Long Lost Love

I ran my hand through my hair as I heard the news reporter continuously ravage my parents’ image. The ‘long lost love’ scandal had been going on for a while now and I had to say having a scandal with the media was exhausting and humiliating. “It is alleged that Mrs. Calvano might be the one who caused the alleged death of Cecelia Henstridge. An inside source claimed that it is not the work of Mrs. Calvano alone but it was also the work of her husband who wanted to get rid of her after the affair. The affair w…” I switched off the television and went to grab myself a cup of hot chocolate in my kitchen which always calmed me in situations like this which were not rare in my case. The sound of my door opening and a person grunting and groaning loudly made me freeze in my footsteps. With everything that was happening, anything could happen so I was slightly paranoid about my surroundings. The person then trudged through my apartment advancing to the kitchen where I was. Thinking quickly I grabbed a knife without really looking and held it in front of me as if my life depended on it, which it technically did. The person I was being terrified of then emerged and I became aware of the person who was Mathew, my fiancé. “Matt what the hell?” I screamed putting the knife down and it was then I realized it was a table knife. Table knives can cause some kind of harm right? “Sorry babe, why are you so jumpy? You’ve been on edge for a while now, talk to me,” he pleaded while holding me into his arms with his eyes holding so much concern and sincerity. I immediately felt calm at his touch and I couldn’t help the smile that slowly made its way to my lips. Matt always calmed me even when I was hot mess and I thanked the Lord he was my fiancé. I sighed before putting my head onto his shoulder while mumbling, “The scandal with my parents is beginning to take its toll on me and I can’t even find the perfect time to tell them about us. It’s like everything is a mess now and I can’t even on any social without media site without Cecelia fans harassing me and calling me, ‘the slut’s daughter’ or ‘the slut’. My mother didn’t cheat but somehow she’s the villain in all this.” “Time will be there for you to tell your parents about us and about the bad media you’re receiving, eventually it’ll die down. Isn’t it they say today’s news is tomorrow’s history?” I smiled and nodded while Matt let me go and handed me my hot chocolate which I had almost forgotten. It wasn’t as hot though which just made me scowl at the cup. I hated cold chocolate. “I could almost kill the Henstridge clan,” I muttered through gritted teeth tightening the hold on my cup and I noticed Matt chuckling while making himself a cup of coffee. “According to the media didn’t faking a Henstridge’s death cause all this?” he asked raising an eyebrow and I nodded with a loud sigh before sipping on the warm chocolate in my hands and throwing it in the sink in annoyance. “How was work anyway,” I asked him trying to change the subject while walking to the lounge with Matt beside me. “Well we have a court case tomorrow morning at eight and everything else is fine I guess.” I gave him a grateful smile while plopping myself on my couch and he blew me a kiss sitting next to me making me giggle and dramatically catch it. “How’s binge watching movies in your apartment and not coming to work?” he asked causing me to roll my eyes with a smile before I answered with a sarcastic very fun. As much as I didn’t like going to work but spending time in my large, elegant and well designed apartment watching movies, I wanted to be out there with everyone else. As Matt was flipping through the channels trying to find something for us to watch my phone started ringing which made me roll my eyes wondering who’d be calling me now. I fished my phone out of my pocket, answered it and pressed it to my ear not bothering to check the caller id and uttered a ‘hello’. “Hey baby you need to come to the house now,” stated the voice at the end of the call and I recognized it as my mother’s. “What’s up?” I questioned with a frown and Matt glanced at me with a quizzical expression. “Something came up,” she curtly responded and she hung up before I could ask what. Typical mom. I got up from my seat with quickly knowing with everything happening it could be an emergency. The Henstridges couldn’t be underestimated. “I need to go,” I called to Matt while kissing him on the cheek and wearing my heeled boots. I left the apartment almost forgetting to grab my car keys, coat and purse but Matt was already holding them out to me with a smirk making me roll my eyes before thanking him and speeding off in my red BMW wondering what the hell my mother yearned for this. When I arrived I pressed the intercom and was answered by some maid before the gates finally opened when I’d said my name. I drove in looking at the mansion my parents had bought when we had moved from Philadelphia and