It was 11:00 on Sunday when I walked back into the house and found my parents walking around casually before they both froze when they saw me. I haven’t been home since that belated birthday lunch when they told me that they found me a husband. I didn’t want to even look at them at this point because more than anything I was hurt and offended.
"Cel-" my mother began but I ignored her as I walked past her, heading up the stairs to my room.
She called out my name behind me and followed me up the stairs but I ignored her as I opened my bedroom door and locked it behind me so that she wouldn’t follow me into my room before I sighed and tossed my wig to the floor.
I heard a knock on my bedroom door but I wasn't going to answer it or even pay attention to it.
"Celeste..." she paused and I rolled my eyes, taking off my jewellery as I yawned, "uh, we're having a dinner later on. I was just telling you so that, you know, you can get dressed and be ready. Is that ok?" She asked and I scoffed as I walked into my bathroom and closed the door behind me as I went to take a long shower.
Attend dinner? I'm not even going to leave this room.
~~~
I can hear voices, there isn't a lot but I can hear them along with soft music. My mother knocked on my door I think over 50 million times begging me to come down but I wasn't going to go join them.
For all I know the man they want me to marry, could be on the other side of the door.
I know I said that I wasn't going to leave this room but I was hungry. I was starving in fact, but I knew that I couldn't leave because if I did then I might crash into this man and that's the last thing that I want. So the genius grown up that I am, downloaded a food delivery app and ordered myself some food, you know, because a girl's got to eat.
I was watching TV, like I always do whenever I have free time but today was Sunday and Sunday`s are different. Sunday`s are perhaps the days I look forward to the most because the most popular and talked about shows in the country play back to back. So, I was all settled in my custom made floating bed, watching the big screen as I judged a wedding dress.
I gasped as I saw the lady's wedding dress, "that's..." I didn't want to finish the sentence as I shook my head at the dress, "how is the presenter even able to hold in her laugh?" I asked myself as I looked at the dress and then shook my head scolding myself.
I waited impatiently to see the bridesmaid`s dresses and the minute I saw them I laughed loud and hard, "oh, my god!" I said as I pressed pause on the remote so that I could keep looking and laughing at them.
I could barely breathe at the sight of the horrible dresses and I laughed even harder when I saw the host of the show pull a weird face and let out a fake gasp of excitement.
"Nomsa! Even you know that's ugly!" I cackled, speaking to the TV as though she could hear me as I shook my head. I heard a sudden knock on my door before I quickly lowered the volume so that I could carry on watching the show as well as keep tabs on the knocking.
They knocked again and I sat patiently, waiting for them to leave, "hello, uh," I heard a male voice that definitely did not belong to my father finally speak out, "the food-"
"My food!" I exclaimed, remembering that I had ordered online. I jumped from the bed, "I'm coming!" I responded as I ran to the door and tripped, landing on my ass but I ignored the pain and unlocked the door and opened it.
Now, I`ve told you, repeatedly, that men were not for me. It's not because I'm into women, but because of what I've witnessed happen to women who were in relationships, most commonly with men and I've met my fair share of good looking men in my life who've made me look twice or maybe thrice at them and think "wow, some men can look really decent".
The man who was standing behind my door was in a whole category by himself.
I'll begin with the fashion. He looked way too good, the kind of gentleman attire that let you know he either had a fantastic sense of fashion or his stylist was just too darn good at their job. He was wearing a black dress pants, black shiny leather shoes where I could see my own reflection, a navy poller neck and a brown leather coat. A brown leather coat has never been pulled off the way this man was pulling it off with his big build.
My eyes scanned up his body to his face and his appearance is every bit of intoxicating as his expensive cologne is. The first thing I looked into was his hazel eyes that seemed so bright and light, as though the sun was shining in his face. His brown hair was pulled back using gel so that it could stay in place, giving the perfect uncut view of his features. A crooked nose, not the kind that got broken in a fight, but rather one that wasn’t completely straight and perfect. The trimmed stubble on his face covered the sharp angles of his face, but not too much where I couldn’t see his pronounced jaw line. His thin lips were pulled into a smile and his teeth were sparkling white.
He smiled before he winked, and I gripped onto the wall because my knee buckled and I almost lost control of my body.
"Hey," he spoke, his voice thick, raspy and hoarse, but this time, even with the support of the wall, I fell.
He crouched down to help me and I jumped up quickly, leaning against the wall, "hi," I said quickly, trying to hide my embarrassment and pretend like nothing happened.
"Are you ok?" he asked me with a heavy accent and I nodded quickly, not paying attention to how strange it was, "this was, uh, this was an order f-"
"Oh, yes," I said as I took the bags from him, "that's mine. Thank you."
I went to close the door because I had embarrassed myself enough and couldn’t stand to be anywhere close to this specimen but he stopped me with his hand, "aren't you joining us downstairs?" he asked me, furrowing his eyebrows in genuine wonder.
I laughed, "no, not at all. With the way my parents are, my future husband could be sitting right there with them and drinking champagne," I closed the door with my foot and walked to my bed, hoping to erase the embarrassing moment from my head.
