by Richa Resa
“Everything is fine, my angel. Stop crying. You did very well and you made me proud.” He praised and calmed his daughter at the same time.
“I’m sorry, Father,” she responded distantly. Her father gave her a smile before wiping away her tears and silently asking her not to cry. I stood there like a fool, repenting my own mistakes and my decisions.
“How dare you? You just messed up the whole plan, Anne. What an idiot you are!” The shrill voice of her mother hurt everyone’s ears while she glared at her daughter with disgust. Anne’s eyes widened and somewhere I saw fear looming in her eyes. She held onto her father more tightly under the piercing gaze of her mother.
“You doomed your own future. Now no other guy will ever marry you. You not only destroyed yourself, but tainted our name with shame. How could you? Is this how you repay me for all that I did for you? Is this shame what I get for being a good mother? Huh?” She seethed in anger, scaring the majority of people in the church, including me.
“I’m not going to let you live, you little—” Her words were cut short by Mr. Edgings’ command to stop. This seemed to have agitated her more, because the next thing I saw was her trying to pry Anne out of her father’s hold while Anne cried.
“I said to fucking stop, Morine, or I won’t mind divorcing you,” he snarled at his own wife, leaving her stunned. She gaped at him in disbelief while his eyes burned with pits of anger. Anger rolled off his body in waves, making me cower in fear too. Taking a step away from Anne, he addressed everyone.
“As you have seen, no wedding is going to take place here today. It would be really nice of you all if you would take your leave from here. The reception venue is still open, though there will be no celebration. It would be great if you all could go there and help yourself with all that has been arranged. It would be a shame to have it all wasted for someone else’s wrongdoings.” He sternly glared at his own wife. The crowd of guests inside the church started to disperse, leaving behind just a few of us, including me, Anne, and her parents. There was no one present from my side, however it was my sole wish to not have anyone see my destruction.
“We are done, Morine, we are fucking done!” Mr. Edgings shouted, making every one of us flinch. “You just fucking outdid yourself this time. Twenty years ago I was coy and became a victim of your vindictive scheme. I still didn’t say anything to you for the sake of my daughter, and our families’ reputation, but today you crossed the line. Making Anne follow in your own footsteps!” He seethed in anger, making Morine’s eyes glisten with tears. I was seeing the wrath of a father. Would Eunice’s father have delivered the same wrath on me, or more than that, for pushing Eunice into destruction? Would he have beaten the shit out of me for taking away his daughter? He didn’t think I was worthy of Eunice…how many times had he asked Eunice not to waste her time on me? How many times was I was the center of his glare at family dinners until that one day? The day when I asked him for Eunice’s hand in marriage, I saw him in a new light. He was just taking care of his daughter. He wasn’t sure about me, but he believed that I would keep her happy. I broke his belief in me by killing Eunice’s love.
“Tell me, did you do this for your hatred of Eunice? Tell me why you extended the wedding invitation to her. Why?” My eyes grew wide. She was the one who invited her to the wedding.
“Why?” he snarled, his anger booming the most.
“Because I always hated her and her family. It sickened me for years how much happier you have always been with Anne, Eunice, and Eunice’s family. I hated my own daughter because you loved her, and after her it was Eunice. You treated her as your own and it angered me. I never got any of your love, all I have ever gotten is your hatred and silence. I saw Anne grow with the love from her father. I never got love from you, not even an ounce. You were never good to me, never happy with me. You just tolerated me!” Her voice filled with anger and desperation.
“You never saw me as you wife or your lover. Years I had tried to get your attention, but all I got was your silence. You never tried to love me; it was always Anne and Eunice. You loved them and I wished to destroy it for you. I planted the seed of hatred for Eunice in Anne’s mind and drew them apart as they grew. I did it. Slowly, as you saw less of Eunice and her parents, I thought I had a chance, but no. Anne was the apple of your eye, she was your everything. I was just a woman begging for your love and I never got it. Anne stood like a bridge between us and I had to remove her. She became a thorn in my side, so I sent her away in hopes of getting your attention, but it didn’t help. It was just a coincidence that I found out about Eunice’s and Joshua’s failing marriage. Somehow after a lot of tries, I was successful in having Anne get close to Joshua.” She looked at me and smiled. It was a sinister smile, making me cower in fear.
