The Night Owl

So, I saw an owl last night. A black owl or maybe it was just dark, right now I’m not so sure. An owl usually depicts a bad omen, a symbol of disgrace, and to see one on the night just before my big day scared the shit out of me.

I don’t even know what I was doing out of my hotel room where I had friends gathered, all in high spirit, getting ready to celebrate what had been termed ‘The wedding of the year,’ or out of the hotel lobby where family members, both mine and my love’s were gathered, sipping the finest wine and sharing tales of the latest that went down in town. Come to think of it, I don’t even remember when or how I walked past the lobby where everyone telling me to go get my beauty sleep was gathered without anyone finding me or how I ended up in the woods not too far from the hotel, but there I was face to face with the barn owl, its round, forward-looking eyes stared at me, then it did its characteristic 180 degrees head turn and flew into the night, and that was when I ran frantically all the way back to my hotel room, washed the dirt off my feet, and joined my sister in bed wishing with all my might to forget what I had just seen.

And it seemed I had for a while. The beautician was working on my eyes, she asked me not to move or even blink as that could spoil her work and so I focused my eyes on my wedding gown standing on one corner of the room. My dream gown, whose cost could feed my entire community for a month, Of course, I had no problem looking at it all day, but it was at that moment my sister Annie came in answering a call, the look of distress on her face made my heart skip a bit, something was wrong. She got off the phone and looked at me,

“That was the cake maker,” she said, “There’s gonna be a delay in delivering the cake, there was a little accident while moving the cake, a part of it had been destroyed.”

“Delay? Accident?” Oh no, the barn owl.

“How much of a delay are we talking about? I asked.

“An hour, maybe two. She wasn’t sure.” was my sister’s reply.

My cake was the exact replica of the famous Prince William and Princess Kate’s 8 tier fruit cake with all of the leaf and flower embellishments, all of it. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t necessary or difficult to accomplish.

She said I wasn’t royal, that I couldn’t have everything I wanted. I wanted to show her I was, or rather could be, and so I chose a royal-themed wedding, just to prove her wrong, spite her. My wedding gown, Givenchy, just like Megan Markle’s with Alexander Mcqueen shoes, again like Kate Middleton, yeah I could be petty like that. I even threw in the Lily of the valley flower as my bouquet just like Grace Kelly of Monaco, for good measure. Too bad she won’t be able to see any of these or do they let them watch the news in prison? I’m not sure but back to the cake;

“How much damage exactly?” I asked

“She didn’t say, just asked for a little more time,” Annie said. “I think we should start making arrangements for another cake, just in case….”

“No, it has to be that cake and none of the petals or embellishments should be missing, I would personally have them counted. Call the cake maker back and tell her that, else she and her entire staff might just spend the night in jail” I said.

Just like my little friend that’s rotting away there right now. Chloe is her name and she was a classmate of mine years back. See why I don’t like interventions like scholarships and the likes, how can I, the daughter of an army general and a high-ranking attorney be in the same school as the daughter of an ordinary roadside seller? You want to know the worse part? she didn’t even know her place, making the rest of us look bad because she had to be a good student. Always the good example, never ditched a class, never failed a test, always getting on my nerves. That’s why I had to do it, I just had to.

“Rufus, Rufus, come back here.” I heard my Mum call

“What’s happening out there?” I asked Annie.

“I’ll go check,” she said, but before she could leave the room, the door burst open and my mother rushed in.

“What’s the matter, Mum? I heard you calling Rufus.” I asked.

“I’m so sorry honey, it’s the flowers. Rufus took them into the mud outside.” My heart began to sink, but I wouldn’t let it. There were lots of flowers around, it could be any one of them.

“Wh...which of the flowers Mum?” I stuttered.

“Your bouquet Darling. I’m so sorry,” she said

Oh my God, I could kill, I could kill, I could strangle someone. “Where’s Rufus now, that stupid dog?” I asked.

“Please honey, I don’t need you to get worked up over this, it’s still your wedding day. Just relax, there are flower shops around we could quickly get…”

“No Mum, no. It has….” I sniffed. Am I crying right now? I’ve ruined my makeup. What the hell is happening to me? “It has to be those flowers mum, clean them, wash them, do whatever but it has to be those flowers.”

She looked at me and was about to object when I shouted,

“Go already, Mum! Annie, go too, go help her.” They both rushed out of the room.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Shame on me for crying, I’m the one that makes people cry. Like Chloe cried the day she was being expelled from school.

She was found in possession of drugs due to an anonymous tip. She swore they weren’t hers but who was going to believe her especially when half the class came forward to testify against her? All I had to do was sit back like the princess that I am and watch the drama unfold. Ooh, that day was one of my best days yet, of course, I left a note in her locker to let her know that it was me, the victory wouldn’t have been complete if she didn’t know. I sighed, Today would have been another one of my best days, but right now I’m not so sure.

