Love's Unwritten Contract

1

 I was sitting on the bed, staring into the distance, glancing at the clock. It was only eight in the morning. I had an hour before I had to get my hair done. Then, three hours until my makeup had to be done. The door echoed through the house, followed by my father's rough, patchy voice." Let's go, Ophelia!" he snapped. I quickly dressed in a black dress with a white collar before putting on white socks and descending the stairs. I stood at the door waiting for my father. But before he came, the six-year-old girl ran into my arms. I smiled, giving her a warm embrace. The small giggle in my ear made my heart melt. I gave her a slight hush, hearing the footsteps of our father coming down the hallway. I quickly pulled her out of my grasp and bowed my head to the floor. The smile faded completely. The tall, figured man stood before me; I could feel his judgemental stare shoot daggers at me.

I didn't dare to say anything when he grunted and then left out the door. My sister Ella gave a small wave as I left. I nodded my head as a farewell until I saw her later."Ah, Miss Anderson! You are just on time. Come sit we must get you ready, dear," chirped an older woman as I walked into the whiteness of a hair salon. My head bowed slightly, following her away, sitting on the chair she had told me to, feeling my father's presence behind me. As the lady walked away, he spoke up."you tell her that you are getting light curls, that is it, or I swear." He grumbled as he finished his talk. The lady returned and fiddled with my hair as if examining it to see what she could do.

"So what's the plan, Miss Bride? I can chop some off if I can...." The older woman went on going through some things she could do, feeling my father's dagger like a stare piercing through the back of my head. I simply shook my head."just light curls, please..." my voice was just a whisper as I stared at myself in the mirror. The time ticked by slowly, and two hours had passed. Due to my father not liking my hair, we had to redo it, which caused it to take much longer. My hair was finally finished. My father paid, and we went to the hotel where I had to get ready and where my makeup would be done. The drive from the salon to the hotel took about 30 minutes. Once we got there, we got up to the room. Almost immediately as I got there, I was pulled in and started to get worked on. Some random woman was doing my makeup while another was grabbing a bag and laying it on the bed from what could be seen in the Mantle mirror. The makeup was finished much quicker than the hair was. Everyone left the room, and I was left with my thoughts. Staying where I was staring at the bag resting on the bed, that was only when it clicked—the dress. The ideas started racing. I had no say in what it was, so there was a chance it might not even fit. Shifting, seeing the time, I sighed. Should I at least try it on to maybe do something with it to make the best of this cold November?"this month has quickly turned to the worst..." I grumbled under my breath, standing up and walking over to the bag to see it was the dress; carefully unzipping the bag, I saw the white dress was skin tight that you could tell just by looking at it. A soft sigh escaped me as I grabbed and slipped into the dress. Doing up the back of the dress, I walked over to the closet mirror and stared at the reflection. The dress hugged every curve I had. I shuddered, seeing how revealing everything was. I shifted uncomfortably as I tried soothing out the rest of the dress. The door busted open, causing me to jump out of my skin; the small giggle behind me came out of nowhere. "You look like Princess Ophelia!" Ella's voice filled the room, and my thoughts cleared; I looked over to meet her gaze. I gave her a soft smile. "Ella.." I mumbled and opened my arm to her; she quickly made her way, taking my Embrace. I closed my eyes and held her close, not daring to think what would have happened to her if I had said no to this marriage... Would she have to be where I was at the age of 18? I was grateful there were laws now that you had to be at least 18 for the marriage to be legal. My mother knocked on the door. I realized they were matching pale pink dresses hanging just below their knees. "my little opal..." my mother's voice rang through the room with such softness as she stepped forward, taking my hand carefully, her eyes welling with tears."My baby girl is walking down the aisle, and you don't know who it is... your father is a good man, I swear... so don't hate him..." Her voice was soft, and she held my hands with ease. She would always say your father is a good man. Just be patient... I've been waiting 20 years, and this has not changed.The time ticks by slowly with each minute going by. Feeling like the whole week passed, it was finally time to head to the family church. Standing outside the hall and hearing all the chatter made my stomach twist and turn. My father's footsteps came behind me, causing me to jump. "Don't you dare think about running like your sister did; you saw what happened." he was almost at a low snarl as he held his arm out towards me. Swallowing hard, I took his arm as the doors opened, fixing the veil that rested on my head so it draped over my face; the music began, and I was dragged slowly down the aisle. ____________________________________________________________