We walked to this really elegant and overwhelming boutique in the middle of downtown. I'd never been a building as fancy as this before. While I ogled up at it, Loid opened the door for me. The place was full of pretty, slender, and very wealthy ladies; some gave me snide looks and leers as we passed by. It was painfully obvious I didn't fit in here.

Loid didn't seem to notice, and if he had he certainly didn't care. He brought me up to one of the top floors, where there was this waiting room of sorts. I stood there unsure what to do with myself when he rang the bell at the front- and only- counter. This huge, older, beautiful lady appeared out from one of the doors; she didn't seem surprised to see him there.

Like my husband, she never smiled. But unlike Loid, her scowl was a permanent fixture on her face. She came behind the desk to serve him; I say "him" because she paid literally no notice of me so far. She pulled out a clipboard and diamond-studded pen from behind her ear.

"May I help you?" Her voice was deep and craggily, if you know what I mean. She sounded like a chain-smoker. Loid gestured to me. "I need you to get my wife here ready for our upcoming interview at The Garden of Eden club," he explained with as few words as possible. The lady finally deemed it worth her time to look in my direction, and I wanted the floor to open wide and swallow me whole. Her top lip curled slightly. "Her? That "thing" is your wife?" I saw Loid frown at this but didn't display it in my body language. He glared at her intently. "Newly, yes. Please have her ready for the time of our interview. It's in a few months." "I don't think a few months will be enough time to do anything worthwhile, but we don't promise miracles. Come with me, girl," her fat finger curled, motioning me to follow here. I looked to Loid, who grinned mildly and nodded, giving me his consent to go. Without a word I followed the scary lady into the back room, which was akin to the world's largest closet. It had every kind of clothing piece you could think of, though in very few sizes. That made me nervous- well, more nervous than I already was.

Without warning, the lady put her hand on my shoulder and spun me around where I stood. She gave me one of "those" glares, pulling out her tape measure and getting to work. When that humiliating process was done, she exclaimed: "Just as I thought, you're too fat. You'll need to lose some weight if you want to get into The Garden of Eden." My cheeks flushed with dismay. "B-But I'm already a healthy size! I eat quite enough and….." "High end clubs aren't interested in "health", Mrs…..? What's your name? Oh never mind, I won't remember it anyway. Listen here, girl. Being married to a government employee, like your husband obviously is, means that you're an ornament to society- your HUSBAND'S ornament. So if you don't want to embarrass him, I suggest you keep your trap shut and do as I say. You understand?"

Dumbstruck, I could only mindlessly nod. No one has ever spoken to that way before and the first thought in my head was "she's lucky Yuri's not here to hear her". After giving me another once over, the lady went to grab some clothes and stuff them into a bag. "Here. They won't fit you now, but once you're on a reducing diet for a while, that'll fix that problem." I frowned solemnly for the first time since we were alone. My weight- my entire body- wasn't a "problem" to solve. I liked the way I looked! I thought I was just fine the way I was right now. Loid never said I'd have to do any of this before we got married. Regret already started creeping in.

She tisked, glaring at me again. "And for god's sake, girl, do you ever oil your hair?" "Uh, well no, I….." "Ridiculous. You'll never pass that interview; I'll tell you that right now," she scribbled something down on her clipboard. My lips pursed with anger before speaking up for myself. "Ma'am, my husband's promotion depends on us becoming members of that club. If you tell me what to do, I'll do it." She sneered with a twisted half smirk thrown in. "If you wanted to help your husband, you never would have married him in the first place. Honestly, look at him and look at you; you're two completely different species. That's obvious," she said this like it was the most evident thing in the universe.

That…. That hit me hard. My body, which was so tense before, began to soften, and not in a good way; more of a defeatist manner. My eyes drew down a little in sombre reflection. "So you think there's no realistic chance…?" My lips started to quiver afraid. She snorted. "Chance? Girl, you don't got a chance in hell. What that man outside sees in you, I'll never understand." My hands curled into tight, trembling fists. Such mean, hurtful words…. She doesn't even know us. "He married me… for more than my looks," I heard myself say in a low voice. "Looks?! Have you ever looked in a mirror? He's the not one who won with this marriage, I must say." This woman….. This evil, evil woman. My arms began to shake with rage.

"He didn't have to marry me; I never brought it up. He's the one who asked me." "And you should have said no. A girl of your…. "stature" has no business being with a respectable man like him." The wheels in my head began to turn. Maybe this marriage really was a bad idea. Sure, it helps me out- quite a lot actually- but Loid married me with a purpose in mind too. He saved my life, and I can't even repay him by helping him get his promotion? That doesn't seem right….. That's not fair. Maybe we shouldn't have gotten married. Maybe this all really was just some horrible mistake. Thinking about that way made me want to cry, and I almost did but bit my lip so to hold back my tears. The mean lady just kept writing away on her clipboard. It gave me a second to consider to myself, and only then did my lips part once again.

"Our marriage….. Can… Can a marriage be annulled in Ostania?" I didn't want to ask this. There was my own safety to think about. But something felt so perverse about all this suddenly. If I couldn't give Loid what he wanted, and I was the only one benefiting from this relationship, it wouldn't be right to keep him stuck with me.

The lady gazed up from her paperwork. "Annulled? Only if you haven't consummated the marriage yet," she told me and I turned a dark shade of red. C-Consummated the marriage?! I hadn't even…. We hadn't even…..! My brain got even dizzy when she next asked me: "by the way, you're not pregnant yet, are you?"

Nope! My mind could not handle this. Clenching the bag of clothes in my hand, I spun around to make a mad dash out of the room. I was running so fast that I ran right pass Loid, who was sitting in a comfy chair waiting for me with a cup of coffee and newspaper. He blinked up in surprise to see me run by. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?!" He leapt up from his chair alarmed.

I didn't stop running until I was outside the building and across the street. Pausing for a minute to gasp for air, I grabbed my shirt fabric above my chest with one hand. No…. No, I don't want this. We literally just got married yesterday, and while it is a fake marriage, Loid asked me to marry him for a reason. I can't disappoint him. And yet…. And yet I am a disappointment, or I will be when we fail that interview. What should I do? Should I tell him the truth and suggest we annul the marriage? Getting married was his idea; will he be offended? God, I don't know what to do… I don't know what the hell to do!

While I was drowning in a sea of soul-crushing thoughts, the boutique door opened behind me and footsteps could be heard crossing the road. I had my face buried in my hands, but I might of guessed who it was. "What's wrong? Are you ok?" A familiar voice spoke gently to me. When I didn't reply or even look up, his strong hand rested overtop my shoulder again. "Mrs. Forger," he cooed, trying to get me to look at him. Unable to resist any longer, my tear-filled eyes gazed out from my hands back his way and our stares met.

It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. He saw me cry for the first time, and he was utterly taken aback and astonished. His eyes soaked my wet face in like a sponge and he kept his hand on my shoulder for longer than was necessary. A cool autumn breeze blew between us, with the two of us just standing there in the middle of the sidewalk together. A few of my hair strands blew out behind me; a couple of his moved too. His lips opened but said nothing. My mouth also opened…. and nothing came out. I don't know why, but I instantly had the desire to tell him everything, to be completely honest and give him an out of our union. He saved my life, after all….. And I felt so intensely…

The way his eyes met mine.