"Angel, you are getting married," Mom said right after serving me breakfast. I froze in that instant. I didn't know what to say nor what to do.
"What are you talking about, Mom?" I ask her, dumbfounded. Is she mad?, I thought.
I thought I was hearing her say the wrong thing. It could not be that she was telling me this during breakfast and out of the blue!
"You are getting married. It was arranged when you were fiver years old and it was decided you would marry at the age of sixteen," she replies, calmly.
So many feelings ran through me, but the only ones that stayed in me was anger, hurt and betrayal. I should have the choice in who I marry! This does not make sense at all. Why would my parents do such a thing?
"Why Mom? How come you never told me? And why is the marriage arranged?" I ask her angrily, voicing part of my turmoil.
She sighs. "I didn't want to tell you about it because you would oppose it," she replies closing her eyes and leaning on the stove, as if the home appliance could give her the energy needed to finish the conversation.
"Of course I would," I yell as I remember the breakfast that was right in front of me and start eating it furiously knowing I have to get out of there. The faster I ate, the faster I could leave before I said something I would regret.
"Well," she informs me, "all I know about your fiance is that his name is Leo McKinsey, he's twenty years old and he is the president of his father's company which makes him rich."
I almost choke on my breakfast when she threw that information at me. I look at her wide eyed, shock evident in my face.
"He's four years older than me!" I cry out loud as I finish the last of my breakfast.
"I know, I was surprised too but it was you father who decided this, for your own good," she whispers. That one sentence makes me stop eating and look at my plate, hoping that I could hide the sadness from her. An awkward silence follows as we reminisce in memories from the past.
My father was Justin Roman and he worked as a carpenter for a very prestigious company. The company actually built the skyscrapers you see today. About six months ago, he died when the skyscraper that he was working on collapsed due to the building not being as stable as they had thought it was. There was nothing they could do to save him. I was shocked to have lost my father. He had been everything to me; he had been my father but also my best friend. After his death, Mom became distant from me and she only told me things that I should for the sake of my father's memory or she told me things that I needed to know. We never had a good relationship and now it feels like we're total strangers to each other that live under the same roof.
I look at my watch and broke the silence as I notice the time.
"Crap! I'm going to be late!" I say getting up from the table in a hurry.
I ran down the hallway and grab my skates and my backpack as I make my way to the living room where I sit and put the skates on. As I put on the last skate on and strap it down, I hear the doorbell ring. I open the door to find a handsome guy in a suit and a bouquet of roses in his arms. I smile at him. He looks very friendly. From the brief I gave him I could tell he was good looking with a white complexion, blue eyes, and black curly hair. I remember what time it is and rush things before thinking them over. I am in a rush.
"Hello. Please, come in," I tell him as I open the door further to let him in.
"Thank you," he says as he walks past me and into the house. I look at my watch one final time, and knew that I had to leave or I would be late.
"I'm sorry, but my mother will attend to you," I tell him as I turn towards the kitchen to find my mother standing there gazing at this handsome guy, confusion evident in her features.
"Sorry, Mom. I have to go and meet up with Emely before classes start. Goodbye!" I call out as I skate out the door and into the sidewalk and past a shiny black SUV that is parked on the side of the road.
I wonder who he was, I thought, he looked really cute.
"Emely!" I call out as I got to the front of Victory Early College High School and saw Emely standing outside the school waiting for me. Emely turns at the sound of my voice and waves at me. I wave back happy to see my friend and have someone to talk to.
"Sorry I'm late! It's just that something happened at home. Come on. We have to finish that project," I tell her as I take off the skates and put on some sneakers that I had in my backpack.
"It's alright. I think we have enough time to finish it," she smiles. I smile back thanking the universe I have Emely as a best friend.
"Alright then! Let's go!," she say as we entered the school building and weave our way through the small crowd. The perks of going to an early college high school is that there are not that many students in the school so they are never overcrowded.
We had finished the project before class started and now I was lunch time.
"Do you know what's for lunch Emely?" I ask her was we walk towards the school cafeteria which was very small.
Our school was actually at a college building meaning that we attended high school at the same building that college students would come to take their classes. The school actually gave us a scholarship in order to give us the opportunity to finish the first two years of college while we were taking our normal high school classes. Trust me, it's hard enough to be able to survive at my school. Not many graduate with an Associates degree and their high school diploma. However, only a certain amount of students are able to get into the high school in the first place so competition is unavoidable.
" Well, Caren told me earlier that they were having spaghetti and meatballs," she says as we sat down at one of the empty tables. I make a face.
"It looks like I won't be eating anything today," I groan as my stomach rumbles and demands something to eat.
Emely laughs knowing that the reason was that I hate pasta with a passion and wish that the universe could get rid of it.
