Cafe reading

Requited

"Hey! Couldn’t I be enough to make you happy?"

Clinking glasses. Laughter. The sound of lively chatter. An orchestra playing beautiful classical music on a stage beneath a blanket of diminutive silver fairy lights, mimicking the stars of the night sky above.

Thousands of white lanterns hung from the trees lining an array of dining tables, throwing pale golden light on the scene as crystal wine glasses caught their delicate shine.

A lone woman, dressed in a dark blue evening gown stood facing a colonial style mansion; the background to the picturesque setting. Tiny diamonds glittered in the lower half of her skirt and in her carefully styled dark hair, as though the night sky had gifted her it's beauty. She stood by the garlanded entranceway of the garden, smiling and greeting guests who approached her. But though she appeared to be the perfect host, acknowledging well-wishers and overseeing events, her mind was elsewhere, travelling down the distant yet vibrant lane of her memories.

"My decision is final Sandia."

"Not on your life!"

The sitting room was occupied with five people. A young man sat in an armchair in the corner behind her, his hands clasped in his lap, his head bent over to hide the helplessness in his eyes. To his side stood his parents; a tall man with graying hair and his short beautiful wife. Both were surveying the scene of a father towering over his rebellious daughter. Her loose, curly hair fluttered wildly around her shoulders as she glared at him defiantly.

"Ash will be good for you." he gestured to the man in the armchair. "The wedding is set to take place in six months. I suggest you start planning."

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" she yelled. "I don't need marriage!"

"Then who's to take care of you when I'm gone?" he retorted.

"I don't need to be-"

"If you'd fallen in love and married like your sister did it would've been fine"

"Jack-"

"Is dead!" she flinched at his harsh interruption, but he ignored her and continued. "Jack died four years ago! It's high time you moved on."

She snarled, all retorts lost and stormed out of the room

A man stood at the drinks table, filling two wine glasses. He turned to face the woman in the midnight dress, standing by herself at the entrance of the garden.

"Congratulations, Ash!" an old woman, no doubt a very distant relative, suddenly appeared beside him. Giddy from too much wine she giggled like a teenager and reached up to pinch his cheek. "Look how handsome you are! Oh and your bride-to-be looks simply beautiful - what was her name, again?"

"Sandia"

"Oh that's right, Sameba, how could I forget?" Ash rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother to correct her. She was looking for juicy gossip, he knew.

Drunk as she was, she managed to lean towards him without toppling over, her hand beside her mouth as though offering a secret. "Such a pity about her ex-fiancé though. John, I think his name was."

Jack, he amended silently, but once again neglected to correct her.

"I heard when he died, she tried to commit suicide!" her eyes glittered hungrily as she searched his eyes for confirmation, but his features were schooled in a practiced poker face, a trick he'd picked up in medical school.

The suicide claim was a false rumour. Sandy had dealt with her grief by burying herself in her work as a successful event manager instead, refusing to speak to her family for months.