"Oh! Quaxo, darling, she's so sweet!" my mother cooed over the picture of my wife-to-be. Yes, I will admit, Victoria was beautiful and right around my age, but being married to her? I could never see that happening.
"Mother, I wish you and Father weren't making me do this," I said.
"But, it's time, my angel. You are all grown up now, and we've picked the perfect bride for you! The wedding will be marvelous!"
My mother's comments just fluttered through my ears. I had much better things to do than get married at such a young age, especially to someone I couldn't picture myself with romantically. I've known Victoria my whole life, but we were never that close. If anything, I picture her as a little sister or something, just not a wife.
I wanted to focus on my career as a lawyer. I wanted to be just like my father, Sir Bustopher Jones. He is extremely successful, and I look up to him. He really is a great man, and I would like to follow in his footsteps, career wise. Weight wise? Oh, Heaviside, I dance too much for that!
"But, mother I-"
She shushed me and said, "Darling, I have to run, your father and I are going to have tea with Victoria's lovely parents to discuss who we'd like to hire as the wedding planner. You may come if you'd like, but tradition says that you shouldn't communicate with your bride before the big day!"
"No, thank you!" I said under my breath as she shuffled out the door of my apartment. Living alone was kind of nice. I actually enjoyed doing things like laundry and cleaning up, seeing as I had someone do everything for me as a child. My parents frequently offered to hire a maid, but I refused. I'm am all grown up now, but I wouldn't call this bride "perfect".
I decided do a couple job-related things. Call a client, here, file a paper, there. The more work I did, the more I thought, "Is this really what I want to do with my life? Work all day, more importantly, work alone?"
There was a Jellicle queen out there, just longing for the same thing. Everlasting Cat only knows if she's in Victoria's Grove. One thing that is positive is that she's not on this side of town, with the rich folk. Everyone's marriage here is arranged, and true love rare. But where could I venture to find such love? The Jellicle junkyard is a plausible place, but I haven't been there since my childhood. I just know that they'll think I'm stuck up and snooty. With that being said, how can I find love there?
That night, I went to bed considering all the things I could do with my life. Getting married to Victoria and living the cookie-cutter life of a spoiled tom just didn't seem right to me. There was so much more out there! I could work on my career and travel the world! Yes! Brilliant! But on my lonesome? My heart ached at the thought.