“Slowly I got your attention, even if it was because of Anne. I knew it would hurt you and make you hate your own daughter for doing such a thing. I encouraged Anne and when Eunice tried to kill herself and Joshua went missing, I came up with a plan to have you hate Anne forever. I was scared that she would crumble all the progress I had made with you. I implanted the idea of having Joshua forever in Anne’s mind and it worked. She listened to her mother and was so set on getting Joshua back. All the other things were of Joshua’s doing. He himself got captured in this vindictive scheme, and as for inviting Eunice, it pleased me to know that she was hurting. She was hurting like me and I loved every second of it, because you once loved her as your daughter, and seeing her in pain helped me. Want to know why? Because it was eventually hurting you.” She sobbed and shouted in the vacant church, the truth echoing within the walls. Anne looked in disbelief at her mother while I felt like the world had turned upside down. This revolting truth made me sick. How could a mother, a real mother, do that to her own daughter just to gain her husband’s attention? It sickened me that mothers like her existed. What an irony it was that I had seen extreme sides of a mother? One a stepmother but would give her life for the child that was not hers, and on the other side was a mother who wanted to destroy her own blood and flesh.
“I hate you,” Anne snarled at her mother, making Morine snap her eyes towards her.
“The feeling is mutual,” she replied, shooting daggers at her. She was nothing compared to what a real mother was, she couldn’t even hold a candle to the sparkling diamond my Eunice is. But I have lost her, a kind and pure soul I had tainted. Now I am left alone on the strands of my love for her.
“It’s over.” The bare whisper left Mr. Edgings lips. “It’s over, Morine. We are done forever. A woman like you sickens me. It disgusts me to know that I have ever known you. It was my mistake that I didn’t pay any attention to you, and I am ashamed of it. I wish we could have talked, but it’s too late. You have not destroyed but burned our house, our relationship, and what we had into ashes. You are no longer welcome in my life or Anne’s.” He had tears rolling down his cheek while his voice sounded strained. He was a broken man like me. Holding Anne, he walked out of the church with Morine following them, begging and crying for another chance. Just as they were going, Anne turned and looked at me with her pained and guilty eyes.
“Find her, please. Bring her back and love her forever, Joshua. She is your only love,” she called out as tears rolled down her cheeks. Mr. Edgings gave me a sympathetic nod before doing his best to evade his wife.
I was left alone with nothing. I’d lost the girl with the innocent heart. She was gone and I was lost. I had no purpose but to be consumed in darkness without her. She was the light of my life that always pulled me from the dark. She told me it was the end if I didn’t take this chance. I gave it up with all my hopes of seeing the brightness. I cried more and more in the silence of the church.
I was nothing without her. It was my end.
Chapter 23
Eunice
The assault of the sun woke me up. A throbbing headache, on the other hand, begged me to kill myself. I wanted to die. Turning around, I tried to save myself from the
assault of the sun, but it was just no use. I was getting more irritated, and the killing hangover just worsened. I turned once again and found my hands touching something hard. My wasted mind couldn’t guess what it was. It couldn’t be the bed or table because it felt a little soft…more like skin, but not of a woman. It was hard, but hairy too. My mind couldn’t put one and one together yet, and it annoyed me to the next level. I concentrated more on what it could be. I could have gone the easy way of finding out what it was by opening my eyes, but somewhere I enjoyed this guessing game. It felt like last night’s alcohol hadn’t fully lost its affect.
