Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23981 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23981 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Tara
“Oh, my god,” my sister Cynthia says as she walks into the room with her hand over her mouth and a tear in her eye. “You look stunning.”
I yank up my wedding dress, sprint across the room, and slam the door closed.
She jerks her head back in surprise as I grab two fistfuls of her bridesmaid dress and yank her to an inch from my face. “You have to get me out of here!” I screech. I can hear the panic in my voice. My eyes are wild and unblinking. My heart is pounding so hard it’s vibrating through my chest. I need to get the fuck out of here. Now!
“Whoa whoa whoa,” she says softly as she puts a gentle hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down. My grip tightens so hard my knuckles are burning. “You have to breathe, Tara. You’re just nervous.”
She doesn’t understand. I can’t do this. I won’t do this.
This wedding is not happening.
“Just let me go,” she says with a hint of worry in her voice. “You’re going to tear my dress.”
She tries to gently ease my hands off of her, but they’re clenched on tight.
“Let go, Tara!” she says as she tries harder to pry my fingers off. “What are you doing?!”
I let go of her and start pacing around the room like a wild tiger trapped in a small cage. My whole body is as tight as a bowstring, my adrenaline is surging, sweat is pouring down my back. I’m ready to snap.
My sister looks at the closed door as I pace around the room, probably wondering if she can unload her maid of honor duties onto some poor unsuspecting cousin out there.
“These are just wedding day jitters,” she says in a soothing voice. “Perfectly normal.”
“This is not normal!” I screech as I grab a handful of hair and yank it out of my perfectly coiffed hairdo. She winces as threads of auburn hair come tumbling down.
I’m pretty sure that normal jitters don’t make you feel like the whole world is ending. Like there’s a black hole beside you and you’re desperately trying to stop your soul from getting sucked into it.
“You need to chill,” she says in her big-sister-get-your-head-out-of-your-ass voice. “You’re supposed to be walking down the aisle in like five minutes.”
“I told you, I’m not doing that!”
“You agreed to it!”
“I don’t care!” I shout as I cover my eyes with my hands.
“David is standing at the aisle waiting for you. You’re going to stand him up?”
“Yes!” I shout as I throw my hands in the air. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do!”
Cynthia takes a step back. She’s watching me like you’d watch an unhinged lunatic that you’re stuck in an elevator with.
I can’t blame her for that. My jaw is clenched, I have crazy eyes, I’m sweating, and my hair is coming undone. She’s probably wondering why I suddenly turned feral.
“I’m sorry that David is going to be upset,” I say. “Truly, I am. But I barely know the guy!”
“I thought the dates with him went well.”
“Dates?” I say with a deranged chuckle. “Those weren’t dates.”
Cynthia doesn’t know what to do. She keeps looking at the door.
“I better get Mom.”
“No!” I shout as I lunge forward and grab her arm so hard she screams. “You can’t!”
Mom is the one who set this all up. If she comes in here, I’ll never be able to escape.
I’m twenty-four-years-old and have never even had a boyfriend. Rent and house prices are insane right now and of course, I can’t afford either of them, so I’ve been stuck living at home with my parents. My mother has been trying to marry me off for years now, and I finally cracked.
My parents want to sell their home and downsize in Buenos Aires, Argentina for their retirement. Mom spent a year abroad there when she was young and always dreamed of moving back one day. She finally got Dad on board, so the only thing left to do was unload me onto some poor unsuspecting schmuck.
That’s where my groom David came in. My mother talked him up for months. Every day, all I heard was David this and David that.
‘David has a new car, Tara. It’s blue. Isn’t your favorite color blue?’
‘David has the nicest eyes. Wouldn’t you like your children to have nice eyes?’
‘Did you know that David got promoted at work? He’s an assistant manager now. Sounds like marriage material to me.’
She would go on and on and on and fucking on about arranged marriages too.
While I was eating breakfast - ‘That’s how most of the world picks their spouses, Tara, did you know that?’
While I was trying to read - ‘Divorce rates are lower for arranged marriages, Tara, did you know that?’
While doing my laundry - ‘Couples with arranged marriages are happier, Tara, did you know that?’