Deal With It ✓

Fourteen: The Gala Pt.1

Song: Made In Heaven // Queen

(To alicoum for all their votes!)

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Dad wasn't born into a wealthy family– his dad was a mechanic and his mom was a high school teacher. When grandma gave birth to him, she had some severe complications which were life-threatening, however, she came out of the experience victorious and eventually got better. The doctors advised her to not get pregnant again, given if she did she'd risk losing her life. So at the end of the day, it was just dad, grandpa, and grandma taking on the world one day at a time.

Although it wasn't their fault, they always felt bad that dad would never grow up with siblings, and so they tried their hardest to make up for it by sending him to the best private school they could afford, but that didn't end up going great for him given the wealthier students gave him hell for being from a different socio-economic background. He didn't care though, he eventually convinced himself that he wasn't going to school to start superficial friendships, but it was so he could get a good education and do something with his life.

And that he did– he graduated top of his class, went to university on an academic scholarship to study business with a major in finance. He interned in all types of businesses– from small start-ups to ones owned by billionaires, and his parents couldn't be prouder: their son was guaranteed a life of success. He met Elise when he started working as an accountant in a tech company and they instantly fell in love, got married, and raised me.

However, Elise started growing displeased with dad when he started investing his money to start his own business. She'd tell him that he was wasting his time, that he'd never amount to anything, that starting a business was too hard and most people fail and he would too. But dad had a vision, and he had ambition– he wanted to accomplish something. Suffice to say, mother never supported him, she would rather have spent the money on anything else, but he would never let her because it was money he worked hard for, and it was money he was going to use to build his business. 

I always knew she was going to leave him eventually, I'd always hear them fighting about it, and one night, dad decided to take her on a romantic getaway to salvage what was left of their relationship. Nine months later, Amber was born into the world, and Elise became a ghost. She packed up and left without a warning, and 2 weeks later, dad received divorce papers in the mail. She didn't ask for anything, she just didn't want to be legally tied to him anymore.

Dad fell into a depressive state and Amber and I had to move in with grandma and grandpa, but he would still visit us from time to time. One year later, he burst into the house, a grin on his face– something I hadn't seen in a while. He started laughing, jumping around with excitement, hugging his parents, repeatedly thanking them for believing in him, and helping him achieve his dreams. He'd struck gold– his business was taking off and he couldn't be prouder that his vision was coming true. He took one-year-old Amber and me back to our apartment and, while he still worked hard on his business, recognized that we were just as important, so he would always make time for us.

Dad was a story of inspiration– he endured hardships and heartache and built an empire alongside his family, and you could bet that I was going to make sure everyone knew of his road to success.

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Since I paid for Rose's gown, it was delivered to my address (a week after we'd bought them), along with my suit and Amber's dress. That meant she'd have to come and pick it up from our house. However, because she was really busy at the hospital, she could never make the time to pop by and pick it up. My sister decided that that meant she'd just have to drop by the night of the gala and get ready at our house, and Rose had agreed to her offer. I went along with it because that meant we'd go in one car which was better than taking two separate ones.