Tied To You

Bb

Her Fiancée

'Pick wisely. The rose you choose will be tied to you forever.' Said her father. Ava was confused. This was the exact same thing her brother had said but, executed differently.

'What's all this for dad? Why do I have to choose?' She asked her father who was nervously looking at his daughter.

'You will soon find out my princess. Just stay here and I will explain everything.' She did just that as her father exited the stage and spoke to the host.

'So for those of you who are familiar with the traditional filipino debut, we are telling you now this will be far from traditional. Today is not only my daughter's coming of age but it is also her engagement party to the man she will choose among the 17 men out here tonight. Ava take your pick.' Her father said as Ava made her way down the stage with her brother helping her.

'Choose wisely, the rose that grew from concrete is the strongest of them all. You got this baby girl.' Her brother whispered one last time. She didn't know what he meant by the phrase he said she knew it was some metaphor, but who it was directed towards was hard to picture. As she stepped the the last step her father came and brought her. This was the moment her life would change and the rest of the Valles-Montenegro Family.

'Ava it's time. All you have to do is pick the rose of anyone if these dashing bachelors.' She nodded and looked at each guy carefully one by one studying their body language. But she focused more on their eyes as they were the temples to the soul.

She was about to pick Victor's rose when she noticed the thorns on the rose. Suddenly her brother's phrase came to her. The thorns on Victor's rose signified to her that he didn't take the effort to cut it off but instead left there to hurt herself. She thought something so beautiful could be the one to hurt you the most. So she placed the rose back into his hand and walked back to the end of the line where Michael was standing. She was studying his body language and watched his eyes. He was unreadable, but his body language proved he was nonchalant. She noticed the rose was holding lacked thorns but was on the verge of wilting. But to her all a wilted flower needed was a little water. She knew that the guys picked their rose. It was just Michael's luck that he got the one Ava could metaphorically relate to even though he wanted the fresh one. I guess being late benefited in her favor.

'Dad I chose the one I want. What next?' She asked her dad.

'Take his rose, and from there he should make the next move.' Her father said to her.

Ava went up to Michael and took his rose. She smelled the beauty in the not so bloomed wilted rose. It was wilting but a little water could help. All the guys except Michael took off their masks revealing the already sweaty faces. Ava slowly removed his mask revealing his gorgeous face. At first glance Michael didn't care to look at her face but as she removed his mask he saw her simple beauty. He saw the sparkle in her eyes. It was captivating.

Everyone went back to their seats only leaving Michael and Ava on the dance floor. He grabbed her hand and kissed the palm. 'Would you like to dance mademoiselle?' He asked romantically. She didn't say a word but took his hand danced swiftly to the song of Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding. Everyone watched as the two danced gracefully. The press got a lot of photos of the two. Suddenly the music stopped and Ava realized now what she got herself into.

'You bitch!' Cora yelled at her as she threw the wine glass to her cousin. 'Why him of all people?!' She screamed causing a scene cueing the press to enter. Cora was furious. 'You little snake!' Cora was about to slap her when Evan stepped in.

'Cora enough! She didn't know until now! Your causing a scene here! You don't have the decency to do that to my sister your own cousin!' He angrily tried to reason with her.

'Oh look who's talking! Says the guy who knew already this process but did not even try to tell his own sister why he really left.' That was a low blow from Cora. Ava looked at her brother and could not bare to last in this party. She ran out in her big gown and made her way to the garden.

It was the middle of Spring, the flowers were bloomed and the sky was dark. The stars were shining forming little constellations in the sky. She gazed at the stars as she laid down on the green grass. Crying in silence, and being alone is a place of solace.