Marie

Tonight is the night where I will forever have my Marie

The candlelight glows on her skin, seeming to radiate out of her as if she was an actual angel. I marvel at her flawless face excluding the dark mole just above her upper lip, though the birthmark only enhances her beauty, somehow highlighting the only thing that keeps her from a being worthy of worship as her most gorgeous feature. As though she was created solely for the purpose of tempting men her golden hair flows against her heaving collarbone, moving with each quick intake of air that fills her lungs. Slowly, without taking my eyes off of her, I reach into my coat pocket and reveal the little black box that has been burning a hole since its purchase weeks ago.
“Marie, will you make me the happiest man in the world and give me the honor of becoming your husband?” Her wide eyes stare into mine, only flinching slightly when my hand envelops hers. She doesn’t turn her attention to the gift I have been agonizing over until I push the tangible representation of my love towards her. A gasp escapes her pretty lips and I pride myself with the knowledge she didn’t expect this surprise when I told her about dinner. My blushing bride-to-be isn’t exactly blushing per se, but a flush of color as delicate as her has marked her face, almost in the shape of an open palm. The redness tinting her cheeks only serves to make her bottomless eyes more compelling and that much easier to drown in.
The clock ticks away as we spend a few romantic moments in utter silence, unable to look at anything else but each other. But soon even the sight of her beautifully helpless expression cannot distract me from the realization that she has not yet declared her undying devotion to me.
“Marie, will you marry me?” She flinches at the sound of her name yet still no words escape her trembling lips.
“I can’t do this.” She whispers, refusing to meet my eyes.
Swiftly I grasp her face in my hand until she has no choice but to face the heartbreak she alone has caused.
“Don’t you dare do this again! You can’t leave me, not again. I can’t let you go, I just can’t. I know you love me. Say it. I know you do. Just say you love me too.”
“I’m not Marie. My name is Audrey. I live at 124 Madison Avenue and I’m only nineteen years old. I live with my mother and father and my two younger brothers that I love very much. Please let me see them again; please let me go. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” Hiccuping with sobs that rack her body, the girl in front of me begs for freedom, not realizing how safe she is with me. She stares at me with those beautiful blue eyes, pleading with the features I love so much. While I consider her words, I feel my face pull into a grimace as I realize I’ve bought the wrong color contacts for her. They are not quite the shade I wanted, her natural green eyes peeking though.
I notice her begging has caused the blonde wig to tilt slightly, strands of brown hair now visible, and her crying has caused the delicately applied makeup above her lip to smear and black runs down her full lips. The sight of my beautiful angel being desecrated through this stupid girl causes my lust to transform into disgust, anger uncoiling in my soul ready to attack.
“No, no, no! This is all wrong! See, you’re supposed to say I love you, see right there!” I point at the script right underneath her face, pointing out the exact line where tears have begun to smear the ink, sinking deep into the material. “Now you say ‘I love you’. Say it!” she shakes her head, sliding the wig back into place, and I see my beautiful Marie again. I know I cannot live without my love and I refuse to even chance that possibility, so as she sobs her tears flow across even redder skin. With a hard smack I put her back in her place and while she stares at me with those wonderfully wide eyes, I take the opportunity to claim my property.
Sliding the ring onto her third finger on her left hand where it will stay forever, I stare into my angel’s face and thank the heavens they have given her to me. “I love you Marie.”
As I reapply the makeup above her upper lip and go to retrieve some more shades of blue contacts, I hear my love whisper in her small voice, “I love you too” and I know I will have my Marie forever again.