CHAPTER 2

April 2019

BIANCA'S POV

I zipped up the back of my dress and took a three sixty turn in front of the mirror. I smiled satisfactorily at my reflection on the mirror. It was Amara's day, but very funny how I was more concerned about my appearance. 

"You already look perfect, Bianca!" Mom shook her head in disbelief, as she walked into our room. "Get busy with assisting your sister." She ordered, and I nodded. Amara chuckled from the other side of the room and I gave a sheepish smile. She waited for mom to be out, before teasing me.

"I thought it was just my convocation. Do you have a date?"

"Really? Amara really?"

"What?!" She threw her hands up in the air, and I gave her an 'are you serious?' look. "Who knows? you may have invited Kylie..."

"Kyle!" I corrected. "His name is Kyle. And no, I didn't invite him. He wouldn't even come if I did." I muttered the last part, feeling quite shitty.

"Oh, don't say that now." She shook her head in disapproval and fully turned her attention towards me. "I'm sorry for teasing you with such a sensitive topic."

"Kyle is far from being a sensitive topic." I countered stubbornly. 

"Yes! You're right. Someone like him shouldn't even be classified as that. But then, he hurt you and I shouldn't make jokes about him. I'm sorry." She pouted, giving me that puppy dog eye.

"He didn't hurt me. He only told me he was way above my league, and if we are being quite honest, he never lied." I muttered sadly. In as much as I wanted to act neutral about it all, I had actually been hurt by Kyle. He was the first guy I had ever liked as much as letting him know that I did. Being humiliated in the presence of other students had never been part of the plan. Kyle came from a really rich family, but he was so full of himself and always rude. Most times, I wondered why I fell for someone like him. It was no suprise that I did though. He was the school's biggest kid and literally every girl wanted him. I remember how he laughed along with other students, after announcing that I was way out of his league. This had happened after I confessed my feelings to him. I had privately spoken to him about it, so seeing him tell everyone about it made me feel so bad. Unshed tears welled up in my eyes and it took great strength to not let it fall. Fortunately, I had been able to will my legs to walk, and made my way out of my place of mockery. What was I even thinking? Mama had always asked me to leave boys and focus on my books instead. At school I had always been a loner, so I literally had no one to console me and tell me that It was all going to be fine. It was my final year in high school, and Amara was already in college. I had saved up my tears and pain for when Amara returned from lectures that day. While narrating all that happened, I cried so hard. 

Amara had consoled me and reminded me that it was already my last days in high school. Soon, I would be in college and all the high school drama would be left behind. I had nodded in agreement, feeling quite better. If only I knew that Kyle was going to the same college as myself, I wouldn't have felt such peace. Presently, It was just the second semester of my first year in college, but I had changed directions, hid behind flowers, and literally ran a long distance a thousand times, just to avoid bumping into him. I very well knew that I should have gotten over the embarrassment he caused me, but that was going to take a whole lot of time. So far, I had just one dream. To work so hard that a man would never have the opportunity to tell me I was way out of his league. Don't get me wrong, I have never been ashamed of my roots. Even though my parents weren't the wealthiest, they ensured we were very comfortable and never lacked the basic things. My parents had bore just Amara and myself, so fending for us was so difficult. My family was a lovely one, and it was something I was always going to be proud of. But then, I had dreams to do better than my parents did. 

I had dreams to achieve a lot of goals that my parents were probably not able to achieve. I wanted to make a name. I wanted to build a long standing legacy for my children and generations to come. I wanted a very great empire, and I was gonna get it. I wasn't sure how I would go about it, but I definitely knew I had to work hard. The first step was graduating with an awesome degree from college. I was on it already. 

"Could you help me braid my ponytail?" Amara asked, patting me out of my thoughts. 

"Yes. Sure." I gave a small smile and went ahead to do my business on her hair.

"Hpheew!" She exhaled, looking at the mirror before her, as I worked on her hair. "If only I had as much hair as you do?" She said dreamily, making me scoff.

