Alone in Marriage

Chapter Nine

Erica was near the lake. She hugged herself, tried to warm herself up despite her doomed mood. Her mind wandered back to Arnold. His smile, his laugh, his frown, his anger, and his entire being, how she longed to be near him for every moment of his life, although just as a friend.

"Erica!" she heard Arnold's voice. Great! Now I start hearing his voice! What worse could happen?

"ERICA!" the voice was closer and louder this time. Could this be real? I wasn't hallucinating, was I?

She hesitantly checked on the direction the voice came from. When she turned around, she saw Arnold was approaching her. Her breath caught in her throat, the sight in front of her was unbelievable. When he was three meters away, she freaked out and said the first thing that came to her mind, "What are you doing here?"

Arnold stopped on his track by her question. "I came to pick you up!" he said sincerely. He hold himself from smiling. He felt so happy, he finally able to see her again. He thought she had gone and won't return. But now that she was in front of him, he would do everything in his power to bring her back.

"My parents called you, didn't they!" she said it more as a statement than a question.

"Yes, your father did." he answered calmly.

"Why are you so calm?" she asked. She was afraid his calmness was like clear sky before storm. You never knew when the storm with hit you. She would rather face it straight away than delay it till later. She knew she would cause him trouble when she ran away, but with her emotion state that time, she really couldn't think that much. At least, here, her parents won't let her kept weeping around.

"Calm? Did you know I have been worried sick for last thirty one hours?"

She then saw the anger in his eyes.

When she just kept silent, he added, "But I understand why you did what you did."

By that, he had Erica looking at him with widened eyes.

Arnold gulped, admitted wrong was never his specialty and he never intended to get used to it. "I apologize for what I had done to hurt you, I insulted you, I ignored you, and I misunderstood you. I am sorry for all of that." he stared straight to her eyes and his intense gaze frightened her that she had to turn her head away.

"If you thought I will pronounce my undying love for you, then you better get that out of your mind from today on."

He sounded so sad, how could someone with a heart as kind as him be so bitter about love. Erica was so shocked that she turned her gaze back at him because he saw right through her.

"I will never love you. Stop wishing for that! Because I am incapable for that emotion. Friendship is the only thing I could offer. And I believe that's what we need to make this marriage work."

To say she wasn't hurt was a lie, but she had also seen that coming. She really wanted to know what had happened in the past that had caused him to be incapable of love.

"I am sorry for how I treated you, but here I am offering to you my deepest apology. Can you put those behind us and do our best to make a better future for the sake of our sanity and our families sake." He went down one knee and brought out a bouquet of blue Iris and purple Carnation from his back. "I won't ask you to forgive me immediately, I know you need time. But will you be my friend? I promise I will cherish you."

Erica gasped and covered her mouth. She couldn't believe he had offered what her heart desired, not the most but at least second nonetheless. But, could she trusted him? He had deceived her before, but this time he had been nothing but honest. If he wanted to fool her again, he would declare his love, not offering friendship. Didn't you say so yourself. If he can't love you, you wish he can befriend you? She asked herself, That's right! I shouldn't hesitate. Life is too precious to live in misery. I should grab this chance. But I have to make sure he won't break my heart again.