AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Surely, a marriage borne out of duty couldn’t be worse than being shackled to a hospital bed. I shake myself off the memories and climb into bed.
Nothing will change. I will just exchange one prison for another. I keep repeating that until I feel at ease, a type of peace that has eluded me until now.
I don’t let panic own me, but what is wrong with my father?
An arranged marriage. I am twenty-three years old. And I haven’t even been kissed properly.
Okay, if you don’t count that other poor soul bound to a hospital bed who suggested we could “try it.” The kiss was wet and sloppy and likely set something in motion. My parents couldn’t understand why my health declined suddenly. But I knew. I had caught something from him, and it was the tipping point for my weak immune system.
It eludes me why someone would marry someone they don’t know. What’s in it for Cameron, my future husband? I test those words out loud, and they only make me shiver.
My head is throbbing when my mother knocks. How do I know that? Because it has always been my mother. I love routine. It comes without expectations, without anticipation, without surprise. It’s clean, it’s planned, it’s safe. Routine has been a silent but terrific companion in recent years until my father blew it to smithereens.
“Honey?” my mother asks from behind the door.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
She retreats, and I wonder if I should have said yes, but I don’t see the point.
Hoping to forget about the abrupt shift in my life, I turn on the TV, playing a K-Drama but not even that helps.
Giving up, I slide off the bed and sit at my desk, powering up my game. Later, we lose when I make a mistake in the game and can’t regain my focus. I push at the keyboard with more force than necessary.
“What’s wrong with you?” Noah asks, a contrite expression taking over his facial features.
“Just have a lot going on right now.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Do I? I calculate it in my mind. Saying something would mean giving insight into my life. More information means more courses of action I can’t predict. But not talking is keeping it to myself until it either bursts or suffocates me.
“Be right back.”
“Okay.”
I rip my headsets off. Dots form on the screen, notifying me of a text message from Noah.
I would like to know you better. Just so you know... I like you.
Incredulity keeps me in place, but I shake myself off and search for my mother.
I find her in her office, going through house plans. She was a brilliant architect until she had to take a break to care for me.
“You started again?” I ask.
“For a while now.” With her reddish-brown hair tucked in an elegant bun at her back and wearing a matching beige suit, she cleans her glasses, looking ageless and refined.
I interlock my fingers at my back, swaying on my feet.
“You want to talk? I’m here, honey.”
“Can you talk to Father and change his mind?”
She places her glasses on the table and sighs.
