I was married. Those simple words had given away and bonded me till death with a man I didn't know. Didn't love, and wasn't loved in return. None of this was how I expected my marriage to go. I doubt being kidnapped is any girl's dream of a marriage, but here I was. As a girl, I had pulled out all the stops on my imaginary marriage. His name was going to be Alfred, and I was going to wear the whitest dress with sequins everywhere, and all my toys were going to be invited. It was a rather horrible wedding plan now that I look back on it, and even the name was unpreferable, but I had to say anything would've been preferable to current reality. God, why? But there was nothing.
I was faintly aware of being dragged somewhere, but I was too shocked to do much about it. It wasn't until I was unceremoniously dropped on red carpet that I looked up from my stupor. Evan sat on a chair just staring at me, an unreadable expression on his face. "Why can't you love me? When I saw you… you… you looked dead, you were dead… but then you came back to me! I searched everyday for you. I searched everywhere. I couldn't believe you had left me after all our time together, how much we loved each other. I would've done anything for you. Did everything for you. And after that, you fall for… him! What has he ever done for you? Why… why him? Why… why can't you just love me? That's all I want… that's just… that's what I need. I need you to love me. I need you to stop leaving me, and just love me. Please? Is that too much to ask back?" Now I understood. This man in front of me was completely broken. I had God, but who did he have? This was a man so lost, so confused, and so broken, that his mind had been twisted just so he himself could have some semblance of survival. I stood up, and sat down right in front of him, placing my hand on his knee. It was shaking, and I noticed that it wasn't just his knee. His entire body was trembling like he was coming apart at the seams. Perhaps he was. Then, I looked into his eyes. They were filled with such shock, and hope that I could feel my heart wrench in my chest. I winced, and his hand immediately found it's way to my check. I flinched back, but realized that he hadn't even hurt me, he had been trying to comfort me. But, instead of losing his temper, he just looked at me with those heart wrenchingly sad eyes. They were eyes that made a girl want to fix, but there was nothing I could do to fix him. He had to learn to fix himself. It was the only way.
"Evan, listen to me." Every cell in his body had been focused on me since I had sat down in front of him, but still, I wanted him to hear me, not just listen. "I am not her." He flinched back instantly, and I could see his eyes shift away from mine instantly. I waited for the anger, for the blow, for anything but it didn't come. And when his eyes met mine, they weren't hardened and distant like I had expected. Instead, they were searching, looking for something that only he could see.
"To believe that is to believe that she died…" He looked away then, and quickly stood up, leaving my hand awkwardly in the air. "But you are her, and that's the end of the discussion. I'm tired. You will be expected to have breakfast with me tomorrow." I looked around the room, but all I noticed was a single bed on the farthest wall.
"What about sleeping arrangements?" My voice, unfortunately, came out more of a squeak, and his eyes turned to ice.
"We are married, you can sleep in the same bed as me. Be grateful that I am not yet taking advantage of other rights of our marital status." I shivered and his eyes narrowed to small slivers. "Don't look so disappointed, dear. I'm ever so sorry that I couldn't be your beloved Caleb. Please, can you ever forgive me. Sleep on the floor, then, but you will not receive blankets, and it gets cold at night." With one last glance, he rolled his eyes and moved to what I could only presume was the bathroom to change. It was then that I looked around the room. The entire room was decorated in the same presumptuous red as the carpet.
Anything that wasn't red was purple, and gold. A décor that I realized was supposed to represent royalty and power, but fell completely short and more rested solidly in an area of excessive, and garish. Even the wood was painted a blaring gold so bright that I wondered how anyone would keep from going blind during the day. It was perhaps because there were no windows to let in any sunlight. The only light to see by was from several candles that did reflect, in fact, off all the gold in the room. I sighed, and fell back on the carpet, determined to do exactly as he said and sleep on the floor. I had tried to tell him the truth, and for just a second he had listened. For a second, he had seen the truth instead of shutting it out, but then it all fell apart. And now he was back to being cold and glazed over. But there had been hope, even if it had just been for a second. Perhaps he could still be saved. I've always had a plan. Just now you're seeing it. I jumped in shock. I hadn't expected to hear that little voice after it had been so quiet earlier, but now, now it made sense. You always are in control, aren't you? Again there was silence, but I didn't feel alone anymore. In fact, I slowly drifted off to sleep, surrounded on every side by the gaudy furniture and paint.