Memphis is waiting outside of the house, pacing. I park my car but I don't move. I watch Memphis watch me. He expects me to go to him but I'm tired of being the one who always has to make the first move. I want him to make an effort. I sit and I wait. He stops pacing and rolls his eyes. He walks over to my car and opens my door for me.
"Whoa." I get out and he shuts the door abruptly. "You...look...."
"Stunning? Thank you but I'm already aware." I flip my hair in the wind to add effect. Even though there is no wind and I have too much hair product in to make my hair move.
"Black."
"Oh is my inner self showing?" I laugh and then my cheeks grow warm. I should've cleaned up, I know. I'm still covered in heavy black paint and I'll admit it's suffocating and it's starting to irritate my skin. "I need a shower." And as if Mother Nature has a sense of humor it starts raining and the dried paint turns fresh again.
"I'm melting!" I joke. Memphis looks down to see a puddle of black surrounding me. What he does next absolutely stupifies me. Memphis's rock hard face cracks into a smile revealing a beautiful set of pearly whites. I feel a sense of triumph because I know I caused it; I smile back. Memphis should smile more often, it's contagious.
"I guess witches do melt when water is added."
My smile drops. He's ruined the mood.
"It's a joke!" He throws his hands up in defense. "Some people just can't handle humor." My smile returns once I realize he's saying something similar to what I said to him a few days ago.
"I never pegged you for a guy with a sense of humor. It suits you." He eyes me strangely wondering why I'm willingly giving him a compliment. What happened in his past to make him always question things?
"Go inside and clean up. We need to talk."
Normally if someone says "we need to talk" a break up is about to happen. His statement makes my heart flutter instead. He wants to talk to me. He's going to pay attention to me! I'm not going to want to murder him anymore! Praise the lord.
I take a shower which takes a lot longer than I expected it to. The paint would not come off no matter how hard I scrubbed. Bits and pieces went away but there is still a large amount varies places on my body. I put on a sports bra and a cut off shirt. I then put on my comfy black and grey shorts. My wet hair sticks to my neck free from all the hairspray and gel I usually put in it. I look comfy yet cute at the same time.
Memphis is waiting for me on the couch so I plop down next to him. His eyes flicker up and down my body. Why does this action make me feel so good about myself? He's checking me out! This is the first time Memphis has seen me as myself. I'm usually dressed in tight clothes with my hair a wicked style but right now I'm fresh and I feel naked. I'm exposed and completely vulnerable. I see surprise take over his perfect features. He never knew I could look so different. I'm not sure if he likes how I look or not. Wait a minute...why should I even care!?!?
"I just want to say I'm sorry. I haven't been treating you fairly and I've been hurting you. I've been taking my anger from my father and taking it out on you."
"Wait a minute, back up. Why are you suddenly apologizing now?" Not that I'm not happy that he's giving me an apology, but it is a little weird. He's been on radio silence for days and now put of the blue he's not just talking to me but apologizing.
"Umm." He shifts next to me which makes the couch move. He doesn't know how to word what he wants to say. Or maybe he doesn't know if he should say it. "Sam told me you were...crying..."
Damn you Sam, that was classified information!
"At first I didn't really plan to do anything about it until I found my door destroyed. I realized that what you're feeling is pretty serious. I'm really sorry Alice."
"Thank you." I whisper trying to fight the emotions that are trying desperately to break free.
"I thought you were just a poor sap after me for my looks and money. I have my own opinions of how women are because I've never met anyone who has taught me any different. That day you said you were a ..."
"Virgin." I finish for him. He blushes and rakes his hand over his bangs trying to cover his eyes.
"Yeah. That." He slouches further into the couch. "I became angry at myself because I've been a jerk to you and I didn't know how to fix things."
"I think you just did." I grin. He lifts his head and smiles back. "Thank you Memphis." I say again.
"You're welcome."
Memphis tries his best to stay out of his room the rest of the day. We watch T.V. and give each other secret glances. Sam's eyebrows practically raise to her hair line when she sees us getting along. I'll admit it's awkward. I've spent most of my time hating him that getting along with him feels weird. I bet he feels even more uncomfortable than me. I've seen him look at his hands and fidget with his wedding ring multiple times. I've seen him glance at my hands or rather left hand. I know the question is going to pop up soon.
"Where's your ring?" And there it is. The question I've been anticipating. What happened to my very expensive wedding ring?
"Umm...I lost it?" I don't want to tell Memphis what I actually did to it. I'll admit when I dropped the ring in the aquarium I felt great. I felt like I committed a daring act of treason and I was proud. Now I feel lousy because it was incredibly rude of me to do that. I don't want to wear that eye catcher though! It'll just get in my way and blind those around me.
"You lost it? You lost a 1.2 million dollar wedding ring!!!" Oh no he's angry.
"I bet it's around here somewhere, calm down." It's actually a lot closer than you think. "Wait, you spent 1.2. Million dollars on a ring!!! Take it back I don't want something that expensive! Who in their right mind would pay that much for a stupid ring!"
"I didn't spend that much on it my great great grandparents did. That ring is a family heirloom."
I stop breathing. I threw a very expensive family heirloom in an aquarium. It's marinating in fish infested water!
"To be honest my dad forced me to give it to you. I'm not one for bulky jewelry; I've always hated the thing."
I let out a breath. At least he doesn't like it too much. That makes me feel a little bit better. One thing is cetain, I need to get the wedding ring out of the tank.
"Maybe it's a good thing it's lost. Now nobody else will have to wear it generations down the road." Memphis jokes probably trying to make me feel better about "loosing" the precious family heirloom. What he says is true though, I saved some other poor girl from having to wear that ugly monstrosity.
You're welcome future daughter...oh wait...I'll never have a kid. Not that I have anything against children but since I'm married to Memphis and don't love him, I can garentee that we will never and I mean NEVER have intercourse so that rules out having a baby. Though I'd be lying if I said I'd never thought about how cute his kids would look like. Memphis is already handsome enough as it is; can you imagine how his kids would look. Blue eyed lady killers with dimples that could kill.
"Alice? I'm not mad about the ring, honest." It takes me a minute for my brain to switch back to the original subject; the ring.
"Okay." I nod my head. "I know you're not. I mean, we're just a fake couple anyways so losing my wedding ring isn't a big deal." I can't help but feel sad by what I'm saying. I'm married to a man I don't love. I'm still a young girl after all and have delusions of falling head over heels in love like other girls my age do. Who cares if I'll live in luxury for the rest of my life. I'll live without love. My parents took that option away from me as well as my freedom.
"What did I do?" Memphis asks and I can tell he genuinely thinks he's done something wrong.
"It's nothing Memphis I'm just lost in thought." How much more can I ask for? Memphis is finally giving me the attention I've been dying for and all I can do is think about how much I'm missing out on life.
Suddenly Miles's words pop into my head. I need to tell Memphis that I'll listen to him if he's ever having problems. If I do that he'll be more likely to open up to me later on in our relationship.
"Alice, if anything ever bothers you I want you to know that you can always talk to me about it. I'm going to try to be more fair towards you from now on." My heart crumbles. He said what I wanted to say to him. He said what Miles wanted me to tell him.
"Same here. I'll listen to your troubles too. We're in the same boat after all, might as well start rowing."