TORN BETWEEN LOVE

The whole air was filled with festivity. The restaurant had been reserved for months, just for this special day. Mark had spent thousands on decorations and design for the place. Everything was flawless; he double-checked, triple-checked, just to make everywhere perfect. His Adanna would finally be his, after six years. "Sir, where do you want this flower?" The young man in a red uniform, probably the decorator's outfit, asked, cutting him off from his thoughts. Mark wondered why he was asking him that question when he had already paid them to do their job. "Drop it there," he muttered, regardless. Nobody could ruin his mood on this special day. He was on cloud nine, but something was missing, something was wrong. Music, yes music. Where was the DJ guy? He picked up his phone from his pocket, not before bringing out the black velvet box in his pocket. He opened it once more; the engagement ring sparkled in the light. It would match his Ada perfectly. His phone rang, and thankfully, it was the DJ guy. ***************************** "Adaaaa!" she screamed for the third time. Where was this girl? How long would it take her to dress up?. It had been 30 minutes, and she was still in her room. Katie walked up the staircase; if she left Ada to dress up by herself, she would be late to her own engagement party. Her blue heels clicked on the blue tiles of the stairs; she thanked her stars that Aunt Melinda, Ada's mom, was not at home. She would have admonished her; the rules were shoes at the door. "Adaaaaa!" Kate shouted one more time and entered her room. "Yesss," a voice mumbled. Kate stared at the owner of the voice, mesmerized by her beauty. Ada was Kate's third cousin; sometimes Kate wondered if she was created on Sunday. Ada was beautiful; truth be told, beautiful was not enough to describe her; she was mesmerizing. Even Katie, a straight girl, had to take a minute to admire this God's fine creature. Her face, devoid of makeup, was radiant and glowy. Her brown eyes had a similarity to a cat's eye; something about it frightened and captivated others. Katie could testify to the amount of gifts they had gotten because of her eyes. "Chai, let my daughter's eyes be like this, ooh," Aunt Jenna had prayed while giving Ada money for chocolate. Of course, Ada had given katie the money; that was Ada for you; she didn't care for such things. "Kateeii," Ada mumbled, seeing her cousin. She was the only one who pronounced Kate as kateii instead of kate. "So, this girl really wants to take her out this Saturday, this Saturday she had planned to sleep, Ada wondered". Using the pillow to cover her head to avoid hearing Kate's complaints about why she was not yet dressed. "Jesus Christ, Ada!" Kate held her chest surprised to see Ada still lying on her bed. "Yes, she is about to start," Ada mentally prepared for the long lecture. "Ada, do you mean to tell me you haven't started dressing?" Ada closed her eyes; she was not in the mood to go anywhere. She only wanted one thing now: to eat and sleep. "Her Royal Highness, stand up; your chariot awaits you," Katie said, dragging the duvet off Ada's body and the pillow off her head. "Ohhhh," Ada moaned out her displeasure. "Where are we going? I really don't want to go anywhere, Katie. He hasn't picked up any of my calls." Kate wondered why she agreed to this task; did this girl know she was about to be engaged and was thinking of another man's call? "Please, Ada, just dress up; I beg you." Ada sat up, clutching the blue pillow to her chest; her brown eyes were dull. Katie pitied her cousin; she wanted to comfort her, but she just couldn't. This was beyond her; this fight was bigger than her. Katie dragged Ada to her bathroom, not before giving her 15 minutes to shower. Looking at Ada's room, it reeked of luxury. Kate was the type to be jealous of anyone, but Ada had it all: beauty, brains, luxury, and a man who adored her. Twenty minutes later, Ada stepped out of the bathroom. Kate had laid out the outfit on the bed. Ada stared at the outfit, as if to protest, but said nothing. As she wore the outfit, Kate almost lost her breath. Her cousin looked heavenly. The white gown accentuated her small waist; her long legs were on display. "You haven't told me where we're going," Ada asked, about to wear her white Gucci sandals. "Girl's night," that was what today was for. Katie answered, hoping she hadn't given anything away. "You are not wearing those sandals; wear this," Kate said, handing a pair of heels, customized white heels to Ada. The white heels spoke elegance, It's straps had a bit of gold chains on them. Kate had jokingly teased Ada about cutting the straps of the heels and selling them. The heels was a gift from him to her. His Ada, he called her. "What the occasion, why the gift" Ada had asked. "My Love, making you smile is my love language", He answered. Ada heart ached, her handing quivering as she clutched the heels tight. I can't wear this, she said pushing the heels to Katie. Kate looked at Ada thoughtfully, maybe he had given it to her. She decided not to press further. "Okay, wear this," She said, handing her another pair of white heels. Ada wore the heels while thanking the big man upstairs that Katie didn't ask her why. She couldn't bear to talk about him. If it's was left to Ada, She would stay in her bed the whole day. She rubbed her chest asif to massage the pain. " Love, fight for us" he had said to her. How could she fight when the odds were against her, against them. "Girl,you look so good" Katie said breaking ada from her thought. Ada stared at herself in the mirror practicing her smile in her mind. She was about to step out from the safety of her room. Adanna was her name, her father first daughter. She had to live up to her everyone expectation.