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“Coming to bed, honey?”
I half-turned my head away from the window to glare at-oh how I hate to call her this-my wife. “No,” I grumbled, resuming my ‘I’m-not-in-a-good-mood-don’t-bother-me’ scan of the city. “And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?”
I heard her sigh and watched her semi-transparent reflection rise and shuffle over to my position. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head on my left shoulder. It was horrific enough that I was forcibly married to this woman, but the fact that I was barely an inch taller than her absolutely killed me.
“John,” Maggie said, “I know that right now you utterly detest me…but I also know you’ll learn to accept this, and, through time, you’ll eventually love me as much as you used to adore Kelly.”
“Ha!” I laughed. “You actually imagine I’ll be attracted to the thief that stole me from my first and only love?”
She sighed for a second time and began to run her fingers through my shoulder length, midnight-black hair. In all honesty, I don’t hold anything against Maggie; this whole situation wasn’t her entire fault. On June sixteenth, 2090, exactly three months ago, our government passed a law calling for the marriage of every human being in America ages fourteen and up. This, in a sense, could have been a benefit to our steadily declining birth rate; marriages these days are difficult to bring forth and no one wants to have a child with some random hobo on the streets. However, instead of having everyone find a mate that both the man and woman agreed on, the sensible thing to do, some jerk decided that the women would have complete control over whom they’d marry. As fate would have it, marriage choices began with the beginning of the alphabet, and Maggie Antonio was obviously way before Kelly Stevens.
“I know you truly loved Kelly,” Maggie began, “But ever sense I laid eyes on you, my heart has yearned for you with the white-hot intensity of Hell itself! And when I was given the chance to marry you…”
She trailed off, allowing for my turn to sigh. First Kelly….and now Maggie…the only two people whom have ever shown love towards me…anyone crazy enough to love me can’t be an awful person. Completely out of their minds, perhaps, but not awful.
“I understand,” I muttered slowly. I glanced down at her as she entwined part of her blonde curls with the lone silver streak in my hair.
“You know,” she said, forming a sweet, yet obviously forced smile, “I’m perfectly fine with you visiting her…if you promise to stay with me.”
I considered this for a brief moment. On one hand, I’d be able to see and talk to Kelly again…but Maggie would highly disapprove of our….let’s call it passionate behavior.
Since I remained silent, Maggie continued, “Give it some thought, and we’ll talk about it in the morning, hon-” She stopped and corrected herself. “John.”
She then walked over to her dresser and removed a pair of handcuffs from its drawer. It was a rather preposterous measure that she and several other women with hateful husbands had to take; they needed to ensure that the husbands didn’t run away or try to kill their wives or themselves.
“I’m really sorry I have to do this,” Maggie said for the hundredth time, clasping one end to my wrist and the other to her own.
I, however, didn’t mind this little detail; Kelly and I would do stuff like this for fun. Though, I guess it’s just not the same with Maggie.
She led me over to the bed and as we slipped under the covers she kissed my cheek and whispered, “Goodnight.”
In response, I turned away from her and grunted, “Whatever.”
She sighed yet again and distinguished the lights.
***
The next morning, after two hour’s worth of thinking (Maggie had an unusual habit of oversleeping), I decided that I’d very much like to see Kelly again, even should this be the last time I do so. Maggie made a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes, which I consumed faster than a vacuum could catch dust mites.
The moment I finished, I eagerly set out to 1703 Willway Drive, Kelly’s home, with Maggie slowly trailing behind me. Ignoring her cries to wait up, I sprinted and arrived a good five minutes ahead of her. I bolted up the steps and rang the doorbell twice, ensuring that I’d be heard. The door opened slowly and I was surprised to be greeted by a middle-aged man; Kelly, only sixteen, was most likely going insane over this and would quite possibly be overjoyed to find out I was visiting her.
“Can I help you?” Kelly’s husband questioned in a gruff voice, all the while eyeing me suspiciously. It was rare that “couples” visited other “couples” and a boy of only seventeen appearing at a doorstep with no women in sight was quite fishy indeed.
“I’m looking for Kelly Stevens,” I answered, losing none of my nerve; I didn’t come all this way to be scared off by some fat lard. “She still lives here, right?”
