Hiya all, this is Eileen (as if you thought it was some other author
adding notes before my story). I'd like to thank all the people who
have responded to my story, especially the one's who have read it from
the beginning. I haven't thanked my readers yet, but everyday after
school I come home and check for your responses. Also, I have a
question. If, after reading this chapter, you have any ideas for what
else could happen to them, please tell me. You can put it in your
response or email me at Eileenblzr@yahoo.com AP tests are approaching
and I want this done before they start so I'm getting ready to finish,
about two chapters after this, and I would like to take into
consideration your expectations. Thank you. I await your opinion.
Symbiosis Chapter Four
"Suppose I have to make it different. But what am I going to do with my
life? I know. Will eat some cheese." -Bridget Jones, Edge of Reason
The towel wasn't big enough to hold all her hair in. Bent and twisted
around her head, it appeared to be sprouting gold stems. She fumbled
with it for a while, though whether it was a geniune struggle or just a
ploy to avoid helping Darien clean was questionable. Finally she gave
it up and with an 'aagghh!', tossed the wet fabric away and walked to
where Darien kneeled, scrubbing the flour-coated floor. "Darien, we
need new towels. Yours are too thin. Plus they're that ugly green
color. I'm more of a baby blue person myself. But don't worry about it
too much, I have a friend whose studied Feng Shui and she could come in
for free and help liven this place up. Darien? Darien, are you
listening to me?"
He wasn't. Darien was much too busy contemplating how to scrape burned
macaroni off the side of the ceiling. Letting Serena cook hadn't been a
good idea. Nor had allowing her access to all his clothes, liquids, and
electric appliances. "Serena?" He said at last.
"What is it? You don't want me to use that Ajax stuff, do you? Because
there's still clumps of it stuck in all those little holes of the iron.
I *could* wipe the outside of the refrigerator or something."
Darien tossed her a rag. "Go for it. But listen, I was talking to Mr. Sherbert today about our marriage. He thought it was wonderful. And then, and here's where it gets interesting, he said that his daughter was recently married and one of her favorite activites was attending seminars on marriage."
Serena stopped wiping and spun around. "You don't want *us* to go to one of those things, do you?"
"Well I think it would be a good experience and there's one scheduled at Juban University tomorrow."
She looked at him, horrified. "Juban University? This isn't some kind of class, is it? 'Cause I don't want to spend my vacation in school."
Two little Dariens floated down to his shoulders, and as Serena waited for an answer, one told him to do the right thing. The other, with spiky hair and leather pants, reminded him of two words: toothpaste and
flour. "Of course it isn't a class. Even I'm not that much of a nerd."
She looked at him uncertianly. There was something in his eyes..."But I
never get to have fun Darien. What good does staying in Tokyo do me if
I can even have fun with my friends?"
"Fine, we'll do something fun the day after. I'll even let you decide.
But tomorrow, I've signed us up. It'll give us a chance to perfect our
happy union."
"Happy?" Serena said. "Is that what this is? I thought happy was
sun-tanning off the coast of Jamaca or on an Carribean island during
spring vacation, while cute waiters brought you virgin Strawberry
Daquiris."
"And I thought happy was spending time with someone intelligent,
charming, and beautiful. But here I am with you. So lets just pretend,
all right, Meatball head?."
She stuck out her tongue and made a face. He rolled his eyes and
arrogantly looked away.
Happy newlyweds indeed.
************************
"Darien?" Serena said sweetly, quietly leaning towards her 'husband'.
"I have a question."
He glanced up from his pad and adjusted his glasses. "What is it?"
"Well, *darling*," She lifted a leaflet with a picture of a smiling
couple and waved it in front of him. Serena opened it, then returned
her ever glowing and toothy smile to him. "It says in here that a good
marriage is based on communication and that all major decisions should
be discussed before being carried out. So, I was just wondering who you
think I should kill first. You, for lying to me, or your boss for
giving you the idea."
"Serena I-"
"No, no, honey. You don't have to apoligize. I understand. I'm just
curious whether or not I should make you watch as I slowly remove Mr.
