GET ME MARRIED

Wrong woman

“Mom…” Tears came running down my eyes.

“Mom….” I took hold of her arms, unable to tear my gaze away from the two of them downstairs as they kissed passionately.

“Shhhh…” she pulled my eyes away from them and made me look at her.

“That is nothing, you hear me?” Her voice was more rage than concerned.

“That is nothing. Stay here. I will be right back.” She announced. Tears ran down my eyes and her words went through one ear and came out from the other.

“Hey…” she pulled me harder, making sure that I was in the same eye level as her.

“Pull yourself together. Do you understand me?” I nodded my head. Only then did she let go of me and walked away and I remained there, trying to un-see what I had just seen. However, there was no un-seeing it. I was stuck with the image of my husband walking into our matrimonial home with a woman in his arms. I turned back in the direction I had seen them. Only then did I notice the guards and maids watching. But they were no longer there and I could easily guess that they had walked into the house. However, I couldn't stay there, so I turned around and went back inside. Then to the hallway and straight for the stairs. I was still making my way through the hallway, while wiping the tears that had stained my cheeks, when I started hearing voices. I stopped at the top of the stairs to find Jordan and his mom below. The staffs were watching and the woman he came with was standing at the side. Our eyes met and all I could register was ‘she was beautiful.’ She smirked before turning away.

“You won’t dare ignore me.” Mom Leona growled, pushing Jordan away from the step. He turned to her. His eyes were hard and his face was in a tight frown. Yet, he said nothing and walked past her as if she was not even there. She yelled, cursed, and said a lot more things that I could not hear. My focus was on the man coming towards me. He looked angry, different. He looked more like a stranger, unlike the man I had met on our wedding day. I wondered if he knew I was there. Would he have still done what he did? But what difference did it make? He disappeared on our wedding day, returned with another woman. It stated everything that I needed to know. I wasn’t important to him, not like he was to me. He stopped in front of me. Our eyes met and my heart did a hopeful flip. I could swear that I looked pathetic in front of him, with teary eyes, wishing and pleading that he would not do what I feared he was doing. That he could look at me with less anger and coldness and tell me he was sorry. That this could all be a mistake and he would do anything to make up for it. I hoped, I pleaded, I prayed. As I stared right back at him. But his eyes were cold, hard, and hateful, more hateful than the first night I met him. It was like I wasn’t the woman he had gotten married to, like I wasn’t the person who he gave the wedding of her dreams. He stared at me as if I was a stranger, one he hated.

“Jordan…” I tried to grab his arm, but he brushed past me, dodging my touch like a disease he avoided and never turned back.

“Everything will be fine,” mom Leona said and rushed past me as well. I smiled. I wondered how much of a fool she thought I was. She went after him and I remained there, battling with the tears that were about to fall down my eyes once more. The woman was still standing at where she was and she looked more unconcerned by the second. She was ruining my home, my marriage, and she didn't care. Yet, I could not even walk up to her. Maybe I should have done that. Pulled her by her hair and tossed her outside. Nevertheless, Jordan was the one who brought her in, gave her the right to stand there and smirk at me. He was the one at fault. But who could blame him? She looked like a model, tall, beautiful, confident, and like a girl from a rich home. Tears fell down my eyes at my own lack of confidence and I turned away. I needed to speak to Jordan, to understand what was happening and why he was doing this to me when we just got married.

I made my way to the bedroom, each step slow, tired and lacking the confidence I was sure the woman downstairs had. Maybe I lacked something, maybe he had been bewitched, maybe I did something wrong. If I just spoke to him. I paused when I heard voices coming out from a different room. An argument. So, I tiptoed to the door and placed my ears there.

“What are you doing, Jordan? This isn’t very Chase like.”

“Tell that to your husband.”

“Jordan…” mom Leona growled.

“Look….” She let out a deep sigh.

“Let’s say this was a mistake. You were high on something. You were confused, stressed, drunk. It was simply a mistake.”

“Yes, that’s it. A simple mistake that would not repeat itself ever again.”

“Let’s forget about this and chase that b***h away.”

“I am not doing that,” Jordan responded. His voice was cold, yet determined and uncaring.

“You have a wife at home, watching, and who has been waiting for over a week for her husband to return home. Do you know how many times I lied to her, covered up your foolishness with excuses for a business trip? We allowed this for too long and now you bring in a slut.”

“I don’t have a wife and she is not a slut,” he responded casually.

