The Unspoken Vow

Chapter Seven

Nyah

The venue my mother had chosen for the engagement party was nothing short of extravagant. It was at a prestigious hotel, the room, now full of guests, was an explosion of pink and white. It seemed that every available surface had an assortment of pink tulips; table centerpieces, clusters of them along the walkway, at the entrance, and bordered around the stage where Ivan and I were now sitting.
"It seems that your mother has a thing for tulips," he commented, sipping his drink.
I smiled, "no, actually, it's me. I have a thing for tulips, I just didn't expect my mom to overdo it."
He looked at me sideways then nodded. "Why tulips? Most women like roses,"
"Yeah, I know. But to me, roses are overrated. Tulips are simple but pretty, and they don't attract too much attention, you know?"
"So roses are attention seekers, I'm guessing?" he asked, a light hint of humor in his voice and in his dark, ocean blue eyes. It seemed that I couldn't help my smile when I was around him.
"Something like that," I grinned.
"Oh my fucking god, Nyah, you will not believe who's here," Eliana interrupted us, holding a glass of wine, one strap of her dress falling down one shoulder. I caught Ivan's heavy sigh and my mother's judgemental look.
I stood up and joined her at the bottom of the stage.
"Nyah," my mother hissed but I ignored her.
"I'll be back, okay, Ivan?" I turned back to him and he nodded, his eyes lost their humour and turned cautionary towards Eliana who ignored him completely.
"Okay, remember that guy from high school who always had a thing for you?" she asked, I could smell the wine from her breath and knew that she was just about drunk. "The one with the uneven eyebrows and the big nose?" she giggled, covering her mouth. I nodded just to get her to continue, giggling with her.
"He's here! And he just asked me to dance with him," she burst out laughing, earning the attention of many others around us.
I laughed with her. "Who even invited him?" I asked, holding her arm to steady her.
"I don't know," she shrugged, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Oh look, the DJ's here!" she exclaimed, taking off in the direction of the DJ, pulling me by the arm. Her attention span lasted less than that of a goldfish.
"Hey, Mr. DJ, can I steal this for a sec.?" he couldn't have answered her because before the question had even left her mouth, Eliana's hand was already wrapped around the microphone.
Before I could even stop her from doing anything stupid, she cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention, and began talking.
"Good evening, everybody! I am Eliana, Nyah's best friend and biggest fan." she giggled. "And I wanted to give you a little speech,"
Nobody was informed of the lovely speech to come but knowing Eliana, she probably didn't know either. She was drunk, there wasn't a thing in this world that could stop her.
I looked at her red stained mouth, and her reddened cheeks, and knew that whatever was going to come out next was going to be embarrassing. I caught Ivan staring at her with a frown. Malachi and Kaian were trying to hide their amusement. I didn't even bother looking toward my parents because I already knew they would be looking at her with disapproval and I hated that.
"Not all of you know Nyah personally, and I'm sure a lot of you are here for the food and drinks." she laughed, some of her wine splashing out of her glass. "But I wanted to tell you that Nyah is the most amazing person in the entire world and I want to be just like her if I grow up," That earned laughter from everyone around the room, setting a light mood. I stood beside her, more to steady her than anything.
"It's always been her dream to get married, ever since we were little, and I'm glad that I get to be part of it," she looked at me, her laughter echoing throughout the room. My heart warmed, yes, this was drunk Eliana speaking but it's no lie she knew everything about me.
"My brother's a catch, so don't worry." she smiled, directing her attention to me. "Everyone's afraid of him but on the inside he's just a big, cuddly bear, right Ivan?" she asked, her voice was beginning to shake and a single tear fell out of her eye. My hand tightened around her arm for comfort, something was bothering her and I wished she'd just tell me.
She looked at me then sighed. "I'm really glad your dream is coming true, Nyah, you deserve it more than anyone." she said, squeezing my hand.
The room grew silent then Eliana began to laugh again. "You guys are really boring, it's a party, remember? Come on, Mr. DJ, give us some beats!" she exclaimed, tossing him the microphone then throwing herself at me in a hug. "I'm really happy for you Nyah," she mumbled.
Malachi was waiting for us at the bottom of the stage, looking at his twin with concern in his eyes. "You good, Lia?" he asked her, helping her down.
"We're at a party, how could I not be good?"

~~~

"Dance with me," Ivan said, holding out his hand for me to take.
I smiled, never the man to ask but this demand was one I didn't want to turn down.
The spotlights were now trained on us, in the middle of the uplifted platform, we stood in front of each other and somehow, it felt like everything around us was beginning to fade away as the music, a soft mellow tune, carried us through the dance floor.
"I think your mother would've killed me if I didn't dance with you tonight," he told me as his hand went to my waist and the other held my hand.
"She's been shooting glares at me all night," I said, looking up to see his face. He was so damn tall, my neck hurt, how long will it take to get used to this?
It was hard to accept that I was getting married to someone I barely knew, but based on how Ivan's been treating me, I couldn't be more grateful.
He showed me kindness I never expected he'd be capable of, showed me a side of him I didn't know existed and most of all he made me feel respected and cared for. Qualities in which I wasn't familiar with, growing up.
As I stared up at him, memorizing the contours of his face, his ocean blue eyes, his dark blonde hair and his full mouth, I wondered what the future looked like for us. I leaned my head against his chest.
I was a reader with a wild imagination and an unhealthy amount of hope. A reader wouldn't be one if they didn't let themselves dream and in this moment, I let my reality merge with my imagination, taking myself in a world where it was only me and Ivan. Without the complications, without the danger, without anything that could stop us from falling in love.
Here, in this imaginary world of mine, fictional and euphoric, was a place where happily ever after was everything but just a phrase.