Eclipse of the heart

Leaning on the door as the cool breeze blew my auburn hair into my face, I stared down at the ring on my fourth finger and sighed. I stared ahead and allowed myself to drown in flashbacks. Iris – meaning rainbow. It could also mean flowers too. Iris McCarthy. That was my name. And somehow, I loved that I bore Iris. Except that my life did not have much color in accordance with my name. Like every random lady out there, the moment I was ready for a relationship, I had fallen in love with someone I could call the man of my dreams -Arthur Muller. It was way more than pure bliss, especially as he ticked all of my boxes. Arthur was this tall, handsome guy who had pretty eyes that looked like they were smiling. And if I was to be sincere with myself, his eyes were one of the things that got me attracted to him. But then, there was more to him than just his eyes. He had a calm, sweet, and enchanting personality and we got on very well. It wasn’t long till we fell hard for each other and he asked me to date him. Of course, who would find a guy that ticks all her boxes and still refuse to say yes to him when he asks? Arthur was everything I wanted so our relationship barely had issues. Everything was going fine till Arthur suddenly disappeared. I woke up one morning to see that his phone was no longer going through and he was no longer getting my texts. At first, I thought he was going through something he was trying to solve on his own and that when he was done, he was going to get back to me. He had once mentioned to me that he was trying to secure admission into business school so I kept myself calm with the thought he was trying to see to his admission. However, days turned into weeks and I finally had to make peace with the fact that Arthur was gone from my life. For how long anyway? I had no idea. All I knew was that Arthur was gone and wasn’t coming back any time soon. I became a shadow of myself, thinking that the worst that could happen to me had happened. Well, that was because I had no idea what fate – or what else could I blame it on – was bringing my way. I was still mourning the disappearance of Arthur and hoping for a miracle when my parents surprised me with more terrible news. My father had asked to see me that morning and then told me he had someone he wanted me to get married to. At first, I thought it was a joke and that he was only saying something like that because he wanted me to feel better or maybe because he wanted me to forget about Arthur. But he was even more serious than I thought he was. “You know I bloody wish I was joking, you know,” My dad said, shaking his head and staring at me pitifully. “Why are you staring at me like that?” I frowned. “Oh, because you think I’m joking,” he said. “Heard of Isak Santos?” I frowned and stared at my dad as though he had just fallen from the skies. “Who’s Isak?” “The man you’d be getting married to,” my dad said so simply that it infuriated me the most. “For the umpteenth time, Dad, is this a joke or something?” I asked. “You know I still haven’t gotten over the disappearance of Arthur and now you want me to get married to someone else.” “He isn’t just someone else,” he corrected. “He’s the man that would save us from the danger looming over our heads.” “I’m lost here. . .” I shook my head in confusion. “What danger? What’s happening?” He handed me a card that looked like a wedding invitation card and slowly, I began to have an inclination as to what it was about. Grumpily, I collected it from him. The more I swept my eyes through the paper, the more confused I was. Just as I had predicted, it was the wedding of another distant relative in about two months. However, I still did not understand how the recent events were connected to it. My eyes darted from my dad to my mum, in anticipation of some kind of explanation. “Okay?” I waved the card in their faces. "I'm happy for the couple but how does this relate to the "danger looming over our heads," Dad?” "That's an invitation to your third cousin's wedding, Iris," my mother finally said. "And she is five and a half years younger than you. Do you know what else is interesting?" I shook my head in exhaustion rather than curiosity, but my mother went on anyway. "She let her parents choose her husband for her barely a year ago and now they are getting married." "And you've been dating that runaway boy for how long? Five years?" My father chipped in. "Four, Dad. Four years," I corrected while grinding my teeth. "Same difference." He shrugged. "Where's he now, if I may ask?" I kiss my teeth in anger. "What are you aiming at?" "We found you someone who you'll be getting married to, Iris. We've allowed you to have your time and you've wasted it and now it is ours." My dad's voice was sterner. Until then, I had no idea that I had been standing the whole time. I walked to a couch and lowered myself into it. I chuckled nervously once I had settled in on the couch and looked to my mother for some support. "This must be some sort of joke, right, mum?" She