"Serena, dear, please don't worry. I might be saying something wrong. How can he leave you, right? There must be some mistake. Yeah... Don't worry…. Don't worry….. Everything is fine, totally alright… he hee".
Molly always tended to get overly concerned so Serena ignored her blabbing and went in the front hall. The hall was, as usual, crowded with people. But this time, an anxious atmosphere surrounded each and every person. Serena walked towards her father. Her father sat with other respected people in the town wearing a tensed face. She had seen such expression on her father just once… When her tattoo… but she didn't want to think about that now. Right now, she wanted to focus on the current issue.
"Pa, what happened? Molly was saying something about Steven. Is everything ok?"
The person sitting beside her father laughed mockingly.
"Your so-called husband proved to be a swindler. He left… gone! Without informing anyone about anything, if I might add." Mr. Dodd said while sneering.
He was also a well-known person in the town but people tended to listen to Mr. Brown more. This only resulted in making Mr. Dodd even more jealous. But right now, this was his chance. Finally, he'd have something to hold over the village-head.
A woman being left at home, when she's married to someone, could be the most offensive thing in such small towns. Here the most important thing for a woman was always her marriage and her family. Now, if what they were thinking was true, Serena's father might have to leave his post. This could also result in the Browns having a bad name.
Thump
Her heart gave a big lurch.
How was this possible? They were going to register their marriage today. After all the rituals were complete. And then Steven had been so understanding, so amazing…. How could he just run away? This surely was a mistake?
"Pa, why don't we wait for some time? Maybe there's some kind of mistake?"
Someone from Mr. Dodd's supporters spoke up again…
"Mistake? Do you know why we started searching for him, you foolish girl? He was seen by the guard near the train station… At first, we thought it was a mistake, but obviously not. He left and took all the money with him, too.
Mistake, you say. Huh…."
'They were so happy, weren't they? Happy that they had a chance over the village-head, happy that they'd have a chance at winning the post, happy that they'd get to smear someone's name and gossip about them….
Was anyone there who was thinking about a girl's wishes? Dreams that she had woven about her future… wolves… all these people.'
Molly thought as she saw Serena gathering herself visibly.
'Poor girl, even in this situation, she'd now have to take care of others' feelings before hers.'
The said girl was deeply thinking about her situation. She had thought she found her prince when Steven had offered to take things slow. The small period of time that she spent with him had been enough for her to dream…
And she didn't even have time to think about that now.
If it's true that Steven has left, then there's a great chance of her getting locked up or thrown out of the house…
But what happened was even worse…
Well, it wasn't like Serena was not expecting things to happen this way… In fact, she wholeheartedly believed them to happen in the exact same manner.
She knew how small-minded the people in town were and she totally expected her father to prefer his work over her, but that didn't stop her from wishing.
Oh, how she wished. She wished to have a father who loved her more than his work, wished for her mother to stop staying silent and for once, support her… wished to get everyone stop
But most importantly, she wished this were a dream. Dearly she prayed for all this situation to be a nightmare she'd be waking up from. But alas, it wasn't.
Her father was thinking of ways to 'take care of her' and all the villagers had started pointing out fingers towards her. They knew she was aware of their whispering but a left-out woman was nothing in their eyes.
And then her brother came and shattered whatever hope she had left within her.
He decided that she'd be hanged so that there won't be any black spot on their family name.
She was caught by her brother's goons and was locked up only to wait for the next day so that they could hang her publicly and stop the fingers pointed at them.
In the night, the door of the room that she was locked in opened slightly and in came a figure with shaky hands. Serena looked up and as soon as she saw the person, she stood up,
"Molly," she hissed, "what are you doing? You are not supposed to be here…"
"Neither are you!"
The said girl had no retort to this. But she still tried.
"Molly, if anyone finds out you are here…"
"That's why stop talking and listen. I don't have much time. Here take this bag. It has some money, your identification cards and your file, some clothes and some food. Take this and go."
"But…"
"Just goooo… you don't have much time and neither do I. I barely managed to sneak in. Go away from this town, ok Serena? It wasn't your fault and they are no one to punish you. Just go away from these cruel people who forget everything in front of power."
"Molly, I really don't know how to thank you."
"Thank me by living well, ok? If everything calms down here, I'll try to find you but unless I tell you don't ever come back…" She squeezed her hand.
Both girls, unable to stop, hugged each other tightly. God knows when they would get a chance to meet again.
Hastily, Serena wiped her tear-streaked face and turned to leave. Just before, she turned back, saw her best friend waving at her and then turned her back towards her home… no house. The home was supposed to be a safe place and this was not.
Getting away from town wasn't a hard thing for her. She had spent all her life sneaking out from her home to go out so it proved to be easier for her to get out of the town.
Before the sun rises… she'd be far far away from these people that were once her family.
But not now. Never now.
When the sun rays greeted her the next day, she was sitting on a truck waiting to reach Wellington city.
When she left her village, she was clear about where to go. Wellington City was the place she had visited many times and was aware of the surroundings. There, she had decided that she'd meet her friend and then decide what to do next. Molly had been a great help as she had not only packed her money and clothes but also her certificates… she won't be getting trouble if she needed to work somewhere.
Even though she was unsure of her future plans, Serena had always been a positive girl. And she was going to have the same attitude for the future.
Soon, the truck crossed the city's border and entered into Wellington city. She got down from the truck and thanked the driver and started searching for ways to contact her friend.
Unfortunately for her, when she found a person to borrow a phone and call her friend, Serena found out that her friend had left the country…
For the first time after receiving the news about Steven, Serena felt devastated. She had hoped to have a shelter on her head before starting to search for a job.
Serena was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't see a car coming towards her in full speed until she was pulled out of the way by someone.
"Are you crazy? Do you have a death wish or something? See where you are going, dude…"
A girl shouted at her even as she carefully pulled Serena out of the main road. This girl had her hair tied into small fishtail braids and wore a plain shirt and rugged jeans.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention…"
"Oh, yeah… I gathered that much."
"And thank you for helping me out." Serena smiled.
"Hummm, fine, fine, don't worry about it. I didn't hurt you or something did I?" The girl asked.
"No, no I'm truly fine. Thanks for your help… ms.?"
"Jane. And you are?"
"I'm Serena. And I would really like to thank you. If you don't mind, can I get you a coffee or something?"
"Dude, I hope you know it's a bad pick up…" Jane said even as she linked her hand with Serena's. And somehow, even if this was their first meeting, she was finding this girl, Jane comforting.
What she didn't know was Jane had similar thoughts as her.
Jane had grown up as a tomboy, so she was usually frank with everyone… but this girl was giving her vibes like someone closer… like family.
Soon, the two girls were seen in a cafe having drinks of their choices and bonding with each other.
"So Serena dear, can you tell me what are you doing here? I mean it is obvious with your luggage that you are either new here or to visit someone… so?"
"Umm yeah, I came here just now and I was hoping to stay with my friend, but she has left the country, so I'm thinking of finding a hotel or something after this," Serena replied as she took a sip of her coffee. After getting something in her stomach, she was now feeling a lot better. And with the new company she had, it was less scary than she had thought earlier.