Love Under Pressure

2

"Elaine?" A young Jay called for Zee after looking for her for ten minutes straight. They were playing hide-and-seek.

Zee was the best in hiding while Jay wasn't good at it.

"Gotcha!" Jay laughed in triumph when Zee screamed in shock, in disbelief that Jay would find her hiding in under one of the bushes. Being a small girl was also an advantage on why she was good at hiding.

Jay helped Zee on getting out the bush and brushed off the leaves and twigs that were sticking on her strands of hair and black polo shirt.

"Zee? I would want to tell you something, while your parents haven't arrived yet." Jay said in a serious tone of voice. Zee was a bit intimidated when Jay called her by her real name.

"W-what is it?"

"I like you."

"U-uh, I like you too." Zee innocently said. She did not understand that Jay was actually confessing his feelings for her. Feelings he has bottled up for a while.

"No, Zee. I have a crush on you." Jay clarified and left Zee with a blank expression on her face. She had processed what Jay had just said.

Zee also had episodes on where she would imagine him and her getting married and making a family. She never realized she also had a crush on him until that very moment.

Just as she was about to tell him that she likes him too, her parents told her that they have to go home. Which left Jay hanging.

Zee wasn't able to sleep properly, her mind replaying what he had just confessed and how serious he looked saying it.  She has never seen him so serious and proper.

It was a good thing that the next day was a national holiday, so Zee quickly took the opportunity to beg her mother to see Jay again with the excuse that they have no classes today. Her mother agreed.

They were back at the very same place, it was a garden, but a different one as this was Jay's parents' garden. The garden they would spend time with each other was his uncle's and is already considered a park.

Zee readied herself to confess her true feelings. But when the time came where she had the chance to tell him what she truly felt, she didn't have the confidence to do so. Jay, in the other hand, acted like as if nothing happened yesterday and even offered her a racket for them to play badminton. They ended up enjoying themselves. And Zee forgot about her planned confession, at least for a while.

When the clock striked 6 in the evening, one of Jay's maids rung the bell as a sign for dinner time. And that's when Zee remembered her plan. She ended up confessing to him in an impulsive manner, enough to let him know that she feels the same way.

Zee regretted what she did. But upon seeing the look on Jay's face, he was happy and was blushing a little, she sighed a breath of relief and proceeded to sit on the chair right across where Jay is sitting.

From that day on...their love story would start. Zee was eleven, and Jay was ten.

~

Zee was standing on the same garden where Jay had confessed first and her next, the same garden where their feelings would progress and would eventually turn into a love Zee could never feel for Jett.

She genuinely feels bad for him. But she also does not want to hide the sad truth.

The garden accompanied with the house that Jay and his family used to live in was sold years ago. They sold it to Zee's former neighbor, Francesca, whom she has become friends with only because they became classmates way back their  junior high school years.

Fran knows Zee's current situation and has assured that she can help her to not get married to Jett.

"Zee! Get inside, I've made some hot chocolate for the both of us!" Fran offered.

Zee's phone was filled with missed calls and flooded texts from Jett. After storming off, she secretly changed her clothes and went out the house to "cool off" and also to avoid him. Her temper with Jett worsened instead as he called her for the 23rd time. She's had enough and answered the 24th and last call, "Stop calling my fvcking phone! I don't love you and I never will!" before Jett could even respond to Zee's outburst, she blocked his phone number.

She angrily put her phone back inside her designer purse and noticed Fran oddly standing by the door. She was just waiting for Zee to get inside.

Fran looked at her with dismay and pity, she's one of the witnesses on how sweet and gentle Zee was in nature and how she has drastically changed into this angry, bitter woman. It's just that she was not used to seeing her like this. She's never seen her this angry.

As they sat on one of the chairs on the dining table, Zee apologized on how she acted earlier. "No, Zee! Come on! Its okay! I totally understand why you acted that way! Our friendship and my perspective of you still won't change." Fran's words somehow gave a sense of comfort to Zee in which she yearned for a long time.

She's been miserable for years. So far, nothing has made her genuinely happy, no matter how many luxury items were given to her, no matter how big her grades were at school, even her upcoming college graduation this May doesn't give her an inch of excitement at all. Her wealthy life is useless anyway. Her parents don't recognize her achievements, they could afford to give her a comfortable life with a huge monthly allowance, but what they couldn't afford was the parental love she has longed from them. All the more now that she's forced to tie the knot with a man she doesn't love.

She loves her college course, but graduating isn't exciting for her because she knows what would be next....unwanted marriage.