My beautician right now has got her job cut out for her, the ceremony is starting in about an hour, and due to my tears and nervousness, needless to say, I could no longer keep my eyes on my wedding gown.

“First the cake, now the flowers. what else could go wrong?” I asked aloud.

“You have to calm down,” the beautician said.

“You think I’m not trying?” I retorted. I need a drink, I really do need a drink.

After her expulsion, I had a beautiful Chloe-free life. She was back to her place, on the roadside with her mum and there was no more Chloe for the teachers to compare me with. It was more of a win-win situation actually if you take a good look at it, people of low class should mingle with other people of low class otherwise they begin to dream of attaining things above their status, things they shouldn’t even know about in the first place and that could lead to major heartbreaks, even depression. Take a look at Chloe for instance, saying she wanted to be an attorney. That’s what I want to be because that’s what my mum is and so was her mother before her. Chloe's Mum is a roadside seller, you see the point I’m trying to make? The apple isn’t supposed to fall far from the tree is all I’m trying to say. I was trying to help her see that, and all these years, I really thought I did until 8 months ago when the law firm I work at as a junior associate (yeah, I guess my Mum didn’t pull the strings long enough) was hiring senior associates and guess who walked in on a radiant Monday morning looking all Chic and elegant? Yeah, you guessed it, Chloe Anderson. I’m sure I looked like I was seeing a ghost when she stepped in through those revolving doors, fashionably late and on her first day. She really did it, became an attorney, lesson not learned. For someone that was a good student, she learns her lessons really slowly. Oh, thinking back on that day makes my skin crawl.

“I need a drink,” I said out loud.

“Coming.” One of my bridesmaids said and went out to get one for me.

“Done with your makeup, You look beautiful.” The beautician said,

Well, I should be the judge of that, I thought.

“Time for you to get into your gown.”

I looked at my gown, I still had it intact, thank God. Nothing had happened to it and nothing will. I wanted a champagne-colored, ball gown with lots of embellishments of course, and a matching cathedral veil. It had a plunging neckline and a full train which was my favorite part of the dress. It took about ten minutes to get into the dress and get all the button done and with the hair and makeup, I was looking nothing short of Royalty. But I still needed my flower and cake, I had a point to prove.

I’m sure Chloe must have felt that way when she started working at the firm, she wanted to prove that she belonged there as much as I did, that the daughter of a roadside seller could rise up to become an attorney, and Chloe being Chloe, of course, she didn’t know her place. In less than two weeks of working there, she had caught the eyes of the most eligible bachelor at the firm, a partner, the youngest in the firm’s history, one that hadn’t even looked at me twice since I started working almost a year ago despite all of my gimmicks and ploy. What is wrong with you Chloe? she makes me feel like grabbing her and snuffing that stubbornness out of her, the stubbornness that deceives her and makes her not know her place. Being my senior was not enough, she had to steal Ben too and no, don’t say she didn’t steal him, she did cos I was going to get him eventually, but Chloe happened and blew up my chances, and as you already know, I had to get my evil genius to work. You know fraud, whether intentional or by negligent misrepresentation is a serious offense, right? And guess who I’m marrying today. Yeah, you guessed it, Ben. How I did it? That’s a story for another day.

“Where’s the wine already? And what’s the update on the cake and bouquet?” I asked, a little victory smile playing on my lips.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to be drinking thirty minutes before the ceremony starts? The beautician said.

“Listen, lady, you’re paid to do your job and not to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do,” I said.

“Okay, it’s your day,” she said.

The wine came, my favorite red wine, and as she was pouring me a glass, I still can’t explain what happened, all I know is that one minute, the bridesmaid was pouring wine into the glass and the next, the bottle was falling to the floor. In my attempt to catch it, the content of the glass spilled all over the bodice of my gown and as soon as the bottle hit the ground it shattered, spilling its entire content on the lower part of my dress, the train, everywhere. If I could kill before, now I wanted to be killed. My dress, ruined, my shoes too. I would have fallen on the ground to weep but there were shattered glasses all over. We were all still paralyzed by shock when two policemen entered the room, followed by Ben, yes Ben with my parents arguing behind.

“You’re under arrest.” they said, “for intentionally withdrawing documents leading to fraud by misrepresentation. You have the right to remain silent……” and the rest became a blur.

I thought I got Ben, I never knew all the while, he was working to get evidence to clear Chloe’s name.

Last night, I saw a barn owl, tonight, I’m sitting in Jail. Tomorrow? I have no idea what it would bring.