17, Looking for Lerisa
888 Words
Martha walked up with the wrapped gift that Lerisa had bought for Anthony, and she was the last person to approach him as he stood on the front stage. All the other guests had already given their gifts and left the event hall after receiving their "Thank you for coming" gifts from Sandra, Anthony's mother's maid.
Approaching Anthony nervously, Martha felt a twinge of anxiety as he immediately asked, "Where is Lerisa? I haven't seen her."
"Um, Lerisa has gone home," Martha replied, her voice shaky. Anthony frowned, recalling that the last time he saw Lerisa, she was dancing happily with Ben on stage when he returned with Clara.
He wondered if they had left together since Ben was also nowhere to be found. Lerisa had been acting strangely towards him lately, and he couldn't understand why.
"I’m not sure if she’s really gone home, but I’ll call her later to find out before we leave with our parents. But here's the gift she bought for you," Martha said, handing the wrapped gift to Anthony.
"What's inside? Why didn’t Lerisa wait to give it to me herself?" Anthony asked sadly as he accepted the gift, wondering what Lerisa had chosen for him. He remembered how she used to smile shyly whenever she presented him with gifts on his birthdays since they were children. She would act nervous and blush, waiting to see how he would react before handing over her thoughtful gifts.
Anthony recalled the last time Lerisa had given him a big standing fan, which he kept in his bedroom even though he hadn’t expected such a gift from her.
"I don’t know what’s in it," Martha lied, not wanting to reveal that it contained men's wear, like a singlet and boxers, fearing Anthony’s anger might spill over onto her and lead him to reject the gifts Lerisa had picked out for him.
"Okay, please send my regards to Lerisa when you get home and tell her I’m not happy with her for not wishing me a happy birthday today," Anthony said as he turned away, clutching the last gift given to him by Martha. Sandra then presented a notebook to Martha as a token of appreciation for attending.
The notebook had Anthony's photo drawn on the front page, and a large white plastic tray was given to Martha to take home for her parents, also adorned with Anthony's image.
"Thank you," Martha replied, accepting the birthday gifts from Sandra. She hurried out of the hall and headed to the parking lot, where she found her parents talking to Mr. and Mrs. Gregson.
"It's alright, Mr. and Mrs. Jonah. We will speak to Anthony and help him understand the importance of marrying Lerisa. We weren’t aware of his relationship with Clara and that he wanted to propose to her," Mrs. Beatrice said, while Martha froze upon hearing Anthony's parents discussing the idea of marrying Lerisa.
She knew her elder sister liked Anthony, but she wasn’t sure if Lerisa would be happy to marry him.
"It's alright, Mrs. Beatrice. We can't force them to marry if they don't want to. Lerisa is still young, and she might be frightened at the thought of marriage right now," Mr. Fred added, opposing the idea of pressuring Anthony and Lerisa to marry just to bring their families closer.
"We just need to guide them and strengthen our family friendship, not force them together. I will talk to Anthony about Lerisa and help him understand. We haven’t asked him to consider marrying her before. I’m sure now that he realizes his mistake in proposing to that woman, he will see why we want him to marry Lerisa. She has supported him well in managing the company and would make a good wife for him," Mr. Joshua said.
"Hmph, it is well. Thank you for the gifts; we need to head home now. Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Gregson," Mr. Fred said, standing beside his car with his wife, just as Martha approached them nervously.
"That's alright. What about Lerisa? Has she already gone home?" Mr. Joshua asked, having a fondness for Lerisa and noting her absence since the last time he saw her dance on stage.
"Yes, it seems she left earlier since she's not with us," Mrs. Antonia replied calmly. She turned to her younger daughter, "Have you called Lerisa to find out where she is? I hope she hasn’t followed that young man she was dancing with to his house."
"No, Mother, I doubt my sister would do that," Martha replied, meeting her mother's gaze.
"Hmm," Mrs. Antonia frowned, scanning the quiet compound as most guests had departed, noticing Lerisa's car was not parked in the lot.
"How can you accuse my sister of following a man to his house just because she danced freely with him?" Martha questioned, still wearing her black slim-fitted gown paired with her silver high-heeled shoes, feeling tired from the night’s events.
"Do I know? Martha, Lerisa was dancing with the man as if he were her boyfriend," Mrs. Antonia replied.
"Mom!" Martha laughed, shaking her head. "Sister doesn’t know him that well."
"I hope you’re right," Mrs. Antonia answered, watching as Martha took out her phone to call Lerisa and check on her whereabouts.
The phone rang a few times before it finally connected.
- Writer