The man paused, scanning me up and down. He then turned his head and called, “Kelly, sweetie! There’s a young lad here to see you!”
Hearing the man call Kelly “sweetie” and me “lad” filled me with rage and laughter at the same time. No one but I could call Kelly that, but it was nonetheless funny to hear the word “lad” in this time and age!
Apparently, Kelly disliked her nickname as well, for she called back. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME SWEETIE!!”
Ah, even in anger, her voice held that of a thousand angels’. Barely a minute had passed before the familiar brunette female figure that encircled my entire life entered my view…the missing piece of my heart.
“John?!” Her eyes widened as she inched closer to me. “Oh my god, it really is you!”
Not caring what her husband would say, Kelly leapt onto me and barraged me with endless kisses. I embraced her tightly as we finally locked lips for the first time in three months. Unfortunately, it was during these eight seconds of pure heaven that Maggie finally appeared.
“You really shouldn’t-” She cut off when she saw the two of us kissing. She cleared her throat as Kelly broke up our kiss and glared angrily at Maggie. “John, I think we should leave,” Maggie finished, coldly.
“He’s staying right here, where he belongs,” Kelly snapped, surpassing Maggie’s ferocity.
At this, Kelly’s husband stepped forward. “Kelly, I think-”
“Keep out of this, Rodger!” Kelly interrupted, glaring at the poor man. “Go back in the house!”
Rodger backed away from her. “Yes, sweetie.” The man studied the tips of his shoes as he retreated back into his home.
“Don’t call me that,” Kelly snarled through clenched teeth, “You dumb fu-”
“John belongs with me,” Maggie interrupted quietly.
Ever since turning thirteen, I had always dreamed of girls fighting over me. This was not the way I had pictured it. Kelly’s fierceness frightened me, and Maggie was a woman I couldn’t envision myself loving in the same way I loved Kelly.
“You’re nothing but a thief!” Kelly roared. “I’ve loved John longer than you! We were perfectly happy until you stole him from me!”
“I could say the same to you,” Maggie squeaked, her voice barely above whisper. I could tell she was on the verge of tears. “Take him then…”
Maggie slowly started to walk away, tears streaming down her cheeks. I love Kelly more than anything in the world…but right now…I can’t believe I’m saying this, Maggie needs my love more than Kelly.
Kelly started leading me back inside but I stopped her. “Kelly...” I whispered in her ear. “You know that my heart will always belong to you…but…”
Kelly stared at me in disbelief. She knew what I was thinking. “You can’t possibly mean-”
“Please let me finish…Kelly…if I get an opportunity to come back to you without breaking Maggie’s already feeble heart, you can beat your soul to the Devil that I will take it the moment I get the chance. But until then…”
I looked back to Maggie’s location, only to find that she was gone. Poor girl must have snuck off while I was speaking to Kelly.
“John.” I turned back to look at Kelly. She opened her mouth but couldn’t form any words. She tried again with similar results. Finally she just gave me a small smile. “I’ll be waiting for you to come back to me. Rodger isn’t all bad, but he’s incomparable to you.” Tears welled up in her eyes and she threw her arms around my neck. “I love you, John!”
She burst into tears and I rubbed her back and kissed her forehead trying to sooth her. “Hey,” I said, lifting her chin up, “It won’t be so bad. The wait will just make us even more anxious to be with each other!” She smiled again, tears still in her eyes. “I love you, Kelly.”
We locked lips again and held it for what must have been no less than a minute. Then, I gave her one final hug goodbye and quickly headed back to Maggie’s house.
***
The ground of our home was blanketed by a fresh blizzard of Kleenex. I made my way to our bedroom to find Maggie bawling her eyes out on the bed. I stood in the doorway for a minute, watching her blow her nose and trying to wipe the tears from her face.
Since she didn’t notice me I quietly said, “Hi.”
Her head bobbed up and she finally looked at me. I walked over to her and sat on the bed next to her.
“John?” She stammered. “Wh-what are you-”
I placed a single finger over her lips. “Shh…I realized that you need my love right now more than Kelly does…I think Kelly can wait a year or two.”
Her mouth opened in a wide smile. She embraced me tightly and we then proceeded to do something that I vowed I would never do after our wedding day. We kissed.