THURSDAY MORNING
The warm morning rays touched her skin.
She fiddled around her bed. Struggling to get up from her most favourite place of peace.
Her eyes were swollen as if they were stung by bees!
"Aly, Aly! Wake up! You're late for work!" her mom shook her vigorously.
"Arghh!! Mom, stop!" Alyqa cried.
Her mom continuously pulled her legs from her bed.
"Wake up now! Wake up Aly!" her mom woke her.
"Yes, yes, mom! I'm awake!", she grunted.
She brought her body up to her bed.
"Finally!" her mom exclaimed. She rolled her eyes.
Alyqa suddenly snapped out of her imagination. With her hair all messy, she ran to the small hall of her house.
"Mom! Dad! Come here!" Alyqa shouted with her hands on the sides of her hips.
"Aly, are you crazy! Why are you shouting at 9am in the morning?!" her mother shouted and came running with her father.
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"Pops, I've accepted the proposal!"Alyqa confidently spoke.
"WHAT?!" her parents said in unison.
Her parents looked at each other, AMAZED!
"What you?!" her mom shocked.
"ACCEPTED?!" her father shocked.
Her parents jumped to her and hugged and spun and congratulated her. They were so happy!
Seeing her parents happy, made her happy.
But at the same time, Alyqa felt dreadful to leave her family.
And, deep down in her heart, she knows that she has to do it.
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They stopped the cheering.
"Come here, hun" , her mom heavily said.
She hugged Alyqa. Then, came her father.
"I did this for us, Mom. I did this for us, Dad", she cried on her mother's chest.
"I'm scared", she sobbed loudly.
Her parents were worried.
"Hey, Aly, you don't have to force yourself to do this, you know? We can always try other ways. We'll try," her mom spoke as her mom turned to her father's face.
He was upset too.
"No, Mom, I made a promise to Mr Klaus. I will not turn back on what I said", Alyqa held her mom's wrist.
Her tears slowly flowing down her face.
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They stayed at that position for a good 30 mins on the floor of the small hall.
Reminiscing on the past and the laughters they shared as a family.
"Hey mom,dad. Mr Klaus told me not to go work which was why I did not wake up early today", Alyqa voiced.
"He told me, to tell you, to prepare by 11am. He would send a car to pick us up to his place ", Alyqa continued.
"Alright, dear", her mom stood up first then along with Alyqa and her father.
"Come on, let's do this!" her father puts his right hand out.
Her mom, put on top of his.
Alyqa put above her mom's.
"Aly, be brave! You can do this, dear!" her father cheered her up with a wide smile.
"One, two, THREE!" her father optimistically spoke.
Their hands went up to the sky as a cheer of encouragement.
"Now, let's get ready! Try to find something formal please, and WHITE too!" her mom said with a smile on her face.
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Alyqa wondered through her messy closet, full of casual wear and jeans.
"Not this one!"
"Nope! Not this either"
"Yess! Finally, a backless WHITE dress that stops above the knees!" she exclaimed.
"I'm gonna pair it with the black heels, closed-toed, and choose a sharp design for the toe areas. I bought a year ago! Yes, a good match! I'm gonna bring a small black bag too", she motivated herself.
"My hair? Alright, I'm gonna let go the back of my hair and tie a half up-do!" she added.
"Wear some gold dangling earrings. A touch of make-up ESPECIALLY AROUND THE EYES and apply red lipstick to give that chic look", she thought to herself.
Half an hour passed and she started to shower and got ready.
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Alyqa went to the hall and saw her parents.
Her parents looked at their daughter.
"WOWWW! Aly, you look so beautiful, honey!" her parents said in admiration. Their jaws dropped as they spun her around.
"Hey, where are y'all going?" Bryan said in a groggy voice as he exited his room.
"Your sister is getting married!" her mom overjoyed.
"Aye! Congratulations, Aly!" her brother clearly happy for her sister.
"Bry, soon I won't be home. You better take care of mom and dad, huh? Don't always lock yourself up in the room all the time! And, don't worry. About your university loans. I'll take care of it. I promise", Alyqa gave a light beating to her brother's chest and arms.
Alyqa and her brother hugged. Followed by their parents.
*KNOCK, KNOCK*
"Oh, it must be the driver!" her mom excitedly said as she opened the door.
"Hi, I'm Adam. Your driver for this afternoon, under the name Mr.William Klaus", the driver wearing a black suit prompt us. He wore a pair of WHITE gloves which looked extra professional.
"Yes, yes, we're all ready!" we said together.
"And, Congratulations to Ms .Hope! The bride-to-be!" he gave a proper bow to her.
Alyqa bowed back.
"Now, let's get into the car, and we'll be off!" the driver told them.
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45 mins later
The three of them slept at the back of the car,
LOUDLY SNORING.
"Hi, Hope family!"Adam spoke loudly.
The three of them jumped in shock.
"We're here, Ms.Hope!"Adam continued.
Alyqa looked outside the window and saw the beautiful well-conditioned bushes and trees with flowers that carved the driveway. The house was huge! Alyqa and her mom were in awe as to how magnificently beautiful the OFF-WHITE painted mansion looked.
"You haven't seen the rest yet, girls. The interior is bomb!" her father hilariously said.
Everyone laughed in the car.
"Here we are! All the best, Ms.Hope!" Adam kindly told her.
"Thank you, Adam! See you around!" Alyqa replied.
They exited the car and walked into the huge house.
Their heads were turning left and right as to see how glorious and stunning the diamonds were almost everywhere in the house. The house parts were some blue and some wooden. Everything was well-complimented.
They were deep into admiring the beautiful sights of the mansion.
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A woman approached them. She was their helper.
"Here, this way, please", she pointed to the room with both hands.
"Thank you!" all three of us said.
They sat down quietly and still turning their heads around. The Hope family has never encountered such a house before in their life. It was a new experience. A definite eye-opener as to show how wealthy the Klaus's family was.
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Unnoticed, the dining room door flung opened.
"Hi, Allen!" Mr.Klaus approached them and waved his right hand from afar.
Behind, were his wife and followed by his son, Zack.
The Hope family stood up from their seats to show respect.
"Wow, what a beautiful home you have here, Ms, uhhh?, Alyqa's mom asked Mr.Klaus's wife.
"Oh, how rude of me, I'm Lisa Klaus, Mrs.Hope", Lisa with her soft voice.
Both gave an awkward laugh.
"And you are?", Lisa asked and smiled.
"Hi, pleasure to meet you, I am Beth Hope", Alyqa's mom took her hand out for a handshake and Lisa shook back.
Mr.Klaus was wearing a WHITE suit with the golden rose-shaped brooch on his left lapel. Mrs.Klaus wore a red off-shoulder long dress with WHITE heels. Zack wore a WHITE top and dark blue jeans.
"Wowww! He looks reallyyyyyy handsome! His tattoos and his hair combed back looks really good on him", running through Alyqa's thoughts. Her eyes stayed glued on him. She was nervous.
Zack walked towards Alyqa and sat beside her.
"Are you going to stop staring at me, Ms.Hope?" he arrogantly told Alyqa. He chuckled.
Alyqa quickly turned away. Rolling her eyes out.
Everybody sat down.
Food came in too. It was a grand feast!
"Please, don't be shy, eat!" Mr.Klaus exclaimed and laughed.
All of them began digging into the scrumptious food.
Everybody spoke to one another except for Alyqa and Zack. There were no exchanges between them.
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