As soon as we entered the room, I instantly followed behind my parents. I have no idea what's all this crap about. Why is there a sudden marriage arrangement that I was not aware of, and why are we currently meeting in a room.
"Greetings, Mrs. Hale! How are you and your daughter doing these days, Shania? Were you able to have a good time at the party?" When the man addressed me by my name, I was caught off guard. Why the hell did he know who I was?
I stared at my mother and crossed my arms as if I were asking her what all of this nonsense was about. I'm hoping she won't mind if I ask her to explain things first. Yet, she just ignored me.
"I am doing very well. How about you, Mr. And Mrs. Russel?" Mom replied pleasantly, she even reached out her hand to him so they could shake hands. But when I take a look at his eyes, it feels like he was telling me that something bad will happen. That was odd, it's creeping me out.
The lady on the side of the man caught my attention. Damn! She was glowing beautifully. She looked like a model from Bloomingdale's magazine cover, and she was so skinny as well which shapes her body perfectly.
"We're also doing great," she replied.
When I looked around the room, I saw another man at the back. I think he was around my age, and it seems like he was their son. And whoa! He's too gorgeous for a man. He looked like a male model straight from the runaway! Who are they? Are they a family of models?
I stared at him in 5 seconds, and I can tell that he's someone that girls would fall over heels with. But wait, I think I know him. He really was so familiar to me. I started closing my eyes just so I could remember who he was, but instead, all I got was a headache. I stared closer back at him who was now whispering something to his mom, and the only word that I get was "love"
"Sorry to keep you all waiting, let's start to introduce them." Mom happily said. What was she grinning about?
When everyone had taken their seats, I had the distinct impression that something was staring directly at me. This familiar man seemed to be looking at me with such an intense look. I suddenly felt awkward because he was still staring at me. He roamed his eyes around my body as if he was observing whether my body was qualified to his taste. I don't know but it seems insulting to me. Now, I don't care if he's handsome or not. What he's doing now was already a red flag, so I don't like him.
After a few minutes, my father greeted them with such a warm smile. Again, I felt that there was something between them. Then the thought came to mind, that this family and my family had a connection.
My dad looked at me, so I raised my eyebrow. He didn't say a thing and just turned to look at mom. Ma'am glimpse at him and pinch his arm slightly. What are they doing? I'm feeling so awkward right now and they still haven't told me anything yet.
"Okay, what's happening right now?" Now I started asking. I can't just sit here without knowing anything, it's making me go mad.
All of a sudden, my parents looked at me angrily. So, I was careless. I now realized that I am being disrespectful to the guest.
"How should I say this, honey..." Well, mom did reply though. She closed both of my hands and held it tightly. I think I get it now. I started gulping and took a deep breath. I guess what my mom was trying to say is that something bad will happen in the near future. With that thought, I started to get nervous.
I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping it was not something really bad. Oh please! I closed my eyes and prayed silently for a moment. Please don't let this be bad news!
"Ahm, you will get married to Brandon Russell soon," mom excitedly said.
"Wait, what?" I was dumbfounded. I don't know what to say. Marriage? Soon? To Brandon Russell? Does she mean this sexy man in front of me right now? Because I was still so shocked about what my mother said, I didn't even bother looking at him. I'm processing everything but I still couldn't get it, so I looked at him now with such a puzzled expression. Then I started laughing awkwardly.
"Mom, you're joking right?" I asked, still laughing at her. But when I saw her serious expression, I realized that no one's joking right now! I always knew that mom has a strong sense of humor, but this time, she really looked like she wasn't joking at all. And this kind of thing is not something to joke around, for goodness sake Shania.
Mom didn't say anything, so dad cleared his throat to say something instead. "You heard your mother Shania. You're getting married soon enough," dad seconded.
"Why are you doing this? This is so sudden. You can't just say something like this randomly. What is this?" worriedly, I asked. I have a lot of questions inside my head but I couldn't afford to ask anymore as I was so confused.
"Hey, way back when you were still 8 years old. Do you remember how you asked about why you have to take medicines and must not miss a day on taking it?" Dad asked me so calmly.
"Yeah," I replied irritatedly. So now he's going to talk about the old days? But I couldn't hold back my patient now. I just wanted to get out of this nightmare. "
"Well, did you know the story about the day you were born? You-" mother said but I cut her off.
