The Encounter

Aria lay folded up in bed,warm tears rolling down her cheeks, dripping on to the sheet.

She was still a young girl who turned twenty-two last two months and what she got for being a young adult was to marry a stranger in order to save her father’s company.

She never had the chance to experience that butterfly feeling that tickles one's insides called love love let alone falling in it.

Obviously, Aria wasn’t like normal teenagers that were able to be in a relationship with the one they loved or liked. Throughout her teenage years, she had been the definition of a perfect daughter, graduating with the best degree in management.

She definitely didn’t have the time for love related issues, to her, it was a weakness.

She lay in bed thinking of all the things she could achieve in life, will her goals be put to halt just because of a change in her life? Maybe, her destiny doesn't belong to her anymore.

What would become of her after marrying a stranger?

How will she be treated by the new family?

What will happen if she refused this arrangement?

All these questions bombarded her young mind, colliding, one against another without any answers to them.

“ Sweetie !” Maria called out as she gently opened the door after knocking several times with no reply.

As she opened the door, the reflection of the light from the hall way pierced Aria’s dim eyes in her dark room .

Maria turned on the lights to see her once bright daughter in despair, laying depressed on the bed. She quickly walked over to her daughter and sat close to her.

“Dear, are you alright?” she caressed Aria's messy hair.

“ Mo-mother I'm not, I'm not alright !” Ariasobbed as she clung to her mother’s shoulders.

“It’s alright dear! You know, once in a woman’s life, she'll have to sacrifice one thing to keep her family happy. I was against your father's decision but now I’ve come to realise that if we were in his shoes, we would have done the same thing he did.”Maria said, trying to console her daughter.

“Mother, couldn’t it be something else? Why does it have to be me?”

“Your father had no choice! do you think he’s happy with everything? He one day wished to see you happily married to the one you choose! Do you know how hard it was for him? he wanted to give you a good life!”

“Good life?…” Aria scoffed, “Is getting married to a wealthy stranger good life?” she looked away.

Maria placed both hands on Aria’s face.

“Come on, look how pretty you are! All you need is wealth to add more to your beauty. Just come to think of it, you’ll be able to live in a big mansion and also be the lady of everything he owns… that’s good life for a woman!”

“Mother, it’s not about wealth it’s about happiness, my happiness!” Maria looked at her clueless, innocent daughter and smiled.

“Aria my dear, you are a woman now, and what a woman of your age needs now is wealth and influence! I trust you will do the right thing and seize this opportunity you have because it’s very rare.”

“But mother…!”

“Go to bed now, it’s late!”.

Still in her confused state, Aria watched her mother walk away from her. Maria stopped and took a quick glance at her daughter, her eyes held a ' keep my words in mind' kind of look as she made her way out of the room.

Aria tried to go back to sleep, but each time she shut her eyes, she could only imagine more of her mother’s words.

Those words Maria uttered to her were of a different nature.She grew up knowing her mother to be a someone who fancied the good things of life but not to the extent of selling her daughter. She never knew that Maria would support her husband in this situation stating some worldly benefit as an excuse…

). ). ).

Two days later

It was two o'clock in the afternoon, Mr Andrew had gone on an urgent business trip. Maria wasn’t around either. Aria being the only person in the house walked into her parents’ bedroom.

The bedroom was a large one, with wine coloured rug at the centre .The wooden frame which carried a mattress covered in purple sheets were intricately carved. The glass walls at the front view from the bedside was hidden by a long golden coloured curtain hung a few distance from the ceiling to the floor.

Aria made her way around the room, searching the drawers by the bedside and also the drawers of the dressing mirror but she still couldn’t find what she was looking for.

She moved over to the wardrobe, searching the well ironed and folded clothes. Finally, she found what she was looking for in between the clothes a business card.

“Chairman of Ace furniture, Damien Salvatore! “ she raised the corner of her mouth as she reads out from the card.

“I'm coming for you!” she glared into space.

Aria walked back into her room, getting dressed in a red sleeveless jumpsuit matched with a black pair of stiletto heel. Her long, brown hair was held up in a ponytail, her lips were slightly covered with tints of red lipstick as she wore a peachy make over and a pair of long silver earrings on her ears.

She twirled, gazing at her reflection in the dressing mirror.

“All set!” she murmured, with a smirk on her face

Satisfied with appearance, Aria headed out to the address on the card , in one of the luxurious cars parked in the garage.

A few minutes later, she arrived at the office building. As she got into the building, two security guards dressed in black suits with a pair of black tinted glasses that hid their unwavering eyes, stopped her.

“Miss Aria Harrison, here to see Mr Salvatore.” she showed them her business card.

“Hold on miss, let me inquire from him!” one of the security guards said as he pressed the black wireless headset that was on his left ear, taking two steps away from her . After some seconds of what seemed to be a short conversation, he returned to her.

“Fifteenth floor!” the guard said as he made way for her.

“Yes, thank you!” Aria said as she got on the elevator.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***