I hated having to go to these 'meetings' to meet my suitors. Just thinking about t it made me shivered. I've been on seven so far and I already was starting to lose faith. The first time the man "accidentally" dumped water all over my white tee-shirt making it see-through. On the second date I went on the guy picked his nose then ate it. I was drinking at the time and the shock of what he had done made me spit my drink all over him. The third date did not go well because the suitor had lied about his age. He was really well into his thirties.
Now you can sympathize with my reluctances
I have learned a lot from toes first few meetings. Lesson number one, never wear a lot white on the first date; guys can misconstrue the meaning or try and take advantage. Lesson number two, never, under any circumstances, where hills! They are an invention created by men to make running away nearly impossible. Lesson number three, if you want to get a good, attractive guy you must not wear a lot of makeup. Nice guys should like you for who you are. In my experience only the cheaters and womanizers like women with a lot of makeup or other flashy displays.
After dawdling a little longer I finally got out of bed. I went over to my dresser and picked out a black plain tee-shirt, jeans, and my under garments. I took the newly acquired clothes to the bathroom and got ready for the day. I had put on a little makeup on because I didn't want to look like a total bum but I refuse to dress-up and act different for people I did not know. After I was ready I headed downstairs and said good bye to Mr. & Mrs. Soman. They had told me to call them Mom and Dad but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I have only known them for three years and although it may seem like a long time, I still can’t seem to accept the stability I have had. After being passed from family to family I cannot bring myself to say that I have a permanent family. Bad memories and thoughts were consuming me and I had to break away from my train of thought. I took a deep breath and repeated in my head "they love you and you have nothing to fear. Breathe in. Breathe out."
Most meetings my parents would accompany me. On the special occasion they would have to work but that was rare. Today was unfortunately one of the days that they had to be at work.
I put on a pair of my nice black shoes and headed out to my car. It wasn’t an expensive car but it was a nice one. Mr. Soman gave me his old one for my birthday when he bought himself a gas saver. I felt so grateful for my baby. She might not be new but she got me where I was going. With the way the gas prices were going though I had to convert to taking a bicycle or walking most of the time. I would have walked today but the restaurant was a decent distance away.
It took me ten minutes to get there and by the time I had arrived the greeter confirmed that the other person in my party was already waiting on me. She led me over to a secluded table with one guy seated facing away from me. He had dark hair and a muscular frame. It was hard to tell from behind but he seemed like a nice guy. Of what I could see he was wearing a dark colored jacket and had bed hair. He kind of reminded me of Will from behind but I couldn’t allow myself to think like that. I only had a small crush on him but I couldn’t allow my feelings for him affect my decision on the man sitting before me. Comparing them would only negatively affect my decisions.
When I walked past him to go to my chair and sit down he got up and followed me. As shy as I am I couldn’t help but keep my head down staring at the checkered floor patterns. The stranger held my chair out and I sat down and then pushed my chair in for me. All I could think was “Wow, what a gentleman.”
He went back to his side of the table and I was finally able to get a good look at him. As he sat down I looked up at him. I gasp at the sight. After a long pause I stuttered out “Will? Will Are…Are you following me or is this come kind of joke. Ha-ha Henry you can come out now. The joke’s over. Henry? Henry?" Will was also stunned to see me. He started muttering “ga, ga, ga, ga...... wha." He was so cute when he looked confused. He looked like he couldn't speak, or think for that matter, a coherent thought. Okay, so I’ve come to the realization that it wasn’t a joke but where did that leave us.
I put my hand on top of Will’s to help calm him down. He relaxed ever so slightly and started speaking comprehensibly. “Grace, What are you doing here? No, no of course I didn’t follow you. Why are you screaming for Henry? Grace?” “So this isn’t a joke? Why would you be looking for an arranged marriage Will?” He sighed and rubbed his head. He murmured “I’ll talk about it later but no, this isn’t a joke. Why are you here though?” I didn’t wast to tell him why I was agreeing to be in an arranged marriage because it was embarrassing so I said “Well I am here because the company arranged this meeting for me. Duh.” That earned a chuckle out of him and he laughed out “smart ass. Fine if you don’t want to talk about it now I’ll get it out of you later.”
The waitress took our drink order and after that we were free to talk some more. Will talked about everything except one topic, the meeting. I was grateful for the distraction because I would rather talk in a private place about such personal things. A tiny bit of me felt hurt that he did not trust me with this but at the same time I saw the hypocrisy in that. I didn’t tell him either so I had no right to be mad.
When dinner was ordered we continued talking about trivial things but when the food came we ate in comfortable silence. After dinner Will suggested that we go somewhere private to talk and I agreed. We both had one place in mind as it was our favorite place for our trio to sneak off too: The Bat cave as Will calls it.
'The Bat Cave' is a log cabin I had found not long after I was adopted. I brought Will and Henry back to the cabin the next day. I wanted all of us to decide a name for it. I remember that day so clearly.
- 1 1/2 years ago
Will loved Batman so he picked the name "The Bat Cave", I picked the name "The Escape" because that was what it was. It was not an extravagant cabin and you could tell it had definitely been abandoned but it was a place to escape to. Henry picked the name “The Club House” because it reminded him of a big tree house.
To settle the argument we had a pillow fight. Will and I cornered Henry and attacked him mercilessly. By the time we were finished with him he was hollering “I give up! I give up! You got me! White flag!” That meant he it was only Will and I left. We were batting at each other uncontrollably until somehow he sent my pillow flying across the room. He then knocked me down on the floor and pinned me down. He legs were straddling me and he pinned my hands above my head with one of his hands. He bent down and kissed my cheek. Then he whispered "I'm never gonna let you go so you better give up now." I struggled against his grip but it was to no avail. I gave up and liked around. I saw my pillow with in arms reach and grabbed for it. I hit him in the head with it and he was momentarily stunned. It gave me the chance to push him off of me. I jumped up and ran. Will yelled after me “ohh now it’s on Grace.”
-Present
We drove separately to the cabin; we didn’t want to leave a car behind. We parked our cars in the back of the building and got out. We headed inside and Will lead me into the living room. He sat down on our makeshift couch and I sat on the recliner that we had got at a garage sale. I was positioned in front of him which made it easier to talk.
He said "ok, now that were alone, who should explain first?"
