[One Week Later]
"Anne, let's not be late. Your frivolous affairs regarding your hair will have to simmer." Marilla's impatient voice echos through the thin walls.
"But Marilla, just because I choose not to care about the color of my hair does not mean I don't care how it's placed. It doesn't hurt to look at least halfway decent." I place a hairpin tightly near my scalp, the finishing touch to my elaborate Gibson Girl updo. A loose curl sits beside my face, bouncing along with every move I make. I take one last look in the mirror before heading to the kitchen.
"Your vanity never ceases to amaze me, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. But I must say, you do look mighty grown up. I can still see you at your young age, rambling on about who knows what. Now look at you. You've become a woman that Matthew always dreamed of... That Roy is a very good man." Marilla smiled in a way that invited me to share my thoughts in the safety of her brain, not to be uttered elsewhere.
"He is, Marilla. He's kind, and caring. He's everything I ever dreamed of in a romantic ideal. Even when I'm with him, side by side, I still pinch myself, to see if I really could have someone as wonderful as he is to care for me so." I twirl around excitedly in my tinted green dress, with the slightest puffed sleeve. Convincing Marilla to add a little flair to my outfits was a challenge, but a triumphant one at that.
"Dreams are wonderful, Anne. Just be sure he'll be there when the dream ends. Through good times and the bad ones, that's when you'll know you've found the one." Her words, though true, seem to bring more fear than hope.
"Marilla, I don't believe I've heard such poetry come out of your mouth! But, you seem to act as if i were about to walk down the isle."
"Is that such a bad notion? I'm not getting any younger, Anne. I'd love to see some grandchildren before the Lord takes me home." A small smirk appears on her face. Maybe Marilla does have an imagination after all...
"Well, no. But when that day comes I'd like to think I'd be married in a field of wildflowers, a soft wind that gently runs through my vail, making it ever so magnificent. Of course it must be in the morning. A new day filled with new hope, a new chapter of our lives." I smile proudly, chills descending down my body at the thought of it all. Walking down the isle as if I were a fairy princess, even Lady Cordelia herself would envy my imagined wedding ceremony. "Besides, I don't think I could ever see myself married. Sure, I love the idea of being a bride. But a wife?" I shake my head. "I'd prefer to have a life-mate."
"A life what?" A stunned Marilla stammers, narrowing her eyes softly.
"A life mate, you know, a union of equals, free spirits, living true lives, individuals - together, to take on this lovely world. Oh Marilla, I'm so glad to be alive in this old world, aren't you?" I smile at the now confused Marilla.
"Well, I guess one thing hasn't changed." Marilla adds.
"What's that, Marilla?" I say, still dazed by my own imagination.
"No matter what adventures you may go through, I doubt your tongue will ever age." A small but genuine moment is felt between two kindred spirits.
A knock on the door is heard, and I run (albeit unladylike) from the kitchen to the fragile wooden door. When I open it, however, an unexpected surprise awaits. Standing before me, I see both Roy and Gilbert in perfect awareness and harmony of each other.
"Gil? What are you doing here?"
"Anne..." Gilbert smiles breathlessly, looking at my complexion. Roy seems to notice, and politely clears his throat, pulling me close.
"You better hurry along, Mr. Blythe, you won't want to keep your girl waiting." Roy's comment caught me off guard. It took everything in me not to wear a face filled with envy. Of course, I wasn't envious of the woman in Gil's wagon, in fact, I'm glad that he'd moved on. Instead, I was searching to find a reason why Roy had known about this before I. I'd made it my goal as a young girl to know anything about everything, filling my head with useless thoughts. I'd do it all to get edgewise on my worthy component, Gilbert Blythe. There was once a time where we would share our darkest secrets and foreboding thoughts with one another. times where we would laugh until the sun went down, times we would critique each other's work. Granted, I wasn't the best at receiving criticism. But Gilbert Blythe just had to go and try to change the way we were always meant to be. He himself admitted that we were destined to be the best of friends. I'm perfectly fine with Gilbert's choice by going on with another woman. Instead i'm envious of a time where Gil could come to me for anything. Granted, we've had our ups and downs, but... Roy?
"Of course. I'll only be a minute with Marilla." He looks back at Roy, then toward me once more. "Have a good night." Nodding once, Gilbert vanishes into the kitchen. I can only hope that his nod meant more than the unfeeling one I used to grant him every chance I got in our days of relentless childhood quarrels.
"It is impolite to pass a person without at least nodding, and so I nod out of elementary good breeding, nothing more."
"Are you ready?" Torn from the land of my thoughts, the vacant expression lingering on my face slowly starts to fade. Roy's charming smile makes my heart race. If this is how I'm abruptly awaken from my thoughts each day until my last breath, I don't think I'd mind.
"Of course... it'll be a bit crowded in the town hall soon, we may as well get an early start." Even without the hustle of competition, Roy Gardner seems to have won my heart.