TWIST OF FATE

Light shone on Alex’s face again and he wished the beautiful radiant sun could help wash his pain away and brighten up his life but the reverse seemed to be the case. He now hated every morning, even though he looked up to the curtains being opened and the warm breeze entering the room voluntarily. But at this time, he was red hot with anger and just wanted to slam the widows shut, breaking it as much as his heart was broken, but he even lacked the energy to do any of that so he sat still and watched. Maybe watching a little at the problem would make everything better because what has the clamoring for a change done for him in the last few days. It would be just appropriate to let it go, and he would have to deal with forgiving his parents later for the grievous way they have pushed him. All his life, they knew he was a lover boy, and even though he had not been privileged enough to find the woman of his dreams, he was always sure that someday they would be together. Maybe it was all a lie now because he was about to get married to someone who he did not even like, talk more of falling in love with, and it was worst when his parents insisted that he would get married to her. He was not yet old, and he was busy with the family business so he had not yet given thought about marriage until last month when his mother came to his room. She entered that day like she always does when she has something important to say to him, with his favorite mac and cheese, alongside a chilled glass of milk and she brought beams to his face as usual. One would have thought that she had come to announce good news, as one of the newest and finest financial experts of their company “THE MORGAN’s EMPIRE” but it was otherwise. What made this worse was that Alexander could not place a finger on the real reason why they wanted him to get married to her, there was nothing they said that could be tagged useful. When the proposal came to him, he laughed over it and simply took it to be a blind date, and accepted that if he did not like the young lady then they would be done with the discussion. And he did it this way because of the deep love and respect he had for his mother, he could not let her down since she was only trying to help. At first, when he heard her talk, he burst out laughing and told her not to worry, that he would not die single. He even blushed, thinking that they were only concerned about him getting the woman of his dreams till he came back from the date and said he did not like her. The countenance of the room changed that night when he had to face different questions he did not expect about why he did not fall in love with her or like her as he used to and he was puzzled. Was love and marriage supposed to be this way? He was not a child anymore and did not need anyone to make decisions for him. But in this case his hands were tied as his parents put all efforts to coax him into marrying the young lady and not just that, but it was to be done quickly. He knew that his parents did not date immediately when they met each other even though they had a form of liking for themselves so why did his case have to be different? Not only was his case also different but it was weird and absurd and somehow strange that this young lady in question agreed to the marriage. He had only read in books how marriages were being arranged but his was happening right before his eyes and his hands were too tied to do anything. So hard had he fought the pressure, but nothing was working out, no one would even pay him any attention or give him a listening ear and it was as though no one could see how he had become a shadow of himself. He was going to be twenty seven by December and not for once had he thought he would be married by this time, and his marriage was all over the place. Even his friends were surprised that he was getting married and he was glad that he did not have too many of them else it would be difficult for him to explain how. Now, his wedding was the next day and that's why he felt committing suicide was the best decision at this point but he would not even try. He would not like it when he said that Claire, the lady he was expected to marry was nothing like he would have thought his parents would approve for him to get married to. Their family was one of the most powerful in the whole of Astoria and so many families wanted to be acquainted with theirs, his cousins alike, and he had a lot of rich people around him so it would be easy to pick someone in his class. But instead Claire Bennett was from a humble background and even though her parents had money, they were not so influential or half as rich as his own family was. Were they trying to help her family? And why? It was confusing for him to make sense out of it but he had done a little research and was determined that asking her one question would bring out the entire truth. At least if he got a reason reasonable enough and clear not to get married to her, maybe only then would he be spared and let go, because he could not stand her. Just then, he heard a knock on the door and he could swear he knew who it was.