Marriage For One

“I can imagine. Rough life, stalker life.”

“Tell me why you’re not signing the papers, Rose.”

“If I do, will you tell me why you want to get a divorce after going through the trouble of tricking me into a marriage?” she countered.

I nodded, my eyes set intently on hers.

“Okay then.” She straightened a little and I gave her just enough space to do so. “It’s going to be cheesy, but don’t blame me. You asked.”

“I think I can handle it. Go ahead.”

“I…I didn’t have the best childhood, obviously. I lived in a house. Not a home. I had people who were related to me, but I didn’t have family. I didn’t have anyone I could lean on. I didn’t have anyone who would take care of me if I needed it. I had myself. I did everything myself. For a really long time, it was just me against the world. Then I grew up and I had other people to hold hands with, but they weren’t the right ones. I knew they wouldn’t stick so I never let myself become vulnerable. I never let anyone take care of me. Until you. You, big idiot. Until you gave everything that I’ve longed for since I was nine. You gave me a family. My own. The two of us against everything and everyone. You broke every wall I had up and then—uh, you know what? Never mind. I love you. There. Happy? I don’t like you at the moment, but I liked you before—very much so. So, yes, I love you. I didn’t want you in the beginning. I barely liked you. You’re not my type at all. You’re arrogant at times, though not all the time. Actually, who am I kidding? You are, though I don’t think you even realize you’re being arrogant. You’re prickly. You don’t notice people. You got better at that, but you didn’t even know your own doorman’s name when I first came here.”

“I talk to him every day,” I said.

“Now you do, but you didn’t before. Then there is the fact that you’re rich. I know this is my own hang-up. This is not on you, but I usually don’t like rich people. You are rude. You were rude—same thing, in my opinion. You’re surly. Frowny. You already know I used to count your smiles. You never smiled! Never. That’s a big thing for me. I like smiling, laughing. I like people to smile at me, laugh with me.”

Now that she had gained steam, her voice was slowly rising. I arched an eyebrow, but she didn’t notice because she was only meeting my eyes every now and then. She was busy thinking, her breathing hard, her forehead all creased as she was rattling off all the reasons she didn’t like me.

“Now I smile,” I said before she could keep going. She met my eyes for a brief moment.

“Don’t interrupt.”

This time I didn’t hide my smile. “I apologize. Go on, please.”

“You don’t smile. You didn’t talk in the beginning, let alone smile! What kind of person doesn’t talk? You helped every day at the coffee shop, showed up every night to pick me up, yet you barely talked. If you wanted to have a shot with me, you were doing a piss-poor job of it.”

“I told you I was trying to stay away so you could—”

“I said, don’t interrupt. You never compliment me. It’s always, You look tired, you look this, you look that.”

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. You’re usually tired, but beautiful despite that.”

She slapped me on my chest then left her hand exactly where it was with her palm right on my heart.

“See! You can’t even compliment me to save your life. You frown too much.”

She stopped, seemed to be thinking some more.

“You already said that. What else you got?” I asked.

“I’m thinking.”

I reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, my fingertips lingering on the skin of her neck and shoulders.

“You’re the most precious thing in the world to me, Rose.”

She shivered.

“You’re all those things. You did all those things,” she whispered.

“I can change for you. I did change for you.”

“I shouldn’t want you. I shouldn’t want us.”

“You shouldn’t, but do so anyway.”

She put her other hand on my chest as well, holding on to the lapels of my jacket. “You did change, and I love you despite all the things I don’t like about you. I probably love you more because of them. I don’t know. I love it when you frown at me for no damn reason. I find it so amusing. I’ve lost my mind. I enjoy making you frown.”

“I usually do have a good reason.”

“Yeah, you keep thinking like that. You can be sweet sometimes—so sweet, and thoughtful. Around the Corner wouldn’t be my reality if it weren’t for all your help before the opening—and I didn’t even like you back then.”