Marriage of Unconvenience

We also got our wedding pictures back and decided to frame a few of them and set them on top of one of the shelves Cara had also ordered to decorate the living room. Our bouquets sat in vases beside the television. Just like a real married couple.

My parents called even more than they used to and spent half of their time chatting with Cara. They were taking this daughter-in-law thing seriously. I always rolled my eyes and handed the phone to her when they asked.

“They love you more than they love me,” I pouted one night.

“They do not. They’re just happy we’re under the same roof. I feel like I should remind them that we aren’t a couple, but I don’t want to rain on their parade.” I knew exactly how she felt. I’d given up on reminding my parents of that. They never listened.

Things were going fine with our friends, and I guess Cara and I got more comfortable with lying to them, which probably wasn’t a good thing. Ansel hadn’t brought up telling them the truth again, which was a relief. I did find him watching us with a critical eye every now and then and I could see the wheels turning in his head, as if he was trying to put something together. I wasn’t sure what it meant, and I had too much going on to try and figure it out.

As far as the money situation, I told my friends that my parents had given me some money from my grandmother, and Cara told them she’d gotten a good financial aid package. They didn’t seem to need more than that. It wasn’t completely a lie. Cara’s financial aid was good. The check had cleared and she was almost ready to sign up for classes for the fall semester. I was preparing for the house to be covered in medial books, and for Cara to basically go into hibernation and never see me again. Until then, I was going to take all the time I could with her.

We did almost everything together. I had lived in Boston for years, but I’d never done a lot of the silly things that tourists did when they came to town. We rode the duckboats and went to all the museums and galleries and even participated in a reenactment of the Boston Tea party by shoving boxes overboard from a boat. There were whale watches and kayaking and walking the Freedom Trail and touring breweries. Cara got so enthusiastic and wanted to do anything and everything, and I was more than happy to go with her. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and she wasn’t scared to look like a dork, even when one place required us to put on colonial mobcaps and churn butter. I’d never seen her so carefree, or seen her smile and laugh so much. I just wanted to be around that. Who wouldn’t?

I also wondered if it had anything to do with her new therapist. After her first session, I’d asked her how it had gone and she’d said it was good, and didn’t give me many other details. I didn’t want to pry, so I didn’t bug her about it, even though I was dying to know. I was trying not to be hurt that there were things that she couldn’t talk to me about. And I sincerely hoped that the thing she couldn’t talk to me about wasn’t... me.

She hadn’t said anything about annulment and I didn’t bring it up. The very idea of undoing our marriage (even if it was fake) made me feel like I was going to throw up. I knew that annulling it wouldn’t undo the ceremony we’d had or everything that had happened, but still. We’d done it and I didn’t want to undo it. Yet. Not yet.

Eighteen

I came home from work one afternoon and found Cara and Ansel having what appeared to be a deep and serious conversation.

“What’s up?” I asked, my heart dropping into my feet. Ansel plastered on a smile and got up.

“Just having a chat, and I’m on my way out. I have a hot date tonight.” His smile turned from fake to genuine. I glanced at Cara who was also trying to smile.

“Oh, yeah? You think this is the one?” He burst out laughing.

“You know that I never got to have my casual dating days when I was younger, so I have to make up for lost time. I can see myself getting married. Maybe in ten years.” I had the feeling if he met the right girl, he would be all in. We were similar that way. Once we met someone we liked, we stuck with them and that was it. Like when I’d met Cara. I looked at her and decided that she was going to be my best friend and here we are.