Marley's Twisted Arranged Marriage

“Marley, will you come shopping with me?” Caroline’s sweet honey-like voice always made me smile, but not when it was asking a question like that.
“I hate shopping,” I stated as nicely as I could. She frowned at me as she sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She sighed and propped her head up with her arm. I gave her a sheepish smile.
“Please? I was looking at your wardrobe the other day-“ I cut her off.
“You went through my stuff?”
“….Not exactly. I just peeked in the closet to see what kind of clothes you had.” She said guiltily and shrugged when she saw the flat look I was giving her.
“Oh come on! It’ll be tons of fun! We can buy oodles of new clothes, we can get some ice cream, and, just between you and me, I won’t tell anyone if you wanna talk to boys,” I choked on the orange juice I was drinking and stared at Caroline with wide eyes. She winked and grinned.
“I don’t know. Shopping isn’t really my thing….” I said awkwardly and she just rolled her eyes at me. I sat down across from her at the table.
“That’s why I’m coming with you! I’ll help you pick out what looks best on you and what’s the cutest. I promise I won’t pick out anything weird for you,” She said and smiled at me. My heart got a constricted feeling when I realized she was acting like a motherly figure to me – something I grew up without.
After a long moment of debating the consequences in my mind, I ruefully agreed.
“Yay! We’ll have so much fun together!” She was beaming and there was a glint of pure excitement in her eyes as she talked on about what stores she thought we should go to.
She stopped talking abruptly and glanced at me hesitantly before biting her lip. I narrowed my eyes slightly in question.
“But, there is one little catch….”
**
Three hours later, I had showered and let Caroline pick out my outfit. You’re probably wondering what the catch was to shopping with Caroline.
She told me that the Mooreson family was much known in their town and if word got out about a girl living in the house, everyone would want to know more. They would also assume things and spread rumors.
Caroline had to dress me very incognito and I wasn’t supposed to show my face to anyone. (AN: This is the outfit. http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=31057890 )
I hated dressing up, but if it meant not being hounded by obsessive girls that were hung up on Conrad and Damien, then I was all for it.
I could tell Caroline had fun dressing me up and doing my hair and makeup. I think she’s happy to have someone to doll up and cart around for a little bit, and who was I to ruin her happiness?
“I feel so bad covering up your beautiful face,” Caroline broke the silence between us and I smiled. She was just too nice!
“Anything to keep me from being murdered by crazy people that want to know who I am,” I replied and she smiled at me.
Most of the things I was wearing were Caroline’s, and I felt kind of guilty about that. She had found a nice white dress with a black bow on it in her closet and assured me she never wore it anyways, and that if I really wanted it, I could keep it. She lined my eyes with a thin line of brown eye liner and smothered my eye lids in light brown eye shadow. She brought out my eye lashes by coating them in thick, black mascara.
“Do you have any mineral powder? I think my shade would be too dark for you,” Caroline asked after a moment. I nodded and pointed to the drawer next to my dangling leg.
Caroline had asked me to sit on the counter earlier so she could do my makeup easier.
She slid the drawer open and, after burrowing through the other materials for a few moments, found mineral power and a brush. She dipped the brush into the powder and swept it across my face so lightly, I didn’t even feel it. After she finished with that, she had me sit on a vanity chair so she could do my hair. She did a simple side braid, and since my hair was long, it reached to my stomach. She tied it with a small scarlet red colored bow.
After finishing my hair, she asked what jewelry I had. I showed her a small jewelry box that was a present from Grace when I turned fifteen. She opened the lid and inspected the small increment of accessories I owned. After going through the small box, she stopped and smiled when she saw something she liked. She put the box down on the dresser next to her and picked up a necklace that was a simple chain with a cassette tape on it. I had bought it a few years back when I went shopping with old friends – the ones that turned on me later on – but I never got the chance to wear it.
She strode up behind me and I turned my back to her so she could clasp the necklace around me. When it clicked, she turned me around to face her and inspected my body. I felt kind of self conscious, so I looked at the ground.
“You need some shoes,” She said a little above a whisper, most likely to herself. She made her way over to my closet and glanced over each pair of shoes in there. She sighed and shook her head when she was finished.
“Why don’t you have any heels?” She asked, outraged at my choice in shoes.
“Because I don’t wear them….” I replied. She rolled her eyes at me as I shrugged. She held a finger up signaling me to hold on for a second and left my room. I took that brief moment to look at myself in the mirror.
