Tangled Desire

Lyla hurriedly got down from the taxi, rushing into her family's apartment across the street without even bothering to check for incoming vehicles. She hung her coat and proceeded to the room.

"Lyla" her dad called as she walked in.

"What did the doctor say?" She sat beside her I'll mother, taking her palm in her hand and pressing her lips softly against it.

"Same thing,she needs the surgery immediately or we'd lose her"

She felt a burning sensation in her heart as the thought of losing her mother crossed her mind. She had just lost her best friend to a car accident the previous year. One more loss of a loved one and she could go down the drain.

"This is the only option Lyla,"her father's voice said gently, pulling her out of her thoughts. He had a brown envelope in his hand which was stretched towards Lyla. She stared at the envelope curiously before taking it slowly.

"What's this dad?" she asked, tearing off its sealed top and reaching for the paper inside.

"That's the only solution"

Lyla felt her heart drown into her stomach as she stared at the paper. Her eyes widened in bewilderment,still trying to take in what her eyes were reading.

"A marriage arrangement!" She blurted, bearing her eyes to those of her father.

Mr. Thompson padded to where she sat and grabbed her hands,but she pulled them off immediately. "Tell me this is a joke dad!"

"Lyla, listen,I had no other option–"

"Don't tell me that dad!" She interrupted. She flung the papers and walked to the window.

Her lungs were failing her. Her breathing got stiffened. She clenched onto the window seal, trying to get her racing heart to a normal pace.

Ever since her mother fell ill,the pressure to provide for the family grew on her. Her father was getting minor pay checks from his menial job at the Blackwoods Company.

She had to take on three jobs a day, working round the clock,with barely enough time to spend on herself or with friends and family. She was doing her best for the family. How could get father sell her off like she was a piece of clothing?

She felt his hand on her shoulder, trying to turn her around. She resisted. "How could you agree to something like this! I barely know who this is! I am struggling to make ends meet and you think selling me off to some billionaire is the only solution?"

"Don't be selfish Lyla" her father lashed out. He had listened to her speak about herself and prioritize herself to the problem at hand.

"You're not doing this for me. You're neither doing it for yourself. It's for the family. We need liberation. Ain't you tired of working round the clock all day and yet having little or no result to show for it?"

Lyla could only imagine what her life would have been like if she wasn't denied the opportunity to the Olympics by her so-called parents when she was still in high school. Things would have been a whole lot different.

"How about my happiness,dad?" she started. The tears brewing in her eyes began to trickle down her cheek. "What about my goals? My desires?" She burst into tears, burying her head in her palm.