Our faith will silence the doubt

Mrs. Pennington looked at her daughter then at Valentin confused. ¨Ba...what?¨ Mrs. Sumpter grinned, ¨You´ve finally realized that bachata isn´t a boring dance.¨ Mrs. Pennington stared at Valentin, ¨What exactly is, ba…bach…whatever that word is.¨ ¨It´s a type of dance from the Dominique Republic. Some of my cousins are Latinos and they thought me how to dance a few years ago. Kaili and I were talking about dancing that at our wedding.¨ Mrs. Pennington nodded, ¨Let´s see what you´ve learned so far…Kaili.¨ Valentin laughed, ¨Please don´t. she´s horrible at it. I just started showing her a few minutes ago and I think she has two left feet.¨ Kaili balled her hands into fist. Valentin was taking this too far. ¨Kaili…would you mind showing a video to your mom?¨ Kaili nodded angrily as she typed on the computer. Valentin stood behind her spelling the word out.
After a quick tour of the house, a cup of coffee and Mrs. Pennington talking about how happy she was that some of Kaili´s stuff was in Valentin´s room, they finally got down to business. ¨Kaili you still haven´t picked a dress out, and your wedding is in a few weeks.¨ Kaili´s eyes widened, ¨Weeks?¨ Mrs. Pennington nodded, ¨Yes, we´ve already decided that we´re going to have a mascaraed wedding. We´ll have the normal wedding ceremony in our garden. Then we´ll move the party to a private party where the guest will be wearing mask and costumes. Mrs. Sumpter and I have been talking and we think it would be best if you have two dresses, a beautiful princess like one for the ceremony and a simple one for the party. The party dress doesn´t have to be white. We´ll have the party end at about twelve and then you two can go on your honeymoon.¨
Kaili sat on the window seal of Valentin’s guest room. She looked up at the starry sky and let out a soft sigh. She was getting married at the beginning of November, married at the age of nineteen, and married in about two weeks. October had just started and she felt, lost. She looked up at the starry sky and let out a soft sigh. ¨Why I do feel like there´s something missing?¨ She looked at her phone as she got a call from Mrs. Sumpter, ¨Are you ready for our shopping trip next Friday?¨ She replied with a quick yes and continued to look out at the starry sky. It was unusual to be able to see the sky like this in Japan. She felt as if she was in a magical world. A world all her own. She closed her eyes and thought back to the dreams she had been having. She always dreamed of a someone, a male, that´s all she could remember. She couldn´t remember his voice, or what he looked like. Who was that mysterious person in her dreams? She looked up as the door opened. She saw Valentin´s shadow standing in the doorway.
“Mind if I join you?” She shook her head and looked back out the window. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kaili nodded and finally looked at Valentin as he cupped her chin in his hands and turned her head. She looked into his eyes and they looked down at her with sadness. “Don’t cry.” She blinked confused Valentin’s face become blurry as a tear escaped her left eye. How long had she been crying? “Believe me, I want this to end as much as you do. I want to be happy with the one I love. But, this is our destiny. It’s how our lives are supposed to be, that’s what we get for being born in a golden crib. Our life has been planned for us since before we were born.” Kaili let out a sad shaky sigh, “But why us? Why can’t they see we’re not happy, why can’t they let us be?” Her voice broke as the few words came out. She dreamed of being with someone she loved, someone who actually saw her for who she was. Someone who could look past that mask she put on every day. But now that someone couldn’t be with her, not now, not ever. She was marrying Valentin that was her destiny.
She closed her eyes shaking as Valentin wiped her tears away. “Shh…don’t cry. I don’t like seeing you like this.” She opened her eyes and looked at him smiling. “Thanks. You’ll be a great husband.” “And you will be a great wife.” He rested his forehead against hers and they looked at each other. For how long, they both didn’t know. It seemed days pasted as they looked into each other’s eyes. What they were trying to find they did not know, but they felt they would both find out soon.
Valentin closed his eyes bringing Kaili close to him. She felt her warm fragile body against his and they stayed like that for a while, embraced in each other’s arms. And in that moment they both knew that they had finally decided to accept the reality they lived in. They were getting married, there was no way out, and they would stay that way, until death tore them apart.
“Kaili, are you still awake?” Kaili lifted her head from his chest and looked at Valentin her eyes begging for sleep. Valentin let out a soft sigh and cupped her face with one hand. He leaned close to her there lips inches apart. “I think, it’s time we face reality.” She nodded and closed the gap between them. Kaili felt hot tears run down her face. Could she grow to love Valentin? After a few minutes they broke apart. Kaili looked at Valentin surprised. He too had been crying. They both smiled at each other. “Let’s grow to love each other.” Kaili nodded. “I like you Valentin.” “I like you too Kaili.” Their lips touched each other once more and they knew they would somehow get through this.

Notes