"Rose, come in here. We need to talk about something," my mom called from the kitchen.
I took my precious time going down the stairs. The last time she said that I got The Talk. Not something I really want to relieve.
Once I reached the kitchen I saw my mom standing behind the island. "Yes Mother Dearest?"
She smiled. It was something she rarely did since my dad died. It made her look her age, instead of about ten years older than she should look. Dad's death hadn't been easy on her.
"Rose," She came up to me and took my hand. "Your going to be eighteen soon and there's something you need to know." I nodded, urging her to continue. "Do you remember when your father was put in jail?" I thought about that. I had only been ten, but I remember some of the details. Paying for lawyers and court cases had really put a hole in my parent's bank account. On top of that, Dad owed some people some money. We were really poor for a long time. We had just started really getting back on our feet when we found out about Dad's cancer.
I swallowed back the sadness that came with thinking about my father. "Yeah. I do." Mom squeezed my hand, no doubt feeling my pain. "Well, we wanted to make sure everything would be all right for you once you were older. We never wanted you to go through all the things we've had to." She paused for a moment before continuing. "So we arranged with the Ozeras to have you marry their son when you came of age." I just laughed. "Right. You almost got me with that whole 'we sold your soul to the devil thing.' Ha! Wow, that's rich."
She put a hand on my shoulder. "Rose, I'm serious." I just shook her hand off and doubled over in laughter. "Uh huh. Right. Like my own parents would sell away my future to some rich people."
She took a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to me. I almost shit my pants. It was a contract between my parents and the Ozeras. Fuck.
I skimmed the contract. A part really stood out to me. I read it aloud;
"Once both Rosemarie Hathaway and Christian Ozera reach the legal age of eighteen, they will be wed. They are to be bound by the court of law for exactly ten years before they have a right to divorce. If said divorce happens Rosemarie Hathaway only gets the money that will be set up in a separate bank account where one hundred thousand dollars will be deposited each year by the Ozera family."
"So basically I'll be paid to be married to someone I hate?" My mom rolled her eyes. "You do not hate Christian. You two used to play together as kids all the time."
"Yeah, with Lissa as a mutual friend. We only hung out because it was required by her." Mom just laughed. But her laughing died quickly when she remembered what we were talking about.
"Look. Both of you will be eighteen soon. If I could stop this I would but the contracts signed. There's no going back. It's too late." She leaned in to hug me, but before she could I was up the stairs and behind the locked door of my bedroom.
There was no way I was going to marry Christian Ozera.
I was marrying Christian Ozera.
The Wedding March played in the background as I walked down the aisle by myself. When I used to dream of this as a little girl I pictured my dad walking me down to my husband, whom I loved. Boy was I off. My dad was dead. I was grandparent and uncle-less. I had no one. And I was walking down the aisle to a man I neither love nor remotely like. This was all wrong. At least I looked good walking into my hopeless future.
I had peered into the mirror just before I left the dressing room. I was nearly knocked back by what I saw. I had always been pretty. I hardly went a day without getting called hot by one of the guys. But today I looked utterly gorgeous. My curvy figure was covered by a form fitting white dress that was as close to slutty as you could get while still looking elegant, with a deep dip, showing off some cleavage and the bottom half of the dress covered with a diamond encrusted see-through material that laid on top of a white underneath. It was beautiful.
My hair was curled around my lightly made-up face. The veil I wore matched the see-through material. I placed the veil over my face just before I left the room.
I was pulled back into the present by the priest calling my name. "Rosemarie. Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
I chuckled to myself. "Do I really have a choice?" The priest looked stunned for a second. "Miss, I need an 'I do.'" I sighed.
"I do." Then he turned to Christian.
"And you. Do you take this woman to be you lawfully wedded wife?"
Christian looked me over then turned back to the priest. "I would rather not. She's got a temper."
The whole church burst out laughing. I looked over at Christian's dad. If looks could kill both me and Christian would be dead.
"Sir, I need an 'I do'," The priest said, less than patiently.
"Fine. I guess I do."
The priest sighed with relief. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Me and Christian looked at each other. Then we fake gagged. The guests busted up laughing again. I swear the priest growled.
"You," deep breath, "May," deep breath, "Kiss," deep breath," The Bride." Then the priest glared at us.
Finally, Christian took me by the waist and kissed me. I was blown away by the impact of it. Every nerve in my body was on high alert. I wrapped my arm around his neck and buried my hands in his jet black hair.
Then it ended. That's when I realized what had just happened. I'd gotten married. To Christian. My best friend Lissa's ex- boyfriend. And worst of all I had tried to make light of the situation by joking around. Christian must have been feeling the same as I did, because he did the exact same thing.
Instead of clutching hands like a normal couple would, our hands remained at our sides as we walked out of the building and got into the limo, ignoring the cheers of the crowd.
So, what do yah think? Yes, no, maybe so? Review please!