"Anyway, guess what happened this morning? And on my birthday too! My mom told me that I have a fiance!" I whisper the last sentence so that no one could hear.
"What?!" Emely cries as she choked on the water she had been drinking.
"Sshh. Calm down. You're choking! Apparently it was a decision made by my dad a long time ago," I say, sighing and closing my eyes wishing that I could have a normal life for once.
" So what are you going to do about this?" Emely asks knowing very well that I did not like for others to make decisions about my own life. Not even my mother nor my father when he was alive. I want to learn about the world through my own way and having people telling me what to do defeats the whole purpose of life.
"Well I guess I should meet him sooner or later and you know I can't go against my father's will," I sigh reluctantly. I never thought in my entire life that this would happen to me! On my sixteenth birthday! Is this the worst that can happen on my birthday?
" I knew you would say that. But how was this decided?" Emely asks as she took another sip of her water.
"Well Mom mentioned that it was arranged when I was four years old."
"Did she mention anything about your fiance?" she asks curiously. I grin at her curiosity.
"She only told me that he's around twenty and that he's the president of his father's company," I shrug before taking a sip of my cup of water.
"What about his name?" she asks pressing for more answers and give them to her.
"His name is Leo McKinsey."
Suddenly, Emely giggles. I was confused at why she was laughing. Did I say something funny? I thought.
"What's so funny?" I ask her, confused.
"Well it's ironic that you NEVER had a boyfriend and all of a sudden you have a fiance?" she giggles.
I blush because I knew it was the truth. All of this happened too fast and all in one day. My birthday. Great start to a day that should be happy for me, I thought sarcastically in my mind.
"You know it wasn't my decision! It's an arranged marriage for crying out loud!" I tell her, irritation clear in my voice. Emely shook her head knowing that I didn't like this decision at all but understanding that I would do anything for my father who is not with me anymore.
"I know, I know. I wonder if he's handsome, though," she says dreamily. I roll my eyes. Emely had always been the romantic type and always got crushes on the cutest guys of our school, but being as shy as she is, she would stay away from her crushes as much as possible and never tell them anything.
"Oh and one more thing. I'm getting married to him at my age even though I still haven't finished high school!" I sigh. My dream was to become a veterinarian and yes I said it WAS. Right now I am not sure what I will do. Will I accept this arrangement or will I follow my own path? Even if I agree to this marriage, will my husband let me finish the career path I chose?
" Are you serious? You have to lying!" Emely gasp as her eyes grew big.
"Yup." The school bell rang right at that moment.
"Well we'll talk later about this on the phone later on. Alright, Emely," I tell her before she pries more answers out of me.
"Okay," she answers reluctantly as she hands me my skates to put them on as I took off my sneakers and stuffed them into my backpack. I wave goodbye to Emely as she walkes out of the building. I got up and skate out of the building noticing a driver standing outside looking around and searching through the crowd as if looking for someone. I stop for a moment to survey him as my curiosity is roaring its head through before continuing my way. The driver must have noticed me because he walks right up to me. I stop, confusion etching into my face. Did I know this guy?
"Excuse me, might you be Angelique Roman?" he asks me.
"Yes I am," I answered slowly," may I help you?" I reply. He surprises me and I know a look of bewilderment crosses my face when he bows at me. Me! Just who was this man and what does he want from me? I was taken aback and actually took a hesitant step back.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Angelique. I am Joe and I am you fiance's driver. I am at your service. The master asked me to pick you up personally," he tells me.
I was baffled. My fiance sent a driver to pick me up from school? Just who is this man I am to marry? This just surprises me even more.
"Please come this way miss," he says motioning toward a black shiny Volvo. I am too surprised at the news to even hesitate getting into the car as Joe opens the door for me. As Joe drove out of the school I recover only to ask a question. I didn't even take off my skates. I really need to pay more attention to my surroundings.
"Where are we going?" I ask, still dazed at the news and at the attentions I was already receiving from a fiance that I didn't even know in person.
"Well the master gave me orders to take you to your house first and then to his house for dinner," he answers. I froze when he said dinner with my fiance. Already? I only found out about the news not that long ago!! I was awestruck at what was happening but I didn't dare to ask Joe anymore questions.
I only thought of what it would be like to meet Leo McKinsey, my fiance, for the first time. Questions started to pop into my mind; Is he cute? Does he like the same things I like? Will he agree to this marriage that easily? Is he funny, kind, or gentle? All of this I though of throughout the ride home.
Hello!! This is the author! I started writing this story not that long ago and I liked where it was going. I really don't know how good it is so far so please comment on the story as much as you like! I want to know if I need to change anything or if I need to elaborate on something. Thanks for reading!! I hoped you liked it! :D