Sherbert's organs through his mouth, or just dip you in a vat of
boiling oil first."
Darien sighed. "Look I'm sorry for misleading you. But I knew if I told
you that it was a class, you'd never come. And frankly, I'm running out
of my own ideas for this paper. But I promise you. It won't get any
worse for you."
She puffed her cheeks, exhaled and glanced back at the man speaking.
With puffy brown hair, thick black glasses, a cheesy cartoon tie, and a
purple suit that went of date in 1973, this man must know the secrets
to marriage. He sure wasn't holding onto his girl through to-die-for
good looks. But he was well intentioned and she sensed he had a kind
heart. Darien at last seemed right. It wasn't all that bad and couldn't
get any worse.
But if there is one rule of fate, its never ever say it couldn't get
any worse.
The man was surveying the room when she finally stared listening to
him. "Let's see here." He said. "I want to do demos. I need two couples
up here. How about those cuddling kids in the corner and uh...how about
the attractive couple to my left, Night and Day." Serena waited for the
chosen to stand up. They must be somewhere near her...
And then she realized it. Of all the couples to the man's left, only
she and Darien fit the bill for 'night and day': Darien, in all black
and her in her white sundress. She tugged on his sleeve.
"Uh, Darien. I think he means us." His eyes quickly traveled across the
area and with a queasy feeling, discovered she was right.
"Uh-oh." As they stood, the other couple pranced by them. That's right
*pranced*. Arm in arm too. Serena started walking first, not so
accidentally jabbing Darien in the arm.
"Sorry," she whispered louldy, before bowing her head and muttering
"Couldn't get any worse? Yeah right."
The speaker, Mr. 1973, shook their hands vigourously before talking to
the audience. "Well, now that we have our two guinea pig -er, I mean
couples..." He paused and waited for people to stop laughing at his
unfunny joke. "We can begin. First, I want to create a scenario. Girls,
you've just found out that your hubby has just lost his job. What
should you say next? Net, you first."
The brunette giggled and placed a long-fingernailed hand on her
husband's shoulder. Her face became somber. "Bobby, it's okay. I make
enough to pay the rent and you can find somewhere else to take your
brilliant mind. Just remember I love you no matter what."
Everyone clapped and 'awwwed', save for Serena and Darien. The blonde
pretended to sniff and cried false tears 'because of the scenes
beauty'. When it was her turn, she looked up at Darien with her
innocent eyes and winked inconspicuously. "Oh, Darien, how could you
let this happen? You know Jr is only two months away! How can I feed
another mouth when you ain't givin me no more money? I can't do it. So
you're either gonna send Molly back to live with her momma or march
yourself back to that gas station and beg for another chance."
The audience was strangely silent after their speech, but Darien and
Serena were too busy laughing together to care. Mr. 1973 cleared his
throat and addressed the people seated. "Well, wasn't that heartfelt.
Kudos to Net and Bobby. Let's continue. In our new scenario, hubbys,
your wife announces that shes been offered a great job. The only catch
is, it's across the country. Once again, Net and Bobby may start us
off."
Net's significant other was tall, lanky (unfortunately ugly), and from
the looks of things, not too bright. But he smiled all the same as he
embraced his wife. "Kelly, I'm so happy for you. I won't lie, this
isn't going to be easy, but I just want you to know that I'm supporting
you 100%. We'll make this work."
The sounds of clapping rang through the hall as the couple took a bow,
arms wrapped around each other. Bobby nuzzled her head and pulled her
tight.
Darien took Serena's hand and the room stilled. "Serena, I can't leave
here. The family business is just as important to me as any job you get
and I refuse to break 56 years of tradition. You'll just have to
choose. Me or your new job."
"My job."
"Well. I uh...I guess its best we found out now how horribly
inconsiderate you are now, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm so glad I've realized what a mama's boy you are before I
polluted my family's line with your white trash genes!"
