Thorns and Petals

Prologue

•Melina Alphonso•

'Life never gives us what we desire, so the only option left is to accept what's being thrown at us. But, this time it was different. I ended up wanting him the moment he walked into my life.'

•Zayden Walker•

'Marriage was any other form of liability I wanted to avoid at any cost. But, things happen for a reason. If it weren't for this silly girl, I would've never been satisfied.'

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The answer to most of the things and doings in life is love. We fight for love, protect our love, and can't survive without it. Just like water is the elixir to sustain life on planet Earth, love is something similar but way more complex and deep. Some are deprived of the former while some are deprived of the latter; a crisis.

However, for a few, love is bewildering. Perhaps, they haven't been touched by the sweetness and longing for someone you'd want to spend the rest of your life with or they just simply refuse to open up their heart to anyone.

Unfortunately for her, both held true. 

She didn't realize her paradigm had shifted from when she was a child. It had been two whole years since she turned into an adult and since then, life has been nothing but utterly bewildering. She was aware of her duties on the grounds of education, but when it came to her career and a mind-boggling term called marriage, she seemed hopeless and scared.

She stood there among a group of women who seemed eager on catching the flower bouquet.

She was the youngest among them, only twenty. But she seemed disinterested in the mundane activity that was a part of the wedding ceremony. 

Yet again, why was a marriage an auspicious event? None but her thought about this, speculatively looking around.

From a distance, she saw the bride's mother, uncles, and aunts shedding tears of joy since the start of the ceremony. 

She hadn't been to many weddings, but a common thing about all of them was the unnecessary hype they carried. The church, gown, priest, bride, groom, and entire matrimony was overrated to her. Unwanted tears, temporary joy, the crowd of cheers- all of these seemed too bizarre to her.

She'd seen innumerable failed marriages around her and so found it hard to see a happy, successful one.

"Move aside!" Someone shouted and she stepped back, pissed. 

A frivolous tradition had turned into a throwball match. 

"Girl, you better allow me to catch it,"

"Please, do you even realize how long have I been single?"

So what?

Why couldn't people celebrate their singlehood? 

Why be forced to participate in such an idiotic thing?

She grew irritated, but the music being blasted off the speakers put her at ease. It was her favorite- Taylor Swift. 

She couldn't bare being in a crowded place. Let alone marriages, which she considered to be a trap. 

In no time, the bride tossed the bouquet of horrors. She had slid to her left, making way for the hopeless singles

She'd always dreamed of getting married, but not anymore. She believed in love, but not when it came to her. It was too hard to foresee the day she would be getting married and going through the same things as the current bride.

Bizarre, she saw things around her.

Fear, she felt.

Forever, she didn't believe in.

The bouquet went out of its trajectory where she stood and landed in an unexpected hand. It all happened in a moment. A tall man in a black suit had caught it.

The crowd went quiet, and everyone looked behind to see the fortunate soul.

He stepped forward, an earthy smell diffusing into the entire place. His hair was slightly ruffled, sober eyes glimmering in the early evening.

"Here,"

Should she take it?

She reluctantly accepted it and when she was about to look at him again, she realized she was in the limelight.

She felt lingering glances upon her; eyes taking in her fresh, youthful beauty and minds wondering her identity. She knew it all but acted oblivious to the curious people for her benefit.

She had been warned by many that she'd get into trouble with boys and men thanks to her charms, parents of boys would insist on having her as a daughter-in-law. But she wasn't concerned about it, for she knew she was pleasing to their eyes and not to their lives.

She was told that she was blessed with beauty that couldn't be noticed at first glance and a heart that was sweet yet hard to understand, she couldn't either. Amongst the crowd of invitees to the blissful wedding, she had met a man whose identity was still a mystery to her.

"Melina!" The bride called out, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She looked around to see people clapping for her. Looking down at the bouquet that lay in her hands, she whispered to herself, "What?"

"So the next bride-to-be is none other than Melina Alphonso,"

But she had never even caught it in the first place.

Somewhere, her fate was twisted. And somewhere this had to be the start of everything that led to a day Melina was sure she wouldn't experience like other women-marriage.