The white dress I was wearing went to right above my knees and had small pleats in the skirt of it. The black bow was smooth and tied just at my waist so it made my hips look voluptuous. It had a somewhat low neckline, but it wasn’t showing off much cleavage. The necklace attracted eyes away from my chest and more toward the small pendant since it was vintage looking. It gave a nice touch to my ivory skin. The braid in my hair made me look sophisticated, but since it was a side braid it also made me look like fun and cute. The mineral powder that Caroline had put on my face, ever so lightly, had made all my flaws disappear and made my skin glow. The brown colors she put on my eyes made them look natural, but I also noticed she did smoky-eyed eye shadow which made them look serious and stylish. The mascara really made my eye lashes noticed.
“Do you like what I’ve done so far?” Caroline asked. I jumped when I heard her voice, I hadn’t even noticed her walk up behind me.
“Yeah, I do. Thank you Caroline,” I said and smiled lightly at her. She nodded in return and lifted up her hand, which had two jet black high heels dangling from her fingertips. My eyes widened when I saw how tall the heel was.
“Don’t be scared, walking in heels is super easy. I do it all the time!” She said and gave me an assuring smile. I sighed in defeat.
“You don’t have to wear them yet, I’m not finished with your outfit,” She said and opened her other hand, which held a pair of beautiful owl earrings.
“Would you like to wear these? I noticed you had your ears pierced, but I know you don’t wear earrings,” She said. I nodded and snatched the small pendants out of her hand, sliding off the small metal backs and sticking the needle through my ear. I smiled when I looked in the mirror and saw the light glinting off the little jewels.
“I also have some bracelets for you to wear. I thought they might be kind of cute,” Caroline put her frail arm in front of me and I saw a bundle of bracelets. One of them as zebra print, another all gold and shining, the third was a light brown, and the other was brown and looked like it was braided. I slipped them off Caroline’s wrist and onto mine and marveled them a few more seconds before turning to face Caroline once more.
“I have some red lipstick that I found in my room. I can’t use it because it looks terrible against my skin, but I think it would look really great with your skin tone and eyes.” She explained and held up a tube of dark red lipstick that I knew would attract attention.
“Okay, go for it,” I said and pursed my lips for her to swipe the tube across my lips. She uncapped the coloring and slowly spread it across my lips, coating them fully and evenly. When she was done, she motioned for me to rub my lips together and I did so. She nodded in approval when I finished.
“Do you have any scarves and sunglasses? We have to cover up your face so nobody can see you. It’s safer that way,” Caroline said while scanning my room for scarves or sunglasses.
“I don’t own any scarves and my little sister broke my only pair of sunglasses a few days before I came here. She stepped on them by accident,” I explained and she nodded.
“I’ll go see what I have for you,” She said as she was walking out the door.
A few minutes later she came back with a brown and off-white patterned scarf and large sunglasses that could probably cover my whole face.
“I decided these would look best. Are you okay with this stuff?” She asked and I nodded.
She wrapped the scarf around my neck and head so it was like a hood, I was still able to see. She slid the sunglasses, carefully, onto my face and everything suddenly grew darker.
“That looks great! I’m sad we have to cover up your gorgeous features, but it will keep you safe in the end.”
“Thank you Caroline, for everything.” I said and smiled at her. She grinned in reply.
“Now we need to get you in these heels and then we can be on our way!” She exclaimed cheerfully and set the death traps on the floor. I hesitantly slid my feet into each shoe and instantly felt my height rise about four inches. I wobbled forward a few steps and managed to not fall.
“You see! It’s not hard, you’re a natural,” Caroline encouraged as I kept walking and, after a few more steps, I got the hang of it. It felt kind of awkward to have my feet at such a high arch, but I would have to get used to it.
“This isn’t that bad,” I said as I listened to the rhythmic clicking of the heel hitting the floor. It was kind of soothing.
“I brought over some spray for you to use if you want to,” She held up a square bottle of Victoria’s Secret spray and I spread my arms out so she could spray my whole body. As she did so, I breathed it in the wrong way and, let me tell you, that spray didn’t taste very good.
“Thanks,” I said lightly after getting the taste out of my mouth.
“We should get going pretty soon. I’ll go get ready, I promise it won’t take me but half an hour since I already showered and did my hair earlier.” Caroline promised and was gone before I knew it.
I wasn’t alone for long though. A small knock on my already open door sounded as I looked up to see Conrad leaning casually against the door frame.
“Hey,” That’s all I had time to say before he was already in front of me, still towering over me even in the heels.
