MANHATTAN, Eugene had the apartment to himself. Anna was staying with her parents at their hotel.
They were staying in the city for the wedding.
Tomorrow, they were getting married. Earlier, in the morning, he had asked when they were going to start the divorce proceedings. He had guessed they'd wait at least for the weekend to end.
Anna told him his timing was awful, and it was disgusting of him to bring it up now.
Now she was gone, so he decided to do some research.
He Googled divorce in NYC.
After some searching, he found it wasn’t too expensive. As long as they kept lawyer drama out of it, the cost should be less than $500. There was something he didn't expect, though.
You couldn’t file for divorce until you'd been married for six months. He wondered if Anna knew that.
They'd be stuck together for a while.
Well, at least legally. They might not have to live together.
Who was going to move out? He hoped it was Anna. It was so hard to find a decent apartment in the city.
Then he thought of something.
There was no way he could afford the rent on his own. Anna paid for most of it.
Shit.
Suddenly, Eugene was very depressed.
Time to think about something else.
The Arcide.
At this point, he wasn’t scared of any mythical darkness thing. He had enough to worry about...like how to get through the next few days with Bridezilla.
He wasn't sure Cornelia O'Keefe could be trusted. She had an agenda, and maybe she was creating and/or exaggerating in order to get what she wanted.
In a way, they had both failed, though.
Ms. O'Keefe wanted to bring attention to her cause, and Eugene had hoped his article would be picked up by the major news sources.
It hadn't happened. The Arcide story hadn't gone far beyond the website. Five blogs had mentioned it, and there were a few mentions on Twitter. That was it.
There was a fair amount of comments on the article, not filtered. One person took the opportunity to bash him for having a huge expensive wedding.
Did he write about how much the wedding was costing?
No. They just made assumptions.
Besides that comment, most people ignored the small amount of personal information he had inserted.
They talked about the Arcide. The comments, for the most part, could be divided into three camps.
There was
a) People who saw it as one big joke
b) People who took it seriously and were worried
c) People who criticized those who joked about it.
d) People who made fun of those who who scared
Some people flowed back and forth through the various camps.
There were personal attacks and a couple of threats.
One person claimed Cornelia O'Keefe was suffering from sexual repression and the Arcide was really the stick up her ass. What Eugene thought was that someone should be moderating these comments.
***
Eugene lay in bed, unable to sleep.
Was it too late to back out? Could he be a runaway groom?
His depression lifted and was temporarily replaced by glee as he imagined Anna waiting for him to show up; then realizing she had been left at the altar.
Shit. That was mean.
Maybe he wasn't one of those people who had only a sliver of the Arcide within them. He used to think he was a fairly decent guy. Now he wasn’t so sure.
And he might be homeless soon. He wouldn't be able to afford Manhattan...unless he found a roommate.
He didn’t know a lot of people in the city. His life here had been rather solitary, if you didn’t count Anna.
And why should he count Anna?
Sebastian had probably been better company than Anna.
Unfortunately, though EB people could Skype, FaceTime, text, and Twitter, they couldn’t pay rent. So Sebastian wasn’t a viable candidate for the roommate thing.
Eugene dreaded the idea of searching among strangers to find someone. He also dreaded moving to one of the other five boroughs.
Although, now that he thought of it. With his money alone, he probably wouldn’t be able to afford any of them.
***
Eugene didn’t fall asleep until 4 am, so he wasn't happy when Anna woke him up at 7:00 am.
She touched him on the shoulder, and he jumped. "What are you doing here?" Then he blurted out something really stupid. "Isn't it bad luck for the groom to see the bride the day of the wedding?"
Anna rolled her eyes. "Yes. You're cursed for life."
She had papers in her hand. She placed them on top of Eugene's chest.
"What are these?" he asked.
"Pre-nup. I meant to give them to you earlier, but I've been really stressed with the wedding."
He picked up the papers and looked at them. "Do you think I'm after your money?" Now that he thought of it, though, it might not have been a bad idea. Too bad she remembered to give him the papers.
"No. I think you're shit but not a gold digger."
"Thanks," he said. "Do you have a pen?"
She opened up the drawer next to his nightstand and grabbed a pen. She handed it to him.
He signed, initialed, and handed it back to her.
"Are your parents here yet?" she asked.
"Yes," He pretended to know. He had completely forgotten about them. His sister and her family too. Which made him feel even more awful, especially seeing that if he was desperate enough, he might have to ask to move in with one of them.
"Good," she said.
Out of the seventy-five living guests, only ten belonged to him—his parents, his sister, his brother--in-law, his niece, his nephew, a fellow writer he had never met outside the internet, his cousin who lived in Washington D.C, and one of his grandfathers.
His parents were bringing a laptop and an iPAD for the OS/EB table. One was for his other grandfather, and the other was for one of his grandmothers. Eugene had never been particularly close to either of them, but it was nice that they wanted to be there.
Eugene was also being nice and bringing his laptop for Sebastian. Sebastian didn’t deserve an invitation, but what could he say? Eugene had had a momentary lapse of judgment and said he could come.
"Remember the ceremony starts at 4:00," Anna said "You have your Tux, ready. Right?"
