Marley's Twisted Arranged Marriage

“What the heck is this?” I asked Caroline, holding up a lime green dress and laughing as I saw her blush in embarrassment. The dress only had one strap and hugged the torso until beneath the butt, where it cut loose and had ruffles. It had to have been the most atrocious piece of clothing I’d ever seen in my life and I could never in a million years imagine Caroline – the Chief of Fashion Police – wearing it.

“My sister got married and she chose me as her Maid of Honor. She always had the worst taste in style since I can remember. We were complete opposites, even in looks. She had more of my father’s looks and I have my mother’s.” She trailed off, seeming to be in a daze as she thought about her family. Why hasn’t she ever told me about her family before?

“Tell me more about your family,” I pried and sat down cross-legged across from her on her bed, placing my elbows on my knees and propping my head up with my hands. I felt like Caroline and I were best friends rather than her being my Mother in Law.

“Well,” She started and blew a stray lock of hair out of her face. “My parents were famous actors. It was only my sister and me – no other siblings. I know my mom and dad loved my sister and me, they just were never around to see us growing up. My sister, Autumn, was nine years younger than me. She would be thirty right now. My parents didn’t show up for either of our birthday parties, high school graduations, weddings – nothing. They just deposited money into an account for us each month and it was definitely enough to live on.
We always donated our extra money to charities and shelters at the end of each month. Our parents were around us when they could be, but they usually had to be in different states or countries for their jobs. I was, pretty much, the Mother to my sister, and I’d give anything for a redo in life so she could grow up with real parents.” Caroline sighed and ran her hand through her hair frustrated.

I couldn’t help but realize that her life sounded a great deal like mine. I was able to relate to her in so many ways. She always had to be the strong one for her younger sister and take over as a parent. When you have to take care of someone that you love so much, it can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. I had to keep strong for both Grace and I and watch her grow up without real parental figures. It was the hardest thing to do when I had to leave her behind to move here.

“When I was fifteen, my parents told me something that changed my view on how their minds worked,” Caroline continued, and I listened intently. She didn’t look at me. “They told me if I didn’t marry someone who was rich and successful, someone that would make a good name, they would disown me and cancel all connections they had with me. I wanted to cry, I wanted to be angry, I wanted to hate them…. But I couldn’t. They were my parents, no matter what they did to me. I knew they would’ve kept their word if I hadn’t found George.”

“I met George when I was in ninth grade. I was one of the popular girls at my school, but not because I was easy. In fact, I had only had one boyfriend before George, but he only wanted me for one thing.” Caroline gave me a look and I nodded my head in understanding.

“Anyways, George was in his eleventh year and we were both in the same Spanish class. The first day that I walked into that classroom and I saw him, I almost fainted. He was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen. It was so cliché. He was the popular boy of his year and I was the popular girl in my year. We locked eyes and as soon as I looked into his deep blue eyes, I was mesmerized. We ended up being seat partners for the year and after the first couple months of school, he finally asked me out. I came to find his parents were successful in the movie making business and he would take over the company when they retired. My parents were thrilled when they met him. We dated all through high school and he started learning more about his parents’ business while I finished school. The day after my graduation, he proposed and both our parents gave their blessing. We married a few months later and had Damien, then Conrad came along two years later. My parents passed away a few years ago, and the sad part is, I can’t seem to miss them – no matter how hard I try.” Caroline got a sickened look on her face, as if she was upset with herself for even saying she couldn’t miss her parents.

I took a few minutes to let everything she’d said sink in. It was uncanny how alike our lives were. She had to take care of her sister, due to her parents’ neglect, and always stay strong.
Her parents were forcing her to marry someone they approved of and had a high spot on the social ladder, and she ended up falling in love with the boy she thought she never would have. I was a little weirded out at the similar things we had gone through.

“Will you tell me more about your sister?” I asked. Caroline seemed like she was upset talking about her parents. I understood since I didn’t like talking about my parents either.

“Of course. Autumn was about your height; she inherited the ‘tall and curvy, but still slender’ gene. She had curves that drove men insane, I kid you not. She had naturally straight dark brown hair that was only to her shoulders. Her eyes were the color of fall leaves, which is fitting to her name. They were classified as Hazel, but they were actually light brown mixed with a warm orange color. I was always jealous of her eyes because they were such an exotic and entrancing color. I swear, if it wasn’t her curves that attracted the men, it was her eyes.

