Desires of Her Heart

“Dad no!”, “I cannot marry him, you cannot force this on me, I have done absolutely everything you asked of me but this, this is too much; my whole life is on the line here”. Emerald said nervously.

“Why are you being so unreasonable, you can't have me asking Sophie, she is your younger sister, you have to get your act together because whether you like it or not you're getting married to Alessandro Moretti”. Albert says in a deep voice.

“Please don't do this, dad. I will work at the company day and night if it means paying off the debt”, Emerald says, falling on her knees; all of a sudden feeling faint, looking sadly into her father's eyes, hoping to melt his hardened heart.

“Sweetheart, I love you but you have to do this for our family, you mustn’t be selfish, all you have to do is get married to the man, he is not a beast for goodness sake, this will keep the peace and is good for us. Albert lazily said, walking out of his office, leaving Emerald kneeling hopelessly on the floor.

Emerald knew her father all too well to know that even if she cried for the whole day, it wouldn't change a thing, he was too conceited to care; She loved the company and would do anything possible to help them In their crises but was she willing to sacrifice her happiness for it .?

Thinking of the number of workers that would become unemployed and the majority that have families to tend to, she sobs hard on the floor.

Crashing her thoughts, her mother Elizabeth walks into the office worriedly, she pats her and says "I know it's hard but try and heed your father's words he wants the best for the company and will do anything possible to get it.

Emerald couldn't believe her ears. She was disappointed in her mother, she didn't expect anything less so this is how it goes for her. She was dumbfounded and she knew it was time to go in the way of her father.

…………………

“Olivia, where are you? I have been calling your phone for over an hour now, you need to get over at my house now and fast, I have a lot to tell you”, pacing around her room; Emerald drops yet another voicemail, hoping her best friend comes to her rescue with some idea of her current situation.

Suddenly different cars pulled through her driveway; looking out the window to get a glimpse of what was happening, surveying the scene, her eye caught a sharp hazel eye staring particularly directly at her, intensely she jerked back, closing her curtains to avoid any interactions.

“Emerald! Emerald!! back to the earth, oh my goodness Sophie, do you mind! Emerald said glaring at her sister and wiping the stream of water pouring down her face; that was uncalled for! “Well you weren’t responding to your name, so I had to make you” Sophie replied dryly with a shrug.

“Daddy said to dress up and come downstairs, he has guests he would like you to meet”.

“Like you're the only one who gets to meet important visitors” Leaving the room, Sophie murmurs softly but loud enough for Emerald to hear.

Taking a deep breath, Emerald wonders why she is being summoned, her instincts keep getting her infuriated, they keep telling her that it’s all about her marriage to that man, but she denies it together even though it thugs her heart and she knows all too well that it might be true.

“Why can’t he just reject her and say no to the marriage? Emerald thought loudly to herself, or should I make him hate me at first sight, oh no I can’t, my family and father’s company depend on this, Emerald soliloquized to herself almost choking on her words, she didn’t notice she was crying until the tears melted on her tongue, tasting the salty liquid, she immediately wiped it away and went into her small, white tiled, three-quarter bathroom; she always wondered why her room was compacted and every other room were airy, when they moved in newly at her house she wanted one of the beautiful like rooms but her father insisted on her staying in this one particular room, she was so mad at him for that and still is; bumping her head on her bathroom wall, “ouch, okay back to reality, you have more pressing issues to deal with”, Emerald mutters to herself.

Emerald is dressing up when a loud bang comes on her door; “Coming, I will be right there!”

“No need to doll up Emerald, our guests are gone, He couldn’t waste his precious time waiting for your appearance, " Albert barks at her door.

Emerald slowly unlocks the door, looking down at the floor, all of a sudden it seems more interesting than ever, but also she is perturbed by the “He” her father was talking about, she knew her father was angry, it wasn’t something new, all she had to do was keep quiet and let him lash out his anger on her.

She could feel her father’s gaze all over her, then all of a sudden he brought her head up with his finger, grazing her cheeks softly he said in a low tone “You know, sometimes you’re just too difficult but it’s all good because you won’t be my problem anymore; your Wedding date is set and in the next three days you are to marry, so get ready, you don’t worry about a thing, just be good and ready for a husband.

Emerald was dumbstruck, she stood at the door long enough before her father said good night and left her horrid sight.

She sat down on her bed, bewildered at the thought of everything she just heard, so one of the guests that came earlier was Alessandro, the man she was to marry. She was glad she missed being at that dreadful dinner.

Emerald jolted as she felt a presence beside her;

“ohh great heavens! Olivia, I am so glad you’re here” Emerald said embracing her best friend, whimpering on her shoulder.

“Oh my darling, what’s the problem? I’m here now and you can tell me everything.

……………..

“It’s not that bad Emerald, you may never know, you and Alessandro might be a good match, by the way, I also heard he is stinking rich and good-looking, so that’s a plus mph; Olivia teasingly says.

“That’s not the point liv! I don’t want to be in this position, I wish I could run away from here and start a life on my own basis but I can’t, I know it sounds selfish, because I could just do this for my family’s sake and it would all be over, but what of my happiness” Emerald said meekly.

“Okay! Okay!, so what are you going to do about it anyway”? Olivia asked dryly.

“I don’t know, I called you over to help me out of this situation, don’t you have any ideas, you always do," Emerald said impatiently, looking at her with pleading eyes .

Olivia hummed softly saying, thinking about this, seriously you have no way out. You’re practically being monitored by your dad, you can’t go out of the house till the day you’re to be married, least that’s what I heard your dad saying to Sophie;

“What!!, he can’t do that to me, that's absurd”. Emerald voiced harshly.

“I’ve got to get going, it’s getting pretty late, I will see you tomorrow if I eventually get the chance”, Olivia says flatly

“Bye liv, thanks for coming”,she feels a thug, as Olivia pulls her into a slight hug,she smiles softly, melting in her arms as she waves her goodbye retreating back to her room to drown in her present predicament.