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Heading home
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2022-02-08 22:46:03“I’m not going to go anywhere. I have work to do and I’m going to go back in there. You’re all going to leave now and go back to wherever you’re staying. You can’t just spring something like this on me and expect me to drop everything I’m doing to go shopping with you. I’ll take Friday off so that I can be home for the wedding on Saturday, but as for anything other than that, please count me out.” Carol said, and walked back into the restaurant, praying inwardly that they would not follow her and leaving them gaping at her in something akin to shock. It wasn’t every day that she was bold enough to stand up to them, but she had to admit that it was extremely satisfying to do so.
“You’re such an ingrate and a terrible sister!” Belinda shouted after her daughter, before flouncing off in anger, with her other daughter and husband in tow.
***
Carol did not hear much from her parents and sister after they left in a huff that Tuesday. They refused to pick up her calls, but her mother kept reminding her to travel over latest Friday morning so that she could be there before the big day. Carol was still not sure about the whole thing, but it was not in her place to tell her sister what to do with her life, after all, she was an adult and could make her decisions herself. Not that Victoria gave a rat’s ass about what her sister thought in any aspect of life, least of all her love life.
Carol took the morning flight and landed in the town in which her parents lived before eleven in the morning. She took a cab to her parent’s house and was totally shocked by all the hustle and bustle that met her when she got there. Considering the way this wedding was going to be rushed, she had not expected this much preparation. The whole place was agog with activities and people were milling around, including relatives that Carol had not seen in ages and would have honestly not wanted to see.
“There you are Carol pie.” One of her aunties, her father’s elder sister crooned and advanced towards her with arms outstretched for a hug and kiss before she could hasten away. Carol groaned inwardly as soon as she saw her. This woman was such a handful and Carol tried her best to avoid her whenever she could.
“Aunt Alice! How are you doing?” Carol exclaimed, feigning excitement and accepting the kiss on both cheeks a little reluctantly.
“I’m doing as well as can be, dear. Now, you can imagine my surprise when I heard that your beautiful sister was getting married. It is a taboo, I tell you, for the younger one to get married before the elder one, but well, these things happen now and then. You must not let it get to you, love.”
“Aunt Alice, I’m sorry, but I really need to go fin…”
“Ah, yes. I know all about it. After all, I did get married before dear Sarah, my sister, God rest her sweet soul. I guess you can say I’m a nice person because I did not mind that she got real mad at me for getting married before her. No, I didn’t. She was a real bitch about it too, but she did come around in the end. Now, I hope you will not put your beautiful sister through what I went through in the hands of my dear departed sister.”
Carol rolled her eyes, resisted the overwhelming urge to give the woman a piece of her mind, and nodded humbly.
“Yes, aunt. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to go find my mother and my sister.”
“Oh, wait. I haven’t told you about…”
“Yeah, see you later,” Carol said and beat a hasty retreat as though she did not hear the woman’s last words. Since she did not know the majority of the people who were milling about, it was easy to escape into the house without having to greet too much. As shy as she was, she always found it a herculean task to socialize with many people, especially people whom she did not talk to on a regular basis.
Carol found her mother in the living room, holding court with a bunch of women around her. She looked the part of the proud mother-in-law and was gesticulating wildly as she told her adoring audience about the numerous expensive gifts that her son-in-law to be had bestowed on her.
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“I kid you not.” She was saying as Carol came into the room. “He’s so generous. I mean, just look at this pendant. He got it for me, he did…or rather, his father did. That man is sooooo generous. Supposing I was still single, I wouldn’t have wasted any second getting into his bed.” She confided in a whisper to her enraptured audience of about seven women, but Carol heard her.”Mom!”“Oh dear, there you are. Now, do hurry to your sister’s room if you do have any plans of still being her chief bridesmaid. You must be careful though, I must say she is in such a mood and we do not want to upset her further. Wedding jitters, I suppose, although why she should be having wedding jitters or second thoughts when she’s getting to such a fine man as he to be her husband is beyond me.”“Um, mum. Do you even know the name of the man your beloved daughter is getting married to?” Carol asked in shock and watched as her mother’s cheek turned bright pink in embarrassment.“What a ridicul
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It only felt like minutes later when Carol heard an insistent knock at her door that permeated her sleep. Groaning, she turned, stretched while still laying in her queen sized bed and then sat up and looked around in a disoriented manner. It was dark outside from what she could see, so that meant that she had slept for hours. The knock at the door became more insistent as the seconds rolled by and then she heard her mother yell out her name and rap out a series of further knocks. “I’m coming.” Carol yelled out in reply and hurried to get off the bed and open the door before her mother broke it down with her insistent knocking and the way she was banging on it. “What is it mum?” Carol asked, rubbing at her eyes as she stood there in her pink shorts and white singlet. Her mother gaped at her for a few seconds and then screeched. “Why are you dressed like that?” “Dressed like what?” “The way you’re dressed! The guests are already here and you’re