I heard breathing followed by a giggle, and it was then when the sudden realization hit me. It was a guy. I didn’t know what came over me, but I pinched the skin beneath my hands painfully, getting an immediate response in the form of a loud yelp. I hit him once again, getting the same response but louder this time, making me shoot up and open my eyes. After taking minutes for my eyes to adjust, I was able to clearly see there was a man on my bed with his naked chest on display, with deep red lipstick marks, maybe from the one I wore last night. I could hear the bells ringing in my mind. My eyes were zoned out on a lipstick mark just down past his navel, rather than those blue eyes that were staring at me. I kept looking and looking, God, was he naked under the rest of the sheets? Because it only started a little below his navel. What in the holy hell had I done? A one-night stand! I broke my own fucking rule of no one-night stands. I had nothing against it, but it wasn’t for me at all. I can’t even think about it—my first was Joshua, and I just can’t give myself to someone I didn’t know. I want to be loved and then take it to the next level. I have always been the goody-two shoes, the perfect one. I just can’t imagine doing it myself. My cheeks were burning red. God, what had I gotten myself into?
“I know I’m a beautiful sight to look at too, but you’re more beautiful than me.” His gravelly voice made me snap towards his face. Straight jaw line with clean-shaven face and a slightly pointed chin. He looked like a model. He was really handsome and had perfect lips and no one could deny that. I was so busy capturing the image of his handsome face that I didn’t feel the cold air hitting my abdomen. He sat up and he stared at me intensely.
“I see you aren’t ashamed of showing off your hourglass figure, it’s a beautiful sight to wake up to.” His words had my eyes widening like saucer. I looked down at myself to see that I was just in my red bra and panties and they both were gladly showing off. I snapped out of my dreamy, sleepy state and covered myself up to my chin with the sheets, drawing them away from him in the process. My cheeks were burning hot and eyes downcast due to the immense embarrassment I felt.
“Hey, give me some too!” he chirped. “I’m just in my boxers down here, I also need to cover my drool-worthy body.” He pulled on the sheet and shifted to a sitting position beside me. He was not a down to earth person, but an arrogant one, maybe. I didn’t have the guts to look at him and I was sure he would have a smirk on his face. He was clearly enjoying this situation, while I, on the other hand, was embarrassed down to the depths of the ocean. We sat beside each other surrounded by silence. I knew it was a bad choice to drown my pain in alcohol. I had called Nora and begged her to free me from the pain, to help me somehow feel better and not to have me drown in the feeling of giving up on my life again. She had rushed to packing our bags with the essentials. A few hours later we were in the business class of a plane to Hawaii. Clarisse would have tagged along but she had her shoot. She was willing to leave, but I denied her, because if she left she could be sued. I wept silent tears all through the flight. I had cried all day and night over his choices. I forced myself to think about the present awkward situation I was stuck in.
“I’m…Eun…ice,” I stuttered, my gaze riveted on the sheet. I really didn’t know what to do, so I thought introductions would be nice.
“Let me guess—this is your first time in this situation,” he replied. I gave him one of my weak nods without averting my eyes. Minutes passed with an uncomfortable silence surrounding us. I heard him breathe out a heavy sigh. He moved and sat in front of me.
“I’m Craig.” He offered his hand for me to shake, but I just stared at it. “You know it doesn’t have thorns.” I looked up at him in confusion.
“My hand, it doesn’t have thorns. It won’t hurt to shake hands, you know.” He grinned and was able to ease away the tension. I shook his hand and he gave me a bright smile.
“Eunice, that’s a very nice name. I wish my parents could have given me a cooler name like yours.” He really was something. “How old are you, by the way?” he asked curiously.
“Didn’t anyone tell you it’s bad to ask how old a woman is?” I questioned with a glint of mischief.
“They told me, but I need to know that you won’t be shouting child assault at me,” he said seriously.
“I’m twenty-five,” I answered.
“I wouldn’t get into trouble then. Right?” he asked. I shook my head.
“So we didn’t do anything, right?” I asked hesitantly.
