You were the One

And there I was wearing what others would call " a perfect dress" holding the "perfect flowers". I said to myself, "How I wish I could stay in this room forever". Stood in front of the mirror examining myself for the millionth time. Suddenly Mother walked in, forcing a smile out of that pale-looking countenance. "Kayla, you have no idea what this means to us," She said. This could not be happening, is this the wedding that I ever dreamt of? Marrying a stranger? I would always dream of the day I'd be getting married but today I knew better.

No one even had the temerity to tell me, "Kayla be strong and give away the amount of pain you're feeling right now. Dad has always been the most propitious man I knew but during that hour there wasn't a single touch of reassurance from him.

It was now the time to be taken to church, my mom and my aunt took me down the aisle. Wearing that sleeveless embroidered gown with a long veil covering my face, all I could hope for was for Jane to show up somehow. How could my sister just disappear because of her selfish reasons? Catching sight of the look on Zein's face was neither comforting. I had this intuition that He didn't care at all about what was happening. And There I stood exchanging vows with a total stranger "....this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health". Not even enough strength left within me to whisper the words to the pastor. All I could ever think of was Nash and how I'd always dreamed of this with him in mind.

I'd now been married to Zein Crawford, one who was supposed to marry my sister Jane a few hours ago. Can somebody wake me up from this nightmare? Is something wrong with my hippocampus? This is one hell of a nightmare! One time you're with your sister making

an omelette and the other you're just moving in with a total stranger, I guess I wasn't dreaming because no one woke me up. We were already in a car heading to where I had no idea.

Now I had leaned my head in the car, tears streaming down my face. The passing scenery outside continued to blur as I tried to gather my thoughts and emotions seeking comfort in the solitude of the moment. My phone continued to ring but I just ignored it. I'd had so many calls from Nash and I wasn't ready to even hear what he had to say. What was I going to tell him? " I'm so sorry Nash, I had to do this?" How could he even understand? What is he going to think of me now, hours ago we were together having all the fun in the world and now you're wedded to a different person? C'mon!

We had arrived at The Crawford's mansion now, As I was stepping out of the car I accidentally hurt myself. As I winced in pain, Zein turned a blind eye and headed straight forward to the gates. Well, how could he even care about a person he knows nothing of? The chauffeur quickly surged to my side, offering a comforting hand of assistance. He hurriedly unloaded our suitcases from the car and placed them gently on the ground. Zein called for the maids to get the suitcases inside.

We both walked upstairs to my new "home". The weight of the situation persisted and hung so heavy in the air, that every step that I took echoed the hesitation of the future ahead. I felt so much tension between us and it created an atmosphere filled with so many unspoken emotions. The mansion was inundated with so much darkness, I guess this was the welcome intended for me. This was the only moment Zein looked me in the eye saying " This is going to be your bedroom, if you need anything you can call the maidservant." He walked away banging the door from behind.

I decided to turn on my phone now, hoping to receive a call from my parents if they had heard from Jane. But it looked like none of them cared anymore, after all, they had already made a deal with the Crawfords, by making me marry Zein after Jane's disappearance.

I needed so much time to process my feelings. I stayed in bed all day, wanting to sleep forever just to escape everything. The only person I could think about was Nash and I think it was about time I called him to hear whatever he had to enunciate. My heart trembled with fear as I picked up the phone to call him.

I began calling and he answered on the third ring, I turned quickly covering my other ear so I could hear his voice.

"Nash? Are you alright? Just give me the chance to explain everything..." he suddenly interrupts and starts to tell me," You never did care did you? After everything we've been through Kayla? All the love I ever felt for you has turned to hatred, you're going to pay for this. I hope you live the rest of your life in misery and torment". His voice then goes quiet.

All I could do was burst into tears, I was certainly going to live a life of misery and torment. The love of my life wants nothing to do with me, my family barely cares about me, and I'm married to a total stranger. I wish I could die. I began to mess up all the things in the room, I smashed my phone into pieces.

I got a cut from one of the broken glasses, but the pain was nothing compared to the agony I was feeling. I began feeling unwell. My complexion suddenly became pallid with this sheen of sweat on my forehead. I had some strength left to wrench my shoulders but the rest of my body would not follow.

Then Zein just barged into my room, he came to meet me on the floor so restless, grief-stricken, damaged and ruined." Oh no, what happened here?" I could see how perturbed he was. "Let me call the doctor, what happened to your phone?" The doctor had arrived," A temperature of 50 degrees, that doesn't look good Kayla, it's a rarity you managed to regain a level of responsiveness till now." He said desperately. He gave me some medications and assured me of my wellness.

"Thanks, Doc," Zein said.

From that moment on, I began feeling so differently about Him. Yes, I felt so irritated with almost everything Zein did when we were in the car and I know he felt the same way too. His voice, his smile, his looks, everything was just damn irritating. So I wondered if there was something I did that made him act so differently then compared to now. He stayed by my side and asked the maidservants to get me food and a drink. He saw to it that I took the meds that night and literally gave me the medicine I needed to take and made sure I swallowed the pills.

He sat on a chair beside my bed and he watched me sleep. I woke up at the crack of noon to see him sleeping with his head resting on the table, peacefully asleep, as if he was seeking relief in the darkness of his dreams, away from the chaos of this world.

" what if it was supposed to be Zein all along and not Nash"