“Don’t you dare say that to me. You know you do. You completed your ceremony before you walked out on everybody. She is your wife, whether you like it or not, and she will be with you for five years and more, so drop this bullshit, son.” Her voice turned to gravel. This time, no response came, and no one spoke anymore. The silence was heavy and thick on something. Lies, tension, and anger. With each passing second, I thought I would die.

“Son…” Mom Leona entered again. This time, she sounded calm and caring.

“I totally understand why you are doing all this. It wasn’t what you expected, she wasn’t what you expected.” I froze, confused.

“Before all this, Jasmine reached out to Samantha and I was on my way to the airport so I could simply speak to her one on one. But she didn’t want to see me, so we had to speak on the phone.”

“I gave her the proposal as you requested. She declined. Jordan, she said no again and stated clearly that she wouldn’t marry you, not even in the next ten years.”

“I had to do something, to get another woman, not for my sake, but for your sake. She was not the woman you expected and I am sorry that I kept you in the dark and away from finding out that you were getting married to a different woman, but I promise you, you will not regret this. She is your wife now and honestly, far better than a thousand, Samantha. I allowed you to walk out, I covered up your mess, I allowed you to do whatever you did when you left and gave you as much time as you needed because I know how shocked you were to find another woman under that veil. But you are home now, your home, your matrimonial home. Let’s forget about all this and move forward, shall we?”

Silence

Silence

A heavier silence

Nevertheless, my ears rang, my eyes watered, my heart crawled to my throat, my chest hurt, and the surrounding air turned hotter. Yet, I shook my head, refusing to believe what I was hearing. Mom Leona could not have done that to me.

Suddenly, a loud laughter erupted. It sent a shiver down my spine as it rose higher and higher. Then it stopped and something loud shattered.

“Let’s forget and move forward,” Jordan’s words came like gravel to my ears.

“You lied to me. You and that b***h out there deceived me.” He yelled.

“You spoke with Samantha? Huh? She rejected my proposal right. Why the f**k is she downstairs right now? Why is she here in the first place if she never wanted all this?” he yelled louder.

“I don’t know. To ruin your marriage, she is a slut, isn’t she?” he chuckled.

“You never met Samantha, mom. You never spoke to her, and that was because you never liked her for me.’

“No, no, I did. Yes, I didn’t like her, but I did.”

“Stop lying,” he snarled.

“Haven’t you done enough? Huh?”

“Is it not enough that you lied and deceived me? You manipulated me and worked with that b***h out there to steal the only thing that I have ever wanted in this life. Of all people, you understand how much time means to me, even the smallest of it. And the only thing that could ever make me happy was Samantha, yet you tore her out of my grip and stole five years of my life.”

“Haven’t you done enough?” his words shook, and the pain was so raw, it stabbed my heart. I turned away, unable to help myself, to listen anymore. My ears rang and my body shook with every step I made. Their words rang repeatedly in my head and it finally made sense. That look he had on his face when he first held my hand, the look in his eyes when he opened my veil. How he walked out and never looked back. It finally made sense. I wasn’t the woman he was supposed to see. I wasn’t the woman he had been expecting. For weeks, we had been speaking, and he thought I was her.

“Oh God,” tears ran down my eyes and my legs gave way as I fell down beside the couch in the master’s bedroom. My chest burned and my throat hurt. The tears came running down my cheeks. This was not a fairytale, it was a nightmare, a nightmare made into a fairytale. Did I think that I was lucky? No, I wasn’t only manipulated to believing that this was my blessing after all the things I had to go through in life. Did I think that I was lucky? Who ever got that lucky? To catch the eyes of a man who you met once by accident and fall in love in an arranged marriage and live happily ever after.

I was such a fool. To believe that it was all true, the clothes, the wealth, the words that came from his mouth that were clearly meant for another woman. I screamed. The pain was so raw, so present. I slammed my fist against my chest to take it away, but it only grew till I felt absolutely nothing else.

Suddenly the door opened and the familiar fragrance and mixed with a different and feminine one wafted into the room. I guessed it belonged to the other woman. I slowly got up from where my miserable self sat and turned around till I could see his face. His gaze was hard, his eyes cold, and his shoulder tensed.

“Jordan…” my heart broke at the way he stared at me.

“I didn’t…. I swear I didn’t know.”

“I thought that you, that we…. that it could…”

“Get out.” He growled.