it hadn’t changed much. The cream paint that coated the entire place was still intact and the huge white pillars that supported the porch that led to the door still stood tall with their elegancy still intact. I sighed as I stepped out of the car and my legs made contact with the gravel road while my eyes scanned the entire place, nothing had changed. The tall pine swayed with creaking sounds and whispered and making me shudder before hugging my brown coat closer to me while making my way to the door. I was greeted by my little brother and my aunt who was forever at my parents’ house. She was a bitterly divorced woman who didn’t like being alone hence her always crashing at my parents’ house. “Hey Jack,” I said to my brother giving him a bone crashing hug and he groaned while laughing before I finally let him go. “How’s school?” I asked him with a bright smile and he just rolled his eyes and groaned before saying, “It is school, nothing interesting.” I chuckled before formally greeting my aunt by just saying ‘aunt Cameroon’ and she nodded with a grin showing her very crooked teeth. I didn’t blame her husband for filing a divorce before their honeymoon even started. We were rich for Christ’s sake surely she could fix her horse teeth making them look normal. I removed my coat and handed it to one of the maids who was standing nearby. “Where are mom and dad?” I asked walking towards the living room with lady horsy and Jack at my heel. “Where you’re going,” snapped Aunt Cameroon and I rolled my eyes. That woman really needed a life. I entered the living room where my mom and dad were sitting in and I noticed they looked stressed as hell. Sitting with them where the Henstridge family which consisted of Joshua and Sylvia, their son, Jayden and Joshua’s sister, Cecelia. There was also another man who was sitted with the Henstridges who looked familiar but I didn’t remember his name. I shot the Henstridges a cold, hard look before taking a seat next to Jack who gave me a nervous smile before looking away. “Is everyone here?” asked Mr Henstridge and my parents nodded. “The reason we are all gathered here is to discuss the issue at hand. My sister Cecelia here had an affair with Mr. Calvano’s son which didn’t end very well as we all know. The ending of the affair and the affair was a secret that the media did not know about until recently when the affair and of course Cecelia’s disappearance came to light. As of now we are not sure how it leaked but be assured the culprit will be found. Now on the day that Cecelia and Stephen broke up there was an accident and the accident allegedly killed Cecelia but then it seemed someone wanted to fake her death. We are still yet to find out who faked her death and captured her for so many years and thought of returning her now. The press only knows bits and pieces of the information I am disclosing to you now and they are claiming the inside source who leaked the information is definite the disappearance of Cecelia Henstridge is linked to Barbara and Stephen although in my opinion I don’t think it is true so I am here so that we discuss the way forward and make sure we give the press something else to talk about,” he said with a blank expression. As he was talking I took time to look at him closely. He was an older version of his son with his black hair and strong jaw line but the only difference between him and his hair was tainted with a few gray hairs but they had the same perfectly shaped nose. His eyes were a dark body and his body was broad and muscular like his son’s. I also forgot their characters matched, they were insulting. My parents nodded with grim expressions and my mom’s grip on my dad tightened as she glared at Cecelia who seemed to be shooting daggas at her too. It was almost as if I was back in high school witnessing two hot bimbos fighting over a guy. I still couldn’t believe my dad had cheated on my mom, he had never seemed like that kind of person but I guess you never fully know someone right? “Mr Calvano, his wife, my wife and I have made a contract here that will ensure peace between the families and will hopefully keep our reputations and wealth intact. This contract states that my son, Jayden,” he stopped and my father stood up and took the other paper and said, “and my daughter Lola.” I looked at them with a quizzical expression but they ignored it and continued reading the contract in unison. Great, now we were in elementary school. “Will join the two houses through marriage as a sign of peace and a strong partnership in our companies. They must under no circumstances divorce even if any one of them cheats. The only way this partnership may be broken is if one of the two parties dies. All we need now are the signatures of both parties and we can drink to a new partnership.” I looked up at my Mr Henstridge and my parents and they all looked like they were in agreement. I knew the long lost love scandal was making shareholders drop