"Everyone knows that my hair is the least bit desirable. Excessively full and can never be tamed. The color is rather appalling." I frowned, looking at my weird hair color in the mirror. It wasn't the first time I had the thought of mutated genes whenever I looked at myself. My mother had this really beautiful shade of brown hair. My father had black hair, which Amara took after. So where exactly was my burgundish~burnt orangey hair color coming from? It seemed like a mixture of orange, red, brown and... not nice.

"I know what's in your mind right now." Amara eyed me. "It's normal for children to have hair colours that are a few shades different from their parent's. Your hair color is just a few shades lighter than mom's." She shrugged. 

"But I don't like it."

"But it's beautiful." She maintained, trying to make me understand what I just couldn't. "I have really never seen someone else with a hair as beautiful as yours." Her eyes lit up in sincere awe, and I wondered what it took for me to see things like the way the rest of my family did. To me, I just looked like a cheap doll.

"Stop now." 

"You know..." She started. "The problem with you is that you do not embrace your uniqueness. You have talked so much about how you want to achieve a lot of things and build a great empire for your future family. For someone with such lofty dreams, your mentality is not cool." She lectured. "You do not appreciate your uniqueness. Look at yourself." She ordered, and I did. "How many girls have you come across with this exact same hair color as yours?" I didn't want to enter a long debate with her because I had come across quite a number, so I just remained quiet. "Your silence says it all. You are beautiful my sweet little sister. Embrace it!" 

"You know, you should refrain from having these kinds of arguments with your sister." We turned back to see my mom standing by the door, looking unimpressed. 

"I wonder what her obsession with her hair color is. Moreover, there's more to life than the color of one's hair. It pains me when you waste your time trying to convince Bianca that her hair is beautiful. She'd probably stop bothering about her hair color when her papa sends me packing out of his house, under the allegations of infidelity." Mama had laughed, but her words had gotten to me more than she imagined. All she had said was the truth. I had to stop worrying over this. It never did nothing for me by the way. "Enough of this talk. Amara, you definitely do not want to be late. Everyone is ready and waiting for you." Mama grinned and I had an idea why. "Carlos is here as well." She added. I thought as much. I watched as Amara blushed a bright pink and looked down shyly. Her fiance had come all the way from Florence just to be with her today. That was really sweet.

"When did he get here?" She asked.

"Over an hour ago."

"And you didn't say anything?" She said disapprovingly, making mama sigh tiredly. 

"Calm down. You were not yet dressed at the time." I reasoned. "Moreover, he isn't running away. He'd spend the entire day with you." I smiled. 

I was happy that my sister could finally love the man she wanted so freely. My sister's love story was a very interesting one, but let's save it for another day. Right now, it was time to go to the convocation arena. 

"Can we get going now?" She asked impatiently. In a way, I knew sixty percent of her reasons for suddenly being hasty was to see Carlos. 

"Of course. We have nothing more to wait for." Mama concurred with a knowing smile. "Let's go!" She waved for us to follow her and we did in a straight file. "Bianca, I don't want to catch sight of a scarf or hat on your hair. Let that hair breathe!" I saw that coming. Feeling unauthorized to cover my hair like I would have loved, I begrudgingly followed behind. Halfway through, I realized I had forgotten my lip balm behind and quickly hurried back inside to get it. I always found it difficult to be out without it. I hated chapped lips. Like I literally couldn't stand it! I took my lip balm and rushed to meet up with my mom and sister. Getting to the living room, I saw everyone completely dressed and ready to leave. All except my cousin; Mila.

"Mila?" I called and she turned to look at me with a small smile gracing her features. "Why are you still in your casual clothes? It's already time."

"Sweetie, your cousin wouldn't be attending the convocation ceremony along with you guys."

"Along with 'we guys'? I assume you wouldn't be coming as well."

"Of course. Someone needs to stay back with zucherro." That was what mama called my cousin.

"But why is she even staying back? Mila looks strong enough to me." I pouted, not wanting to go without Mila. 

"She insisted on making dishes for the celebration today." Mama muttered, looking slightly annoyed. "I do not know why she is so hellbent on doing such strenuous work in her condition."

