“Does it matter?” the boss answered with a booming voice as he stood in front of his son.
“Well…the wedding vow…” the priest whispered hesitantly, his nervous pale blue eyes darting off in random directions.
You tell him priest! Tell him that we can’t get married if the groom is not conscious and cannot say his wedding vows. I mean, does he even know what is going on? Would it even count if he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into?
“Oh…I see,” The boss said, nodding in understanding.
I watched, surprised at the unexpectedly understanding reaction of the mafia boss as he continued to nod his head.
“He needs to say his wedding vows…I see…I see,” the boss continued to mutter to himself as if in thought.
Hayden was still as unconscious as the dead. I bet if the two men stopped supporting him, he would just fall flat on the floor.
*Smack!*
I loud smacking sound rang out echoing around the enclosed space of the marble church. I gasped in shock along with the rest of the crowd as we watched the scene unfolding in front of us. Without warning, the boss suddenly whacked his son’s temple with the base of his gun. Hard.
Did that kill him? Shit…he’s bleeding…
My eyes widened as my mouth dropped open in shock. Hayden’s temple is bleeding, his blood spilling out from his wound and trickling down the side of his face.
“Wake up, son!” the boss shouted at the top of his lungs.
His voice was so loud that I had to cover both my ears with my hands. This man is crazy. He just hit his son to wake him up?! I bet everyone here is crazy!
“…hmmm…”
Unbelievably, Hayden began to stir and was making slurring sounds. I watched in astonishment as Hayden suddenly lifted his hanging head upwards into an upright position. Did he just wake up? He woke up…just like that?
“Hayden! Wake up son!” the boss continued shouting loudly directly next to Hayden’s ear.
Hayden suddenly opened his eyes and looked around drowsily. I could imagine that he was confused as to why he was in a church and with so many people. Suddenly, his eyes landed on me before our eyes met. I gasped slightly in astonishment as our eyes finally met for the first time.
I found myself locking gaze with a pair of very beautiful blue eyes as we stared at each other. Me in shock; him in slight confusion. After a while, Hayden cocked his head to the side in confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on.
Slowly, Hayden shrugged off the two men who were supporting him as he stood up straight. He was still clearly drunk and in a daze as he tried his best to stand steadily on his own two feet.
“Hands off…” Hayden murmured in a low voice, his blond brows knitting together in annoyance.
The two men dutifully let go of Hayden and the boss quickly came to his side to check on his son. Hayden lifted a hand and felt the wound on his temple which was still bleeding. I was shocked as to why no one had given him any medical attention at this point. He looked at the blood on his hand in confusion after he felt the wound on his head.
“Did I hit my head?” Hayden asked his father directly.
“No. I hit you on the head with a gun to wake you up! You need to get married right now. This is no time to be drunk!” His father replied, screaming loudly at his son.
Speaking in a calm and collected manner was clearly not the boss’s strong fort.
“Well…fuck…” Hayden cursed as he wiped his blood on his white blazer, staining it red.
“Proceed with the ceremony. We haven’t got all day!” the boss shouted at the priest who quivered in fear.
This can’t be happening. We’re going ahead with the ceremony? I really have to marry that guy? I felt cold sweat on my body and realized how panicked I felt at that moment. If I marry him, my life is really over. I’ll be stuck with these crazy mafias for the rest of my life. No…this can’t be true.
The impatient boss grabbed his son’s arm and yanked him forward. I watched as Hayden staggered a little forward at the force of his father’s pull. However, suddenly Hayden stopped in his track as if his mind had just thought of something.
“…who is she?” Hayden asked as he pointed a finger at me.
I’m the girl you’re supposed to be marrying but I guess you don’t realize that or anything else because you are dead drunk, I screamed inside my own head.
“That is your bride, Hayden!” the boss screamed, clearly losing whatever little patient that he had.
“…she’s not my bride,” Hayden stated firmly.
Oh…wow. What a turn of events. I was sure that no bride standing at the alter expected or wanted to be rejected by her groom-to-be, but I was thrilled at what I was hearing. Please break off this stupid engagement so I can go home with my grandma. Please!
“What on earth are you saying?! We went over this. If I say that she’s your bride, then she IS your bride!” the boss shouted in his son’s face.
I winced at the aggressive scene in front of me. The other gang members and the guests remained glued to their seat as they watched on in complete silence. I wanted to go home, the church was cold, and I could see from the corner of my eye that my grandma looked paler by the minute. She wasn’t feeling well, I could tell.
“What is…your name?” Hayden asked me directly, speaking as slowly and as clearly as he could in his state.
I was shocked that he actually spoke to me. I felt his eyes on my face and I felt my words stuck in my throat. Hayden continued staring at me with squinted eyes as he waited for my answer.
“…Malissa. My name is Malissa Maxford,” I finally managed to say, although my voice sounded shaky and dry.
“Amelia. I will not marry anyone besides Amelia. She is not my bride,” Hayden stated firmly as he pointed in my direction. He shook off his father’s arm and turned to leave.
“What are you saying! Amelia…Arghhh! Men, hold him down now!” the boss ordered as he pointed his finger at his son’s back.
The men got up from their seat and started restraining Hayden’s arms and legs until he was forced to kneel on the ground at his father’s feet.
What now? Apparently, Hayden has someone he is in love with and intends to marry that person. I too have someone I was madly in love with, although, he never wished to marry someone like me…
What happened after that was complete mayhem as the gang members struggled to restrain Hayden and the boss continued shouting at this son. Sometime later, Hayden lapsed back into his unconscious state, and no one could rouse him.
In the end, to my utmost relief, the wedding ceremony couldn’t proceed forward. That didn’t mean that I was immediately free from the mafia but at least, I had avoided my marriage for one more day. The men in black escorted my grandmother and I back to her hospital room after I had changed out of my wedding dress.
