I Am Only an Actress on This Stage

When I woke up the next day, I felt a strange feeling of relief. I made it through the break-up and was safely in my bed at a hotel an hours away from Derek. Crystal, was in the room next to mine and there was a door that joined the two rooms. I could hear her shuffling about as she got ready for the day. Crystal was the big boss of some big company here in the US. She lived in London but was always coming to the States to take care of the business. She was a widow, I hadn’t gotten the story on that though. I figured it would be nicer to wait and ask for those details until after the marriage was finalized.

“I’ll be in a meeting through lunch, so you can just use my card to get pizza. Or go out if you’d like,” Crystal called through the door. I could hear the sound of her many bracelets bang together as she opened the door.

“I can always call up and have him come over, if you’d like. It might be nice for you two get to know each other better. It’s only 13 more days ‘til the wedding, ya know!” Her red lipstick clad lips turned up into a sweet smile. Crystal’s presence was always like a warm hug for me. A warm hug I needed since I haven’t spoken to my mom after the engagement dinner fiasco. I was super angry at her for forcing me into a marriage with someone I wasn’t familiar with, but to top it all off she had made a terrible comment about how I was such a horrible daughter for getting married and without her consent during her speech. Obviously, she still thinks she can keep her high status in the good side of town by basically disowning me.

My mother was one of those good Christian women. She went to church, town meetings, and community activities. She took part in every parent volunteer program for school and was in the know with all the town gossip. I never knew exactly the debt my parents had to pay. Dad died last year and Mom refused to tell me. I was hoping to find out from my new family. I found it strange that an arranged marriage was required to fulfill a debt, so it must have been terrible. It’s not like we live in a country where it’s normal. In fact, I have never heard of one being done in the US.

“Yeah, can you call Jack? I’d like to spend some time with him.” I nodded to her as I got out of bed to get ready to shower. I had gotten lucky that Jack’s family was the one I was marrying into. He had a choice of debts to settle. I wonder how all that went down and why it was a thing?

“Okay, I’m leaving. Jack is on his way over and I will see you later this evening,” Crystal said and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I was closer to her than my own mom. My mom wasn’t the worst but she wasn’t the best either. She spent more time trying to be somebody in a tiny town where no one actually gave a shit about anyone else. So, instead of being my mom she was more like a bully. I always was doing the wrong thing. The question of: “What would the neighbors think?” Or, “The town already thinks you’re a freak, what in the world were you thinking?” were common in our arguments. I just never fit into the ideals that she and the rest of the town had.

I listened as Crystal left the hotel room. As I got in the shower, I began to wonder what life would be like with Jack. It was hard to picture because I still didn’t know him in such an intimate fashion. We were like business partners that were on the edge of becoming friends. He was a super sweet guy but there was something about him and his family that put me on edge. They were always so eerily perfect. Always so collected.

Jack showed up as I was curling my hair. His black hair was slicked back and he wore a regular grey t-shirt and jeans. He smiled at me as he sat on my bed and watched me finish up.

“What are we doing today?” He asked as he played nervously with his hands. One of his many odd quirks.
“I want to get coffee first, and then after that I don’t care.” I turned the curling iron off, placed it on the counter and turned to look at him. He had the biggest smile on his face.

“Coffee and then I have a surprise for you,” he said. He bounced on the bed a bit and then got up, grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door.