“Autumn had the sweetest personality. Sometimes, she could be unsettlingly caring for people. She was popular everywhere she went since she was beautiful and so nice. I never completely understood why she was always so kind to people, even if they were the biggest jerks on the planet. I remember once when I asked her why she was always so nice, she said something along the lines of ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated’. She would always buy some kind of food item for the homeless that we’d see on the sides of roads; she’d donate every left over penny of the money we’d receive from our parents at the end of the month anonymously because she never wanted anything in return – besides seeing more smiling faces in the world. She always had good intentions. My sister was perfect. I don’t think she had any flaws, to be honest.” Caroline had a smile on her face. I guessed it made her happy to think about her sister.

“So, when will I get to meet your amazing sister? She sounds awesome,” I added and Caroline looked close to tears. I regretted asking, even though I didn’t know what was wrong.

“You won’t. When my sister turned twenty, she found a boy who seemed like a perfect match for her. He was good looking, smart, funny, caring – you name it. Although every time I saw her since they got together, I realized she was growing quieter and smiled considerably less as time went on. I didn’t know what was bothering her, and every time I tried to ask her in private, her stupid boyfriend would magically appear and whisk her away. She did whatever he told her to.

“They got married after a few years and I was the Maid of Honor, as you already know by the dreadful dress I was forced to wear.” Caroline laughed, but it wasn’t a true laugh. The grim expression immediately replaced itself on her face.

“Two years into their marriage, my sister wasn’t herself anymore. At all. She was painfully quiet and never made eye contact with anybody – she almost seemed afraid of the air itself. I recall one night when I invited her and her husband over for dinner with George and me, she accidentally dropped a plate in the kitchen and it broke. Her husband and George were outside, doing who knows what. She broke into hysterics and started crying and backed into a corner, covering herself with her arms. She was saying things like ‘Don’t hurt me! Please! It was an accident, I swear. I’ll clean it up!’ That’s when I realized what that sick husband of hers was doing to her. He was abusing her. I tried telling whoever I could – I desperately tried to get help – but nobody believed me. A few days later my sister was found in the living room of her house in a pool of her own blood. She was stabbed to death. The autopsy showed she was stabbed a total of thirty-six times, everywhere on her body. She had chunks of hair missing from her head, and the police realized she was dragged by her hair. She had claw marks, broken bones, and bruises as well. It was a gruesome scene. She’d always been abused by him, she just never told anyone. I remember one of her friends speaking at her funeral. She said something like, ‘Dreadful things happen to amazing people.’ They eventually found Autumn’s husband and put him in prison.” Silent tears rolled down Caroline’s face and she fingered the comforter on the bed sadly.

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Why would that son of a bitch do something like that to someone who was so beautiful, inside and out? My heart sunk in my chest at the thought of someone so completely selfless being taken out of this world in such a cruel and unforgiving way. What reason did he have for doing such a thing, especially to someone he proclaimed to love? I didn’t even personally know Caroline’s sister, but the pang in my chest made me feel like I had lost my own sister.

“I don’t even know what to say,” I said barely above a whisper. Caroline sniffed and grabbed a tissue, wiping away the tears on her face. She shook her head, but I wasn’t sure if it was in disbelief, sadness, longing, or all three.

“I don’t want you to say anything. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see how much I cared about my sister and how much I loved her. The people who didn’t know how deep our relationship really was were the idiots who said things like ‘Sorry for your loss’. I didn’t want the apologies, I wanted my sister. I beat myself up all the time over the fact that I didn’t get help in time to save her.” Caroline said the last part quietly. The pang in my chest became a constricted feeling. I hated seeing Caroline so upset. She’s become more and more like a Mother to me lately and I loved her as a daughter would love her mother. I really cared about Caroline and it hurt me to see her so sad.

“You shouldn’t be upset over what happened. I understand you miss your sister more than anything in the world. Heck, I’d be completely torn apart if something happened to my sister. But you know what? It’s not your fault nobody believed you when you tried to tell them what was happening to Autumn. They probably feel like shit now for not trusting your word.” I soothed. Caroline nodded and offered a small smile.

“I almost forgot you had a little sister. How is she?” Caroline asked me.

“I haven’t talked to her since we left. I was planning on calling her tomorrow and keeping up with talking to her as often as possible. I miss her so much.” The constricted feeling in my chest worsened when I become conscious of how terrible of a sister I’ve been since I left. Grace was probably alone all the time now.

“You know she’s welcome out here whenever she likes. We’ll pay for her ticket, and there’s plenty of room here so she can be right down the hallway when she visits.” Caroline informed me. The sensation in my chest went away and my heart fluttered thinking of seeing my sister again. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her.