"Yeah? Well, you can go to-"
"Excuse me!" Mr. 1973 stepped in between the pair, obviously taking
their phony argument as real. His tie flopped about wildly. "This is
not the place for that kind of talk!"
Darien bit his tongue to resist a cutting remark but Serena was nowhere
near as tactful. "I thought you were here to help married couples, not
force an unrealistic ideal on them. Real people have real reactions.
Why don't you teach us how to cope with our marital problems instead of
making us spokespeople for June Cleaver's House of fake Horrors?"
********************************
The sidewalk was nice. Not as comfortable as the seats had been, but
infinitly more pleasant. Darien took a breath of fresh air and started
laughing all over again. "I can't believe you got us kicked out of Pat
Carlson's seminar. He's always been known for his easy going nature..."
She blew a raspberry in his face.
"It's your own fault for dragging me here."
Darien watched her lean back until she lay along the pavement.
"Actually, I'm glad you got us out of there. Going was a huge mistake.
Net and Bobby were making me sick."
Serena turned on her side so that she could see Darien and gold threads
spilled onto the floor. "I dunno. I think it might be nice to be in
love like that. Not caring about anything but each other, completely
caught up in your own magic world, gushing and giggling and cuddling."
"Maybe." Darien said. "But who knows how long that'll last. You can't
build a life on happiness alone. You can't even fly with it unless
you've got some pixie dust."
"Just ruin the moment Darien." She sat up abrupty. "I think I want a
malt now."
"Ah, so we revert back to the hungry, silly Serena, ever ready to
swallow a melon whole."
"Jerk."
"Brat."
"Dork."
"Child."
"Which one of us watches Peter Pan?"
"Who recognized the allusion?"
"I have a baby brother." They stood, brushed off their clothes and
started walking towards home. As they continued down the street only
one more exchange of words was spoken.
"I hope you realize that tomorrow, I plan on making your life
miserable."
"I know. I'll probably be dragged to the zoo, countless amusement
parks, the ice cream parlor, a zillion restaraunts, stupid movies..."
"Hey Darien?"
"Yeah?"
"You aren't even close. Now shut up."
adding notes before my story). I'd like to thank all the people who
have responded to my story, especially the one's who have read it from
the beginning. I haven't thanked my readers yet, but everyday after
school I come home and check for your responses. Also, I have a
question. If, after reading this chapter, you have any ideas for what
else could happen to them, please tell me. You can put it in your
response or email me at Eileenblzr@yahoo.com AP tests are approaching
and I want this done before they start so I'm getting ready to finish,
about two chapters after this, and I would like to take into
consideration your expectations. Thank you. I await your opinion.
Symbiosis Chapter Four
"Suppose I have to make it different. But what am I going to do with my
life? I know. Will eat some cheese." -Bridget Jones, Edge of Reason
The towel wasn't big enough to hold all her hair in. Bent and twisted
around her head, it appeared to be sprouting gold stems. She fumbled
with it for a while, though whether it was a geniune struggle or just a
ploy to avoid helping Darien clean was questionable. Finally she gave
it up and with an 'aagghh!', tossed the wet fabric away and walked to
where Darien kneeled, scrubbing the flour-coated floor. "Darien, we
need new towels. Yours are too thin. Plus they're that ugly green
color. I'm more of a baby blue person myself. But don't worry about it
too much, I have a friend whose studied Feng Shui and she could come in
for free and help liven this place up. Darien? Darien, are you
listening to me?"
He wasn't. Darien was much too busy contemplating how to scrape burned
macaroni off the side of the ceiling. Letting Serena cook hadn't been a
good idea. Nor had allowing her access to all his clothes, liquids, and
electric appliances. "Serena?" He said at last.
"What is it? You don't want me to use that Ajax stuff, do you? Because
there's still clumps of it stuck in all those little holes of the iron.
I *could* wipe the outside of the refrigerator or something."
Darien tossed her a rag. "Go for it. But listen, I was talking to Mr. Sherbert today about our marriage. He thought it was wonderful. And then, and here's where it gets interesting, he said that his daughter was recently married and one of her favorite activites was attending seminars on marriage."
