In The Hands of Dominic

18

Andra could not believe her eyes as she sighted an emotional girl dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. Was she crying? Andra thought. She was stunned.

So, people believed the scene playing out before them? Wow, she thought with some bittersweet feelings. The sweet feeling came from the realization that she and Dominic were playing their roles perfectly to elicit such strong emotions from the girl.

The bitter feeling came from the fact that she and Dominic were only putting up an act that consequently, was messing with the emotions of the people watching, especially the emotional girl she had her eyes on. Well, at last, she was feeling quite relieved that everything seemed to be going on as planned.

***

Later that night after Andra was home, she sat inside the living room staring at the engagement ring on her finger.

It felt unreal, yet it was there, constantly reminding her that the contract was not a joke. It was happening. They were executing it. She was now engaged in the eyes of the public.

Andra was distracted from her thoughts as Molly strode in. She looked excited as she drew close and sat with a thoughtful Andra on the sofa.

"Oh, Andra." She said. "Finally, it is done and we are moving forward."

Andra smiled wryly but she said nothing. Everything was feeling overwhelming, especially the engagement which was still fresh in her memory. She kept reminiscing about the way Dominic had done it. He had looked so dashing like the perfect prince charming. If only people knew it was fake.

"I'm still surprised by some people's gullibility." Molly said. "or should I say people's emotional state? I mean, I saw a young woman crying during the engagement."

Both girls chuckled at the memory. "Poor girl." Said, Andra. "I will not be surprised if she was probably wishing that the engagement was happening to her."

Molly laughed. "Yeah." Molly agreed. "She might even be saying 'God please when is it going to be my turn?"

"Exactly. And then some girls in a relationship may start forcing their men to propose." Andra contributed.

"Not to talk of replicating the same engagement scenario."

Both girls laughed again. Afterward, Andra shook her head in disbelief. "My God, I still can't believe that this is happening."

"Yeah." Molly supported. "Me too. I'm still baffled at how well the scene played out. You guys are such great actors."

Andra smiled, pleased with Molly's praise of their performance.

"Thanks. You can say that again."

"You're welcome. Yeah, and you know what?"

"What?"

Molly's voice dropped to a more serious tone.

"For a moment, I lost sense of the fact that this was all fake." She revealed.

Andra's countenance also became serious. "Honestly, I also had the same feeling." She confessed.

Her confession surprised Molly. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. For some brief moment, I wished it was real and that I was being engaged by someone I was in love with."

"I understand."

"But seeing as I'm not even ready to settle down early, I'm glad the feeling eventually left and I just got back into the act."

"Well, you guys did well." Molly commended her again.