Picture Perfect

“Wow, you look beautiful,” Chris said once I opened the door and revealed myself.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I smiled at him as I closed the door behind me. Who was I kidding? He looked like he belonged in the royal household of England. Not a hair nor thread was out of place. There were absolutely no wrinkles in his clothes and there weren’t any scuff marks on his shoes. He was the definition of High-Society. The definition of Perfection. No matter how hard I tried, I could never belong with him. I knew I didn’t belong in the lifestyle that he was so at ease in, and I was okay with that. I was just a simple girl living in a star-studded world.

“You know, I can’t wait to show you off. We’ll have every guy there jealous,” he smiled as he opened the passenger door of his car. “Princess, I know how much you hate those limos,” he added with a bow as he flashed his dimples. I told you he was a charmer.

“My, you actually cleaned it for once,” I laughed as I slid in.

Chris scoffed as he shut my door and got into his seat. “Hey, I am not a pig. I have standards.”

Inwardly, I rolled my eyes.

“Besides,” Chris rolled on. “It’s the only way that Dad would let me drive you. According to him, my family was supposed to pick up your family so that we could all go to the ball together.”

“Oh, God,no!” I exclaimed as Chris stopped at a red light. “No offence to the families, but mine is driving me up the wall.”

Chris gave me an odd look. “But I thought your dad just got in last night?”

“Ok, so, correction: my mother is driving me up the wall. I swear it’s not my wedding she’s planning- it’s her own.”

“Really? It can’t be that bad.” Chris commented as he took off down the street.

“She’s most likely arranging the seating with your mother as we speak. God, I hate that woman sometimes.”

“Anna, she can’t be all that bad. She is your mother, afterall.”

“She’s a demon that’s possessing my mother, is what she is,” I muttered under my breath.

“Wow, that’s kind of really harsh.”

“Well, it’s the truth.”

We were stopped at another light. Chris glanced over at me.

“What?”

“When did this happen?”

“When did what happen?”

“When did you get so mean?” he asked as he pushed the gas- the light having turned green.

I leaned back further into the bucket seat. “I don’t know, maybe it was when my mother decided that money was her top priority.”

Chris took a hand off of the steering wheel and placed it on my knee, where he began to rub it in a comforting manner.

I didn’t move or react. I just stared out the window. “I wish things were back to how they were before we got all that money. Life was so much simpler then,” I mused more to myself than anyone else.

“But then we wouldn’t be together. We wouldn’t be in love.”

When I didn’t say anything, Chris took his hand off of my leg.

“You do love me, baby, don’t you?” he asked after he pulled up in front of the valet parking.

“Look, Chris, I don’t want to get into this. Not right now. Let’s just put big smiles on our faces and make everyone happy, okay? Can you do that for me?”

“Anna-”

“I promise we’ll talk about it later. Okay?”

“A-Alright. Later. And I’m holding you to your promise,” he said before getting out and handing the valet his keys.

We walked through the entry doors in silence. A large smile was plastered on my face as we made our way through the lobby and waited to be announced. Chris, however, sported a small, strained smile. The kind of smile that someone has when they’re trying to hold their world together. I felt a little bad for putting it there. I thought that he had felt the same way I did- a slave to my parent’s wishes. Now I see that that is not the case. Maybe I did make a mistake in saying my honest opinion. Maybe I should have done what my mother has been telling me to do for years: shut the hell up, smile, and nod.

I could lock the real me away. It couldn’t be that hard, could it?