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One
Why didI agree to get married?
“You looksobeautiful,” Charlie’s bestie, Sarah Chang, cooed. Her wide-set eyes looked back at Charlie with tears as the two gripped each other’s hands for support. “I can’t believe we’ll be going on our honeymoons together!”
“Yeah,” Charlie muttered. Alone in the bridal suite, the two friends were having a moment before thebiggermoment.
Sarah had just gotten married to their best friend, Alex Min, a few months ago. He was a orthopedist, and she was a civil defense attorney; they were every parent’s dream pairing.
Alex and Sarah had delayed their honeymoon until Charlie tied the knot so they could head to the paradise island of Maldives together. And now, the friends were all hitched.
Well, soon enough. Charlie still had to walk down the aisle and sign the marriage license first. Although, she wasn’t having an easy time settling on the idea, but chalked it up to cold feet. It was normal, right?
Can cold feet begin at the time of engagement?
After all, it was a big step. An enormous step. She couldn’t just go into it haphazardly. It was a life-altering milestone.
Her life was all laid out for her. Whether it was the life she wanted was up for debate.
Charlotte Grace Ha, the only daughter of the divorced Grace Kim and Robert Ha, third-generation Korean American, socialite by birth, and businesswoman by choice. After college, she opened her independent beauty and fashion shop in Southern California, then sold it for a small profit to a competitor. With that and the help of outside investments, she’d hope to open her next business venture: a medical spa.
She had a thriving career, but once she married, her husband and in-laws would expect her to stop working and pop out babies. It was also something her own mother expected.
It was not, however, whatshewanted, but she could work that out later on. Right?
“Babe, are you okay?” Sarah asked. “You look pale.”
Charlie saw her hands shaking while linked with Sarah’s. “Yeah, I think so. I’m just…excited.”
The stutter in her voice was only noticeable to herself, because Sarah, who could usually read Charlie, only squealed along.
“I’m sure! But it’ll be great! You and Matt are perfect together,” Sarah complimented.
Yes, Matt was great. Wonderful. Matthew Park was handsome, intelligent, kind, well-mannered, and a praised ophthalmologist. He had gentle, friendly eyes and perfect skin. They never fought. He was always accommodating. And somehow, she felt there was more sexual tension between her and the caterer than there was with him.
The caterer was a woman, and Charlie was as straight as an arrow.
Her sex life with Matt was…okay. Everything with him was okay.
They’d met through her mother’s friends and she was introduced to him during a baby shower. Maybe it was somethingabout being at a baby shower that triggered her ovaries to flutter, so she’d agreed on a date, and after a year, they got engaged.
Funny how she didn’t remember Matt ever proposing. It was kind of an agreed “next-steps” discussion during dinner one evening with their families. Good ole Matt agreed to it like it was all in good time. And maybe it was; they’d been dating for a while and got along well. So why not?
You’re getting to that age, her mother liked to remind her.
Charlie was only thirty then. Having just turned thirty-two, it felt as though Grace was constantly tapping her wristwatch, eager for her daughter to hurry her life.
Growing up wealthy had its perks. Charlie was never short of anything. Raised in a three-acre home, she went through several nannies and attended private schools. She had choices. Lots of them. But ironically, many of them were decided by someone else.
“Alex is waiting for me,” Sarah said, reaching in for a hug. “I’ll see you later. Congratulations, my love.”
“Thank you.” Charlie held on for dear life, almost hoping Sarah wouldn’t leave. But as the door of the bridal suite closed shut, she was alone with her doubts.
She looked at her surroundings with a sigh. Over at the full-length mirror, she studied herself. Her makeup artist did a fantastic job. As a beauty expert herself, Charlie only hired the best. Her eyes colored in mild lavender shadows, her face and nose contoured perfectly, and her lips were an intense red. Hair pulled into a braided chignon and lined with orchid petals, her bone structure popped. The floor-length veil was clipped to the base of her hair, as it cascaded with the train of her dress.
Her dress, a thin, mermaid-style layer of lace, hugged her figure like a glove. She looked good, but nothing about it felt comfortable. The four-carat, pear-shaped diamond on her finger caught her attention as she held it up for inspection. But she only saw it as a tear-shape, like the ones threatening to spill from her eyes.
Everything was progressing perfectly. It was a sunny Saturdayafternoon. The ceremony was being held in the courtyard of one of the most prestigious golf resorts, followed by a reception with a celebrity DJ. The details were amiss to her. Truthfully, she had been so disinterested in the planning process that she let her mother take the wheel.
