A Night To Remember

Her dress is killing her - Riri Ortega is sure that the dress was given to her out of spite. Grey with floral appliques everywhere, and layers upon layers of tulle, the color alone washes out Riri and makes her look like an expensive dusty curtain. Her mother forced her to pair the outfit with ridiculous shoes that don’t work favorably for her; the added height makes her look more like a twig sprouting out of nowhere. Her hair which she usually let down is in a braided up do that has too many pins sticking and pinching her scalp.  Not to mention how tight it is, perhaps another attempt of her mother to subtly lose weight- this will definitely be a long night. She sighs as she picks up a flute of champagne and listens mindlessly to Karina, a girl she mindfully tolerates because her father has a prominent role in the government.

The party she’s in is celebrating her grandfather’s retirement; he is finally passing down the big job to her father, a deal in the making for years. While she has no interest in the family business, she is at least aware that she has to keep up appearances along with her family. As her parents’ only daughter, there isn’t much expected of her other than minding her manners and looking pretty for the pictures- hence the abhorrent dress. She would’ve preferred the burgundy velvet dress, but her mother wanted her to have a more feminine, demure look. Apparently, red is too loud for her to wear tonight and all eyes must be on her father’s promotion.

She’s hanging around the recreational room set up by her grandmother with her fellow peers, most whom she talks to just because they run in the same social circles. They all go to the same prestigious school where they’re picked up by their parents’ fancy car to go home to their private residences. She’s not really interested in anything they’re talking about but she laughs at the jokes and she smiles when spoken to. What she really wants to do is talk to Riley- her father’s intern who was invited to come to help him remember the names of the people he’ll meet tonight. Her father is a healthy man of late forties, but for some reason, he almost always forgets names. He even forgot her birthday the one time, but he made it up to her by buying her a ticket for a European cruise tour for the summer. She was supposed to go alone in the trip, but at the last minute, her father added Riley. Presumably her father made him accompany her to keep her company overseas, but even he couldn’t predict they’d start to keep each other company in an entirely different way.

Karina was retelling to the group her absolutely wonderful trip to Bali with her mother, a story she has already told her last week, so she was free to set her mind adrift. Riley is a wonderful friend, and surprisingly an exceptional lover. He had humble beginnings which at first made her keep him at arms’ length, but as they spent more and more time together, he turns out to be way more interesting than her vapid group of friends. His father died when he was six, leaving him to provide for his mother and three siblings. He tried to make ends meet by selling things here and there until college where he was smart enough to score a scholarship in a state university and got Latin honors when he graduated with his business degree. He caught her father’s attention during one of his random company visits and since then, he was a permanent fixture in her father’s retinue. A few years older than her, and yet he still retains a schoolboy’s sense of humor and charm which endeared him to her. When they’re together, she laughs more, her smiles more genuine, and she has more focus on her surroundings. To her, he was something that her father custom ordered for her- everything checks her boxes.

Tonight is a big night for them as she intends to tell her father their relationship. Surely, he’ll understand, as he married somewhat below his station as well; he was a young businessman travelling to another country, her mother was the flight stewardess who was a few years older than him. He was so enamored, he was eligible for the airline’s exclusive membership granted to clients with a certain number of airline miles within the year. They fell in love by his efforts of making sure that every flight he was on, she was there. A cute love story perhaps, but it was a sour note to his family. Her grandparents were less impressed of the quality and upbringing of woman he fell for, which resulted to her mother trying her best to please them all the time. In a way, she somewhat pities her mother. She was always showered by praises and presents by her doting grandparents, but for her mother they had nothing but polite small talk and snide comments. However, her mother’s efforts to appease them doesn’t really matter in the end because Riri knew that the real disappointment to her grandparents was that she had no siblings. Her birth was a miraculous surprise and as her father remained obstinate in going through any treatments and surrogacy options despite his monthly shouting matches with her mother, Iris Araminta Ortega stands to inherit a sizeable heap of fortune which makes her a pretty prize for the person she will marry one day.

Perhaps this is the reason why her grandparents routinely make her go through social events like a grocery checklist; if they weren’t able to puppet her father toward their perceived right woman, they will try to make it up by guiding her. They didn’t bear any ill-will towards him even though it’s public knowledge that he pursued her and not the other way around. He was the favored son, as his younger sister and Riri’s aunt was a wild card; she was chronically ill when they were younger which turned her into a petty and impatient woman. She married well but became a widow too soon. Mostly, she’s an eyesore in family portraits because she flaunts her wealth all the time. She has a son, a cousin whom Riri barely knows as he is kept out of family dinners. There’s some gossip that he isn’t her uncle’s son, and maybe that’s the reason why her grandparents refuse to acknowledge him as one of their own. It will be another family scandal for them when they find out about Riley, but their approval doesn’t matter to Riri, her father’s does.

