I Will Be Happy With Another Man

They both walked past Mark. "Alexa,” he called out, and they ignored him.

One of his men hurriedly grabbed Alexa by the wrist and pulled her back. “Leave me,” Alexa scolded, and this attracted some attention to them.

“Why are you so feisty? I am here for a discussion,” Mark said with a disgusting smile.

“What sought of discussion, Grandpa?” Lydia asked in a mocking tone, and hearing her call him grandma flared his anger.

“What did you call me?”

“Get to the point of why you are here." Alexa folded her arms, and Mark was shocked because he never expected her to be this bold.

“Tomorrow is the new year; celebrate with me.”

Alexa burst out in laughter, at all the things she imagined could come out of his mouth. She never imagined this: “Why will I do that?”

“Because you are mine, I have given you some space so you could digest the news that I am your fiancé, but I guess it was a waste.”

"Never,” she blurted, and she took a step closer to him, her eyes void of any fear.

“I don’t belong to you; I will never marry you. Get that into your brain, Mr. Kennedy.”

“It’s either you spend the new year with me or your dad, mother, and sister spend it in jail. The decision is all yours, sugar pie.”

“Grrr” Lydia feigned to puke “See how disgusting it is to hear you call her that.”

“And also, put a leash on your friend. We never know who might make it on the missing list in the police station tomorrow,” he threatened, and Lydia flinched a little.

Then he got into his car and handed a card to Alexa: “You might need this.”

The car took off, and Alexa pulled her hair, frustrated. “What is wrong with him? How shameless could he be?” She was disgusted by the man; talking with him had already taken a great hit to her reputation, and now he wanted her to spend the new year with him.

“Let him do whatever he wants; he wants to send your parents to jail? Then let him; it’s their price to pay and not yours." Lydia explained, but Alexa shook her head in denial.

“No matter how wrong they are, they remain my parents.” Without waiting for Lydia’s response, she walked to the door and knocked on it when Sarah pulled it open.

“Why are you both back this late?”

“I am sorry, aunt. I will go have a rest now. "Then she walked past Sarah and got to the bedroom, threw her bag to the side, and fell on the bed.

She hugged the pillow tightly and said, “I won’t cry again.”

“It’s a new year, and I won't spare anyone who makes me shed just a tear,” she promised herself. She could also hear Lydia and Sarah whispering.

“What happened to her?” Sarah asked worriedly.

“She is going through some family problems; please just give her some space.”

“I hope she will be fine,”

*

The next morning, Alexa was awakened by an early call from a strange number: “Hello?”

“I have been waiting for you for more than an hour; do you want me to give you a bad review?” Norman yelled with a frustrated tone.

Alexa walked down the bed with a frown. “Don’t irritate me.”

“Is that how you talk to your boss?”

“I see that the ‘Mr. Williams’ bad attitude is getting into you; choose someone better to make your idol.”

“Well done, Alexa; you found a way to connect him to our conversation. He is not your type, huh?” The kid asked boldly, and this left Alexa speechless.

“I will come to remind you of our age difference," she said, then ended the call and smiled.

“Happy New Year!!!” She screamed, and Lydia jumped up on the bed.

"Stop,” she shot the pillow at Alexa, who caught it and used it to hit Lydia.

“Wakey wakey”

"Alexa, don’t let me hate you on the first day of the new year,” Lydia warned, and Alexa chuckled.

She picked up a notebook from the table and decided to write something.

“New Alexa, no more crying.”

“No one is allowed to bully me; my past stays my past.”

Then she stared at her hand, which still hurt. “Let bygones be bygones.”

Lydia took a peep at what she was writing: “Love?”

“What about love?” asked Alexa.

“Won’t you want to find love this year? Genuine love”

“I will write one more thing." Alexa chuckled before she wrote, “Attend Lydia’s wedding this year.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “It’s not like any of those wishes or revolutions will happen.”

“It will, once you write down your wishes on paper on New Year's morning without eating or drinking water, then you burn it. It goes straight to God.”

Lydia sneered mockingly. “How about we test if it's true? With something for today,” Lydia challenged.

“Okay, I will receive New Year wishes today,” Alexa wrote, but Lydia frowned and sat next to her.

“Wish something better? How about? Today, let everyone’s feelings be visible to you.”

"Hmm,” then she wrote it down and folded the paper.

She walked to the kitchen and found a lighter before she smiled at Lydia and said, “It will come true.” Then she burned the paper.

“Whatever, you didn’t even wish for money,” she scoffed and walked to the bathroom.

Alexa stood in front of the wardrobe; she needed something beautiful to wear to start the new year.

But it made her sad instead; all the beautiful clothes in her closet were bought by Josh.

-

“Alexie love” Josh walked into the bedroom and found her reading a novel there.

“You are back? It’s early,” she asked in disbelief and dropped the book.

“You are my wife, but you look so sad seeing your husband; why, Mrs. Adams?” He joked, and she chuckled.

“I am happy to see you.”

“Yeah? I have something for you, and I need just one thing from you in return.”

“That’s not fair, but fine... What do you want?”

Josh pulled her into his arms as he wrapped her hand around her waist. “A smile. I am sorry for scolding you yesterday when you showed up at the office. I am sorry,” he apologized, and she shook her head in denial.

“It’s fine; I understand you.”

“So will you smile genuinely?” He questioned her, and she chuckled, and a smile normally crept on her lips.

“That’s my queen; now say behold to your closet.” Then a maid pushed a garment rack in, and it had so many beautiful dresses.

“Oh my,” her eyes became sore. He was always nice to her.

-

“Alexa!!!” Lydia yelled, and Alexa shook her thoughts away.

Her eyes became sore again, and she quickly blinked the tears away. “What are you thinking about?” Lydia asked in a worried tone.

Instead of answering, Alexa picked up the book and wrote one more thing: “I will be happy with another man; he will love me more than anything and cherish me.” Then she folded it and burned it.