out and our companies were enduring massive losses but did all that call for an arranged marriage? How could people love money to the extent that they would force people into a loveless marriage? As I was about to leave I felt my brother hold me into my seat so that I wouldn’t do anything against my better judgement. The whole situation made me sick and infuriated; I was just but a pawn to them and they were the masterminds who would ponder over what to do with me as if I was chess piece. Mr Henstridge then looked at me and uttered the words which made me want to slap the remaining life he had out of him, “Will you sign the contract and make both families enjoy their lives or will you be dim-witted enough not to risking the chance of us becoming beggars? It’s up to you dear so make a wise choice.” Breathing out I asked myself if pushing myself into a loveless marriage, with a guy I loathed was worth it even if it was for the people I loved. Was it really though? **** The contract had been left in front of me. Mr and Mrs. Henstridge plus Cecelia had left leaving Jayden behind for some unknown reason. Jayden had already signed the contract after a good telling off from his father and was now being comforted by the familiar guy who had turned out to be Ben Griffin, one of the best lawyers in the country and also Jayden’s best friend. I felt like crying and repeatedly throwing myself at the wall but I couldn’t cry, not in front of everyone. My parents and aunt were all trying to convince me that signing the contract would be the best thing I would ever do but it wouldn’t, we knew it wouldn’t. The Henstridges were our sworn enemies and I recalled an encounter with Jayden when he had threatened he would make my life a living hell if not worse. I inwardly shuddered at the memory and wondered if this was his way of making my life a living hell. “I’m engaged,” I explained trying to think of more reasons not to sign the contract. “Break off the engagement honey. Doing this means you would have put all of us first, you would have proved you’re not as selfish as we thought you were,” stated my mom coldly and I felt like throwing her to the wall only I would pin her to it with a thousand needles. If I wasn’t angry before, I was now outraged. I admit it; I wasn’t the most selfless person alive. I made mistakes some that I regretted and others I was glad I made. Selfish wasn’t a way to describe me neither was selfless. I was somewhere in between but that didn’t give my mother the right to say ‘I’d prove I portrayed myself to be’. All this was giving me a headache so I decided to do the one thing I’d thought I’d never; I called Matt to prove I wasn’t ‘selfish’. While the number at the end of the call was still ringing I went out through the balcony of the living room and patiently waited for him to answer. After a few rings he answered despite my prayers he wouldn’t. “Hey.” My voice was cracking a bit and I was trying not to let the tears out even though they were threatening to spill. Even without a mirror I knew my chocolate brown eyes were sparkling because of the tears. “Hey babe is everything okay?” he asked and from his tone I knew he was a bit nervous. “No, listen something came up and I’m so sorry Mathew but I don’t think we can see each other.” I heard Matt chuckle nervously before asking if it was joke. I wished it was all one big joke but it wasn’t. This was real. “This isn’t a joke Mathew…” I stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, “I love you and I’ll always which is why breaking this engagement is so hard for me. I’m sorry but it’s really over between us.” Uncontrollable tears were now flowing down my cheeks and I could taste my salty tears as I spoke. Cutting the call and ignoring the voice from the other end of the line I threw my phone as far as my hand permitted me to and closed my eyes letting the cold air hit me. To say this wasn’t one of the hardest things I had ever done would be a lie. Matt had been my best friend, my rock, my boyfriend and my partner in crime for about eight years. We stuck together like paper and glue but now all that was gone because of a contract. A paper that could be ripped into shreds and no one could do anything to piece it back together. I continued silently crying on the cold floor of the balcony before I composed myself and went to sign the contract. Everyone was watching me with eager eyes as my pen hovered over the paper whilst I thought about what I was going to do after this. This was a life commitment. I had to brace myself to marry the nightmare also known as the devil’s first born son. Taking a deep breath I signed the contract and I noticed the smiles and smug expressions everyone around me had. This enraged me even more so I grabbed my bag and ran out of the room before anyone could talk to me. Through the cluster of thoughts cramming up my mind, one question seemed to be prominent… Was giving up everything worth it after all?