She’s turned this situation in her head many times, when she’ll say it, how she’ll say it. She planned and unplanned this for months; out of fear of her father’s anger and her mother’s disappointment and out of consideration to Riley who opposed her on telling her parents. Let’s wait until I can get a higher position out of your father’s company. A few years, and I can finally tell him I can provide for his daughter. Riley’s voice echoed in her head which made her stomach squirm. He’s a big believer of financial independence, and sometimes she could tell her wealth intimidated him. He had fun in that cruise where they eventually gotten close, where they were both enjoyed the exclusivity their tickets brought. After the trip, he was more and more paying attention to her and she was more and more sure of his affections. She didn’t tell him about her plan this evening, even when they had a quick retreat to the coat room an hour ago. She knew she simply had to her father soon, because otherwise her grandparents will continue to push her towards grabbier hands and richer surnames which she has no interest in joining in matrimony when she’s older.  Her father might be aloof towards her sometimes, but he always stops what he’s doing when she asks him to and he always made sure to bring a silly souvenir when he travels when she was little. Their relationship is already better than her and her mother’s, who always berates her and forces her into doing things she didn’t really want like piano, French, and horse-riding. She excels in all of them, but only because she knew of her mother and grandparents’ strained relationship.

Karina delicately clears her throat behind her hand as Riri suddenly notices that everyone was looking at her. “Oh, I apologize. My mind was far away at the moment as you can all understand,” Riri tries to laugh it off which was helpfully seconded by everyone.

“Of course, tonight is your family’s big night! I’m sure you out of everyone have exciting plans for the summer,” Karina smiles a bit more brightly than needed, and to Riri, she almost looks unhinged. They’ve been friends since they were little, but they don’t really bond as much as their parents think. Riri prefers her solitude while Karina was the type to force her way into the conversation. They spend enough time together that Riri can tell that Karina has a jealous streak, an unnecessary and unattractive trait. They were both wealthy and pretty enough, what more could she be jealous of? Her parents were kind enough, but Riri knew more could be going on behind closed doors. She smiles gratefully and sips her champagne. She eyes the open corridor on the other side of the room, where some guests were lingering. Where was her father?

She puts down her champagne glass and politely excuses herself. It’s now or never. She simply couldn’t live like this, keeping a secret that becomes heavier and heavier in her mind. Her grandparent’s home was less than a cozy home and more of a resort complete with all the amenities: a pool, a court, and bedrooms and rooms that take up too much space. While the estate was tastefully decorated, Riri never liked going here. She’s always felt suffocated by them, their sweet compliments to her and their limited capacity to listen. She walked in her dainty heels and greeted their guests absentmindedly, but she was actively looking for her father’s silhouette, his favorite black suit.

She decides to go upstairs where the study rooms are, a place where she knew her father would have gotten something to drink or smoke while he talks to potential business partners. There’s a particular one with dark blue walls lined with bookshelves that she knew he preferred. A large room with windows in the other end of the room, with a mahogany desk paired with an office chair. She reaches the door and her hand settles on the doorknob. Everything comes down to this; will her father be happy for her or will he be incredibly disappointed? All she could think of as she’s staring at the door was her favorite memory of theirs; her father reading her a bedtime story before he tucks her in.

She takes a deep breath and enters the room. It’s dimly lighted, the wall sconce lights tuned on while the crystal chandelier was turned off. She could tell it’s him by the arm dangling on the armrest of the leather office chair. She knows by the suit’s style and color, by the old-fashioned watch on his wrist, and by instinct, that she has found her father. She smiles uncertainly, trying to organize her frazzled thoughts.  A heavy scent of alcohol curiously permeated the air and as she walked towards where her father sits with his back turned against her, she glances at the desk the back of leather chair is leaning on. Several papers were sticking on the surface because of the over-turned expensive whiskey bottle. There are two lowball glasses, one still full of the drink and the other empty. The alcohol stench is overwhelming as she nears the chair. It occurs to her suddenly that something was terribly wrong. A strange sense of calm enters her body as she reaches forward and turns the chair sharply to look at her father. A faint spray of red splatters clean all over the dress she’s wearing. She’s barely aware of her father’s bloody neck and the knife stuck deep on his chest. I suppose I got to wear red after all, Riri faintly thinks before darkness claims her.