"Aunt..." Mila gave a side smile. "It's Amara's big day and this is the best I can do for her." If I was being honest, everyone knew Mila was extremely gifted when it came to cooking. My mouth already watered as I imagined the kind of dishes she was gonna make today. But then, she was heavily pregnant and wasn't supposed to be stressing this much. 

"But I wasn't complaining." Amara sighed.

"Neither am I. Think of it as a prenatal excercise." Mila grinned mischievously. "Enjoy your day guys." She said, automatically dismissing us, to the dismay of my parents, and walking away.

"She just always has her way." My papa grumbled.

"I heard you loud and clear, uncle." Mila yelled as she walked away.

"I said nothing!" Papa denied, looking at mom and chuckling in guilt. "Please take care of her my love." He looked down at mama and bent to give her a chaste kiss on the lip. Whenever I looked at my parents, I wished I could recreate what they shared, with a special someone out there.

"Of course, Tesoro." She nodded. "Alright, you all should get going already." Mama said, already tired of seeing us waste more time. At this rate, Amara was gonna be late for her thing. Carlos." She called. "Drive safely."

"Who said he was driving?" Papa queried with a boyish scowl.

"I said so." Mama replied with her hands akimbo, giving him no room for arguments. 

He turned and walked to the door, grumbling words that sounded like 'she's now quick to pick him over me.' I looked at Carlos and Bianca to see them giggling between themselves. It was always that way when your papa was begrudgingly giving you in marriage because he no longer had the liberty of making decisions for you. Amara and Carlos had fought tooth and nail to be together. It's so amusing how we all are here together, happy, when Carlos had almost lost his life trying to propose to Amara only 3 months ago. That was one funny, but scary incident. I waved at my mama and joined the rest of my family out of the house. The ride to the convocation arena was a sadly short one. I always loved to stay in moving vehicles as long as possible. I didn't know why though, but it had been a habit ever since I could comprehend things. Feeling unsatisfied with our trip, I stepped out of the car together with my family, and proceeded into the large hall. The entire space was so full. Navy blue hats of the convocating students designed the entire hall. 

"Come on, sweetie!" Papa called out to Amara, handing over her robe, which she quickly collected and wore over her dress. 

I watched in happiness as he went ahead to put her hat on her head. Papa looked so proud of Amara and I only hoped to see that kind of pride in his eyes when it was my big day as well. My papa had always shown us love as his children, but it was no news that Amara was his favourite. That was also the reason why he found it difficult letting Amara get married so soon. I heaved a sigh as I promised myself to make him twice as proud. He finished arranging the hat on her head and asked her to run along. Her mates were already seated at the front row, waiting for the event to begin. 

"Come on Bibi." Papa took my hand in his and led us to another row with empty seats, with Carlos following behind us. We got settled and after some minutes, one of the invited personalities stepped onto the podium. 

"Beautiful!" The middle aged woman said with an equally beautiful smile on her face. "You all look magnificent." She complimented and the convocating students all cheered in return. "Today is a very wonderful day for you all, and for that, we are immensely grateful to God. I welcome all our parents and guests to this ceremony with a glad heart. As you all already know, I am Bernice Fernandez; the Dean over student's affairs of this great institution."

"Wohooo!!" Some students cheered on as the rest clapped. "I would be calling a very renowned...." The rest of her speech went on deaf ears as I went into a world of my own. Mila would have enjoyed this event, had she tagged along with us. Maybe if she was here to witness this event in person, she would be more encouraged to stay back in Italy for college. If I was being honest with myself, I missed my cousin already. She was still here with us, but the thought that she was gonna be leaving any time soon didn't sit well with me or any member of my family. She had just arrived to Italy seven months ago, and I was already tied to her by the waist. I tried to spend as much time as I could with Mila because I didn't have an idea as to when she was gonna leave us. Maybe she was gonna leave after she had her baby. Moreover, she missed her fiance so much, and would run back to him once she was sure that the coast was clear. Feeling the sudden urge to use the restroom, I excused myself and walked out of the hall. I came across a jovial looking usher and asked for directions to the restroom. Just like I had imagined, he was quite jovial. 

"You're so pretty!" He grinned, making me chuckle. 

"Thank you."

