Candy sits in the dark on the edge of the bed, looking at her engagement ring. The moonlight shining through the window is the only illumination in the room.
The last four days have been pure bliss. But each night, Aaron is still in her thoughts. She thinks of her near betrayal to Aaron, and, feeling a sense of guilt, puts the ring back on her finger.
I thought of your eyes when I saw the emerald.
Aaron. So patient. So gentle. Their lives and future together so full of promises.
Marry me then. Don’t marry him. Marry me instead.
Terry. The unbearable feeling of longing to be with him. To hold him in her arms and make up for all his pains and all the years they have lost.
This time, there is no sacrifice that she can make to spare another person’s pain. She is tormented to think that, for the first time in her life, she will be inflicting pain and sadness onto another person no matter what she chooses to do.
The next morning, while she was washing up, Candy hears loud noises and commotions in the manor.
She quickly dresses and goes downstairs. Cassandra has returned, and her entire household was hustling about, bringing loads of items into the manor.
Cassandra sees Candy on the staircase and gives her a big smile. “Candy! How are you this morning?”
“Good morning, Cassandra. I’m fine, thank you.”
“Have you had breakfast yet? Chelsea, can you please go into the kitchen and see what you can whip up?”
Cassandra says as she walks over to Candy, who was walking down the stairs.
“Yes Ma’am.” Chelsea says and withdraws from the lobby. Meanwhile, men were bringing in cases and cases of rum and liquor.
“My husband just sent these. Isn’t he wonderful? There is so much, in fact, I’ve decide to throw a party here tonight.”
“A party!” Candy exclaims. She can just imagine the excitement to come this evening.
They walk into the parlor and sit down. Cassandra says to her, “My party tonight will be very fun. Are you sure you don’t want to stay another day?”
Candy smiles, looks down and shakes her head apologetically.
“Someone important waiting for you back home?” Cassandra asks.
Candy stares up at her in surprise. Cassandra smiles and looks quickly down to Candy’s emerald ring on her index finger and glides her eyes back up at her, as if they are sharing a secret. Candy feels embarrassed.
“I have a small gift for you,” Cassandra says. She walks to the desk and retrieves a little jewelry gift box, takes it to Candy and opens it before her. It is a gold necklace with a heart-shaped pendant, with a tiny piece of blue jewel in the center. “A little souvenir from Hillcrest. Can I put this on you?”
She puts the necklace around Candy’s neck before Candy can say no.
“May it serve as a reminder for you to follow your heart,” says Cassandra.
Candy pauses a bit, and says softly, “I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
Lighting up a cigarette and drawing a breath from her long cigarette holder,
Cassandra glances sideway at Candy and says, “Already, somebody will be hurt. It is inevitable.”
A sad expression comes over Candy’s face. She feels more lost than ever.
“Follow your heart to the person you love most.” Cassandra reiterates.
Follow my heart…Candy’s fingers reach out to the pendant she is now wearing.
“But whoever is not the person you love the most, it is also an act of love to set him free.”
Candy has not thought of this before. She looks up at Cassandra, who gives her a knowing smile.
“The person who you do not love with all your heart…and that person may be Terrence, or he may be somebody else. Only you know. But either way, there is somebody out there who will love him more than you do.”
Candy looks at Cassandra, whose beautiful violet eyes seem to Candy like a beacon of hope in her sea of despair.
“Let him find that person. Set him free.”
YOU ARE READING
The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else
RomanceA Sequel to the Candy Candy Final Story