“Really? I’ll have to let her know that.”

It was silent for a moment before Caroline asked, “Have I told you the date of the wedding yet? Or the dates for anything else, for that matter?”

“No, I thought it was still to be decided.”

“Well since you aren’t eighteen yet, we decided to hold the wedding off until a month after your birthday. Your birthday is the sixth of January, am I right?” I nodded. “The wedding has already been planned for February nineteenth. Is that good for you?”

“Well, considering I don’t even have an idea what I’m doing tomorrow, let alone three months from now, I don’t think I’d have any complications….” Caroline laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile seeing the upset expression gone from her face that was there just minutes before.

“That’s great! We’ll go sometime this week and start hunting down the perfect dress. Sound good?” She was beaming and I got the impression she was excited to do girly things like this with me. Dress shopping, doing my hair and makeup, and buying me clothes and jewelry was all her way of treating me like the daughter she’d always wanted.

“Sounds great! Who would come with us?”

“It would be me and you, obviously, Conrad could go if he’d like – unless you want to keep the tradition of the groom not seeing the dress until the day of the wedding. Your sister would be with us if she were in town. I’d ask your parents if they’d like to come. Damien and Andy would probably want to go so they can flirt with all the other women there. George would take off time from work. You know, George really likes you. He thinks you’re a nice and beautiful young lady. You should really remember that, because he usually hates everyone he meets.”

I froze and stopped listening when she mentioned Damien attending the dress searching. Surely he’d keep himself in check if his parents were there, right? He wouldn’t try anything rash in front of so many people that he’d have to deal with for the rest of his life. I wasn’t completely sure about him anymore. Even Andy wanted to beat Damien up for forcing me into kissing him for freedom.

A knock on the door stopped Caroline from babbling and pulled me out of my train of thought. She stood up and opened the bedroom door, revealing the bane of my existence in the flesh.

“Hey Mom, I just wanted to talk to you about-“ Damien stopped short when he saw me inside the room and a knowing smile lit up his face.

“Why hello there, Marley. How are you?” My stomach churned just with him being near me.
He made me feel sick in ways I’d never felt before. He didn’t seem to understand that I didn’t want anything to do with him.

“Peachy.”

“Why don’t we talk later, Damien? That way we can talk in private.” I wanted to cry of joy when Caroline said that.

“Sure, Mom. See you later. Goodbye, Marley,” His tone made me feel squirmy and queasy. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced a small ‘Goodbye’ in reply. I exhaled a breath of relief and opened my eyes once more when I heard the click of the door closing.

“Even I’m afraid of Damien, and he’s my own son.”

I looked at Caroline with a raised brow as she sat in front of me on the bed.

“I don’t know how to help him. He wants whatever Conrad has. I still remember Conrad’s only other serious girlfriend named Bethany. Conrad and Bethany were in love, but Damien completely ruined their relationship and drove her out of town. Conrad was hurt for a long time, and couldn’t even look at Damien without wanting to practically decapitate him.” Even Caroline knew Damien’s ways. It only surprised me a little bit that she did. It would be hard to ignore your obsessive son that steals his brother’s girlfriends away.

“He made me a deal,” I decided telling Caroline wouldn’t hurt. And maybe she could do something about him.

“A deal? For what?”

“Damien told me that if I kissed him for ten seconds, he would leave me alone.”

Caroline was silent. Then I felt a sting on my cheek and I stared at her in surprise. She just slapped me!

“Did you just slap me?!”

“You are so dense! Now he thinks you like him! Never accept a deal with Damien – no matter how promising it sounds.”

I raised a hand to my cheek to ease the pain. “He doesn’t think I like him! I told him to go away after it happened. I’ve been nothing but mean to him lately!”

“That’s his version of flirting! He thinks you’re playing hard to get. And the way you reacted when he came here to talk to me – closing your eyes and saying close to nothing – he thinks you’re nervous and embarrassed around him. Way to go, Marley! Now you have a stalker!”

“Well, sorry I haven’t read the handbook on How to Get Rid of Your Stalker Who Just So Happens to Be Your Future Brother-In-Law! I haven’t dealt with this kind of stuff before, so forgive if I’m not coping the right way.”

Caroline sighed and hugged me. I hugged her back and breathed in her scent of coconut and pineapple. It smelled like heaven and instantly relaxed me.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you. And slapping you. You’re right, you haven’t dealt with boys like him before so I should be helping you out.”

“It’s whatever. I just don’t know how to handle this. He doesn’t seem to get that I’m in love with Conrad and not him.”