"Yeah." He eyed my hair, a more focused gaze on it. Immediately, I felt very uncomfortable because I had an idea what came next. My high school mates had always called me a freak. My hair color wasn't pleasant to the eyes, and I always wondered why my family ever bothered with trying to make me believe it was beautiful. I had always known myself to be quite pretty and pleasant to the eyes, but a less dramatic hair color would have made me look better. "Nice dye." He grinned, making me look up at him in confusion. 

"Sorry?" I muttered. 

"Your hair. It's a beautiful choice of color."

"It's.... it's beautiful?" I asked in suprise. This was the first time someone apart from my family and kind church members had ever complimented my hair. Genuinely. 

"Yes. It's.... rare?" He looked at me, slightly unsure. "Is that the right word?"

"I don't know." I shrugged lazily with an unbelievable smile on my face. Maybe being complimented by people who didn't feel like it was an obligation to make me feel better about myself hit different. 

"It's because I've come across quite a number of people with this hair color. But the shade of yours is just.... it's mesmerizing. Unique. Where did you get it done? Could suggest something like this for my girlfriend." His grin widened, and so did my smile.

"Ohhh." I muttered. 

"Yeahhhh." He nodded. "It seems like you aren't so pressed after all."

"I was, until a few seconds ago." I gave a small smile. "It's my natural hair color by the way. Adios." I waved and walked towards the direction of the restroom. After relieving myself, I looked at myself in the mirror and felt a small but happy smile creep upon my face. I might reduce how much I wore scarfs and caps afterall. MIGHT! I giggled at how silly I was being and ran back to the hall. On my way there, I cane across a certain someone, but couldn't seem to avoid him this time.

"Hey freak!"

"I'm not a freak." I muttered as he finally came face to face with me.

"What did you say?" He scowled, making my heart pound in my chest. Swallowing hard, I looked into his eyes and repeated. 

"I said I'm not a fucking freak!" I yelled in pent up anger. "Don't you ever call me that again. I am unique, nothing less." His eyes widened in what looked like shock, but I didn't wait for him to say any other word, before pushing past his shoulder and walking away. What was he even doing here by the way? This was my sister's college, not ours. Did he also have a sibling or family member who was convocating here as well? That could honestly be the least my problems because for the first time, I stood up to him. It may not have been so great, but it was something to me. For a moment, I cared more about letting someone know that I wasn't ashamed of my look. Or was beginning to not be ashamed, at the very least. With a low sigh, I walked back into the hall and made my way to where I had been sitting beside my papa. 

"What took you so long?" he whispered. 

"Soryy." I muttered, making him release a sigh. We remained attentive as we watched through the entire process of introducing the institution's senior staff. Soon, they moved on to the award presentation part of the ceremony. They introduced different important guests to present the awards to the honoured students. So far, Amara had collected one award, and papa looked as proud as could be. After some time, the Dean stepped up to introduce another person who was going to present the next category of awards. It was awards for students who studied Business Administration. 

"Up next, I would be calling on a very important personality in the Italy business world, and international communities as a whole. He is the CEO of the Russo empire." Russo Russo Russo. 'Russo Empire' struck a chord. I had heard it so many times while in high school. I didn't know much, but I knew that was one of the strongest standing empires in Italy. There was utmost silence as she spoke. "Please welcome Manuel Russo." She had called his name so casually, which contradicted the level of cheers coming from the congregation. They were soooo loud. 

In no time, there was a standing ovation and trumpets blared as well. I felt goosebumps on my skin. Who was this man? I stood up as well, in a bid to see him, but much taller people blocked the way. I decide to sit calmly, until every other person got seated as well. Like I imagined, the cheers died down soon enough, and everyone got seated. I finally got to see him and by God, the man was fine! He was..... young! Not my age range, but younger than I expected. Quite young, yet he led a thriving empire. Young and powerful. That had always been my goal. As I looked at the man with so much awe, I felt my heartbeat accelerate aggressively. I knew it wasn't as a result of just admiration, because my stomach started to feel like jelly. My legs tingled as well. This was happening because of a man I had only seen for the first time. Another man who was way above my league. Manuel Russo.