PRT 358- “Things Are Not Always
What They Seem”
The bus pulled up to the hotel in
We weren’t actually in
I went inside to hotel and met up
with the other three racers and the event coordinator.
“Ok, I know you guys are
accustomed to your own rooms, but given the budget for this event we could only
afford two rooms. That means you will each be sharing a room.” The event
coordinator said.
‘Oh no, I know how this is gonna
be separated.’ I thought to myself.
“We have one room for the boys and
one for the girls.” He finished.
I sighed.
“What? You mean I have to share a
room with Amara?” Ronny asked.
“Yes ma’am.” He said.
“Hey, I’m not thrilled about it
either but I don’t think we have a choice. Let’s just get this over with.” I
said as I took my room key and headed to find it.
Ronny and I found our room and
went inside. I picked my bed and fell back on to it.
“Um, I like the bed closest to the
window.” Ronny said.
“Too bad.” I said, not moving.
“Ooook, fine. I’ll just take this one.” Ronny said as she put her stuff
down and sat on her bed.
“Good.” I replied as I closed my
eyes to rest. I was just starting to doze off when the TV suddenly started
blaring. I sat straight up, shocked, “What the…”
“What?” Ronny asked.
“Could that be much louder?”
“Probably, but it’s loud enough.”
“Are you deaf?”
“What?”
I rolled my eyes, “Very funny.”
“Fine, I’ll turn it down.” She
said as she turned it to a reasonable volume. I sighed and laid
back down.
“OH! The new Britney video! I love
this song!” Ronny cried as she started to sing, “Love me/Hate me/Say what you
want about me/All of the boys and all of the girls/Are begging to/If you seek Amy”
I grabbed a pillow and put it over
my head. “Someone please kill me now.” I mumbled to myself.
“Amara? Are you alright?” Ronny asked.
“Peachy.” I mumbled.
“Oh, you’re trying to take a cat
nap aren’t you? I’m sorry.” She said as she turned the TV off.
I took the pillow off my face,
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” She said, “So, I
take it Michelle survived her brush with Nemesis?”
“Yes. She’s fine. Didn’t Hunter
tell you?”
“Yeah, he mentioned it.”
“Then you know what happened.”
“Not really. He just said
everything was ok.”
“Why does it matter what happened?
Are you upset your boyfriend went to Michelle’s rescue again?”
“Of course not. This wasn’t personal. It was for the sake of the world.”
“Ok then, let it go.”
“I just hope Michelle didn’t get
the wrong idea.”
“Oh. My. God.
Shut up Ronny. Seriously. Shut. Up.”
RJ
~~
I was at Dad’s helping him move in
a new sofa he just bought.
“Right there is fine. Thanks for
your help RJ.” Dad said.
“No problem.” I said as I sat on
the new sofa.
“You seem out of it today Son,
what’s wrong?”
“I made a decision and it’s not
going to be easy.”
“What decision?”
“I’m breaking it off with MJ.”
“What? You’re asking for an
annulment? Why?”
“I can’t pretend anymore. It’s not
fair to her. I love her but I’m not in love with her and she deserves more.”
“She loves you so much. This will
break her heart.”
“I know. It’s not easy for me
either, but it’s the right thing. I realized the other day that she needs someone
to be there for her in a way I can’t be. I tried to make myself fall in love
with her, but I just can’t and I can’t keep pretending.”
“Are you really that unhappy?”
“No. Not at all.
I mean, I’m just not in love with her like she is with me. Everytime she tells
me she loves me I know she wants to hear it back, so I say it, and I feel like
a fraud.”
“But you do love her.”
“Yeah, not like I should love the
woman I call my wife.”
Dad nodded, “I understand. If you
feel this is the right thing then I’m sure it is.”
“Now I just have to figure out how
I’m telling MJ.”
Amara
~~~~~
“So then Hunter pushed me in the
pool but I had a hold of him and he fell in the water with me!” Ronny laughed
as she finished her story. She’d been going on for an hour about how amazing
Hunter was and telling stories about things they’d done.
“Ok, Ronny, enough. I really don’t
care about what you and Hunter do.” I snapped.
