The Facade

Chapter 27

The estate was beautiful. It was a mix of rural and city styles. The grounds were well groomed, the bushes trimmed and the grass cut short. A stream ran straight through the lot, so a little bridge leading toward the guest house was built.

"That's where we keep the animals..." Eula pointed as she smiled. "We used to have a lot more but these days it's hard to compete with these big corporations."

We began to walk over the bridge, but Eula stopped. She leaned her elbows onto rail of the bridge. I was glad Marlon wasn't there to stare at her cleavage that sat on the rail. "Can we stop here for a moment? I just love to look over at the water."

"Sure." I joined her by leaning my elbows on the rail too. I looked at my chest, then at hers. My insecurities took over, I folded my arms over my chest as my arms rested on the rail. We both looked at the water running below us. It looked dark at that time of day, the sun was going down.

As we walked, I began to warm up to Eula. Maybe I was upset for no good reason. She was beautiful and seemingly educated by the way she spoke. It's not hard to be intimidated by someone like that. She gave me no reason to feel upset, nor was she prejudice to me. I just felt threatened by the way Marlon looked at her, I guessed.

"You know, I have so many memories out here." She shook her head as a nostalgic feeling spread over her. It was chilly standing over that water. Her pale cheeks were becoming red.

"I'm sure it's a wonderful place to grow up." I spoke. "I can imagine being a kid and running up and down here."

"We were originally from Nebraska, we moved here when I was a teenager." Eula informed me. Nebraska. Marlon is from Nebraska.

"Did you know Marlon?" I asked her. Maybe they knew each other longer than I imagined.

"I did, actually. We were brought up together." She smiled. A pang raced through my heart. "We used to play as kids... he's been a very close friend of mine for a long time."

"Now, I'm aware Marlon moved to New York after high school. Is it that you guys stayed in touch?" I asked her.

"Oh yeah, Marlon lived with us for a time! Sometimes between shows he didn't have a place to live." Eula sighed. "He even would involve himself romantically with some women just to get parts on Broadway. Desperate to get his career going."

I felt myself go green. These were things I didn't know about Marlon. He was always secretive about how he got to where he was. He was never open to me about these things. I wanted to be a person in his life who he told everything to, he wouldn't give me the chance.

"But I'm sure you know that... you're his wife after all." Her eyes shifted to the side.

"Actually I really—" Before I could speak, I was interrupted.

"Ladies." Marlon joined us on the rickety bridge. He was holding a ton of luggage. "You two ladies still haven't made it to the house yet? Why? Too busy gossiping?"

"We're just getting to know each other." Eula giggled. Norman began walking past us on the bridge while holding my leather suitcase.

"Norman, we were stopping right here for a moment." Marlon looked at Norman as he continued to make labored steps toward guest house.

"I can't stop. If I stop, I can't pick this heavy thing back up again!" Norman shouted out as he walked toward the guest house.

"Well allow me to help." Marlon offered. Norman ignored his offer and continued on. I laughed and covered my mouth as Norman stumbled toward the front door in the distance. Marlon blew out air and shook his head with a smile. His brown eyes looked to Eula, then back to me. "How are you two?"

"Fine." Eula and I said in unison, then we both laughed together.

Marlon grinned and wrapped his arms around me from behind. He nuzzled his face into my neck, his thumbs brushing on my abdomen. "I'm glad you two like each other."

"I'm glad that you not only brought yourself to marry, but you found yourself a good wife too!" Eula stared at us. Our open affection must make her uncomfortable. "I never thought you'd ever marry."

"If one more person says that!" Marlon joked and we all laughed. Marlon lowered his lips to my ear as he held me close. "How about we begin to head to the guest house?"

I agreed, so he took my hand and we began walking toward it. My heart was so full when I was like this with Marlon. I had to keep reminding myself it was all pretend, he only wanted to show me off to others for proof. Still, something inside of me felt that what we had was real. Like it wasn't all my imagination.

After entering inside the guest house, we saw Norman hovering by the fireplace. He was kneading a fire he'd just sparked. The room had a cabin style to it. Lots of plaid, gingham and woodsy colors.

A few windows were around the cottage, red gingham curtains framed each one of them. Various family photos were on display around the room, it was a nice place to be.

"That seems good enough." Norman stood up from the fireplace. "You two should get fixed up and prepare for dinner."

I looked to Marlon and he looked to me. "We're a bit run down, Norman. Thanks for offering but we will pass."

"Suit yourself." Norman smiled with a nod. Then he walked toward the door. "Have a wonderful night."

"You too." We both answered. Norman shut the door behind him as he walked off outside.

Now it was just Marlon and I. We walked up wooden steps to the bedroom. It was a small room. The bed had white sheets and a gingham blanket folded across the foot of it. Two side tables were at either side. Country styled furniture was all throughout the room just like downstairs. The ceiling had wooden beams and a triangular shape to it.

Marlon began to take off his blazer, but I spoke up. "I think you should sleep downstairs."

He paused, looking toward me. His suspenders pressed into the white dress shirt he wore. He set his blazer on the bed behind him. His finger rubbed on the beauty mark above his lip as he pondered my suggestion. "You want me to sleep on the couch?"

I walked closer to him until I stood directly in front of him. "We obviously can't keep our hands off of each other. I'm too attracted to you and you are to me. It's best we do things separately."

"But this is our honeymoon. The point of us being here is to—" He tried to reason with me.

"And who is going to know about you sleeping on the couch?" I asked, my fingers circling around his suspenders. "Please."

He jaw clenched as he nodded. "Alright."

He turned around and picked up his blazer off the bed. Then he picked up the gingham blanket. He walked over to the head of the bed and picked up a pillow too.

Before walking out, he stood beside me, his muscular arms holding all of his things. "Goodnight." He wished me, then left a kiss on my forehead.

After he left the room, my legs got weak and I practically fell down onto the bed. There I began to cry, my feelings were becoming too strong for my own good. I couldn't stop wanting Marlon Brando.