father's friend lent us the money and we were supposed to pay it by the end of December, but with everything that went on at that time, we simply forgot and to be honest, we had no source to repay the money. A legal notice came to our door step last week and we have been discussing the ins and outs of the contract."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"You see, the Michael Industry's owner Mr. Michael himself prepared the contract. Before you met... Jake, we had already arranged that you would marry his son. After everything happened, we turned down his proposal and the man being furious was an understatement. He wanted, no he needed a good, and eligible girl to marry his son, and hopefully set him on the right path. So when we borrowed the money, the only loop hole that was made out of this contract is your agreement to an amalgamation, which is the joining of both our families, through your marriage."