[ ♡ ] My Secret Love [ #writewithZo ]

Claire Otis // [ 409 Words ]

❝ I remember that day as clearly as yesterday.

You were working at one of the seven pretzel stands in the mall back home. Everyone new to the mall would look at them strangely, not knowing how to react. Why was it necessary to have seven whole pretzel stands in one single place? As soon as I saw your face, it was almost as if it was love at first sight. I recall laughing to myself, thinking you'd never like someone like me. A shy school girl who thinks she's useless. A shy school girl who has no friends and her sense of comedy was herself.

Somehow once I approached the stands, you seemed interested in me. There was a weird look in your eye, which I couldn't place at the time. But looking at you now, I believe it was the same look you have in your eyes now. Maybe it was lust... as silly as that may be.

You gave me your number and that's where it all started. We'd text every single day and I'd make sure to come to the mall often just to see you on your work days. Eventually, I got a job there, because we were simple, clingy teenagers at the time. You made me believe that love is real, even when I was just sixteen.

Now, as I stand here, at twenty-four, I still love you. You still make me believe every single day that love truly is real. Maybe we were just silly back then. We were being children, falling in love without realizing it. Yet now, I don't think we were being silly. I mean, look at us now!

We didn't tell anyone about our relationship. We were terrified of what people would think, likely for different reasons. My parents weren't ever fond of boys like you... the ones who seemed to cause trouble everywhere they went. It's true, you acted like a psycho at times when we were younger. Now, though, they're proud of me. They're proud of you. I wouldn't doubt it if they're more proud of you than they are of me in this very moment.

I love you so much. Surprisingly, so do they. ❞

...

❝ I, Claire Otis, take you Christian Neville, to be my husband, to have and behold from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part. ❞