"Celeste," I heard as I was walking past the kitchen, heading towards my bedroom after the long tiresome day I've had.I rolled my eyes but sighed, I've been ignoring them for three days and I'm not used to not speaking to them and being angry at them. I`m still very much upset at them but it`s getting old now. Instead of ignoring them, it would be much wiser to sit down and talk about this so called arrangement of theirs so that I can make it crystal clear that I won`t accept it."Yes," I replied blandly as I walked into the kitchen and straight to the sink where I started to wash my hands, hoping to get the smell of raw meat off me.My mother was sitting alone by the kitchen island, eating watermelons and I looked at her as she looked at me and patted the extra stool besides her, "we need to talk, my child."I licked my bottom dry lip and sighed as I walked to her and sat down beside h
I took my time as I descended the stairs because I knew that they were already waiting for me- I was after all, over an hour late. I wasn’t late just to be spiteful…ok, maybe I was, but just a little. But I was spending all of that time, making sure that I was going to look perfect.Everything of mine tonight had to be absolutely perfect.My short hair had been brushed smoothly against my scalp, my eyelashes were long and sparkled whenever I blinked. My lips were painted a deep dark red that seemed light against my dark skin tone and my contouring was flawless. My facial structure has always been fierce, but tonight I was confident that I looked like a Goddess. I was also thankful that I had taken that 6 months make up course from a famous makeup artist because those skills had come in handy today, and my hands did not disappoint.I wanted to make a statement the second I stepped out of my bedroom and wh
It was such a relief that I had gotten that off my chest finally, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I couldn’t really gauge his reaction to be honest but his already thin lips were set in a straight line and his eyes seemed... well, I was never really good at reading people so I can't decipher his mood. But it was definitely sombre and awkward, which was why I needed to take leave.Phew, breaking hearts is a lot of work I really shouldn’t do this ever again. My first date had started off well, but now, well now it's not a date anymore.Silently, I stood from the chair, moving my dress to allow myself to properly stand as I straightened up and was about to walk passed him before he gripped my wrist and stopped me.I froze as I turned my head to look at this man, baffled at his action, "let go of my wrist," I said strongly as I tried to move my wrist out of his strong hold but he was gripping it t
"Hey, it's Thembisa. Listen, I was just checking up on you. You're not picking up your phone calls, bruh, you're not even on Twitter anymore so I know something's going on. Listen, I'm here if you need to talk. Whatever you're going through I'm here for you, don't forget that. You don't have to go through anything alone. My gun is ready and my car is ready so I'm ready to kill a motherfucker. I love you, neh, don't forget that."I almost laughed at that voicemail as I stared at my darkened phone screen.I clicked for the next voicemail."Uh, hello boss, it's Lesedi. I've been trying to call you but it's taking me straight to voicemail. I wanted to tell you about, uh, t-the, what's it called? Oh yeah, deliveries. We got, I think it's fifty cows...the bodies of the cows...no, the skeleton of the cows... wait, how do I say it? Eish, ja, you know what I mean. We've been selling enough, and I stay last to loc
"Hey, are you ok?" Was the first thing that I heard as I walked out of my bathroom, with my towel wrapped around me and found Thembisa lying on my bed. She jumped from where she was, ran towards me and before I could even say another word she hugged me like her life depended on it."Seriously, what's your problem, Celeste?" She snapped as she hugged me even tighter and I couldn't help but just return the hug with just as much intensity, "you had me worried sick! I was calling and you weren't picking up, you weren't going to work, your parents told me you weren't talking to them either, you have to tell me what's going on!" She stressed as she pulled back from me and looked over my face and I tried to keep it together, I really did but I didn't know what to do. The next thing I knew I was crying into her shoulder as she tried to hush me."I don't know what to do," I admitted hopelessly as I gripped onto her and let out everythi
I had been dreading today.All night, I spent it in my bedroom, locked inside it and praying to God that the sun wouldn’t rise. I wanted to just run away, I really did but I was scared to. I could just sense that Daddy would definitely not be happy about my decision and he would do something that would definitely make me regret running away. So, I stayed put. I tried to distract myself by calling my friends but they were all too busy enjoying their cars and money to even talk to me for more than fifteen minutes which was fine, I guess.I sat up all night just wondering how the next day's events would commence and I was expecting the worst but surprisingly, I felt like I was the first lady of the country the way I had been treated so far.When the sun had risen, my bags were packed and I was waiting patiently for the man to come and pick me up and let me be on my way to Switzerland.&n
"Ah, you've finally decided to bless me with your presence I see," was the first thing that I said as I strutted into the room, that Martina had told me was the Home Bar.The bar, unlike the rest of the old home, was definitely modern and was on its own floor because Martina had told me that Aebischer likes to host his brothers over quite frequently so they needed more space. There was an entire section, wall to wall just covered in all kinds of expensive liquor, along with a long bar island and bar stools. On the other section there was a pool table, a bowling alley and several gambling tables.The home bar resembled a casino.Daddy was sitting down, drinking from a glass of champagne as he simply raised an eyebrow at my statement. He was wearing a suit, and I expected nothing less than the expensive looking material and the stone cold face as his eyes looked me over and what I was wearing.&nbs
"Good morning, sir," Martina greeted me as I opened my bedroom door and I looked at her as I buttoned up my shirt to the very top. She almost bowed at me, and I'm pretty certain she would have if I wasn't walking as though she wasn't besides me, "I hope you slept well-""Most certainly," I responded, "I slept like a baby," I replied as one of the housemaids rushed in my direction with my briefcase in their hands and swiftly handed it to me as I walked right past them, "but I didn't call you to talk to me about my sleeping. I called you to talk to you about Celeste, my fiancé.""Understandable," she replied with a strict cold tone.Martina was a dangerous woman, one you wouldn't suspect to be who she really is. She's been trained in the arts of assassination for well over 30 years and knows how to kill a man with a paper clip and rubber band in more than 14 ways. She's not one to be