I married a stranger

The search

"Damn it. Those stupid idiots!" I heard from the kitchen as I was walking towards the hallway in the morning. "They'll ruin everything..." Lucas seemed to be upset over something. When I came inside I saw him throwing the newspapers in the trash.

"Morning." I looked at the trashcan suspiciously.

"Oh, good morning, sweetheart. How did you sleep?" He turned around in his bar chair.

"Not bad, actually." I sat down next to him. "What are you up to?"

"Well, I was just... Looking for a job."

"And? Any luck?"

"I'm afraid not." He smirked.

"And what exactly did you study for? What can you do?" I wasn't comfortable asking him those questions but I concluded I had a right to know. Not only because I was married to him in a way but also because he lived under my roof and I wasn't comfortable with providing a home for a drug dealer.

"I'm a... Well, I make those things, you know..."

"What things?"

"That people use for work."

"Oh, you mean like computers? Why don't you just say so?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"Well, you shouldn't have much problem finding a job then."

"I guess not." He picked up the trash. "I'm just gonna take out the trash."

"But it's not even full. You don't have to."

"It's not hard for me to do it, really."

"Since when?"

"I'm trying to work harder. Can't you just compliment me instead of looking  for another reason to judge me?"

"Alright. I'm sorry..."

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted. I know you're just worrying about me."

"Exactly. I want you to be able to take care of yourself. It's not that I mind paying for the dinner here and there and buying all the groceries... But I think it would make you feel better if you had a job too."

"I know... I'm just not that used to people carrying about me. And you're right. We are married now so we should pay for everything equally."

"I wouldn't mind that, to be honest." I chuckled.

"You know what they say... What's mine is yours. But since I don't have anything... Meh." He shrugged and went out carrying the trash. I rolled my eyes unable to suppress my smile.

When he came back I knew it was time for me to come up to him with all the questions I had because it was eating me up inside. He washed his hands in a sink and I had to struggle to let that one pass by without saying anything. While he was wiping his hands with paper towels I cleared my throat.

"Where did you get that hat?" I noticed a new red hat on his head.

"I found it." I wasn't in a mood to ask where because I knew I wouldn't like the answer.

"Is this really how you want to live?" He seemed confused by that question.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm sure you can't be satisfied with how things are."

"Why? I'm happy."

"But we can't go on like this forever."

"Why not?" He came up to me to the other side of the kitchen island and leaned his hands against it.

"Because... Well, you might be satisfied but I'm not. And marriage takes two people."

"At least..."

"What?"

"I mean... Is it because I'm homeless? Is that a problem for you?"

"Of course not. But you have to admit that this situation is weird. I mean I don't know you, you don't know me and we're supposed to be married."

"We are married."

"Okay, we are... But still. I can't just take your word for it. And honestly I... It's not that I don't like you but I want a divorce." He looked down for a moment processing what he had just heard. Those words seemed to hurt him more than they should after being for only a couple of days and to a complete stranger.

"So you don't like me..."

"I just said..."

"I heard what you said, Natalie, but you wouldn't divorce anyone you like."

"That's because I am not married to just anyone! At least I didn't use to be..."

"So you think this was a mistake."

"No, I didn't say that. But maybe we should take things slow. You don't start meeting each other by marrying them. That's what comes at the end of the story."

"You said you like adventures."

"But this isn't an adventure. This is ridiculous."

"I knew it. I knew you'd say that sooner or later. Of course, marrying me is ridiculous. How could I ever even think that you might be happy with me?"

"But why do you so desperately want this to last? You can do so much better than me, and I can do... You can do so much better."

"What if I don't want better?"

"I can't help you, Lucas. I want to hear about the day we got married." He sat down next to me and now got even more nervous than before. I knew I was on to something.

"Okay... what do you want to know?"

"Everything. I know I went to a bar alone because Alice was at work and I just recently broke up with my boyfriend. I was sitting there drinking but I don't remember you."

"It hurts me that you don't remember our wedding. But that's probably because of the fall."

"I fell?"

"Yeah. Right after the wedding. You slipped on the floor in the casino."

"Wait a minute. When did I go to a casino?"

"Well I came up to you in a bar and I asked you if I could offer you a drink. You said you won't agree to less than five so I took all the money I had to pay for those and just watched you drink all of them alone. You never spoke much during that. After you got kinda tipsy you asked for my name and then took a better look at me. You asked me to marry you. I said why not and we went to a chapel in the casino."

"We married in a casino?"

"Well, yeah... But that was your wish. It's a hotel actually but it doesn't matter... Anyways there was a guy in there and he was just closing the door when we came and he was telling us to go home and get back tomorrow but you were so angry you almost punched him. He then agreed to marry us and here we are."

"I can't believe that... We have to find that man who married us."

"Why? But I already asked him if he could borrow me his costume and he said no."

"Not that... We need to ask him to erase our marriage like it never existed."

"Oh, is being married to me really that bad?"

"This has nothing to do with you."

"But I would never erase one second spent with you. Just so you know."

I stood up from my chair and went to the hanger to take my jacket and put it on. He stood up from his chair tucking his shirt in.

"Is this necessary? I promise you will never regret that you married me."

"But that's just the thing. I never actually married you. I was heartbroken, I was drunk, my boss is a jerk... This is a consequence of all my problems."

"Then that's proof that you can get something good from your problems."

"Just come with me. And keep your mouth closed while I'm driving. I don't wanna listen to you reassuring me over and over."

"So you admit I reassured you? At least a little?"

"Ugh..." I sighed and went outside.