Chrysanthemum

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The fluttering sunlight on my cheeks and the warmth of its embrace calmed my racing heart.

Today was the day….

I have lost count of how many times I would have repeated this statement in my head, but it still seems like a distant reality…..a possibility, out of reach.

Around me, people are all scrambling, hurrying, shouting orders. I can hear Jacqueline, the event manager yelling at one of her assistants to set the flowers right.

Everything was being done to make this day perfect.

For me

Some might call this a perfect end to a perfect story, but I choose to differ. To me, this is not the end. There was really no end here. It was all a beginning. I wish for my story not to be like the waves, but like the ripples, where one can neither understand the beginning nor the end. Just the never ending flow of intense emotions, intense feelings.

I hear my dad come in and ask my mom about the colour of his tie. I can almost picture his expression in my mind, that sweet expression- a mixture of embarrassment and impatience and I chuckle.

“And what do you find so amusing Princess?”, He asks putting an arm around my shoulder and kissing my cheeks.

“Arthur! Don’t kiss her. You will spoil her make-up!”, My mother states, fussing with my hair.

“That is so cruel of you Silvia, to not allow me to demonstrate my affections to my girl on her big day” My father protests.

“You can demonstrate whatever affection you have after the ceremony. Now go and let me dress up my baby!” ,My mother affectionately says.

Huffing in amusement, dad kisses my hand and I hear him leave.

“Now let me look at you dear”,my mom gently says and lifts my chin “Ah! You look so beautiful sweetheart. I am so happy for you!”

I can hear the emotion in her voice, the deep sadness of parting away from me, of letting me go.

It was really strange how, sometimes, the happiest day in your life could also be, in some way, the saddest. Life, with it’s innumerable contradictions and paradoxes never failed to astound me. Was it how it had al……….

“The hairdresser has arrived”,my mother announced bringing me back to the present and I heard her get up to greet them.

“I know the exact style that would suit her Mrs Alves. And we can add some pearls and flowers too. They would stand out in her dark hair” I heard the women speak

“Well definitely! But you just have an hour before we all have to leave. The ceremony starts at 11:00”

“What time is it now mom?”, I asked feeling the beat of my heart increasing.

“It’s 9 o'clock dear”, she replied

9 o'clock…..

9 o'clock. Just two hours before everything would change. I held out my hands and understanding the gesture, I felt my mother hold it soothingly.

“Mom, I am very nervous. What if something goes wrong? What if this is not meant to be? What is this is not the right choice? What if he regrets me?? ,I spoke rapidly, feeling the panic in my voice.

“Everything will be fine sweetie. You need not worry. In two hours, you are going to see him and he will be there. Waiting for you…”,She said kissing my cheeks, an action which she had earlier prohibited my dad from doing.

I tell myself to remain calm. He will be there. He will be waiting for me. Mother is right. Everything will be fine. We will be fine …

I feel something soft on my cheeks and reach out to touch it.

“Chrysanthemum….” I whisper

“Yes. Chrysanthemum. Remember how you met him?”,my mother teasingly enquired and I laughed.

How could I ever forget that Wednesday morning? Nothing ever remained the same after that.

Who knew, that the very course of my life would change that day. That I would ever be able to laugh and smile as I do now.

Wednesday morning. 9 o'clock

A normal day.

But what began as a normal day, never ended so.

“And all because of you”,I whispered to the Chrysanthemum flower twirling it around in my hand smiling.

Wednesday morning. 9 o'clock

A special day.

That special day, the day, I met Him………………..