"Daniel?" She choked as tears filled her eyes. Her brother was back.
"Arry, is that really you?" His voice was a lot deeper than she could remember it and there was something else but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
She fought back her tears of joy and swallowed hard. "You came back?" She whispered. Was this a miracle? Just a few moments ago she was talking about how impossible it was to get her brother to walk her down the aisle. Now he was speaking to her.
Ariana felt a flutter in her heart. Yet something was holding her back. There was something in his voice and she understood what it was the moment he opened his mouth again.
"I had to Arry. Father is dead!"
For the second time that day, Ariana felt her heart skip another beat. Her father was what?
"No!" She screamed. "Father is what?" Surely she must have heard wrong, she thought. But when her brother didn't say another word. She felt the pain in the pit of her stomach yet she refused to believe it.
"Daniel what are you saying?" She asked again just to be certain. "Do not play games with me. What is wrong with you?" She stopped herself as her tears threatened to choke her. "Give the phone to him right now!" She snapped.
"I am sorry Arry but I am in the middle of the ceremony. You need to come home so we can talk," he said in a husky voice.
Ariana didn't even remember how she ended the call and dropped to the ground in tears. Her father couldn't just die like that. Not when she was preparing to get married and she needed someone to walk her down the aisle! Not when she thought they could finally make up and be that happy family they once were!
Her movement to the floor pulled the glass cups that were beside her and they crashed to the tiled floor creating an orchestra of chaos. Yet Ariana paid no attention to it. Her mind was denying it yet her ears kept repeating the words her brother told her.
"I had to Arry. Father is dead!"
He couldn't be dead. Surely Daniel was wrong. He must have heard and seen wrong. Time seemed to stop as her breathing came in harsh and rough.
Lisa heard the crashing in the house when Ariana screamed. She dropped what she was doing and ran toward the litter where she saw Aria disappear.
"Aria, what's wrong?" She yelled.
She was surprised to find her best friend on the floor in hysterical tears. Her heart started beating fast as she ran to her. Unlike her, Aria wasn't a drama queen. Ariana never broke down like this unless it was something major.
"Aria what happened? Is it Calhoun?" She asked kneeling before her as her own heart threatened to blow itself up.
Ariana raised her tear-filled eyes to her friend and she got reminded of the plans they had just made. That was when she started screaming. More tears came to her eyes.
"Lisa he is dead!" She whimpered as she cried even harder.
Ariana remembered how he used to take her and her brother to school. They were a happy family back then before he lost his job and started gambling. He was a good father until life conditions drifted him to the wrong side.
"Lisa he is dead!" She repeated crying her eyes out.
Lisa didn't know what to do. She hugged Ariana close and patted her even though she couldn't understand what was happening.
"Who is dead?" She whispered to her but Ariana only cried harder. The question was like alcohol to her open wound and saying the answer out loud was like admitting the fact that he was truly dead.
"Ariana please you are scaring me. Who is dead?"
Ariana only shut her eyes and cried more.
Lisa tried to think of who could have died but no one came to mind. Could it be Ethan?
She shook her head as she continued patting her friend. If it was Ethan, she would have seen it on the Internet by now. Whoever it was wasn't a very famous person because she had just been on the Internet a few minutes ago and there was no news of anyone dying or going through something tragic.
While holding Ariana, Lisa took out she took her phone from her pocket and sent a message to Calhoun informing him of the situation. If she couldn't speak to her then she would definitely open up to Calhoun.
She cried for so long Lisa lost track of the time. She kept consoling her like a good friend even though she couldn't tell who it was who died. The only thing she kept saying was, 'he is dead.
Suddenly, Ariana's body got stilled. She stopped moving and pulled herself away from Lisa.
"Are you ready to talk to me about it now?" Lisa asked hopefully.
She turned her eyes away from Lisa like she didn't hear what she had asked her. She got up from the floor and started walking out of the kitchen. Lisa followed her wondering what she was up to.
"Where are you going?" She asked her but Ariana said nothing.
Ariana walked to her room and took down her suitcase from the wardrobe she started parking up. Lisa was alarmed.
"Ariana have you gone mad! What are you doing?" She asked her.
Ariana ignored her and continued her task. This got Lisa angry. She dragged the shirt Ariana had been folding and pulled it out of her hands. This gained her attention as she stopped to glare at Lisa.
"What are you doing?" Lisa hissed out.
"I am going home." She simply replied and picked up another shirt to fold.
Lisa opened her mouth to speak but in that instant, Calhoun walked in, "what home?"
Ariana froze with the t-shirt still in her hands and she felt tears start to pool around her eyes.
"Honey, what's going on?" He asked coming to her.