Yours

Chapter 1

1 year ago

"Reine", my mom called out. "Are you done? "

"Almost mom",I replied. In truth, I was no where near done. I was battling with my thick blonde full head of hair, a task I take absolutely no joy in doing.

It was my 17th birthday and instead of being out and enjoying with my friends, I'm stuck at home preparing to meet the owner of the company where my dad works, Mr Mecozzi and his family. Why it had to be today, I don't know but according to Mr Mecozzi, it was an urgent matter and it had to be discussed today.

How he even got to know my dad is a wonder because no one has ever seen Mr Mecozzi. Due to his having many branches all over the world, he runs his companies through his managers. My dad is just an head of department in one of his companies.

"Reine, do you need help?",my mom called from the door." You said you were almost done and that was 30 minutes ago".

"No mom, I'm done. Coming out now". I replied.

I opened the door to face my mom. My mom, Mrs Chambers to everyone, mom to me was dressed in a floor length black gown with long sleeves. Her hair pilled on top of her head in bridal style with messy curls, her makeup, flawless as always. How she manages to look exceptional everyday, I'll never understand. Me, I can't be bothered even if my life depended on it.

"Wow mom, You went all out. You look so gorgeous",I said.

"Thanks sweetie. You look really beautiful too" she replied.

"Thanks mom. Buttttt...",I dragged waiting for the bomb.

"You could have applied a little bit of lipgloss. And powder your face. And why are you wearing flats? I left a pair of heels for you to wear", she complained.

"Mom, you know I'm gonna lick the lipgloss off, the powder I'll clean them off and looking like a clown in front of your guests and the heels, honestly mom, are deathtraps",I said."Mom," I continued "just relax. You're getting worked up over nothing. He probably wants to acknowledge dads' good works, nothing else. Although I wonder why he has to come personally with his family. Besides who cares if I wear make up or not, it's just to look presentable. They're not here to see me. Probably won't even notice I'm there too"

"Yeah, you're right honey. Thank you so much for doing this. Promise when they're gone, we're going to go celebrate your birthday",she said.

"Thank you, mom",I replied hugging her.

"Hon, they're here",my dad called from downstairs.

"We'll be right there",my mom called back.

"Okay baby, let's go down".

I run my hand over my cloth. I was wearing a short black flared gown with thin shoulder straps with a white belt tied at the back. I smoothed out imaginary wrinkles and took a deep breath.

"Okay ,Reine. Let's get this over with", I said to myself. The Mecozzi's and my parents were already exchanging greetings by the time I got down.

"This is my daughter, Reine",my dad introduced.

"Nice to meet you sir",I said.

I looked towards Mrs Mecozzi. She was a tall beautiful woman with a full head of black hair. She smiled at me and I smiled back giving her a nod.

"Oh, and this is my son, Nicholas",Mr Mecozzi said, moving aside to let his son pass.

He is handsome. Handsome is an understatement. I wasn't one to go analysing guys but I couldn't take my eyes of him. With his dark full hair and his godlike face and the physique of a god, he was perfect. I immediately felt self conscious and regretted not taking my mom's advice and put on some makeup. I was no slouch but compared to him, I was way out of his league.

"Nice to meet you ,Nicholas",I croaked out.

"Call me ,Nick", he said.

"Shall we start?", my dad asked and we all moved.

"Come on, Reine. Help me serve the drinks", my mom whispered.

I followed my mom to the kitchen and too out the glasses from the cabinet. My mom filled the glasses up with wine and I took the tray with the drinks out.

I placed everyone's drinks in front of them and was about to put Nicholas's glass on the table when I heard him call out "Give it to me".

I paused and then handed it over to him. Everyone thanked me except for Nicholas of course, but I didn't care.
I sat down beside my mom, about to take a sip from my glass when he spoke up again.

"Is that juice? ",he asked.

"Yes", I replied.

"Why? "

"Cos I'm underage". He smirked and brought his glass to his lips while looking at me.

"Let's get down to it", said Mr Mecozzi. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. My son wants your daughter and we're here to talk about the wedding".
No one made a sound. A pin could have fallen down and we would have heard the sound.

"Ugh...Mr Mecozzi. That was really a good joke",my dad said awkwardly.

"Trust me, it's not a joke",he replied, resting his back while crossing his legs.

"Mr Mecozzi, we're grateful to you for considering our daughter for a marriage choice", my mom started "but this is 21st century and Reine has the right to choose whom she wants to marry. Not to talk of the fact that she's just 17",my mom finished in a panic.

"Which is why the wedding dress going to take place when Reine is 18. My son is already 18 and would have loved to proceed to the wedding but we all want what's best for our sweet little Reine. And about having a choice, I'm sorry but Nicholas already chose and it's your daughter", said Mr Mecozzi.

"No..no..no. I'm not getting married to anybody. This is insane. What is wrong with you"??,I screamed not caring I was talking to adults.

"No, Reine? ",asked Mr Mecozzi. "I'm pretty sure you don't want to be the reason daddy is jobless. Or the reason why he won't be able to get a new job anywhere. Or better yet, your mom and dad dead in a ditch somewhere".

I wanted to scream. This wasn't happening. Everything was blurry because of the tears that won't stop coming. Married? To someone I don't know? I shouldn't be thinking about this. I should be out celebrating being almost legal, not this.

"Over to you, son", I heard from afar.
Nicholas stood up and came over to where I was standing. He opened a box I didn't notice he was holding and brought out a diamond ring. He took my hand and pushed the ring on my finger. He moved closer to me, molding our bodies together and whispered into my ear. "Take that off and you'll see what I'm capable of".

He moved away from him and went to stand by his parents.

"Isn't this nice, Eric? Seeing our children taking huge steps towards their future",said Mr Mecozzi." Well, we'll be on our way now. No need to see us out. We'll get across to you concerning any future arrangements. I really look forward to seeing you becoming a member of my family. Goodbye".

The moment I saw the door closing behind them, I felt myself losing consciousness. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness to darkness were my parents screams.