Serena stopped wiping and spun around. "You don't want *us* to go to one of those things, do you?"
"Well I think it would be a good experience and there's one scheduled at Juban University tomorrow."
She looked at him, horrified. "Juban University? This isn't some kind of class, is it? 'Cause I don't want to spend my vacation in school."
Two little Dariens floated down to his shoulders, and as Serena waited for an answer, one told him to do the right thing. The other, with spiky hair and leather pants, reminded him of two words: toothpaste and
flour. "Of course it isn't a class. Even I'm not that much of a nerd."
She looked at him uncertianly. There was something in his eyes..."But I
never get to have fun Darien. What good does staying in Tokyo do me if
I can even have fun with my friends?"
"Fine, we'll do something fun the day after. I'll even let you decide.
But tomorrow, I've signed us up. It'll give us a chance to perfect our
happy union."
"Happy?" Serena said. "Is that what this is? I thought happy was
sun-tanning off the coast of Jamaca or on an Carribean island during
spring vacation, while cute waiters brought you virgin Strawberry
Daquiris."
"And I thought happy was spending time with someone intelligent,
charming, and beautiful. But here I am with you. So lets just pretend,
all right, Meatball head?."
She stuck out her tongue and made a face. He rolled his eyes and
arrogantly looked away.
Happy newlyweds indeed.
************************
"Darien?" Serena said sweetly, quietly leaning towards her 'husband'.
"I have a question."
He glanced up from his pad and adjusted his glasses. "What is it?"
"Well, *darling*," She lifted a leaflet with a picture of a smiling
couple and waved it in front of him. Serena opened it, then returned
her ever glowing and toothy smile to him. "It says in here that a good
marriage is based on communication and that all major decisions should
be discussed before being carried out. So, I was just wondering who you
think I should kill first. You, for lying to me, or your boss for
giving you the idea."
"Serena I-"
"No, no, honey. You don't have to apoligize. I understand. I'm just
curious whether or not I should make you watch as I slowly remove Mr.
Sherbert's organs through his mouth, or just dip you in a vat of
boiling oil first."
Darien sighed. "Look I'm sorry for misleading you. But I knew if I told
you that it was a class, you'd never come. And frankly, I'm running out
of my own ideas for this paper. But I promise you. It won't get any
worse for you."
She puffed her cheeks, exhaled and glanced back at the man speaking.
With puffy brown hair, thick black glasses, a cheesy cartoon tie, and a
purple suit that went of date in 1973, this man must know the secrets
to marriage. He sure wasn't holding onto his girl through to-die-for
good looks. But he was well intentioned and she sensed he had a kind
heart. Darien at last seemed right. It wasn't all that bad and couldn't
get any worse.
But if there is one rule of fate, its never ever say it couldn't get
any worse.
The man was surveying the room when she finally stared listening to
him. "Let's see here." He said. "I want to do demos. I need two couples
up here. How about those cuddling kids in the corner and uh...how about
the attractive couple to my left, Night and Day." Serena waited for the
chosen to stand up. They must be somewhere near her...
And then she realized it. Of all the couples to the man's left, only
she and Darien fit the bill for 'night and day': Darien, in all black
and her in her white sundress. She tugged on his sleeve.
"Uh, Darien. I think he means us." His eyes quickly traveled across the
area and with a queasy feeling, discovered she was right.
"Uh-oh." As they stood, the other couple pranced by them. That's right
*pranced*. Arm in arm too. Serena started walking first, not so
accidentally jabbing Darien in the arm.
"Sorry," she whispered louldy, before bowing her head and muttering
"Couldn't get any worse? Yeah right."
The speaker, Mr. 1973, shook their hands vigourously before talking to
the audience. "Well, now that we have our two guinea pig -er, I mean
couples..." He paused and waited for people to stop laughing at his
unfunny joke. "We can begin. First, I want to create a scenario. Girls,
you've just found out that your hubby has just lost his job. What
should you say next? Net, you first."
