Chapter 3: The Runaway Bride
1611 Words
Felicia Sedan Valderama’s Point of View
The Runaway Bride
I was breathing slowly, making an effort to soothe myself while I’m in front of the huge vanity mirror. The off-shoulder white A-Line gown entirely hugs my skinny body.
I was the only person who was inside the dressing room alongside my make-up artist when my friend came inside. The make-up artist looked at me with a big smile.
“You look magnificent, Ma’am,” she said softly whilst stroking my hair.
No matter how much I wanted to thank her for her kind words, I didn’t smile or even spoke. I remained looking down, playing with my fingers. I didn’t come to our engagement day. I told them I’m sick and flew away to Europe so that they won’t bother looking for me. But when I came back, my Dad was very upset to the point that he’d kick me out of his house.
What can I do? They already sealed an agreement. My father caged me like a bird inside our house when I came back. I couldn’t come to my shoots without a guard and everyone was congratulating me for being engaged.
I have never met Tomas in person but I’ve seen him on television countless times.
“Can you leave us for a moment, Ashly?” I asked the make-up artist.
She smiled. “No worries, ma’am. The wedding will start any minute from now. Make your conversation quick with your friend…”
The beat door creaked and Ashly came out, Maureen gave me a monumental smile and hugged me tightly. Above all the people I’m close with, she’s the only person who can understand me and my pain.
Tears wanted to roll down my cheeks when I faced her. I don’t care if my makeup would spread but my only trouble right now is, I don’t want to proceed with the wedding. I can’t take an abusive man in my life.
“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly, wiping the tears out of my eyes.
I sniffed. “I d-don’t wanna get married, M-Mau… please, help me,” I begged.
“But it’s already settled, Fely. What else can you do now?”
I stood up. I have been thinking about this a lot since yesterday and couldn’t sleep because of hesitation. Nowadays, the only friend I have right now and someone whom I can trust is Maureen, my best friend.
She looked at me with anxious eyes. “Your wedding will start at thirty. By now, you should be inside the car and waiting for the driver to come. How can you escape at last minute, Fely?”
“That’s why you’re going to help me!”
Maureen ceased halfway. I saw how she became resilient and no words came out of her mouth. Seeing how my friend started to doubt whether she’ll do it or not made me hold her hands, pleading like a bunny.
I want to escape. I just realized that it is not only that I don't want to marry Tomas but I’m already tired of being my parents’ puppet. All my life, when I decided to be a model, I dedicated all my time to become fit their standards as their daughter. As time goes by, I’m not protractedly happy with what I'm doing and have conceded a lot of things.
I looked at the clock and saw that it had been thirty minutes since the wedding started when I glanced at Maureen again.
“Your parents might have found and… Tomas… I might get s-screwed as well!” she asserted.
I bit my lower lip and tickled my temple. “The driver of the car… Do you know who’s going to drive it?” I asked.
“It’s Manuel! A friend of mine from college. He will be the one assisting you at the venue alongside a guard,” she said. “I can talk to him if you want. He’s in a dire need of money. Her sister is confined… maybe, we can talk with him!”
My eyes broadened. Forthrightly, I am willing to take the chance no matter what it is. Maureen didn’t fail me. He called his friend himself secretly and gave him a huge sum of money in exchange for running away with me and dropping me off at the location I asked him to.
Manuel told himself that he had nothing to lose. No one knows his personal information and Maureen told me herself that he’s very closed when it comes to his private life. Thinking that Manuel is a stepping stone to running away, I gave him all the money I had with the help of Maureen.
Fifteen minutes before the actual wedding, Maureen and I took action. We recorded ourselves with each other, saying sweet things so that they wouldn't suspect her. Maureen isn’t just a model, she is also good at acting and notified me she can handle herself.
“Are you sure about this?” she inquired, fifteen minutes before the wedding.
I bit my lower lip and nodded continuously. “Yes… yes, t-thank you so much, M-Mau…” I told her.
“What’s your plan after this? Are you going to hide for too long?” she asked, a bit teary-eyed. “They might catch you, Fely. You know how ruthless your soon-to-be husband is!”
“No matter what happens, if they might catch me or not, I won’t ever drag your name and ruin your reputation. Trust me…”
I gave her a tight hug before she bid me goodbye. Just like what we planned, she will come out and tell the guards outside that she will go to the bathroom until I’m going to ask her to buy food for me.
And that’s when our plan began. Manuel already called his mom regarding the money. He’s willing to do whatever it takes just to save his dying sister.
“We should go now, Miss Felicia,” a guard who’s under Jaundalé told me.
“I must wait for my friend. I’m hungry…” I told him.
He shook his head and sighed. “We should strictly follow the schedule as to what was written in the program. You cannot be late,” he told me.
I sought first before bobbing my head. I acted like I wasn’t anxious the whole time we were going down. The make-up artist and my assistant were assisting me until I was now inside the car. My assistant was about to come inside when I stopped her from coming.
“You better sit next to the guards’ car, Shella. I’d like to be alone,” I told her frigidly.
Shella looks so worried about me. She bobbed her head solemnly before coming behind. When the door was entirely shut, my eyes went to Manuel then nodded my head toward him.
“Ready?” he asked. “You should trust me, Miss Felicia.”
I bit my lower lip and didn’t speak. “I’m betting my future on you, Manuel. I hope they won't tag along with us.”
He smirked. “I am just not a simple driver and a simple person, Miss Fely. There are things you still don’t know about me.”
On our way, the swiftness of the car was still sluggish. The church where our wedding will occur was thirty minutes away from the hotel room. The guards were just tailing us until Manuel and I already found a perfect time to execute our plan.
It is when Manuel stepped on the accelerator. I’ve seen how the other car stepped on the accelerator as well and my phone started to rung. That day, I was praying to God for me to become free and away from people who cause me pain and doubts in myself.
Manuel was the one who was driving, he told me to hold on to the car tight as the move and its pace weren’t normal. Plainly, on our way to the church, it took us a few minutes until we lost them on the road.
A long solace came out my mouth when I looked behind and they were no longer there.
“In which part of the country do you want me to drop you off, Miss Fely?” he asked.
Nervousness and fear circulate within me. My phone kept on ringing until my father’s name showed up. Tears trickled down my eyes, it was too heavy for me to power off my phone and throw it away.
Running away isn’t really my plan. But when the big day comes, I suddenly think of it. I have no specific place in my mind. There is no one who knows I run away and there is no safe place I know for us to stay.
“Wherever you-“
I was cut off midway when in just a glimpse of an eye, everything went in slow motion. A loud thump is what I heard and seeing a car approaching makes my eyes shocked, covered with nervousness and fear.
On the other hand, I just felt my body giving in after the car rolled over down the road with Manuel and me inside. For a little while, my face— my whole body felt feeble and couldn’t move. It is when I glanced at where Manuel was, he was unconscious and bathing in his blood.
I endeavored to strike his hand and wake him up, but I’m too vulnerable and could not do so. Gradually, my eyes yearned hut off until I just felt my pupils getting black and being drawn to oblivion.
- Writer