"I know! I'm weak, I'm different, and my doctor helped me out by giving me medicines which I took every day, I know all that. And now, I am more than healthy and -" and my words were cut off too.
"But honey, did you know that your doctor that time was Dr. Russell? You were weak then, to the point that you might die. But this great doctor here decided to help us out. And we were so grateful so we asked him what he wanted for us to repay his kindness. He wanted you to marry his son one day, so we agreed to it," dad explained, and now I am more surprised than before. So it was all set right from the start.
"No way, you gotta be kidding me!" I exclaimed, I couldn't believe it.
"I'm sorry honey, but it was true." Mom replied right away.
"Why didn't you tell me anything about that deal? Why did you only bring it now when you had a lot of chances to tell me about it before? I remember asking you before! When I was still 8 years old, I asked you something connected to my healing process but you didn't explain the promise you made!" I couldn't hold my anger so I shouted at them. My blood was running high inside me, I just wanted to scream.
"I'm sorry, honey. I should have, but I thought that you are too young to understand - " Mom tried to explain but I cut her off again.
"You're always saying that I'm too young for everything but you hide everything from me! You all lied to me!" I don't really care if everyone in the room was looking at me. I'm just so mad, I started crying. Mom tried to calm me down by patting my back but avoided it.
"Honey, I'm so sorry. It was my fault. I should have told you, but it was only for your own good. I-" she tried to explain now while reaching her hands to me but I was too angry to listen to her.
"I don't wanna hear about it! I had enough already!" I pushed my mom's hand away and ran outside. Really? Are they messing with my life right now? I couldn't grasp everything so I walked away.
I feel my heart burning, the same goes with my eyes as the rays of the sun fall out straight at my eyes. I never stopped running. I don't know where to go, I just followed where my feet lead me to. As long as I'm away from that mansion, as long as I'm away from my parents.
They all lied to me! They hid everything! Doing this all was for my own good? That's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard! They just don't care at all! They don't care about what I would feel, they just do whatever they want!
Thinking about those made my tears fall out so hard again. What the heck? I feel so pathetic right now.
I rubbed my eyes and looked around me. My breathing was too fast because of running. I heard my heartbeat beating so loud. I couldn't feel my feet any more, and my head started to hurt. Everything started to get blurry, and before I lost my consciousness, I felt that someone had catches me. Then everything went black.
~
I woke up from a deep sleep and found myself sitting on a big chair. My head began to hurt again as I looked at the time and realized that hours had passed by already. I roamed my eyes around the room, and it wasn't familiar to me. "Where am I?" I asked myself. I thought I was still daydreaming but I wasn't when I slapped my face a little softer.
I looked around again, and then I saw Brandon sitting on the right side. I noticed that there were only the two of us inside. When I looked outside the window, I saw the clouds and the sun setting slowly. I was confused as to why the clouds are near.
"Is this heaven? No... with him? No, no! I guess I'm really just daydreaming." I shook my head multiple times. I even closed my eyes, and then opened it again but suddenly, Brandon's voice interrupted me.
"Huh, at last you're awake!" He blurted out, which made me jump off the chair because I was shocked. Then I slowly glanced at him and confusedly asked, "Where am I?"
"In the airplane," he answered unemotionally.
"Why am I here? I never agreed to that deal!" Nervously, I asked him.
"You agree or not, you still have to come with me," he was still reading the magazine he was holding in his hand.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Tsk! Stubborn!"
"Yeah, I am. And because of my stubbornness I managed to carry you here," he replied back while pointing at me.
I just slapped his hand and whispered, "Whatever!" I guess I'm the stubborn one here. I just chose to look outside the window and observed the beautiful clouds flying with us.
After a few minutes of silence, my stomach began to rumble. Oh god, this is embarrassing.
"You hungry? Do you want to eat?" Brandon suddenly asked. So he heard it, now I'm more than ashamed.
Brandon then called out a steward, so I started ordering a sandwich, and for the drink, water was good enough.
I was in the middle of eating when I noticed that Brandon was staring at me. "Why do you keep looking at me? Did I have dirt on my face?" I rubbed my face and then drank the water.
He then creepily smirked at me, and started leaning closer. I can smell the scent of his shampoo and perfume.
"Because I like you."
I can feel his warm breath as he whispers those words in my ear. I was flustered for a second, and when I realized what he said, I suddenly burst out the water I currently drink.