“Why do you hate
me being with Hunter so much?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yeah, I kinda do.”
“Fine, I will tell you. Because
it’s not the way it’s meant to be!”
“What do you mean?”
I sighed, “Hotaru is the Soldier
of Destruction. She was not supposed to be born. Neptune and I were supposed to
prevent the King and Queen’s consummation, but we failed…and now we have a
Soldier so dark she could destroy the whole galaxy.”
“And what does that have to do
with Hunter and me?”
“According to a
prophesy, there will be a child with a power unlike any other. She will
be an amazing force of good and restore balance within the universe. Basically,
she’ll off set the evil in Hotaru.”
“Still not getting what this has
to do with Hunter and me.”
“This child is said to be the
child of Lightning and Thunder.”
“Lightning and
Thunder? Michelle and
Hunter?”
“Bingo.”
“So you want to break me and
Hunter up so that he can procreate with Michelle and have this foretold child?”
“Exactly.”
“You have any idea how lame that
sounds? Hunter and I are happy. And even if we did break up there is no
guarantee he’d go back to Michelle. She’s married…and I thought you guys liked
RJ.”
“Oh RJ is a great guy. Like him a lot. He’s not the man Michelle is supposed to be
with.”
“You seriously expect Michelle and
Hunter to have a kid just because some prophesy says they should?”
“Well, it would be nice.”
“Amara, we can’t live our lives
based on what some prophesy says. None of us can. Hunter and Michelle don’t
want to be together, you really need to accept that.”
“That’s not the way it works. That
child has to be born.”
“Amara, if Hotaru wanted she could
have destroyed everything already. She hasn’t. You know why? Because
she’s not evil. Powerful, perhaps…not evil.”
“She is evil. Mistress 9 lives
within her and I don’t want to kill her, but I will if I have to.”
“Hotaru isn’t Mistress 9. She’s
under a spell. No, Nemesis just drew out Mistress 9. She is always there.”
“You love Hotaru don’t you?”
“She’s my daughter.”
“It’ll work out, I’m sure…but
trying to break Hunter and I up isn’t the way to
handle it.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
Ronny nodded, “Listen, I know
we’re not the best of friends, but I hate eating alone. I saw a Chili’s down
the road. You want to go grab a bite?”
“Eh, why not? We all gotta eat.”
RJ
~~
I left my dad’s and stopped at my
lawyer’s office. I’d had the papers drawn up. I picked them up and headed to
the apartment. MJ was there watching TV.
“Hey baby. I’m glad you’re home.
Come here.” She said.
This wasn’t going to be easy, “MJ,
no…we need to talk.”
She turned the TV off, “You look
serious. What’s wrong?”
“There really isn’t any easy way
to say this so I guess I better just say it. MJ, this…us…this isn’t working out.”
She cocked her head and looked
confused, “What do you mean?”
“Our marriage MJ…it’s not
working.” I took a deep breath, “I want an annulment.”
Her face dropped. It looked like
someone had just punched her in the stomach.
“Annulment?” she finally got out.
I nodded, “I’m sorry. This just
isn’t working.”
“But…I love you.”
“I know you do. I have no doubt
about that and I’m so sorry.”
“What did I do? I’ll fix it.”
“Oh sweetheart, it’s nothing you
did. Really. This really isn’t about you.”
“Don you dare say ‘it’s not you,
it’s me’.”
“I know that’s lame, but it’s
true.”
“What happened? I thought we were
happy.”
“To be honest with you, you
deserve someone who will be in love with you…the way a husband should love a
wife. I’m not that someone.”
She took a deep breath, “You don’t
love me?”
“I do love you…but I’m not in love
with you.”
“Wow, one bad cliché after the next.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I wish there
were better words.”
“Please don’t leave me.”
“This is for the best. Believe
me.”
“RJ, I love you so much. I don’t
care if you don’t love me as much.”
“It’s not fair to you.”
“I don’t care. I can love you
enough for the both of us.”
“It doesn’t work that way MJ and
you know it.”
She started to cry, “RJ, I’m
begging you.”
