Intrepidity

10 |Marriage?|

The atmosphere was eerily quiet. No words spoken for about ten minutes. Fin had excused us from the dining table, as her father had demanded. He looked so serious, I could not help, but feel nervous. Had he already found out about me being a fraud? Was I going to be arrested? — different sorts of thoughts invaded my mind. Antonio would definitely deny the truth in front of his father and make me seem like a liar. I did not have any proof to backup my confession anyway — I would only be wasting my time. I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves. I was ready!

"You two must be wondering why I called for this meeting, am I right?" He questioned, his gazed solely fixed on me. I instantly felt more uncomfortable.

"Yes, dad." Antonio responded, stealing glances at me.

I didn't know what was going on in his mind, but I could tell he was equally as nervous  — perhaps, even more nervous than I was. I averted my gaze away from him and back to his father.

"I have been thinking all night long and I think it would be best I shared my thoughts with you both." He remarked.

"Go ahead, dear." Jacinta goaded, smiling from ear to ear.

Now that was strange! Were they not supposed to be angry? I was utterly confused.

"Since you two are already engaged, I think it would be convenient to get married sooner."

"Wh— what?!" I choked on my words. "I can't —"

"Calm down, baby." Antonio was quick to intervene. He brought a glass of water to my lips and practically forced me to take a sip.

I narrowed my eyes at him. He better fix the mess he put me in, otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to expose him to his family anymore. I was exhausted already. That small lie of ours was suffocating me.

"We are engaged, dad, but still, we don't think it is advisable for us to get married right away. We are taking our time to know more about each other first." Antonio responded.

I gazed at Jacinta, but apparently she was in support of what her husband said. "That's nonsense!" She glared at her son. "Andrea is a good girl. I can already attest to that. Her behavior is just so...perfect. Without a doubt, she is the perfect girl for you."

"I know, mom." Antonio replied. "I know she is...but I don't think she's ready for that right now."

It was my turn to throw a glare at him. I knew what he was going — he was putting me on the spot, so his family would think I was the one delaying the marriage. Rascal!

"Why is that, dear?" Jacinta asked, softly. "Is it your parents? Are they perchance against your relationship with Antonio?"

Immediately she said that, I felt a pang in my heart. They gave me to him in exchange of some cash. Tears blurred my vision. The reality was just too painful to accept. I thought I had learned to accept the fact, but each time I got reminded of them, my heart bled profusely. I could not stop the tears from falling from my eyes. I did not want to either. I allowed them fall freely. If I didn't, I wasn't sure what would have happened to me. I have had my feelings bottled in for too long. It felt good to have let them out. The tears were not signs of weakness, but a sacred link between my heart and soul. I was not weak. I refused to be weak.

"Oh dear! Are you alright?" I could hear Jacinta's voice floating in the air.

My heart was in immense pain — I was far from being alright, but indubitably, I would be alright at last.

"She is not." Antonio replied on my behalf.

"What do you mean by that, son?" His dad questioned.

"Her parents are both death. She has no family left in this world." He replied.

Teary eyed, I gazed at him. His words shot through me like a dagger and more tears escaped. Yet again, I allowed them for the eloquence in tears was far better than words would ever be able to convey.

"Oh my! That's sad." Jacinta walked towards me and engulfed me in an embrace. "You don't have to ever think you have no family left in this world. You have Antonio, me, James and Josephine. We are all here for you. We are your family now, okay?" She placed a kiss on my forehead.

Momentarily, I felt more relaxed. Her embrace was so...warm, comfortable... I felt safe in there. A small smile crept up my lips when she pulled away. A connection was beginning to form between the both of us, I could tell.

"When did this happen?" James inquired. For the first time since I arrived at their house, I felt his sincerity.

"Not up to a month ago." Antonio replied on my behalf again. "They died in a plane crash."

"I'm so sorry." He offered his condolence. "Because of this, I want the wedding to take place as soon as possible. Next month to be precise."

"Dad..." Antonio trailed off.

"He is right, son." Jacinta supported. "Andrea needs this, to be able to move on with her life."

I could not stand being in the same room as them anymore. I stood up and ran away from the dining room. I didn't stop until I was in his room. I collapsed on the bed and cried harder.

"What do you think you are doing?" I hard Antonio speak as he walked into the room and secured the door with locks.

Red eyed, I wiped my tears and glared at him. "What does it look like to you?"

"I'm disappointed in you. Very very disappointed! How could you let yourself be weak in front of my parents?" He spat, menacingly.

"Weak?" I got down from the bed and stood in front of him. One would think we were measuring heights. "Because I shed some tears?" I asked in disbelief. He was wrong! I wasn't weak. Tears is bravery, not weakness. "That's weakness? You should be disappointed in yourself for uttering those words. Am I not allowed to cry after what those people did to me? Is that bravery? No! I would only be hurting myself. I'm glad, really glad I allowed those feelings out, because guess what, I feel much better now. You are in fact the weak one!" I retorted.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Do not speak to me in that manner."

"I will speak to you the way I want. You do that all the time as well." I shrugged.

"Andre—"

"Don't say my name, you weakling!" I provoked.

He seemed to be keeping his anger at bay. I could see his fist clenching and unclenching at intervals.  Good! That was just what I wanted. To provoke him and make him show his real color, so his family would finally be able to see him for who he really was.

"Say that one more time and I w—"

"Weakling." I repeated, daring him to do his worse.

As expected, he raised his hand to hit me, but stopped midair. He picked up the lamp instead and smashed it to the floor. The glasses broke into uncountable pieces and flew to different parts of the room.

I took in a deep intake of breath. "I thought you were going to hit me like you are used to. Why didn't you? Let me reply on your behalf. Because, you are a weak man. You are afraid your family would come to know about your illegal ways, aren't you?"

Antonio shut his eyes for some few seconds. He seemed to be meditating. When he reopened them, he smiled at me, like his lips curved upwards. I gazed at him like someone who was suffering from mania. Was he okay? Oh my God! This was frightening. "I know exactly what you are trying to do, but I am not gonna give you the satisfaction."

"You are a disgusting man!" I spat.

"I know." He replied with a shrug. "And you, are gonna be married to this disgusting man in a month's time."

Horrifically, my eyes widened.