“You don’t remember at all?” He gave a shocked expression. “We had the best night of our lives exploring each other.” His words turned me red. I hid my face under the sheets, which was better than dying from embarrassment. I had officially done it, I had the first one-night stand of my life. Loud laughter filled the room.
“God, you are hilarious!” he exclaimed. “You can get out of there, we really didn’t do anything, and you still have your bra and panties on.” At his words I jerked out of the sheets and looked at him. He was smiling like a doofus.
“We were pretty drunk, actually. We just got rid of our clothes and slept as soon as our heads hit the mattress. For your information, you’re not my type.” He had this grin plastered over his face that I wanted to wipe away. I looked at him with narrowed eyes.
“Calm down, Lady Eunice. It’s me, not you. I’m not your type, not the other way round. So please forgive me, and could you please not look at me like that because it scares me,” he cajoled. My eyes softened, feeling no more anger and embarrassment.
“Hmm, so, as you haven’t done this before, I assume you’re a virgin?” he asked carefully. I laughed at his question, just because I had never had a one-night stand, he automatically assumed that I’m a virgin. A small chuckle left my lips, making him look at me curiously.
“Is that a yes or a no?” he queried.
“A no,” I answered sheepishly. He grinned at my answer.
“Boyfriend or fiancé?” he asked casually. It was none of them, it was him. It was my husband, now my ex-husband. He had been my first and I wished him to be my last too, but some things don’t happen. I shook my head trying to get rid of the memories of the past.
“Ex-husband,” my reply came out. His eyes showed me sympathy and it made me feel weak. A strange silence hovered inside the room until I decided to break it.
“So would you like some breakfast, Craig? With some painkillers?” I asked with a fake smile, to which he looked at me, surprised.
“You know, no one has asked me that ever. It’s hard to find a good girl these days,” he dreamily said, making a genuine smile appear on my lips. “I wish I was your type.” He dramatically sighed. He really was something. Someone different…
Chapter 24
Joshua
The amber liquid became my home. It seemed to be my only friend. I shared my grief with the bottle like it was my other half, my soul mate, and my only love. My real another half, my true soul mate, and my only love went far away to a place I didn’t know. I had lost her, gave up my last chance of redemption, and forced myself out of her life with my actions.
I couldn’t have her back now. She told me this would be the last chance, that this would be the end. She warned me to be careful, but I had been nothing but a fool. I believed in a lie once again and drove her away. The only difference this time was that she was at least far away from me and living while I was dying. Clarisse had laugh
ed at my misery when I asked where Eunice was. She took pleasure in seeing me writhing in pain. It wasn’t her fault however, it was mine. I was paying for it with my loneliness, drowning myself in that bottle.
I needed to find out where she was, but it wasn’t that easy. No one wanted to tell me. Alex had turned me down ever since I said yes to Anne for the wedding. I had no one left to care for me or help me. I had gained the courage of going to Eunice’s parents, only to be left deflated like always. The only thing I got was her father’s wrath and her mother’s tears. I had welcomed the pain and bruises formed by her father’s wrath. I didn’t fight back, didn’t protect myself because I was already a broken, defeated man. I had step by step lost all the things I was meant to cherish and protect. Some taken by fate and some stolen by my own mistakes. What was left for me to live for? Elle was taken away from me, my unborn child, whose existence was not known to me, was gone, and the love of my life chased away by me myself after burning in the fire of torture and pain.
“You know, my dear bottle, that Eunice was my angel? She was my source of happiness. When I loved her, my days were filled with brightness, and when I started hating her, they were filled with shades of grey, but when she stopped existing, everything turned black. I was consumed by darkness. She was my own sun, my own moon, and my own universe,” I slurred to my partner, the pretty bottle of Jack Daniels.
“Do I deserve to live? Tell me…” I asked like a maniac. No answer came—how could it? Surrounded by silence and darkness, I knew I had no one.
“Tell me, anyone, tell me what I deserve?” I shouted in the empty house, my ears begging for any sound other than my own.