Marry Me

Chapter Two

This is how Lexie looks as a twenty one year old^

Lexie

My parents never liked Graham. They never liked his family, where he lived, or where he went to school. They hated that he wasn't rich like us.

When Graham started working for my family, they called him a servant. They didn't even bother to remember his name. When they found out we were dating, my father flipped. My mother didn't talk to me for months. Why was I surprised? She didn't understand love. She was the victim of an arranged marriage herself.

That's why they loved my ex boyfriend, Tommy Dayton. He was the son of one of the wealthiest families in our city. In their eyes, he was the perfect partner for their little princess. However, I knew our relationship wasn't right. He never made me feel special. We weren't in love and pretending was okay at that time.

When I met Graham though, I felt those things. He was everything I ever wanted in a relationship, in a boyfriend.

We were so young and victims of a forbidden love. It wasn't only my parents who had a problem with our relationship, it was his father also. As soon as he found out that his son was dating Lexie Montgomery, he was furious.

I never understood why. I don't think Graham ever knew either. I don't think he ever bothered to ask his dad what made him opposed to our relationship.

On the night of graduation, Graham proposed to me. He knew if he didn't do it then, we wouldn't have a chance of being together. He was going to Alabama and I was going to Harvard. Our secret relationship was okay when we lived close to each other, but being far apart would make it almost impossible. That engagement was the only thing that we knew would keep us together, make us have hope that maybe one day our parents would approve of our love.

About a month after graduation, my parents found out about the engagement and the fact that it was with Graham Hoffman. They had people call his father and we sat in court rooms for the rest of the summer.

In the end, both of our parents threatened that if we didn't break off the engagement and our relationship, I wouldn't have the connections or the tuition to pay for Harvard and Graham's scholarship would be cut off. It was so stupid since we were both adults and legal to get married, but my parents were powerful people and always got what they wanted.

In the end, they actually lost something: their daughter. Graham and I both told them that our love was more important than college. In return, both of our parents scoffed and cut off communication. Graham used his college savings, the ones he earned working for my family, to buy an apartment for us. Three years later, everything is catching up with us.

I meant what I said that day, that our relationship was better than college, but sometimes I think about what could have been if our parents never resented our relationship. Graham could be on his way to playing professional football right now. It has been his dream since he was little and his older brother is living it. The famous Charlie Hoffman is Graham's brother. He's the only family member that Graham has talked to in the last three years. It's only been through the phone though.

I never had a dream job. I didn't have any specific interests. I was supposed to go to Harvard to become a lawyer, like my dad. He always had this image that one of kids would follow in his footsteps and since my younger brother, Jordan, already had the MLB scouts at his high school baseball games, his future was cut out for him. Jordan doesn't talk to me anymore. He thought I was stupid for throwing my career away for some guy.

Graham was never just some guy for me. When we met, I instantly knew that I had to get to know him better. He was more than just some waiter that my family hired. I was tired of the same snotty rich people. Graham was my escape, until he became my world. I knew that I wouldn't be happy if we didn't try to be together.

I still know that I wouldn't be happy without him, but I started thinking about how unhappy I am right now. This apartment is nothing like I grew up with. Barely scraping by was never what I expected. My life is messed up, but I have no idea how to fix it.

I look up from my book as Graham comes home from another long shift at the Mechanic Shop. He looks exhausted. It's time for me to get ready for my night shift at the bar across town, but I have to talk to him.

"Graham, what are we going to do about these bills?" I ask, motioning to the pile. I go to our bedroom to change into my work clothes, but I keep the door open so I can keep the conversation going.

He stands at the doorway of the bedroom and looks at me after rubbing his eyes. "We can't do anything about them. I told you yesterday that everything's going to be fine."

"How do you know that? We're not just going to get this heap of money. What if we lose our house?" I wasn't expecting that I would have the confidence to address the elephant in the room, but now that it's out in the open, I can't take it back.

He pauses, in shock that I said the truth, that I'm not pretending that everything is alright. Why should we anymore? We have a problem.

Finally, he speaks, "Why are you saying all of this? I've had a long day at work and this is not helping."

I walk past him, back into the kitchen, "We can't ignore this anymore. Don't you care that I'm afraid? Don't you ever want to get married? Start a family? I want a future elsewhere. We can't keep living like this."

"What do you want me to do Lexie? Give up my big scholarship to the University of Alabama? Oh wait, I already did that for you." He raised his voice.

"Oh, are you trying to blame me for not going to your dream school? Don't forget that I had to sacrifice my future too." I raise my voice to match his. There's no way I'm letting this go now.

"Oh I'm sorry that you had to give up your perfect life to be with me." He says sarcastically.

"You're impossible Graham Hoffman." I walk over to the front door and open it, "Sometimes, I wish we never even met."

"Well, I feel the same way." He says to me. He's standing so close to me that I have to look up at him. He does this to exaggerate how tall he is compared to my small frame.

"You bastard," I say, slamming the door. I stalk down the hallway to get to the parking garage.

As I drive to work, tears stream down my face, but I don't wipe them away. I can't pretend anymore. It's just too much trying to balance everything at once. I wish I was a kid again. I never had a care in the world and everything was offered to me on a silver platter.

Marry Me, by Tomas Rhett comes on on the car radio. The music drowns our the sound of my sniffling. My favorite song always calms me down.