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"Um, I'm sorry everyone, but may I have your attention please?" Once everyone was quiet, Belinda continued, hardly able to hide the tremor or uncertainty in her voice. "I'm sorry, but we would have to have dinner without my daughter, Victoria. I'm afraid that she's indisposed at the moment, but is recuperating. She's asleep now and we do not want to wake her up so that she will be well-rested for the wedding tomorrow.""Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that. I wish her a speedy recovery." A middle-aged woman said, placing her hand above her chest dramatically. The other people around the table muttered their condolences and wished Victoria well, asking her to give Victoria their best wishes. Carol noticed one man in particular who looked to be in his sixties and was sitting next to Sebastian who was seated across from her. At Belinda's announcement, the man's eyes narrowed, but he did not say anything. He didn't offer any condolences as the others did, but took up his cutlery and began t
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Victoria tossed her head, not showing any concern that they had apparently heard a good part of what she said. As far as she was concerned, that was their goddamn problem. “Victoria, my dear. You sure have grown into a fine young woman.” Mr. James said, coming over to give her a hug and peck where she was standing. Victoria received them rigidly, her posture giving off ‘I don’t know you vibes.’ “Now, I know you may not remember me, but I used to be your father’s best friend.” Mr. James continued. “Yes, yes. We are best friends, honey.” Their father put in, a tad too eagerly. Mr. James put up one finger to silence him and he snapped his mouth shut as though someone had used a remote button to control him. Carol watched in surprise, wondering what kind of hold this man had over her family th
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Even before she got downstairs, Carol could hear the strong voice of Mr. James raised in utter displeasure. She could not hear what her parents were saying, but even without hearing them, she knew that they were trying to pacify him. It seemed they succeeded in doing that because he stopped shouting. Carol hurried toward the study and put her ear to the door, trying to hear what they were saying inside the room.“We can postpone the wedding though. We’ll find and convince her. I’m sure of it. All this is just cold feet, which is not a surprise considering the circumstances. Once she calms down, she’ll see reason.” Carol heard her mother say.“I don’t have the time or the patience for that. It was difficult enough convincing Sebastian to agree to this in the first place. He’ll gladly back out of the whole thing if he finds out that his bride has absconded. Are you absolutely sure that your daughter has run away?”“Yes. She left a note for us.”“Well, in that case, I’m afraid that there
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The drive to the church was a tense one that seemed longer than usual. Carol sat stiffly in the backseat with her mother, while her father sat in the front seat beside their remaining driver. They had had to send the other two drivers away more than four months back. It was now everything made sense to Carol. Her parents were in serious debt. Looking at them, however, especially her mother, one would never guess. She was always clad in the latest, most expensive, and most fashionable clothes there were. It did not bode down well at all with Carol that they had to resort to using her as a sort of payment for their debt, but she could not let those bastards kill her uncle for something that he did not know about. Besides, she had no doubt that they would follow through on their threat to kill off the rest of their family. She only hoped that Mr. James would keep to his word and would help pay off her dad’s debt.
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“You do have a way with words, don’t you?” He asked, in what sounded suspiciously like a mocking tone. “I’m sorry.” “You don’t have to be. My uncle is an asshole, even though I do love him. So why on earth are you married to me instead of your sister?” “Um, well. She…she ran… I mean, we can’t find her. We don’t know where she is.” Carol said, hating herself for the way her voice sounded so high and squeaky and the way she stammered. Sebastian wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, he was busy on his phone as he talked to her. What if he looked at her? She would no doubt curl up into a ball and die. “I can’t say that I blame her. I had the urge to do the same thing too.” Sebastian said in a sardonic voice. He did not seem to be particularly concerned, pained, or offended. Now that they were alone, a sudden thought that made her suddenly sit up ramrod straight sprung up in Carol's mind. Sex! What about sex? They were married for crying out loud. D
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The car took Sebastian and Carol straight to the airport. The drive there was a quiet one, with both of them lost in their thoughts. Carol did not speak because she was tired and just wanted the day to be over, while Sebastian really did not know what to say to her. In a way, he felt sorry for her and could not imagine how she must be feeling right now. It was clear that she was the pushover of the family if she let them prevail upon her to marry a stranger in the space of some hours. He could not say he had been exactly shocked to see her walk down the aisle instead of her sister as he had sort of expected the stunt that the sister pulled this morning.Sebastian wondered what sort of hold his uncle had on her parents to make her consent to this, but he did not really care as it was actually none of his business. He would never understand what his dear uncle stood to benefit from his marriage to any of his friend’s daughters, but that was his uncle’s business, not his. All that m
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