*~* Only Time Will Tell *~*
Teardrops fell unheeded as she traced the outline of his picture with her finger. He had promised her the world but time was running out. She had tried to call him but had only gotten his voice mail. She’d tried his mother to no avail as well. In less than six hours, she would have to walk down the aisle, promise to love, honor, and obey a man she did not love, and spend the rest of her life with him.
Options? She had none, not if she was going to do the honorable thing. He had given his word, he’d walk away and allow her to marry Seth. If she walked out, she’d lose him forever, but she WAS losing him. What would it matter? No, she couldn’t do that to him.
"Oh, Alex!" she whispered. "I will always love you."
A knock at the door interrupted her.
"Sweetheart, breakfast is ready," said Belinda.
Andi wiped her tears. "I’m not hungry, Mama."
Belinda joined her on the bed. Taking the picture, she looked at it. It was of Alex and Andi and they were wrapped in each other’s arms. "When was this taken?"
"The first weekend, at his friend’s house. Mama, I need to return his ring and his cell phone."
"When are you going to do it?"
"This morning. I wrote him a note too," said Andi pointing to the paper that lay on her bed between them.
Her mother picked it up to read:
My sweet Alex,
There’s no good way to say good-bye. Know in your heart that it’s you I love with every breath that I take. Thank you for the love we shared, even if it was only for a brief time. I’ll always cherish the memories.
All my heart,
Andrea
Belinda looked up at her daughter with moistened eyes to see the heartbreak that was so plain in the girl’s face. "Andi, let your father put a stop to this ridiculous farce. You obviously love Alex a great deal."
"No, I can’t, Mama. Alex gave his word and I have to honor that. If I don’t go through with it, I’ll make him look bad and I’ll never have him. I’m not gonna lose him like that."
Belinda shook her head. "Seth doesn’t deserve you."
"It doesn’t matter any more, Mama. I will go through with this wedding and I’ll be the dutiful wife to him. I’ll have three beautiful weeks of memories and Alex’s baby to keep me going."
Belinda’s eyes were wide, "You’re pregnant?"
"I don’t know. I stopped taking my birth control shortly before Alex left for Sweden…hoping to get pregnant."
"You’re grandfather is going to go ballistic and will never let you see Alex again…not to mention Seth. Andrea, this was NOT one of your smarter moves."
"I wasn’t thinking straight, Mama," whispered Andi.
Belinda saw the desperation in her daughter’s eyes and sighed heavily. "Come on. If you are pregnant, you need to take care of yourself and eat properly."
Mother and daughter headed out to get breakfast only to run into Seth.
"What are YOU doing here?" demanded Belinda.
"Came by to make sure my bride-to-be hadn’t taken off."
"Unlike you, my daughter is an honorable person."
"Mama, stop it, please," begged Andi.
Seth gave a demented, triumphant gleam. "Well, you’re coming around. Did your pop star dump you for one of his groupies?"
"No, he didn’t," answered Andi softly.
"Well, then where is he?"
"Not that it’s any of your business, but he’s in Sweden with the rest of the group working on their new album."
His blood turned to ice and the blood drained from his face. Sweden. Oh fuck!! "I…uh, I need to go. I’ll see you this afternoon, Andi."
With that, Seth bolted from the house leaving Andi and Belinda stunned by his sudden departure.
"Wonder what’s bothering him?" asked Andi.
"Probably realized what a fool he was being. Who cares? Hopefully, in his rush, he’ll have a wreck and be killed."
"MOTHER!" scolded Andi before letting out a giggle. It certainly would solve her problems if it were to actually happen.
