Substitute Bride

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - The Day Before The Big Day

I have accepted Ivan's request to continue the wedding as it's original date, May 23. Today is already May 22, one day before the weeding.

A wave of emotions are going through me and I didn't know how to handle them. At one point I'm afraid of getting married to Ivan, and then the next I'm just content that I'm by his side.

It's been almost a month since the accident, a month since Anna's disappearance and a month since my lie started. I still havn't seen or heard from Anna and I already accepted the fact that she will never come back. I mean let's face it, she would have been back already due to wedding preparations, but she's not. She's long gone, leaving me to tend to her mess. Ever since we were kids, I always had to clean up after Anna. I always had to pick up her toys, clean her dishes and take care of her stuff.

I didn't have to, but her constant begging and pleas always held me back from denying her requests.

She is my sister and I love her, but sometimes she is just too much.

"Eliza dear, please get the cookies out of the oven." called my mom.

I snapped out of my daze and rushed over to the kitchen. I carefully took the cookies out and sat them on the table to cool. My mother  came inside the room talking to one of her clients on the phone. She grabbed a couple of cookies and left the room while giving me a thumbs up.

I sat back down and sighed.

I was back at my mom's house for the weekend. My mom is always busy with work, she's a manager at a popular clothing store down town. Ever since she and my dad divorced, my mom worked hard to financially support the family. When I was a kid, I rarely ever saw her. Most of the time it was just my sister and I with the babysitter. Sometimes though, when my mom is off, she spends time with us. She would take us out shopping or go to the movies if we were lucky. She would buy us gifts from time to time and she would always make sure there was food in the fridge.

I love my mom alot, I tell her everything. All my problems, all my worries, all my pain. She listens, she gives me advice and she supports me. So when Ivan asked me if we could continue the wedding to it's original date, I panicked. I just had to tell my mom, I couldn't keep it in any longer. My mom was going to find out sooner or later, so I had to tell her before she found out on her own.

I told her about Anna and Ivan. I told her that about Anna running away, about Ivan being blind,  and about me pretending to be Anna. Everything I was going through, I told her. At first she was angry, then sad and finally she broke down crying when I explained to her the part about me trying to kill myself. She knew that I loved Ivan, but not in the way she originally thought I did.

At the end of the day, when all the tears had been spilt, she took me into her arms and hugged me. She patted my head and told me it was going to be okay. She accept my decision and told me she had my back. She understood me and agreed to acknowledge me as Anna, she and I both knew that neither of us could tell Ivan the truth about Anna.

Ivan was like a son to her. She loved Ivan just as much as she loved her own kids.

And as for Anna...

It turns out that Anna did call my mom. She told mom that she was leaving for Europe as a little "vacation". After that she never called mom back.

Mom understood Anna, she didn't have sides.

She accepted both of us and didn't say anymore.

"Eliza can you do me a favor? Please pick up a package for me at town. It's an emergency and I have a client on the phone. Please?" asked mom.