“What’s the occasion? I saw my Mom leave your room after saying you guys should leave pretty soon,” Conrad asked.
“We’re going shopping because your Mom says my wardrobe is terrible.”
“That’s nice. You know, she already loves you even though she’s only known you for a week,” My heart melted at his words. I never had a caring Mother, one who was there to take me shopping, let me borrow her stuff, or talk about boys with. My Mother was always working or out of town on business trips. I loved my parents to death, but they were never there for Grace and me.
“Really? How can you tell?”
“She’s always talked about having a daughter of her own to dress up and take around with her and talk about girl stuff with. I think you’re that daughter she’s always wanted,”
“Well that works out great since I’ve always wanted a Mother to take care of me,” I said more to myself than Conrad. He gave me a small smile.
“Are you all covered up so the crazies won’t get to you?” Conrad changed the subject as he eyed me from head to toe.
“Pretty much. Caroline doesn’t want me being hounded by people who want to know who I am and what I’m doing with her and all that great stuff,” I said. Conrad slowly took the sunglasses off my face and pushed the scarf so it wasn’t covering my head anymore.
“Well, I think its better that we cover you up so there won’t be any boys that try to seduce you,” Conrad said. I laughed at him, but he was serious.
“Don’t worry, I’m not taking off this disguise at all while I’m out so I won’t have to worry about people annoying me.”
“You look beautiful, though.” Conrad said and smiled lightly. I blushed at his compliment.
“Thanks to your Mom,” I added to his sentence and he rolled his eyes.
“You look beautiful without all the makeup and hair styles and dress up clothes. All this just adds a nice touch.” He said.
“Thanks,”
“I really like your lip stick color. Red is a nice color on you,” He eyed my lips and I smiled.
“Thanks, I like the color too but-“
“Marley, that’s code for I’m-staring-at-your-lips-because-I-want-you-to-kiss-me.” He smirked at my obliviousness and craned his neck to kiss me before I could even reply.
His breath tasted like mint toothpaste and his lips were soft as they moved with mine. The kiss didn’t last very long because Conrad moved away before I could get too much into the kiss.
“I’m gonna ruin your lip stick if I kiss you too much,” He said as I eyed his lips and saw a small tint of red on them from my lips. I grabbed a tissue from the bathroom and dabbed his lips, getting off the excess makeup.
“Thanks,” He said when I finished.
“No problem.” I replied and smiled as I threw away the tissue.
“Marley! Are you ready to go?” Caroline shouted down the hallway. I heard the faint clicking of heels coming closer to my room and started to panic. How was Conrad supposed to leave without his Mom seeing him?
Conrad took in my expression and quickly calmed me down.
“Its fine, I’ll just say I was passing by and noticed you were all dressed up and asked where you were going.” He said. I nodded and instantly calmed down.
Caroline came strolling into my room and her eyes widened considerably when she saw Conrad.
“What’s going on?” She asked skeptically.
“I was walking by and I saw Marley dressed all nice so I asked where she was going. Nothing’s going on, Mom.” I had a sinking feeling in my stomach since Conrad had just lied to Caroline so easily like that. I felt like I was betraying her by going along with the lie.
“Oh.… Okay. Well, Marley, are you ready to go?” Caroline asked me and I nodded in response.
“Who messed with your scarf and sunglasses?” She asked in outrage and quickly fixed it without even actually waiting for an answer.
“Alright then, let’s get going. Maybe the mall won’t be that busy at this time in the morning,” Caroline said. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and saw 9:12 A.M. flashing in bright red. I hadn’t realized how early in the morning it was when I woke up.
Caroline started out of the bedroom and left Conrad and I alone.
“I’ll see you later,” I said briefly before kissing his cheek quickly, leaving a bright red kiss print, and following after Caroline.
I made sure to grab my cell phone off of my dresser before slipping out the door. I caught up with Caroline and we walked in silence, only the clacking of our heels hitting the floor making noise.
As soon as we made it to the bottom floor of the house, Caroline stopped in front of me and faced me.
“I know something is going on between you and Conrad,” She said abruptly. I grew panicked and searched in my mind for excuses and explanations, but she continued talking before I could finish.
“I won’t force you to tell me what it is or how serious or anything, I’m just happy you two are liking each other.” She winked at me and started walking once again.
“Caroline?” I called. She stopped and looked over her shoulder at me.
“Thanks.” I said simply. She smiled once again and started walking out the front door as I followed behind her.