A Hundred Weddings [PUBLISHED]

Chapter Thirteen: Red

           

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: RED

             Jewel turns her head to me and beams.

            "You go right ahead. I have catching up to do with my boyfriend." She says it so cheerily that I just bob my head up and down as she saunters towards my fiancé.

            I try to catch Jeremy's gaze but his eyes are glued to her as if he can't believe she's really standing in front of him. His girlfriend. Wow. Okay. Totally not expecting that.

            Jewel puts her hands behind his neck and pulls him down for a kiss. I glance away and hurriedly push the door to leave the building, my feet taking big steps as I make my way towards the parking lot. Once I'm inside my car, I simply stare at the steering wheel.

            My fiancé has a girlfriend.

            My fiancé has a beautiful Latina girlfriend with curvy hips and sexy thighs.

            Am I jealous? No. Insecure? Maybe.

            And I know for a fact that I'm not mistaking that girl as his sister again because I'm pretty sure siblings don't kiss. Or even call the other one as "boyfriend".

            Will he break up with Jewel once we're married or will he continue his relationship with her? Part of me wants to think that I'm fine whether he has a mistress or not since we never really wanted to be together anyway. But will I really be okay with the verity that I'm sharing my husband with someone obviously more gorgeous than I am?

            No decent wife would really want that; married by love or not.

             I guess I just have to talk to him about this tomorrow. Or maybe I can talk to dad tonight and tell him about Jeremy's girlfriend and that I'm not willing to marry a man in a relationship.

            Once I got home, I go straight to my dad's office, expecting him to be sitting by his desk, working on his laptop. Except he isn't. I ask one of the maids if she knows where he is and merely replies no. I check his room but he isn't there either. But I hear the shower running from his bathroom so I just take a seat on his bed and decide to wait for him to get out.

            I glance at the picture of him and mom at the side table. In the picture, my mom has her arms wrapped around my dad's neck while her head is resting on his shoulder. My dad's hand gripping her arm. They both look so young in the photo. I wouldn't really be surprised since they started dating during their freshman year in high school.

            They're one of those lucky high school sweethearts that ended up married.

            Sadly, their happy married lives didn't last long because of that horrible accident.

            Now I'm more curious on why of all people whom dad will ask for help, why the Lincoln family? One of them killed my mom and they obviously did something to release him earlier than he was supposed to. I know there's something more about our sudden engagement. Why is he trying to hide it from me?

             I'll just ask him for the marriage contract to just in case the real reason is indicated there. I sigh and lie myself down on my parents' bed, the headboard on my right left side and watch Stranger Things on my phone until I realize that my dad has been in the shower for almost an hour.

            Weird. Guys don't take that long showering.

            I stand up and knock on the bathroom's door. "Dad?"

            No one answers.

            My heart starts beating frantically. "Dad, you okay in there?" I twist the doorknob but it's locked. "Dad, open up. It's me, Kim." My knees are feeling weak by the second.

            I repeatedly hit my palm on the door. "Dad! Open up!"

            Damn it, he's still not answering. I dash outside his bedroom and call for help. One of the workers fetch the key from his closet and we all hurriedly return to my dad's room.

            Tears are welling up in my eyes as the worker unlocks the door with unsteady hands. One maid is rubbing my arms to comfort me but I'm still shaking in fear.

            The door slams open.

            No. Please gods no.

            My dad's body slumped on the tiled floor.

            Blood. So much blood.

            No. No. No. This is not happening.

            The worker carries him up. He's unconscious. And bleeding. His head is bleeding.

            I'm shouting. Crying. Thrashing. Begging my dad to wake up.

            The house staff holds me tighter.

            Dad's face is dripping with red.

            Three more men enter the room and lift his unconscious body downstairs.

            Jeremy. He's at the door, gaping at the scene before him. He immediately helps the men carry my dad to our van and I follow them inside.

            Cold hands pull me in a tight embrace. I grip his shirt and let myself cry on his chest.

            I have no idea how long it took us to reach the hospital. All I know is that a stretch bed is already prepared once we arrive. Nurses rush my dad inside the emergency room. I want to follow them but Jeremy stops me, telling me to just let them save my dad.

            I cry more.

            Jeremy helps me walk towards the waiting room and we seat together on the long couch. He's still holding me close and I'm still weeping in his arms. I can't stop crying. My head hurts. My chest hurts.

I feel so weak. So scared.

My dad can't die.

He just can't.