At Rodriguez's place.
Mrs. Rodriguez entered the mansion. She handed over her overcoat to the maid as she asked, "How is she?"
"Sleeping." The polite reply came from the woman who had been working here for over two decades.
Mrs. Rodriguez sighed tiredly as she made her way to her daughter's room. Slowly opening the door, she came to meet the sight of her sleeping peacefully.
Or pretending nicely.
"I know you are not sleeping," she spoke as she sat beside her daughter on her bed. Caressing the hair out of her face, Mrs. Rodriguez began softly, "She looked pretty today. Very pretty."
Skylar opened her eyes. They were red, and her eyelashes were wet. "Did she?"
"Yes. She looked happy, too, but still, something was missing."
Skylar asked back, "What?"
"Her best friend."
Skylar's eyes got filled as she moved her eyes away to the window. The night was falling in. "I don't know what to do anymore. I feel like shit after last night."
"It's alright, honey. You were not yourself."
"Am I a bad friend now?"
"Absolutely not. Why would you be?"
"I should have told her earlier."
"She is not at fault," Mrs. Rodriguez switched on the lights in the room. "And so are you. Sometimes destiny just plays like that."
"Did she notice you there?"
"No. I stayed away, just how you requested."
Skylar looked at the ceiling blankly. Ever since the previous night, when she had barged into her own home drunk, her mother had been beside her.
She did not leave her even for a second.
"Where is Dad?"
"Went for the meeting. Don't worry, you take a rest while he sorts out things over there."
"Is he angry at me?"
Mrs. Rodriguez chuckled, "How can he be angry at his dear daughter?"
Last night had been a huge mess. Skylar drank right before a meeting and then turned it into a disaster. After that, she ran from that place to get to Ashley's apartment.
What was she even thinking?
Having caused a blunder there, she was so lost that she did not know where to go anymore. So eventually, she came to her parents' place.
"What do I do with this?" Skylar pointed at the left side of her chest. "For as long as I can remember, it has been hurting just because of one person."
Mrs. Rodriguez did not know what to say anymore. This was the pain which every individual went through at least once in their lifetime.
"Everything will be alright, honey. Just trust me on this."
Skylar did not say anything for a long time before she let out the words slowly, "I do."
-
Walking up the stairs with her white gown trailing would have been quite a feeling to savour if Ashley was not tired.
The second floor had a long corridor which led to the transparent sliding door that was to the balcony.
Feeling a strong urge to get out of the high heels and this heavy gown, Ashley dropped the thoughts of checking that out right away.
Apart from the sliding door, the floor had only two doors. And one of these was hers while the other was his.
She opened the first door, and she could almost tell right away that it must be hers. The room was painted in a pastel theme.
There stood no chance that Michael would live here.
The color combination was too bright to suit his personality. She stepped inside and looked around. The suitcases that she had packed yesterday were kept in the corner.
So this would be her room for the next three years.
Everything was nice, but she missed her old bedroom. The kind of comfort that place offered her—she was not sure if she would feel that here.
Ashley pursed her lips and made her way to the washroom. The one door led to two ways; one was to the washroom and the other was the walk-in closet.
It was huge. Now she could tell why there were just two doors on this floor.
Randomly opening a cupboard, her eyes almost popped out finding it filled with clothes.
Eventually, she opened each one of them, and all were filled with the latest trends. They were all new, considering the tags that were still attached to them.
Ashley sighed and closed them all. Going back to her suitcase, she took out a comfy sweatpant and a T-shirt.
Taking a long hot-water bath, Ashley came out and laid on the bed. The clock was striking eight in the night.
She stared at the design on the ceiling, following its pattern and each stroke through her eyes for a long while before her eyes began dropping and she gave in.
Ashley slept throughout the night without any disturbance.
When Ashley woke up in the morning, she surprisingly felt fresh. It was almost as if she gave away all of her thoughts for the night.
Her mind was too calm for someone who did not know what things she might have to go through in this marriage.
She had not received such sleep in a long time.
When Ashley was not stuck in this deal with Michael, she was anxious about repaying the loan.
Lately, the moneylenders, especially the officials from the bank, were pestering her continuously for repaying the loan.
Just the thoughts of how she would do that used to keep her up at night.
It had been a relief that ever since she went for the interview at Clark Industries, the moneylenders did not contact her again.
Stretching her arm to the other bedside table, Ashley picked her phone up.
She was already expecting the social media to be flooded with their wedding pictures. And... she was right.
"The Flash Marriage: Michael Clark, who had confirmed his relationship not too long ago, tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend yesterday at a private ceremony. The wedding photos were uploaded by Clark Industries."