Caroline’s eyes widened a fraction of an inch and she gaped at me. “You’re in love with Conrad?”

A blush emanated my cheeks. “Well, yeah.” I replied lamely.

“FINALLY! Well, I guess I shouldn’t say finally since you guys haven’t known each other for long…. But I didn’t think you guys would ever even remotely like each other with the way you were constantly at the other’s throat.” She looked excited that we were getting along. I definitely wasn’t going to share the fact that he had taken my virginity, though.

The bedroom door swung open and an overwhelmed looking Conrad stood in the threshold, half way through running his hand through his hair.

“Mom, I think Marley is gone! Damien is missing too, I think-“ He sealed his lips shut when he saw me staring at him with an eyebrow raised. He let out a huge breath of relief and wrapped me up in a bone-crushing hug. I caught a large whiff of his addicting scent – citrus and pine forest. I didn’t hesitate to hug him back, reassuring him I was here.

“God, Marley, you scared me to death! I thought Damien kidnapped you or something. What the hell were you thinking just leaving without telling me where you were going?” I kissed
Conrad’s cheek and my lips lingered there for a few seconds. I noted Caroline was watching us with a grin bright enough to light up New York City. It was kind of adorable.

“I’m sorry for not telling you. I should’ve left a note or something – my mistake. I’m sorry for scaring you,” I soothed Conrad and he relaxed. We stayed in our embrace, but I wasn’t complaining. He was warm and comfortable.

“Conrad, do you know how in love this girl is with you?” Caroline said.

I froze. I would sound like a hypocrite if I went along with it. I had just said yesterday that it would ruin our relationship if we said ‘I love you’ too early. I also knew that if I denied it, Caroline would be upset with me. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place with this one.

“I do now.” I could hear the smirk in Conrad’s voice. I wasn’t able to see it since we were still hugging each other. I rested my forehead against his chest and he toyed with my hair.

“You know, Mom, I’m really in love with this one girl. She’s amazing – beautiful, smart, funny, and feisty. You know how I like the girls that put up a fight. I can already tell she’s the one for me.” He unattached himself from me and started walking toward the door. All I could do was stare at his retreating figure. Was he really in love with another girl? He seemed like he was serious about me. After he had just promised me he wouldn’t leave me before taking my virginity, he decided I wasn’t good enough? That he would just dump me? Anger, betrayal, and hurt all besieged me at once.

“Anyway, she’s in this room right now. Could you tell her she has nothing to worry about and that she should get that upset expression off her face? It breaks my heart to see her sad. Oh, could you also tell her I love her too?” With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him. I felt stupid. Why didn’t I realize he was talking about me?

I jumped when Caroline squealed. She sounded like a teenager who just got smiled at by the hottest boy in her school.

“He loves you! I can’t believe it. Actually I can. You guys are in love! It’s so heartwarming to see my little boy in love with such a beautiful young woman. Congratulations, Marley. If there’s any girl that my boy falls in love with, I’m glad it’s you.” She beamed at me and I smiled back at her.

“Thanks, Caroline. That means a lot.”

She rose from the bed and started pushing me toward the door. I stumbled along, confused.
Did she want to get rid of me?

“Now go chase down your future husband,” She opened the door and pushed me out. I stumbled over my feet and fell flat on my face in the hallway. I looked up and saw Conrad leaning against the wall, fighting to keep back his laughter.

“I want grandchildren, Marley, so go get started right this instant!” Caroline called and slammed her bedroom door shut. Now I knew she was just trying to embarrass me.

It was silent for a moment. “Your expression when I said I was in love with someone was priceless. I thought you were going to kill me.”

I looked up from the floor in to Conrad’s bright eyes. They twinkled with amusement and he had a bright grin on his face.

“Well I’m glad someone got a kick out of that.” I retorted and stood up, brushing off my clothes. Conrad pushed off the wall and got closer to me, his face inches away from mine. My breath caught in my throat.

“I love you.” He surprised me by saying it. He leaned his forehead onto mine and I glanced down, noticing his lips were just inches from mine. I couldn’t stop staring at his lips. They were so close, so soft, so inviting….

“My eyes are up here, sweet.” He chuckled when I looked back up into his eyes.

“I love you too.” I pressed my lips to his and tingles explored my body. Our lips meshed and moved in sync as my heart fluttered in my chest. Conrad made me feel so good whenever he was near me.

He reluctantly pulled away and chuckled as he said, “Now let’s go get started on those grandchildren.”