I hugged her, “I’m so sorry. I
don’t want to hurt you but this is the right thing. Please, let’s just sign the
annulment papers and be done with it. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I
have.”
“You have the papers already?”
“Yes. I wanted this to be as quick
and painless as possible. I realize the painless thing didn’t really work but…”
“Fine. Give me a pen.”
I handed her a pen.
She signed, “Here, you’re free.”
I signed the papers as well.
“There, no go. Just go.”
“MJ…”
“It’s Michelle. There isn’t a ‘J’
in my name anymore.”
I nodded, “Ok, Michelle… I do love
you.”
“Yeah right.”
“I do. And I’m sorry.”
“Whatever. You don’t want to be
with me so just go.”
I sighed and headed out to my car.
This was not easy but it needed to be done.
Michelle
~~~~~~~
After RJ left I sat there in
shock. I couldn’t believe that seriously just happened. I took my wedding ring
off and threw it across the room, then I broke down
into tears. My marriage was over just like that. One second I was happily
married and next…not. I needed to call Min…oh…we’re not talking. Ok…Mia. I
needed to call Mia.
I picked up the phone and dialed
her number.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Mia, it’s me.” I said.
“
“RJ left me.”
“What?”
“RJ left me. He had annulment
papers and he wanted me to sign them, so I did.”
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I’ll be right over.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and sighed. Mia really
was the only friend I really had left.
Amara
~~~~~
Ronny and I sat at Chili’s eating
ribs and drinking margaritas.
“I never thought I’d say this, but
I’m actually having fun with you.” Ronny said.
“Alcohol makes everything better.”
I said as I took another sip of mine.
“How long have you and Michele
been together?”
“Um…like…14 years.”
“And you aren’t married?”
“What state do you live in? In
case you didn’t hear, Prop 8 passed. I can’t get married.”
“Oh pish posh, you can marry in
other states…and it’s only a matter of time before Prop 8 is over turned. Why
didn’t you get married before Prop 8, when it was legal?”
“Why does it matter? Michele and I
are happy and we’ll be together whether we’re married or not.”
“Because it’s
the ultimate commitment.”
“Yeah, something you can do in
about 5 minutes in Vegas and have it annulled 52 hours later…ultimate
commitment. Have you seen the divorce rate?”
“Well, ok, it’s supposed to be the
ultimate commitment. I’d marry Hunter if he asked.”
“You would?”
“Yeah…he won’t ask…but I’d say yes
if he did.”
“Why won’t he ask?”
“Because he’s
not ready for that kind of commitment yet. Which is the same problem you have I think.”
“What make you say that?”
“After 14 years you should be
ready to commit.”
“I am committed! I’m faithful and
I love Michele.”
“Yeah, so propose.”
“I don’t need to propose to prove
my love. Michele knows I love her.”
“Amara, I know you’re the guy in
the relationship, so listen up…Michele is a girly girl and girls like her dream
of their fairy tale weddings and prince…or in this case princess charming.
Something tells me you haven’t discussed marriage with Michele and I think you
really should.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, just find out her feelings
on it.”
“Hmm, maybe you’re right. Have you
discussed marriage with Hunter?”
Ronny laughed, “Oh no. Our
relationship isn’t solid enough to take that talk. Yours is…or it better be. If
it isn’t solid enough for marriage discussion after 14 years then you have
bigger problems.”
“You’re right. I should talk to
Michele about marriage.” I said pulling out my cell phone.
“Yes you should…but not right
now.”
“Why not?”
“We’re both drunk. Not the time
for marriage talk…that’s how Vegas weddings happen.”
“That’s how Michelle married RJ.”
“She loves him.” Ronny said.
“Yeah, she does.”
“As long as she is with RJ I don’t
have to worry about Hunter cheating. Michelle would never cheat on RJ.”
“You’re probably right about
that.”
“Oh, look at the time. We should
get back. We have a busy day tomorrow.”
I nodded and we paid then headed
back for the room. We picked up a 6-pack on the way back and sat in bed and
drank and talked a while more before we both passed out.
All in all it was a fun night…maybe
Ronny wasn’t such a bad person after all…maybe.