Queen Of His Heart ♚ | On Galatea

♚〡TWO

Eve was young.

She was seventeen- practically eighteen, she would say. She was a normal teenage girl; she wanted to simultaneously live her own life and meet the person of her dreams that would take her to expensive countries and pamper her. She looked forward to graduating high school and attending university, where she could study Neuroscience. She yearned to be independent but knew that she still relied heavily on her parents' assistance. She wanted to be happy and to make others happy too because everyone should aim to spread happiness, not sadness.

Eve was Nigerian-American; her father was black, and her mother was white. Her skin was a lovely shade of caramel, and while people envied her natural tan, she felt uncomfortable living in her mostly-white neighborhood. Her hair was thick and so curly that it would knot immediately after showering if she did not brush it. Her raven locks often turned frizzy, much to her dismay even if it wasn't humid or hot out. Her family always cooed about how beautiful her hair was, but they didn't understand how ostracizing it was to walk into a store and only see products for hair that was not her's or to constantly be asked if she "brushed through it today."

She liked her hair in a way; she liked being different, and she liked how she naturally had the curls people artificially sought for, but she was insecure because she was different. Sometimes, in moments of great uncertainty, she wished she looked a little more like her mother, but then her father would pull her into his side and tell her stories of "brave and inspiring African leaders."

Her mom was an office manager for a car dealership, and her dad worked as a businessman for Tex Industries. Her father resembled one of those rarely-home, but still financially stable types.

Austin Ademusayo worked hard to get where he was. He grew up in the slums of New York after his parents emigrated from Nigeria. He worked his ass off to be able to attend university once he graduated high school. After he finished his undergraduate studies at Wagner College, he went to Stanford University to complete his Masters. Shortly after graduating with degrees in telecommunications and business, he met Eve's mother, Jessica Raine.

Jessica grew up in a middle-class family in suburban California. She had honey eyes and light brown hair, but people always commented on her dazzling smile; 'Evangeline has my smile,' she would say. Jessica went to Pepperdine University for her bachelor's degree and UCLA for her masters in marketing. Jessica met Austin through m mutual internship at an engineering firm. A few years later, they married and had Evangeline.

Her parents were normally happy, and Eve was thankful for that. She was thankful for the lifestyle her parents worked so hard for, but she always felt like their work responsibilities took away their time at home. She missed them. When both held low-priority jobs, they had game nights, had movie nights, went to baseball games...she missed it all. She missed being the center of someone's world.

Eve tiredly strolled into the living room with her backpack on. Her parents would not be home from work for a few hours, so she sat down and worked on homework. She cared about school, and her grades indicated that. She worked hard to play hard, but she didn't play that hard either. She enjoyed reading instead of going out. She liked being alone more than being around others. She preferred having one close friend than twenty distant ones. Her acquaintances thought she was odd for being so introverted, but to her, it felt normal- it felt safe.

As the doorknob turned open, Eve looked up at her mom walking in. She smiled before returning to her work. Jessica groaned as she put her purse down on the kitchen table. This was their routine; Jessica would always talk about her day after she came from work and Eve would politely comment here and there. "You would not believe what Christopher had the audacity to say to me today! So I'm in the middle of this big sale, and he comes beside me and says 'it's a nice looking car, but it won't look so nice when you see its mileage.'" Jessica turned to Eve with her hands on her hips as she spoke. She groaned in annoyance as she sifted through her purse.