The Wedding Night

Melody POVThis text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

It has been two weeks since the unfortunate incident happened at the Aderemi’s mansion. I could still remember the sound of the explosion. It’s was so loud that I couldn’t hear for few seconds.

The tabloids spread rumors concerning the deaths of the two brothers. Some said they were mental patients and others said that they were attacked by terrorists. No one knows the real truth except myself and the rest of the Aderemi family. It was a tragic day and it’s was still fresh in my memory. The rumors spread by the tabloid affected DReam badly. Their stock rate plummeted. When Giovanni heard the news about the stock rate, he locked himself inside his room for a week and when he came out, he pretended I didn’t exist. We never had any conversation after the incident. I knew he was hurting because he lost two fathers but I almost lost my daughter too and Lorena had refused to wake up. We were both hurting but I felt we shouldn’t ignore each other instead we were supposed to be together and console one another.

On the Monday of the following week, Benjamin and George were laid to rest. Only the family members of the Aderemi’s were allowed on the occasion.  After the fire died down, the Aderemi’s mansion was reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes. When their bodies were found, they were found in pieces but two hands joined together were found and it belonged to George and Benjamin. They stick together until their last breath. On the day of the funeral, Marissa was nowhere to be found and when I asked Lorenzo, this was his response.

“The incident shook my mother bad. She was admitted to ‘Help’ psychiatric hospital. ” he admitted. “She went into the crazy mode two days after the explosion.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I questioned.

“Everyone is trying to accept that the explosion happened. I haven’t been okay lately and I know you ain’t fine too,” he pointed to the bags under my eyes. He was right, I wasn’t fine. “Try to get some rest Melody.” He advised and walked away.

I decided to take his advice and rest. I needed it but I was going to do that once I make sure Giovanni was alright. When he was called to give a speech, he didn’t look too well. His face was pale and he was trembling when he stood in front of everyone to give his speech. He looked around and when his eyes landed on mine, I smiled at him but he didn’t return it and quickly looked away.

When he started his speech, he was finding it difficult to speak as I could sense that he was not okay. He was trying so hard to be himself but he wasn’t good at hiding it from me. “Thank you all for coming,” he ended his speech with that and quickly left the hall. Lorenzo was called to give his speech but I didn’t wait for that as I rushed out to meet Giovanni.

“Giovanni!” I called when I saw him trying to enter his car. “Wait,” I shouted.

He looked at me but didn’t say anything. “Why are you leaving? The funeral isn’t over yet,” I said but still, he didn’t reply to me and it’s got me pissed that I let out all the pains and  I’ve been building inside of me for the past two weeks. “What the hell is your problem, Giovanni! People die and that doesn’t mean we have to stop being who we were before. I lost my parent when I was young but I kept pushing and when I thought I had lost you five years ago, I kept going because of my daughter. I didn’t give up because the people around me were gone. You don’t have to act like you are the only one hurting. I’m hurting too!”

Giovanni heaved a sigh and frowned at me. He looked to be pissed off. I could see the anger on his pale face and he looked like he was ready to unleash it but instead, he took a deep breath and entered into his car. “Giovanni!” I shouted his name and tried to open his car door but it’s didn’t budge. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. ” I hit the windscreen of the car but still he didn’t reply instead he just drove away leaving me in pain and confusion. “I am sorry,” I cried out and sat on the ground. “I am sorry,” I repeated until I couldn’t say anything again.

“Melody!” I heard Lorenzo called my name a few minutes after Giovanni. He pulled me up and embraced me.

That’s was the first time Lorenzo and I ever got closer to one another.

“I don’t know why he ignoring me. I just wanted to talk to him.” I confessed and burst into more tears.

“He’ll come around,” Lorenzo sounded convincing but I find it hard to believe him. I was hurting and starting to get blinded by my emotions. Lorenzo helped me back into the hall and when the funeral ended, I rushed to the hospital after getting a call that Lorena had woken up.

I was happy.

When I got to the hospital, I met her laying on the bed with her eyes closed. For a while, I was sad that she could have fallen into a coma again until I called her name and she answered me. “Hi,” I smiled at her when she finally opened her eyes. “I’m so glad you are awake,” I said with so much joy.

“You don’t hate me,” Lorena said. “I lied to you, Melody.”

“You lied but you made sure you protected me. I can never resent you, Lorena. ” I confessed. “You are a friend, a mother and I finally found out that you are my sister. I am glad. ” I told her.

“I never wanted to lie to you,” Lorena cried. “I just wanted you to be safe. I am sorry. ” she apologized and I hugged her and pat her on the back.

“I am sorry too. I’m sorry for being a pain in the ass for all those years. I’m sorry for yelling at you.” I also apologized to her and we both stay in each other’s arms for a few minutes. “Never jumped in to save me again.”

“I’ll do it over and over again. You are my baby sister. I’ll do anything for you.” She pinched my cheek like I was a little kid. “Where is hope? Don’t tell me she didn’t miss her aunty Lore?” Lorena searched around for Hope and when she didn’t see her, she looked at me. “Did anything happened?” She asked.

I shook my head and before I knew it, I began to cry. “Is everything alright?” She asked again.

“Everything is fine. Hope missed you,” I sniffed. “She always asked of you and I told her you went on vacation.” I chuckled.

“That’s cool. This also felt like a vacation too.” She joked and we both laughed. “Why were you crying? Did something happened with Giovanni?” She figured it out. Lorena always figured things out easily.

“I… I,” I couldn’t control myself again as I burst into another round of tears. I am sure my eyes had turned red from all the crying.

“It’s okay.” She caresses my face and opened her arms wide for me to embrace. “It’s going to be okay. ”

I happily jumped into her embrace. “George was behind your attack but he is now dead,” I announced.

“George? What happened when I went on vacation?” Lorena questioned.

I began to explain everything that happened the past few weeks to her. The attack, the explosion, and the funeral.

“Wow! I missed a lot.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“That serves George right but I feel sorry for his brother.”

“Same here. I still can’t help but think about that day ”

“Everything is going to be fine. We are all going to get through this including Giovanni.” She assured me and I believe her word. “You look exhausted. You should take a rest.” Lorena advised.

“I am fine,” I protested but I wasn’t. My head banged as if I kept getting hit by a hammer. My eyes were begging me to close them and my heart was beating rapidly.

“No, you are not.” Lorena refused to believe. “Go take a rest at home Melody and come back when you are fine. I can’t look after you if you are like this. Who is going to look after Hope if we are both sick?” Lorena was right. I needed right so I agreed with her.

After I make sure she was okay, I left the hospital for Giovanni’s apartment. It was silent when I got there, his car wasn’t in the car park which means he hasn’t come home yet. I checked up on my daughter who was sleeping peacefully on her bed then I walked into Giovanni’s room. I didn’t know why I was inside the room. I just missed him so much. I grabbed one of his shirts from his closet and sniffed it then I laid on his bed and draped the shirt around my body. I waited for him to come home that night but he didn’t and then the rain started falling. While anticipating his return, I cried until I have no power left for more tears so I fell asleep.