Soon, the parade started. The young men and women started marching down the streets waving to the growing crowd that was beginning to gather on the streets to come watch them. All the adults had lined up along the streets of St Marys to come see their children. There was a band in front of the parade, playing all kinds of music which everyone, including the young adults, were bobbing their heads to.
Heidi and Marilyn managed to get to front row where they would be seen by everyone who took a first glance at them. Alice, Bruce and Anthony, had already gotten to the streets to watch the girls. As soon as they got there, they saw the parade, with the band ahead of them coming towards them. Every one was coming out in their numbers to come watch these young men and women do nothing but dance to a lot of tunes. Parents were already waving at their children. The younger children were cheering their older siblings who were part of the parade. It was all fun and happiness for everyone.
Heidi spotted her parents in the crowd and nudged Marilyn with her elbow. Marilyn who had not spotted them earlier looked over to where Heidi was pointing at and waved back at the happy parents. Anthony on the other end, was just busily staring at Marilyn who kept staring back at him. Heidi and her parents noticed this, but none of them said anything about it.
Very soon, the parade had ended. All the young men and women had returned back home to their proud families. Those who could afford throwing big parties, threw them. Those who could not, just did a small family gathering with the little they had. Everyone was happy and making merry.
Heidi's house was in fact bubbling with friends of the family enjoying the dinner Alice had made for them. People had attended her party just as she had expected. Anybody would have expected her to invite just the rich in the society. Yet, she threw the invite to everybody in town. She wanted everyone to enjoy themselves. Families who felt they did not belong in such an environment, did not attend. Those who could, however, did not regret it a single bit. There was so much food and drinks for everyone. And everyone were happy socialising.
Marilyn, who did not really like huge parties like this one, tried her best to stay happy. But she could not get her mother out of her head. Her mother, Jocelyn had promised to go with her to the parade to see her. She was even supposed to be here with her at the party if not for the headache she suffered from. Jocelyn hardly fell sick, so it was really worrying for Marilyn when her mother told her she was not well. Seeing parents with their children at the party even made her wish with all her heart that her mother would be there with her.
After walking around the huge hall filled with people, Marilyn decided to step out of the mansion to get some air. For some unknown reason, Heidi had disappeared from her side, leaving her alone. She had her untouched drink in her hand, as she sat on the garden bench that sat calmly at the beautiful garden at the right-side of the mansion. She looked up, and smiled when saw the beautiful stars in the sky. It has been a warm night and a single cloud could not be seen in the bright blue black sky.
She continued marvelling at the beautiful sky when she felt someone sit beside her.
"Beautiful night, right?" the deep male voice said and Marilyn snapped her head at his direction.
She was mesmerized by the sight before her. Anthony was seated next to her. He stared back at her and smiled.
"Sorry if I disturbed you. I saw you come outside and wanted to keep you company. I hope you are not offended?" he explained.
His deep voice sounded so good in Marilyn's ears. And his piercing green eyes looked like they were staring right through her soul. She felt like she was falling into a deep abyss of greeness as she continued to stare at him. She did not realise she had not even answered his question. When she finally came to her senses, she blinked quickly and smiled awkwardly. Then, looked away from the older man.
"No, you are not disturbing me. It's just that I wanted to get away from the crowd for a while. I don't really do well around a lot of people," she said and lowered her head. She stared at the drink in her hands, and decided to put it away.
"You hate parties, don't you?" Anthony smiled at her, even though he could not see her face which she was desperately trying to hide.
After getting no answer from her, he spoke again. "You really do look tonight."
Marilyn blushed hard. She could not understand what was happening to her. What was Anthony doing that was giving her all these effects? Still looking away, she murmured a thank you to the older man. Anthony took this as an opportunity to draw closer to the young woman. He pushed closer to her without
her noticing and gently held her face. He turned her towards him, earning a shocked and flustered look from the younger woman.
"I am not a man of so many words. I am the type of man who always go in for what he wants. And right now, what I want is you. Marilyn, please be mine," Anthony said, staring deep into Marilyn's eyes. He was no longer touching her face, but, Marilyn could not tear her gaze away from his. She felt like she was under a spell of some sorts.
"How can I be yours? I don't understand," Marilyn replied awkwardly.
"Marilyn, I know we just met. But I think I have fallen deeply in love with you. From the first day I saw you, I have not been able to take you out of my mind. Listen, I know this is sudden. But I want to take you to the city with me. I want to make all your dreams come true. Please, just say yes to me and I will take you away from this town and turn you into a sophiscated lady."
The offer Anthony was making towards her was very tempting. Marilyn's dream has always been about moving to the big city and living her life as a model. But she still had to think about her mother. She is not well right now. And Marilyn had no idea what was wrong with her. In fact, her mother is the main reason she had not had the courage to move to the city. She suddenly became worried and looked away once again.
The brightness in her eyes seemed to have disappeared when Anthony held her. That kind of confused him a bit. He tried getting her to face him, but she was not having any of it.
"What's wrong, beautiful? Did I say something wrong?"
"N-no. You did not say anything wrong."
"Then what's the problem? Don't you like me? Am I pushing too hard?"
"No, that's not it. Actually, I like you too. It's just that, i am worried about my mother. She was supposed to be with me tonight. But, due to ill health, she could not make it. I have noticed that she is losing weight. And, she also does not eat well. When I asked her, she said it was nothing. But it still worries me. All my life, all I have wanted is to be a top model and travel around the world. But, I don't think I can do that with my mother in a bad condition."
"I am sorry about your mother. Is there anything I can do?" Anthony's voice sounded so genuine that Marilyn had no option than look his way again.
"You want to help me? You barely even know me."
"I just want to prove to you that I really care about you. You are not just a one night stand for me. You all I want and think about," Anthony said.
Marilyn was touched by Anthony's words. And that made her smile very widely.