He actually did, and he also had the right time in his head. "I'll be there."
She nodded, and for a moment, she looked really sad. It was strange. Her sadness hurt him. It was almost physically painful to see her that way.
"It's not supposed to be like this," he said. "Is it?"
"No. It's not."
"We're stuck in the marriage for at least six months. Did you know that?"
"I learned it a few days ago," she said. Then she climbed up and sat on the edge of the bed.
He sat up and moved his feet so there was more room for her.
"This is wrong," she said. "We should have canceled."
"I wanted to," he said. "You're the one who wanted this." He wasn’t willing to take partial blame when it was completely not his fault.
To his surprise, she went along with it. "I know."
"We could still cancel it."
"It wasn't just about the money," she said. "I guess I hoped a miracle would happen, and things would get better for us. And giving up felt like such a failure."
He couldn’t find the words to reply to this. They were both quiet for a long moment.
Finally, he came up with: "We could cancel now."
"No. Now it really is too late."
He didn’t say anything.
She looked at him, terrified. "You're not going to stand me up. Are you? Please don't!"
He should.
But he wouldn’t. Maybe because he had a sudden memory flash.
They were in the Natural History Museum, and he was creating dialogue for some of the exhibits. He used crazy voices, making them talk. Anna thought it was hilarious and laughed so hard, she was almost crying. Then she joined in, and they were both laughing hysterically. Their dialogue got a bit risqué and a father with young children gave them a dirty look.
"Are you going to be there?"
Eugene woke up from the memory. "Yes."
"Good. Thank you."
"You used to think I was funny."
"You used to think I was brilliant. And beautiful," she said back to him.
It had been a long time since he had looked at her and seen beauty.
"We really despise each other," she said.
He suddenly had a realization and an idea. If she wanted something from him, why couldn’t he demand something from her? "Since I'm agreeing to marry you, can I have the apartment for a while?"
"Yes," she said. "I planned to move out."
"I mean I can't afford it."
"I know," she said. "So you need me to be your Sugar Momma."
"Yes."
"It's a deal," she said.” But you'll pay what you can."
"Yes."
"And after the divorce, you're out of here."
"Fine."
"Alright.”
I'm going to go," she said; then stood up.
"See you later," he said as she headed out the bedroom door.
She looked back at him; then stumbled a bit.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She turned to him and glared furiously.
What the fuck? What had he done now?
She walked back over to the bed and slapped him hard across the face.
What the fuck was going on? "What's that for?" he demanded. He rubbed his face. It hurt!
"For ruining my life," she said.
"Well, you haven't made mine a picnic."
Then her nose started bleeding. Why was her nose the one that was bleeding when he was the one that had been slapped?
"What's wrong with you?" He didn’t just mean mentally but medically as well. What was with the bloody noses? Maybe she needed to see a doctor.
She didn’t answer. She just kept glaring at him. Then she reached out…presumably to slap him again. He grabbed her by the wrist. She struggled. He got out of bed, still holding on to her.
"Anna!"
She started shaking. The bleeding worsened. It dripped on his arm, her clothes, and onto the floor.
"Anna!" He heard his text alert and ignored it.
Anna stopped struggling. She looked up at him, confused. "I feel sick."
"Are you okay?" he asked. Something wasn’t right.
She vomited.
Most of it landed on his feet; some of it on the floor.
He led her to the bathroom. The vomit dripped off his foot and left a trail.
She threw up again. Projectile. Only a small fraction of the mess landed in the toilet.
When she was done, she sat on the edge of the tub. He sat next to her. She was trembling. He tentatively put his arm around her. To his surprise, she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I don't hate you," she said.
"Thank you," he said.. Then, after a moment, he said, "I think I do hate you. But I also still love you."
She started to cry. He rubbed her back. They sat there for a while.
He was thinking, if she had a stomach bug, they'd probably have to cancel after all.
"How are you feeling?" he asked after a few minutes.
"Better," she said. "At least physically." She gave him a small smile. "It smells really bad in here."
He laughed. "It does."
"Can you help me clean up?" she asked.
"Of course."
They spent the next few hours scrubbing, bleaching, and showering.
In the midst of it all, Anna said, "Maybe this is what they mean when they say it's bad for the groom to see the bride before the wedding."
He laughed and realized it had been a long time since she had joked around in front of him.
"I feel better," she said. "So if you're still willing….."
"I am," he said. "But if you feel sick during the ceremony, please aim away from my shoes. They're expensive."
"I know. I'm the one who bought them," Anna said.
"Yes. I get it!" Eugene said. "You're my Sugar Momma. No need to keep rubbing it in."
She winked at him.
***
After Anna left, Eugene checked his texts.
There was one from Sebastian.
He said: I see a darkness.
***
It was not until he was dressed in his tux and in the cab, on the way to Anna's office, that Eugene considered that maybe Sebastian wasn't just being annoying.
Darkness.
Anna's strange behavior.
Maybe she’d been attacked by the Arcide. He should be terrified, but instead he was almost hopeful.
Could it be that Anna wasn’t a total bitch?
Maybe she had been…Arcided all along.
