My Kind of Perfect

6th ツ

6th ツ

"Excuse me?" I replied incoherently.

"You said you'd do anything for me. I don't have a bride, and I have a wedding to finish tomorrow," the words came out of his mouth way too easily.

"But it's a wedding! And you're asking me to be your bride out of nowhere," I pointed out the gravity of the situation to him, just in case he didn't notice.

"I actually am. But it's not like I'm forcing you. You don't have to do it if you don't want to," John told me. Then shaking his head with a quiet laugh—as if regaining back sanity—he ran his fingers through his hair and added, "Oh, forget it. I'm just playing around with you. I'll find another bride, Kaye. In fact, I should probably get on with that. So..."

"But..." I tried protesting some more, only to realize that it was me who offered to do anything in the first place.

"Look, Kaye. I seriously need a bride. And if you don't want to, I'll just have to find somebody else," he said to me. And I seriously couldn't believe that he was just picking brides out of nowhere. What was he up to? He was like, Oh! I'm having a wedding. Can you deliver a bride to me? What happened to the over passionate Johnny I once knew? He once told me that love was a serious matter, and it shouldn't be taken lightly.

"Wait. Why would you even throw a wedding if you didn't have a bride?" I incredulously asked him, exasperated.

"My bride ran off this morning," John replied, shrugging off his shoulders.

"Say what?"

"Well, we actually don't know each other that well. We just met once, and his father wanted me to marry her, so I agreed. But she ran off this morning, saying that she couldn't do it after all," he explained.

"Oh." That was the only word that managed to come out of my mouth. What was with this guy? What era were we in for him to be caught up in an arranged marriage?

"Anyway, I just need a temporary bride just to play the part for tomorrow afternoon. No need to sign papers or anything. I just can't let my grandma down. If you'll excuse me, I have some urgent things to do," John finished.

Like finding a bride, I thought to myself. Then blinking twice, I came to realize what he said: No need to sign papers. It was more like acting. Hey, I could do that much. If that would do me any good, I think I could do it.

"There's no marriage contract or anything?" I asked him, just as he was about to say goodbye.

"Yes, of course. There are important people who will attend tomorrow, and I can't simply call off the wedding. I think I can manage to handle it after that."

Narrowing my eyes, I gave it a serious thought. I had my own dream wedding, and it was nothing like this. I wanted to walk down that aisle, and be met at the altar by that one person that I loved. The whole place would be crowded with people I knew, not with total strangers. But given the situation, I guessed this was it or I'd die the next minute he'd be out of sight again.

But even this? A wedding? Be it fake or not, it was still a wedding.

What other choice did I have?

None.

I knew that.

"Alright, I'll play the part. But no strings attached after the wedding, okay?" I finally said.

"You will?" John couldn't believe what he was hearing.

I nodded.

"Oh, okay then. It's a deal. You'd be my bride, and I'd give you that forgiveness you were talking about earlier. Though I'm not so sure what that is... really," he said, scratching the back of his neck.