SIERRA'S LEONE

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Twenty-four hours was all that remained before the wedding.

For the quartet of souls awaiting the instant, time ticked slow.

Sierra watched Leone snore while she rocked on the chair Jonas made. She knew she needed a good night of beauty sleep, but slumber refused to grace her. Her heart was unsettled, and she convinced herself it was normal.

Who didn't get cold feet before their wedding?

Leone's birthday kept coming to mind. For half an hour, the boy cried in the woman's arms while repeating Dona. Sierra's heart broke for Leone, and even if she refused to admit it, hers suffered from her crushed hope of seeing him.

Sierra boiled with anger, and she wondered how she managed to play the part and carry on with the event. She had no choice; it was Leone's birthday, after all.

Now she sat and waited for something, but she didn't know what.

The guest for her wedding had arrived; they were at the hotel, everything was ready, except her.

Vincent, too, could not sleep; his reason was excitement. He had waited so long; his wishlist was almost complete. The remaining hours were torture for the man who said I do in his mind the day he met Sierra. His wobbling phone startled at the man's thoughts, "hello."

The person breathed heavily. Vincent sat up looked at his phone; the number was unknown.

"Hello," he repeated.

"Vinz."

The man turned to his nightstand. It was three in the morning.

"Solina?" He sat up and turned on the light.

"Vinz."

The voice was groggy. Solina either cried, drank, or did both.

"Caan zou her me?"

The tone confirmed she did both.

"Yes."

Why thought Vincent. Why did the woman have to call the day before his wedding?

"Are zou zely goin' to mari her?"

"Solina, you can't call me to ask me that. Of course, I'm going to marry Sierra. I love her."

"I caan not take it, vinz.ㅡ I tried, but," she sniffed, "I sill love zou. Vinz," the woman staggered in her living room with her glass of whisky in hand.

Of all the scenarios Vincent had in mind, Solina's element of surprise blasted the man into oblivion.

"Solina, what are you saying? Stop; you'll regret this call in a few hours. You'll be embarrassed about having wasted your time."

"DONT vinz, plez doooon't do it. I love zou, Vinz," Solina said as she let herself slip to the foot of her sofa.

"Solina, you're drunk. You don't mean what you're saying. It's been three years; you can't just dump your feelings on me like this before my wedding day."

The man remembered how the woman rejected him. Never had Vincent known such heartbreak. He couldn't stand seeing her at work or living in the same city. Vincent needed air, and so he fled. Little did the man know it was the same for the woman who detested walking on the streets paved with memories of their relationship. Even if it was she who put an end to their idle, she suffered.

"No, I men it. ㅡ I mean it, Vinz, I hav not. I'm not over zou. Vinz. ㅡ I thought, but I waz wrung but zou wer gone. I didn't no I'd zee you here. ㅡThiz iz deztiny."

As far as destiny went for Vincent, his was by Sierra. He had turned the page, closed the chapter and the book.

The man didn't wish to rewrite or redo; he was happy and content with who he was.

Vincent knew Sierra, and he didn't match perfectly, but he loved her, and he accepted the imperfections of their couple. Total osmosis wasn't a guarantee of a happy union. Vincent didn't mind spending his life perfecting their relationship as he saw it as part of marriage.

"I love her, Solina. I'm madly in love with her," he repeated.

"Does zhe love zou? Are zou sure? Zhe doez not know you. Vinz."

In the meantime, Sierra closed her eyes. She needed peace and guidance. Sierra wished to hear or see a sign, which would let her know she made the right decisions.

"God, can you hear me. I know you must hear this like seven billion times a day, but right now, I need you. I think I haven't needed you this much since that A grade for my Bacculareat in English. I know it's dumb to seek your help when in dire straits, but Lord, please tell me this is the road I must take. I'm lost."

Sleepless.

Another soul suffered from the syndrome that traveled from France to Sweden.

Jonas stood in front of his porch and listened to the sounds of the night.

With reporters stalking at their doorsteps, the whole family decided to go and stay in the family cabin Jonas built in the woods. No, it was not a little Huckleberry Finn or Davy Crockett wooden shack but a vast complex in the middle of nowhere.

The man informed Jacob of the reason for his absence at Leone's birthday, but he also asked the man not to alert Sierra. Of course, Jacob insisted for Jonas to tell her as Sierra misinterpreted Jonas's actions. Everything Jonas did was for her and Leone's sake, but Sierra, unaware, remained with her flustered anger. As usual, Jonas didn't listen, and he pushed Jacob to accept his request.

"Jonas."

"Mom."

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

The man sighed, "she's getting married tomorrow."

"Sierra?"

"Ja."

" Och? [and]"

"Jag älskar henne [I love her]

"Then tell her."

"Did you hear me? I said she's getting married."

"And I said, tell her."

Jonas let out a nervous chuckle, "Menar ni allvar? [are you serious?]. Lars risks imprisonment. Moder Yord might go bankrupt, and you expect me to go and find her."

His mother nodded, "yes, Jonas, I don't see the problem. Are you trying to tell me you are willing to let the woman you love, the one you choose to be your child's mother, marry another man for a few clay pots, wooden chairs, and your brother who did the stupidest thing ever? Are you willing to sacrifice and put all that before your happiness?"

"Mom."

"Tell her."

"Hon älskar inte mig. [She doesn't love me]."

"How do you know?"

"Honㅡ[she],"

"Did this woman tell you she didn't love you?"

"Nay, mäl [no, but]ㅡ."

"Then go, Jonas. I've watched you; we all have. Since your return, you're not the same. I can't let you live like this if one can call all this suffering life. Everyone will agree with me. You must see Sierra."

The man sighed, "jag är rädd [I'm afraid].

His mother frowned, "what, why?"

"I'm afraid of being rejected."

His mother tried to keep a straight face. It was hard to watch a man Jonas's age tremble in front of love, "listen, what do you prefer being rejected or regretting your whole life not knowing if you had your chance or not?"

Jonas looked up at the sky as if the answers he needed would write themselves up in the stars. His mother patted him on the back, "you have nothing to lose, Jonas."

While Sierra forced herself to sleep, praying her thoughts would be clear when she woke, Vincent hung up on Solina.

The man discarded her plea that he saw as the last temptation. Vincent knew who he loved and what he wanted.

Solina cried until she found herself squinting her eyes to extract the last droplets of sorrow.

All sought answers, but that night, only one knew what they had to do.