Chapter 3 Pleading for Alternative

• CHRIS LYON
• "Mum, you can't do this to me. This is not what I asked for. I promised to change but arranging my marriage with someone I do not know about or what she looks like is wrong!" I complained bitterly to my mother.
• My mom folded her legs across one another as she sipped her tea. She could care less about my complaint and it annoyed me. "You saying you will change doesn't mean you will son. I mean I know you even while you were in my belly and you are one stubborn child. You say that so your 
• Father won't strip you of everything you own," She tells me making him groan more in annoyance.
• "You know it's kinda sad," my mother placed the mug on the small table beside her. "I mean you are not getting younger. You are twenty-four yet you act like fourteen. You are not acting your age Christopher and it's sad you are a boy not a man although you are in a man's form." 
• "Mother this is not funny. You can't just say so because you feel so." I complained.
• I mean I know I haven't been the best child to them. During my teenage years, I was rebellious and broke a lot of rules but that doesn't mean I wasn't different now compared to then.
• I decided to go to college because she wanted me to and I didn't want to see her cry. I might not be the best child to them but I never failed them.
• I have always done assiduously well in my academics.
• "A man shouldn't complain all the time. All you do Christopher is complain about everything and it's sad you know. Sadly, our only child cares more about living recklessly than being a man. I mean man up and act your age," She scolded.
• "Mum, I am man enough which is why I disagree with this arrangement. I do not want it and I cannot be involved with it. I mean how can you suggest this! How can you suggest I marry a girl I do not know about? I mean I am sure she is just a spoilt brat who cares about nothing," I spat out with disdain.
• I sighed and then she clicked her tongue, "Says the spoiled brat himself. It's quite funny you know? And besides Christopher, you know her. It's Mia," My mother replied and I creased my brows.
• "You mean Mia? Francisco conglomerate heiress? The spoilt brat!" I said in irritation.
• "Shut up Christopher. Mia isn't a spoilt brat. She is a better child, one any parent would also for. She is smart, obedient, and hardworking. I mean you two got along with one another as children," she defended, and if she wasn't my mother, I would have rolled my eyes.
• Mia Francisco and I only got along until middle school. She has always been compared to me a lot and my parents made me feel as if I wasn't a good child because of her.
• She does too much and is always trying to get involved in my life. She was part of the reason, I got caught all the time whenever I sneaked out of school.
• She does nothing but meddle in my life and then she says she is just looking out for me.
• She is the complete opposite of me and someone I would never marry. 
• "I refuse to marry her," I said adamantly.
• I would never marry a woman like her. I refuse to.
• "And why is that so? I mean you did confess to wanting to marry her when you grow up as a young boy," my mother teased, making me cringe.
• "I was just a seven years old little boy!" I defended.
• "Really? I mean you once sneaked into her room through the window at night because you saw her crying," My mother added and I closed my eyes, trying to control my emotions.
• I refused to remember the days I was little and foolish and thought she was a beautiful girl with beautiful eyes.
• "Again, I was just an eleven years old boy," I defended and she snickered.
• "Are you sure? I know you crushed on her and I saw the way you looked at her on her sixteenth birthday," she giggled and I mentally face palmed myself.
• "Mother, I remember telling you that It was nothing but..." I trailed off as I stared at her with a questioning expression on my face. "Is that why you and dad have set up this arrangement? Do you both think I like her? Not! I do not like her and I do not think I would ever like her!" I argued.
• "Besides, this is madness! I mean what century do we live in? You can't just suggest I get married. This is punishment! This is worse than stripping me off everything I own," I chided. 
• I rolled my eyes. "It's such a shame all you do is complain. Do you ask what century we live in? It's a century where everyone hustles for a living Christopher! You are not a kid yet you act like one and getting married is the way for you to know you are no longer a child. It might not be right to choose a woman for you but for someone like you, that is the best option! You live recklessly. Every day it's one woman to another, one party to another, and different scandals every day, and your father is left cleaning all your mess! Do you think it's a nice thing to clean your twenty-four years old son's mess? You graduated with a good grade in Harvard and yet you decided to waste your time!" She chastised.
• "This is not a punishment, Christopher. This is a lesson and also we are training you. We do not hate you and we want the very best for you. You need to start acting like a man. Mia is a very nice girl and I know because I know her and you know her too. You were childhood friends too. Trust me when I say that we are doing this in your best interest," she added.
• I clenched his fist. I knew on so many occasions i disappointed my parents but still, I refused to get married because they think that was the only way to get him to change my ways. It sickened me just to think of getting married at an early age. Getting married wasn't on my list until I was at least thirty. I didn't care who Mia was or what I felt for her when I was a young boy but I would never marry her and I refuse to like her.
• "Does Mia know about this arrangement?" I asked inquisitively.
• "Yes," she replied.
• "So you mean she agreed to it?" I asked and she nodded her head.
• "Fuck!" I cursed.
• "Mind your language in front of me, Christopher," my mother reprimanded.
• "And yes she agreed to it. I mean she likes you and I know you do too so what's stopping you? Mia is the best choice for you. I mean she is a decent girl from a decent family and is hardworking too, she knows what she wants and..." 
• I blanked my head so as not to hear what my mother was saying.
• This was part of the reason I disliked Mia. She has always been the perfect one and it sickened me to the core.
• "Mother that's all in the past. Do you know when last I saw her? I do not even know her anymore and she doesn't know me anymore too," I countered.
• "It's been six years I think but that's fine. That is the reason we have all decided that the both of you meet and speak to one another. That's settled okay and besides you were the one that wanted to get married to her at age seven," she answered before giggling.
• "It's not funny mother. I wouldn't say I want to marry at that age. I do not want to marry at this age. It's so ridiculous," I muttered in disagreement.
• My mother shrugged. "If you complain from now till tomorrow, that won't change your father and my mind. You will marry Mia and that's final," she states firmly and sternly. 
• "When can I meet her?" I asked with a smile on my face making my mother wonder the reason for his sudden mood swing as she stared at me suspiciously.
• "Tomorrow. I have told her mother about it. They will Inform her and get back to us. So definitely tomorrow," She told me before walking away. 
• I will make sure that this marriage does not work and I will not fail to make Mia hate me.