I never saw Hayden again that day.
--To be continued…
**Sometime before**I’m late! This can’t be happening to me! The supermarket promotional sale starts in ten minutes, and I am going to be late for it. I looked down at the grocery shopping list that my granny had carefully prepared and sighed. If I miss the sale and they run out of stuff, we’re not going to be able to get everything within our budget.I have to hurry. I ran at full speed along the sidewalk leading to the supermarket. I dodged around people, couples holding hands, children on their tricycles, an uncle walking his dog and so many more. However, I had to come to a sudden halt when I almost ran into a slightly plump old man. He must be in his fifties and was dressed in fine clothes like he was from the big city. I mean, no one at his age dresses this well around here.“I’m so sorry, Sir. Did I run into you? Are you hurt?” I apologized and fired off my questions at him rapidly.&n
Obviously, since I didn’t have any money and had no way to earn any either, I had to quit school. I didn’t have a place to live anymore, so I had to move in with my only surviving relative: my grandmother. With just one small luggage of clothes and necessities, I took a train to a nameless town in the countryside where my grandmother was living.By the time that I left the capital city, I was already prepared for the worst. When I first stood in front of the address that was supposed to be where my grandmother lived, the reality wasn’t too far from my expectation. My grandmother, as I was told, ran a small confectionary and cake shop in a very small town. The description was spot on.‘Sweet Time’ was the name on the faded white and pink sign of the small shop owned by my grandmother. It was clear that the sign had faded from white and red to its current state of pink. The shop was located on the first floor and
That’s impossible. My parents never mentioned taking out any debt from the mafia and definitely not five hundred million dollars. What would they even need that much money for anyways? We lived a normal life. We didn’t have any crazy money to spend like that.I turned to look behind me at my sobbing grandmother who had a look of absolute shock on her face. I knew it, this is probably also my grandmother’s first-time hearing about all this. I was worried about my grandmother. She looked so pale like she could pass out at any moment and her silent sobbing cries had gotten louder as the situation worsened around us.“It’s just as the contract states. Your parents borrowed five hundred million dollars from our boss and we’re here to get it back. Simple,” the man continued in a passionless voice.Simple. My foot.I looked down at the contract that I clutched tight
I heard a low voice call out to me before a hand reached out and shook my right shoulder. I woke up with a small jump. When did I fall asleep? I must have dozed off during the multi-hour ride to the city. I guess I was tired, I didn’t realize when I had fallen asleep at all.Where am I?The car had come to a complete stop and looking out of the window I could see that we have arrived at a gigantic mansion decorated in the baroque European style. This building is massive! Are we at a luxury hotel?I could see the beautifully decorated garden outside with its cupid water fountain and flowers of various types and colors. If the circumstances of my arrival here had been any different, then I’m sure that I would have enjoyed the view and would have felt super excited to be in such a nice place. However, the only thing I felt right now was anxiety, fear, and stress.The men wordlessly unbounded my hands and feet before carefu
“So, you do remember me. Excellent!” the boss said with a warm smile that showed off the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes.I have to say that I did not expect the kind-hearted uncle to be a mafia boss. In other words, I did not expect the mafia boss to be a smiley uncle figure.“Yeah…umm…hello…once again, I guess,” I stammered when I finally found my tongue.“Have a drink, dear. You look a little tired from the trip. It must have been a long one…” the boss said as he gestured to a glass or water that was placed on the coffee table.“Thank you…” I whispered as I reached for the glass.“Did my men treat you roughly? I did order them to be gentle with you…as gentle as handling a feather,” the boss asked, suddenly his gaze was serious.For some reason, I figured that I shouldn’t tell him that they
“So, you see, that family member that I have chosen is my son. Trust me, it’s much better than marrying me, is it not?” the boss said, laughing at his own sick joke.I stared at the document in shock as my hand shook. If I tear this paper apart, will that void the contract? I guess not…As I was deep in thought as to what I should do next, the boss’s mobile phone started to ring loudly, disturbing the tense atmosphere in the room.“What? I see…and? We’ll cover it…give her the best treatment,” the boss spoke through the phone.The conversation came to an end and the boss looked at me with a sad face and I wondered what that whole phone call was about.“The man that took your grandmother to the hospital just called,” the boss said solemnly.“How is she?” I asked with worry.“I think she already knew this but…
“Miss Malissa, the boss wants to see you now,” the leader of the men in black said as he poked his head in through the opened door.“Ok…let’s go,” I said as I walked towards the door.I wished I had gotten to speak with my grandmother, but she was still asleep. I wanted to talk to the boss too. Perhaps, he had already given up on the wedding based on what happened earlier today.…“You want me to what?” I said as my eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.“Hahaha! You don’t have to act so excited. It is as I said, I want you to move in and live with Hayden. He’s handsome, isn’t he? Just like me when I was younger…” the boss said cheerfully as he sipped red wine.“Umm…what he looks like isn’t the main problem here…” I muttered.“You will do as
Hayden had arrived and is sitting very close to me opposite the dinner table. This is the closest that we’ve gotten since we met at the church at what was supposed to be our wedding. Although, it failed miserably at my relief.Well, at least, he isn’t dead drunk this time, I thought as I looked at the man sitting opposite to me.Now that I had a chance to see him up close, I had to admit that Hayden is extremely handsome and attractive. Light blond hair, flawless skin, bright blue eyes, and a very handsome face with a straight nose. He looks like an angel, a prince, a Greek god, and everything else along those lines.As I have observed before at the church, Hayden was very tall, and I barely reached his shoulders even in those ultra-high heels I was forced to wear at our failure of a wedding. I wasn’t surprised that he had a girlfriend or at least a lover…or two…or more…?I was also sure that