looked away and words would fail to express how much deeper my heart sank at the sight. "It's the f*****g 21st century for chrissakes! No one does this anymore." "Language, Iris!" My mother shouted at me, reminding me that she wasn't dumb as I had thought some seconds before. "The wedding invitation card in your hand contradicts this analogy of yours, don't you think?" For some reason, my father was getting on my nerves and I wished he'd just shut the hell up. "I can't believe you've both been here years before I was born and you still think like this," I said slowly. "And for crying out loud, this isn't even your native land or something. You have since migrated to the UK. Aren't your ideologies supposed to have been more solid than they are now? Christ, I'm so disappointed right now." "Immigrants or not, our tradition still stands, Iris," my mother countered. While I thought that being born in the Western part of the world would save me from the stupid tradition my Asian counterparts were subjected to, my parents were making negotiations with some guy I do not know in a bid to uphold the tradition. "And if I refuse?" I asked defiantly, daring them to tell me the worst that could possibly happen. "You can't refuse, Iris. This is your only chance at making us proud, especially after you went ahead to study that stupid course of yours." My father rose from where he was seated, close to my mother. I scoffed and squared my shoulders, giving him a defiant look. “It's always about you and your reputation. Always about what people will think and how high shoulders are raised.” I yelled, trying hard to fight back tears that were threatening to fall. "You've had your time, Iris," Dad said and returned to his seat. I stared at my dad sadly. He looked like he had made up his mind already. I could not help but wonder how and when he had started giving in to thoughts of marrying me off to this mysterious Isak guy. How had I managed not to notice? And was there a way I could save myself from being married off? I mean, yes, if there was anything he was doing, he was most definitely marrying me off. And it hurt. "So, I'm getting married to Isak…" I shook my head, trying to remember his last name. Not like it mattered much anyway. “Santos,” my dad chipped in. “Isak Santos. You had better start getting used to your husband’s name. Would do you much good.” “Would you please not call him my husband yet?” I snapped. “You want me to get married to Isak Santos so that you can both feel good about yourself?” “This is for your own good, darling; you'll see.” I had been so focused on my Dad that I didn't know she had stood up from the couch until I felt her hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off. “Plus," my father stressed. "he’s a sweet guy and likes you very much. Isn't that what you kids are after these days?" “Well, I don’t like him back,” I said matter-of-factly. “Oh well, no one needs you to like him back, sugar pie,” my dad said sarcastically. “It was you who wanted to attend one of the best colleges in the country to study a course I find very sick. I mean, who still studies journalism when there are better courses?” I sighed. I wasn’t shocked that my dad had to state his obvious dislike for my course of study. "I do not understand," I said slowly. "Fine, I've always known about your dislike for my course but what has it got to do with what we're discussing?" "Well, I hate to break it to you but we're in debt as a result of the huge amount of money your education cost," Dad said. "Isak Santos is here to help us clear the debt." "I thought you said you were trying to uphold traditions?" I laughed bitterly. "It's also one of the reasons we're asking you to get married to Isak," Mother said. "I don't want to get married to him!" I yelled. “You would do what I say! Despite my dislike for your course, I still went out of my way to fund your college education,” he said. “Maybe if you had studied one of those noble courses, we'd have left you to do whatever you deemed fit.” I opened my mouth to speak but I stopped myself because I knew it was a lost cause, especially when my mother wasn't having my back. I agreed to meet with this Isak with the hopes that I'd be able to get him to continue with the whole process. Even though I had given up on waiting for Arthur, I didn't plan on forgetting him the way my parents were forcing me to. ******** The swiftness of the marriage ceremony made me wonder if I had a death sentence hovering over my head. It seemed like my family could not wait to send me off and it broke my heart the more. Isak Santos was very rich. He controlled chains of companies and so while getting married to him wasn’t what I wanted, it was what my family wanted. Plus, he liked me too. Or so I thought. According to my dad, he had liked me before I even got to know him or got married to him so I hoped that as time passed, I would grow to love him and I would have the dream marriage that she had always dreamed about. But what do people say about wishes being horses?