The caretaker was taken aback after checking his records. "Miss, the fees for your parents' plots have been overdue for six months. We've tried contacting the family, but the number on file has been unreachable."
Realizing that I had changed my number after leaving for Palermo, I couldn't help but feel frustrated with myself. Ansel no longer cared about me. How could he remember my deceased parents?
I paid the outstanding fees and also prepaid for ten years, then left feeling dejected.
But just as I was walking out of the cemetery, I heard a voice I'd never forget in this lifetime.
"Ansel, it's impressive that you remember today is Elara's real dad's memorial day! If the old man knew you came to keep him company for a drink, he'd probably be floating up from the grave."
I turned around stiffly and saw Ansel, flanked by Elara and Vittoria, climbing the stone steps.
"Vittoria, this is what I should be doing."
"Don't be silly, call me 'Mom' in a few days!"
Ansel chuckled heartily and, without hesitation, called her "Mom."
With tears in my eyes, I quietly went to meet my friends.
I got straight to the point and told them that the Union was canceled.
They exchanged glances and then cautiously asked me, "Serafina, you already know?"
I was puzzled why they also knew.
In a fit of indignation, they pulled out photos of Ansel and Elara together at the hospital for their pre-ceremony medical clearance.
"Serafina, we support your decision to walk out. I'd love to see what a Blood-Bound Union without a bride looks like. Elara showing up to steal the ceremony will be a joke that follows them through every family in Clearmont Harbor!"
Their words made me somewhat look forward to it.
The day before the Union, Ansel came home with a brand-new pair of running shoes. I asked him calmly, "Aren't you the one who hates running shoes?"
He paused for a moment, then patted my head. "Tomorrow, I'll need to run fast with the bride on my back!"
The bride he mentioned isn't me.
The smile that suddenly appeared on his face wasn't because of me either.
It seems that making me the center of a public Union theft to prove his love for Elara made him quite happy.
The next day, I had walked around the ceremony venue. Gigantic posters had magnified every trace of photo-editing on the Union portraits.
I had pulled out a pair of scissors, cut out my youthful, radiant face and then took a cab to the airport.