Edna walks back to the room and whispers to her husband Clarence, "I think we can completely forget this arranged marriage interview. Gabriel was with a gentle but elegant beauty out in the yard just now. I would prefer for her to become my daughter in law at any cost."
Clarence smiles at her words, "it seems that this arranged marriage interview will not go any further. Thank you for your time, I hope your daughter can find a wonderful match. She is a lovely girl but our son is sadly not interested. If you'll excuse us we'll be on our way now."
Gabriel arrived at the room as the couple and their daughter left the room. 'What is going on. It is not like my parents to give up like this?' He bows to them and then goes into the room. "Mother, father I am surprised that you let them leave so easily."
"Do you think that they would want you to marry their daughter after the stunt you pulled? I can not even imagine what they will say to others!" Edna glares at Gabriel.
"Now, now dear. If anything we are the ones at fault for not raising him right. I too can not believe that our son would do such a thing." Clarence sighed and pinched his brow.
"As I have expressed. I am in love with someone already and you both are well aware of that. If you did not push this arranged marriage meeting on me then I wouldn't have acted the way I did." Gabriel looked at his parents. "I know that what I did was wrong and I am sorry but the chick is not at all as her picture shows. So I only called it as I saw it." HE shrugged and acted like it was no big deal.
Edna looks up at her son in dismay. "You need to realize that we are doing this for your best interest but I do agree she was not like her photo showed. Can we discuss the beautiful, elegant young lady that you escorted to the front door now?"
"So you were following me? Well, that will make this easier then. I have decided I would like to court her but I do not want any interference from you two. I doubt she will be snatched away by someone else. When I have chatted with her enough then I will ask for your help me in setting up an arranged marriage interview. Until then please allow me to pursue her." Gabriel bows his head down to his parents.
"I have no issues with this arrangement. I feel as long as you have a partner in mind that is acceptable in our eyes then there is nothing more I could ask for. I would love to see my grandbabies but I really wish to see you get married and lead a happy life with your wife before you take over the company my son." Clarence watches his son carefully. 'This is the first time he has taken an interest in another person. I think this will be good for him.' He nods to his wife.
"Yes, I agree with your father and I will respect your decision. I would like to at least know the name of the girl if you even found that out?" Edna looks at her son with a hopeful expression.
"Father, Mother, I thank you. Her name is Amelia. She goes to the same academy as myself. You remember how I mentioned that there is an individual that has the same scores as myself but is a first-year? That is her. I was pleasantly surprised to finally meet her in person. I always saw her scores and seen her from afar. Her beauty captures all those that glance at her." Gabriel sat up straight from his bow. "I will do what I can to pursue her. The hospital is something that I knew you would want me to take over Father. I am still studying hard to become a doctor so that I will be ready to take over."
"That is all we ask from you, my son. I know that you do not care for all the marriage interviews but now that you have found someone that is hopefully acceptable we will hold back. If you find out that she is ever in need all you need to do is let us know and we will lend a helping hand. I do not want to lose sight of a girl that you have fallen for." Edna looks at her husband to see if he agreed on the matter.
"I agree with your Mother on this. I have been trying to get you to hook up with someone but I knew that you would not do it if we forced you. You ruined a lot of marriage interviews because we were trying to force you. Just keep us in the loop on what is going on." Clarence stands up, "Let's go home and talk more about this at a later date."
Gabriel stood up and walked out the door, "I will see you two at home. I want to go for a walk and sort out my feelings. You two please take the carriage." He left through the door and walked towards the library. He reached there and opened the locker he had rented there and grabbed a wrapped package and took it to the bathroom. He changed his clothes and slowly placed everything into the locker. 'I wonder how she feels about this and if I decide to actively pursue her will she accept me as I am?' He let out a sigh and went up to the medical books and slowly started to study each and every book that he stacked on the desk.
Amelia arrived back at home and walked through the door, "Mother, Father, I have returned back home." She walked through the entrance and could hear her parents voices coming from the kitchen. "Is everything alright?"
"Amelia, honey. I am glad that you are home. Your father was just told because you refused to marry their son that he was fired. I guess they will not honor what they had said." Irene looked at the floor in worry.
"I can apply for a scholarship and that will take some of the burden off of you. I think I should be able to get it. I am the top in my grade even though I can not go to gym class. I will go to the principal tomorrow and apply." Amelia touched her cheek and thought about all the things that she could do to maybe help.
"You only need to focus on your studies. We were just discussing if we should tell you about this. I think that he should be able to get a job soon. I worry that we may not be able to pay for your vitamins. That is the main reason your father stayed at that company in the first place." Irene tried not to show her daughter how panicked she truly was.
"Mother, Father, I will use what I saved up to help cover my vitamins. It is not a lot but I really didn't spend the allowance that you gave me. So please, I ask that you use that to cover my vitamins at this time. I know that I do not eat all that much and it worries you." Amelia was holding onto the edge of the table to keep herself steady. "If you both will excuse me I will go and rest now. A lot happened today and I need to sleep for a bit."
“I do not care about power and wealth, father. I want to marry for love.”
“You want to marry for love?” The elder Valentino scoffed. “Que mierda. Marrying for love is like adding extra picante to your meal. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but your stomach will curse you for it with ulcers in the end.”
― Felix Alexander, The Last Valentine