The door creaked as she heard it opening. Pretending to still be asleep, Aurora closed her eyes as she waited for her mother to whisper that it was time for her to wake up. It had been two days since she had been back home from school on summer break and she was already getting tired of her mother hovering all the time.

She was thrilled at the thought of coming home after a rather stressful semester at school and being Dr. Flemming’s daughter was no easy feat. There was a lot more pressure on her than any other student since she was walking in her father’s shadow and everyone expected her to do well. But then again what did she expect? Her father was one of the leading Neurologists in the country. The only difference between her and her father was that she loved the heart since she became obsessed with it when she was only thirteen years old. Ever since then, she had dreamt of becoming a Cardiologist and she was well on her way.

Aurora Flemming was twenty-one years old and had just completed her fourth year of University. She was a very beautiful African-American, five feet six inches, beautiful slender face and shiny black hair that was just above her shoulders. She had a dazzling smile and a loving and warm personality and she was still a virgin. It was no doubt that because of her beauty and intelligence men threw themselves at her but she was never interested in dating. She was more focused on achieving her dreams than anything else in the world. Besides that, no one ever entirely captured her interest.

“Aurora, it’s time to wake up sweetheart”, her mother whispered as she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to wake her up.

“What time is it?” she asked, opening her eyes and yawning as she pretended that she was just waking up.

“It’s time for breakfast, and we have a long day today so we need to get an early start”.

Aurora tossed back the sheets and sat up in the middle of the bed hugging her knees to her chest.

“Mom, I don't feel like venturing out into the city today. All I want is to stay here and relax”.

“I know darling and I promise that you will get the chance to do that but I need you by my side today to help pick out my outfit for tonight”, she replied with a smile.

“Okay”, Aurora sighed. “What time do we leave?”

“Well, first of all, you need to shower, brush that pretty hair of yours and get some breakfast”.

She was walking towards the door then she turned to look back at her daughter who was still sitting upright in the bed. “Then we can leave”, she said with a smile as she exited the room and closed the door.

Claire Flemming was a strong-willed woman who was used to getting her way. She migrated from the Caribbean when she was nine years old with her mother to get away from an abusive father. She had built an extravagant life in the United States for herself with her husband. At forty-one she was a well-respected black woman in her law firm.

Being one of the top lawyers in the firm, she was known for hosting extravagant parties, especially every summer whenever her daughter came home from school. For her, it was a way of helping Aurora to relax and to de-stress from the endless studying and exams throughout the year. It was also a way of showing off her daughter to everyone and an opportunity to set up Aurora with the young men she liked in the hope of getting her to date.

Apart from the love Claire had for her family and the respect she had from her subordinates and superiors, her siblings did not speak to her much. However, despite their misunderstandings, they loved Aurora deeply as though she was their child, and even though Aurora could not understand the relationship between her mother and her uncle and aunt she loved them the same.

Whenever she questioned her mother to explain why they despised her so much, her mother would dismiss any questions she had to ask about her siblings. Because of her mother’s reaction toward the subject of her own family Aurora eventually stopped asking. Her aunt and uncle were also tight-lipped about the issue and the only answer they gave was for her to ask her mother. No one wanted to tell her what was going on so eventually she stopped trying to find out even though she knew that one day whatever they were hiding would be revealed.

At breakfast, Aurora took a bite from her toast and took two sips of her coffee before her mother entered the kitchen. Dressed in blue jeans and a white chiffon blouse with sandals Claire Flemming walked in with a smile on her beautiful round face.

“Are we ready?” she asked, walking over to where Aurora was sitting.

“You look lovely”, Aurora replied, complimenting her without answering her question.

“Thank you, darling, and with your help, I will look even better at your party tonight”.

She kissed Aurora on her forehead.

“You don’t need to have this party tonight Mom. I’m not feeling up to it and besides everyone knows that your summer parties are to show me off to everyone that you know”.

“Of course! I want everyone to know how proud we are of you and your accomplishments”.

Aurora said nothing. She shook her head and smiled at her mother. Then she had a strange thought, what if in the process she fails? Everyone would see her as a failure, everyone would know that she had failed. The thought made her smile disappear and suddenly she felt empty. No, she could not allow that to happen. Failing was not an option, she didn’t have it in her to fail and with that thought, she stood up, took a deep breath, and walked towards the door behind her mother.

As they arrived in the city, the streets were flooded with people who were going about their way as Aurora and Claire walked to the seventh clothing store. Cars honked their horns noisily indicating the change of traffic lights for the drivers to move. Pedestrians chatted with each other while others held their heads straight minding their own business. Aurora thought of nothing else except the pool. She wished that she was home sipping on a glass of cold iced tea and reading a book. She hadn’t seen her father much since she had been home for the past two days and she hoped to spend some time with him later at the party. Her father was so much different from her mother in many ways. He was more of a humble person. He didn’t like the limelight. He enjoyed simple things; good conversation, board games, reading books, and watching documentaries. Her mother was the total opposite. Nevertheless, she was lucky to have such amazing dedicated, well-respected, and caring parents. She was proud of them as how they were proud of her.

While she reflected on the two people who loved her the most and would do just about anything to make her happy she admired a lovely black dress on the mannequin, it caught her eyes almost immediately and made her forget her thoughts. She felt the fabric and looked at the details of the dress. The designer had put a lot of thought into this piece for it would capture any man’s attention; not that she wanted to.

“Do you like that one?” her mother asked, appearing almost out of nowhere.

“Yes, it’s lovely”.

Without any other words, Claire waved at a sales representative.

“Would you like to try it on?” the young lady asked politely.

“No that’s……”Aurora began to say.

“Yes she would love to,” Claire replied, interrupting Aurora.

“Mom there’s no need to try…..”

“Yes you will”, Claire assured her.

“Fine”, Aurora sighed.

The young lady looked at Aurora to assess her size as she searched through a stack of dresses. She found one and removed it from the hanger and handed it to Aurora pointing her to the dressing rooms. Aurora smiled after thanking her and walked slowly to the room. Her mother was something else she thought to herself.

Aurora fitted the dress, looking at herself in the dressing room mirror. She was pleased with how well it hugged her curves and for the first time in a long time, she looked like a woman as most of her time was spent in jeans and a t-shirt. Claire knocked on the door. Without any hesitation, Aurora opened it for she knew the excitement she was about to face.

“Perfect,” Claire said in a pleased tone. “You will wear this tonight”.

“No, I will not,” Aurora replied, removing the straps of the dress from her slender arms.

“Aurora please, this is your evening, and you deserve it. There’s no harm in dressing up a little and having a little fun”.

Aurora turned to face her mother and she took Aurora’s face in the palm of her hands.

“Sweetheart, come next month you will be starting your residency. At least try and enjoy the few weeks you have.”

Aurora smiled at her.

“You are right Mother, I have worked hard and I do deserve this”.

“Yes you do,” Claire replied reassuringly.