He took his phone from his pocket and texted Sebastian.
What did you mean by the darkness thing?
Sebastian replied. There was another spirit in the apartment. It had a bad smell and then it went into Anna.
Do you think it's always in Anna?
That's the first time I've seen it.
Oh well. So much for the theory that the Arcide was causing all their problems.
Sebastian texted again. I don't like it.
Eugene was done with the conversation. He put the phone away.
***
He arrived at the temp agency on time.
His family was there.
They rushed over and gave him huge bear hugs.
He felt guilty for not thinking about them more. He should have known when they were arriving. He should have had lunch with them. Or something. He should know how long they're staying.
How had they become so distant?
His mother gave him a second hug. She squeezed him so hard, and he found himself crying. She saw when she was done hugging him. She became teary-eyed and kissed him on the cheek. "We love you so much. We're so proud of you."
His dad patted him on the shoulder. "Don't be embarrassed. I cried when I married your mother."
"There's nothing wrong with a man crying," his sister said.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. "I better get this." He excused himself.
His parents smiled with an amount of understanding that bordered on excessiveness. He took a few steps back and looked at his phone.
Another message from Sebastian: Thanks for inviting me to your wedding.
You're welcome. Eugene typed quickly, then got back to his parents.
He engaged in small talk— asked them questions but didn't really hear any of their answers.
The guests started to arrive; then it was time for them to get in their places.
***
Eugene stood at the makeshift altar and looked out at the guests.
He smiled at his cousin and grandfather.
He saw his writer friend who he recognized from photographs. He waved to him.
Then he looked at the table in the corner, crowded with laptops and tablets. His own was up there.
Sebastian waved to him.
Eugene waved back.
The music started to play.
Eugene felt nervous.
The bride appeared. She walked in-between both her parents.
He couldn’t see her face; well, since it was hidden behind the veil.
Everyone stood.
She kept walking forward, towards him.
He had imagined this scene in his head.
A while back, the scene was in a bookstore, and he had been happy. Madly in love. Much more recently, he had imagined Bridezilla approaching with himself feeling pure dread.
What he felt now matched neither of those daydreams. Right now, Eugene watched his bride getting closer and closer. He was nervous for her. He was terrified. He worried she'd get sick again.
He looked to Sebastian for a moment to see if Sebastian could give him some clue. Was the dark thing here with them?
Sebastian didn’t look scared. He was just watching. If anything, he looked bored.
Eugene directed his attention back to Anna. She was still walking. She wasn’t falling over. She wasn’t vomiting.
He couldn’t see if her nose was bleeding or not.
***
It came to the point where he had to lift her veil.
She was beautiful.
Her nose wasn’t bleeding.
Without thinking, he reached up and touched her cheek.
She didn’t flinch.
***
They said the vows they planned to break in six months.
Then it was time to kiss the bride.
She tasted like puke.
"I did brush my teeth," she said.. "I swear."
For reasons he couldn’t even begin to explain, he kissed her again.
***
The reception was at a restaurant in the West Village. It was more of a cocktail party than a dinner.
There was chocolate and wine.
They ate. They drank. They mingled.
There wasn’t much room for a lot of dancing, but Anna and Eugene did share the obligatory first dance.
They danced to "What a Wonderful World".
"Did we pick this song?" he asked "Or did you pick it?"
"I did. Is it okay?"
"It's fine." Then he asked."Why did you pick it?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "My mom suggested it. She likes it and I figured—"
"We never had a song together," he said.
"No, I don't think we did."
Maybe that's where things went wrong. He thought of something and smiled.
"What?" she asked.
"Maybe this can be our song."
She sighed. "I don't think we'll be needing a song. At this point."
***
After the guests attacked with mini bubbles, advice, and well-wishes, Eugene and Anna returned to their apartment via limo.
He didn’t carry her over the threshold. They just walked in and stood there awkwardly.
The apartment still smelled horrible.
He sat down. Anna remained standing.
He watched her.
Then she walked to the sink and started washing his dishes from earlier today and last night.
He started laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"It's just funny. You. In the dress. Doing dishes."
She laughed.
He got up and started drying. "Tomorrow I'm going to take a break from our love fest and have lunch with my parents."
"I'll miss you terribly," Anna said with a wry smile. "But I understand."
***
Later he got into bed.
Anna was in the other room. Like usual, she wasn’t going to sleep with him.
He started to fall asleep.
Then she was there standing next to his side of the bed.
"Are you okay?" The room was dark. He couldn’t see if her nose was bleeding.
"Yeah," she said. "Can you help me get my dress off?"
***
He helped her get the dress off.
Then to his surprise, she got into bed next to him.
"Are you going to sleep now?" he asked.
"What does it look like?"
He didn’t respond to her sarcasm.
"Hey…" she said.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for today. I don't just mean the wedding but helping me when I was sick and not hitting me back when I hit you."
"You're very welcome," he said. He reached his hand under the blankets, trying to find her hand.
He couldn’t find it.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
He gave up. "Never mind."
"Good night," she said.
"Good night."
Continue to Chapter Thirty-Seven
Go Back to Chapter Thirty-Five
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