The brunette giggled and placed a long-fingernailed hand on her
husband's shoulder. Her face became somber. "Bobby, it's okay. I make
enough to pay the rent and you can find somewhere else to take your
brilliant mind. Just remember I love you no matter what."
Everyone clapped and 'awwwed', save for Serena and Darien. The blonde
pretended to sniff and cried false tears 'because of the scenes
beauty'. When it was her turn, she looked up at Darien with her
innocent eyes and winked inconspicuously. "Oh, Darien, how could you
let this happen? You know Jr is only two months away! How can I feed
another mouth when you ain't givin me no more money? I can't do it. So
you're either gonna send Molly back to live with her momma or march
yourself back to that gas station and beg for another chance."
The audience was strangely silent after their speech, but Darien and
Serena were too busy laughing together to care. Mr. 1973 cleared his
throat and addressed the people seated. "Well, wasn't that heartfelt.
Kudos to Net and Bobby. Let's continue. In our new scenario, hubbys,
your wife announces that shes been offered a great job. The only catch
is, it's across the country. Once again, Net and Bobby may start us
off."
Net's significant other was tall, lanky (unfortunately ugly), and from
the looks of things, not too bright. But he smiled all the same as he
embraced his wife. "Kelly, I'm so happy for you. I won't lie, this
isn't going to be easy, but I just want you to know that I'm supporting
you 100%. We'll make this work."
The sounds of clapping rang through the hall as the couple took a bow,
arms wrapped around each other. Bobby nuzzled her head and pulled her
tight.
Darien took Serena's hand and the room stilled. "Serena, I can't leave
here. The family business is just as important to me as any job you get
and I refuse to break 56 years of tradition. You'll just have to
choose. Me or your new job."
"My job."
"Well. I uh...I guess its best we found out now how horribly
inconsiderate you are now, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm so glad I've realized what a mama's boy you are before I
polluted my family's line with your white trash genes!"
"Yeah? Well, you can go to-"
"Excuse me!" Mr. 1973 stepped in between the pair, obviously taking
their phony argument as real. His tie flopped about wildly. "This is
not the place for that kind of talk!"
Darien bit his tongue to resist a cutting remark but Serena was nowhere
near as tactful. "I thought you were here to help married couples, not
force an unrealistic ideal on them. Real people have real reactions.
Why don't you teach us how to cope with our marital problems instead of
making us spokespeople for June Cleaver's House of fake Horrors?"
********************************
The sidewalk was nice. Not as comfortable as the seats had been, but
infinitly more pleasant. Darien took a breath of fresh air and started
laughing all over again. "I can't believe you got us kicked out of Pat
Carlson's seminar. He's always been known for his easy going nature..."
She blew a raspberry in his face.
"It's your own fault for dragging me here."
Darien watched her lean back until she lay along the pavement.
"Actually, I'm glad you got us out of there. Going was a huge mistake.
Net and Bobby were making me sick."
Serena turned on her side so that she could see Darien and gold threads
spilled onto the floor. "I dunno. I think it might be nice to be in
love like that. Not caring about anything but each other, completely
caught up in your own magic world, gushing and giggling and cuddling."
"Maybe." Darien said. "But who knows how long that'll last. You can't
build a life on happiness alone. You can't even fly with it unless
you've got some pixie dust."
"Just ruin the moment Darien." She sat up abrupty. "I think I want a
malt now."
"Ah, so we revert back to the hungry, silly Serena, ever ready to
swallow a melon whole."
"Jerk."
"Brat."
"Dork."
"Child."
"Which one of us watches Peter Pan?"
"Who recognized the allusion?"
"I have a baby brother." They stood, brushed off their clothes and
started walking towards home. As they continued down the street only
one more exchange of words was spoken.
"I hope you realize that tomorrow, I plan on making your life
miserable."
"I know. I'll probably be dragged to the zoo, countless amusement
parks, the ice cream parlor, a zillion restaraunts, stupid movies..."
"Hey Darien?"
"Yeah?"
"You aren't even close. Now shut up."