Beautiful.
The rays of light that spilled from the gothic-stained windows were anything but immaculate.
The atmosphere was intense and yet mild. It was suffocating and yet so refreshing. It was plain and yet so colorful. It was gloomy and sinful but yet so bright and holy.
Bright light that filled the room and holy like the cathedral built around it.
And that irritated Clara.
Clara Smith, the only child to Berry and Anita Smith, sat beside her parents with a smile plastered on her lips and irritation engraved in her heart. The happiness on her outer features was all a puny excuse of a show. A facade that was made to hide the annoyance she felt in her mind. And the pain in her heart.
Clara sat in a corner. All she saw was sadness as she hurdled with fat heavy tears flowing down her dirt-clad cheeks. Her frail heart grew heavy with each second she remained here. The worst nightmares of every child ran through her mind like a movie.
The fear of never being found. The fear of being alone. The fear of never being mummy and daddy of cute little pups. The fear of monsters. And the fear of the dark. All these bound together worked to eat the very essence of her being, leaving her with just a hollow shell of her former self.
That is until a bright light with a surreal warmth flooded her vision and if it hadn't been for its blinding effect then she would have embraced it. Her vision adjusted to the light and standing at the center of the beam was a figure she couldn't make out. From where she was standing and from her perspective it looked to be an angel who had come from the heavens to save her from this binding darkness. But once she got a closer look she realized that the identity of her savior was not that of an angel but another kid she knew. Luke. Luke Blackwood, the son of a billionaire.
She sat there with her knees drawn to her chin and her face clad in dirt and dried tears as she stared at the features she had never noticed about him. The freckles on his cheeks. The hints of black in his ash blond hair. And the limbal rings caging the untamed ocean blue orbs he called his eyes.
"Don't worry.–" his voice that once sounded so annoying was mesmerizing to her ears and she couldn't get enough of it. "–I'm here to take you home."
He stretched out his hand and Clara looked at him with a blank face.
I don't trust him. I don't trust him. We're the thoughts that ran through her troubled mind. Conflicted between wanting to reach for his hand and hiding away in the darkness she feared so much. She hadn't realized that Luke had come close to her till she felt a hand on her wrist and another on her chin which gently lifted her head till she stared at the gentle smile on his face and the innocent look in his eyes.
"Okay then. Have it your way. But if I die from carrying you on my back then it's your fault."
Before she could react he lifted her and placed her on his back in three seconds and a shriek left her lips. She struggled in his hold with all she had and just when she thought she had the upper hand, he spoke to her.
"Listen to me, Lara–" She halted her movements at the sound of his voice and the nickname he gave her. Lara. Where it came from she didn't know but all she knew was that her stomach fluttered when he called her that name. "–I know you are scared and it's okay to be scared but I want you to know that I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner but I'm here now and I promise to protect you with everything I have till death do us part."
"Till death do us part?"
He smiled at the sound of her voice and her stomach fluttered once more and then he said. "Till death do us part Lara. Because from now on you are my best friend. "
Till death do us part.
That was the promise he made to her almost eleven years ago and it was on that day that they became best friends and it was that day Clara fell in love with her best friend. Her confident. Her everything.
Till death do us part he said. I would protect you forever, he said.
"That's all bullshit".
Clara thought about the promise he made as she sat on her seat watching the man she fell in love with make the same promise to someone else and a whirlwind of emotions ran through her heart as thoughts ran through her mind.
"How could you do this to me, Luke?"
"How could you fall in love with someone else after all we have been through?"
"How could you find love in another person when all I have ever done was love you?!"
"How could…"
"If anyone objects to the matrimony of these two souls, speak now or forever remain silent."
Clara was pulled out of her train of thought by the sound of the priest's voice and she thought she had imagined his words before he spoke again.
"If anyone objects to the matrimony of these two souls, speak now or forever remain silent."
Now was my chance. She thought. I could stop this. She thought. I could get the happy ending I have always wanted. She thought. Millions of reasons flooded her mind so easily and yet she was glued to her seat like a statue glued to the ground.
I can't. I can't. I can't. She thought with a note of finality in her tone and it sounded as though she were trying to convince herself instead of the demons in her head.
I can't rob him of his happiness just because he couldn't be happy with me. I can't strip him of his joy just because I couldn't give him enough joy to make him want to stay with me. I'm not selfish enough to take everything from him for myself.
But in that moment, like an act of sorcery, Clara jumped out of her seat and took a stand. Guess she was selfish enough.
