.....

"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" The priest dressed in an all white regalia spoke, concluding the vows.

"Sure", I replied sincerely.

The lady, whose hand I was holding frowned upon hearing my reply, but didn't say anything.

I placed a silver wedding band on her ring finger as the audience cheered and applauded.

"I now pronounce you Husband and wife. You may kiss your bride" the priest said closing his Bible.

I leaned forward and gave the woman before me a peck on the lips. She looked unhappy, disappointed even. What did she expect? A whole Frenchie? I just met her a month ago and now we were husband and wife.

I was never really interested in getting married, but my family just had to step in and arrange a marriage where they'd get grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

The after party was nothing less than a celebration, my parents put a lot of effort into every detail even though they weren't wealthy.

"Jennifer, let your first dance be with your husband", I heard my grandmother tell my wife.

She had changed her outfit and was in a light blue bodycon ankle length silk dress.

She was a pretty woman, I wouldn't lie.

Her eyes looked very much expectant and I couldn't understand why. What did she want me to do? Fly her to the moon to dance?

"Ugh.." I let out when someone nudged my side. It was my cousin, Keira.

"It's her wedding day. Make it special at least" Keira said and patted my back.

Jennifer had a smile on her face. "Wanna dance?" She asked, knowing he couldn't exactly refuse.

"Sure" I replied and she nodded.

I placed one palm on her waist and the other held hers.

The spotlight was on us and people took out their phones to take pictures and videos.

I stared at her for a while, knowing that I would have to learn to love her because if I didn't try, it would be unfair to us both.

....

Two years later....

"Have you seen the other pair?" Jennifer asked while in the closet.

"No, are you sure it's not in the drawer?" I replied helping her look for the other pair of her earring.

After A few minutes, I heard her say, "found it!"

She walked out of the closet wearing leather pants and thigh high boots with a crop top and a jacket.

She picked up her bag and took her phone.

"See you later" she said blowing me a kiss and walking out.

Our marriage had been going well for the first one year six months, but now, it seemed like something had changed.

We lived separate lives normally, but now the margin was even bigger, like we were strangers living in a house together.

I never denied her intercourse and tried my best to fulfill her desires in the bedroom and I was sure that wasn't the problem.

Perhaps it's was money. In the last one year, my business had been declining.

We weren't poor, but we were better off when we got married than now.

Six months ago, I and Jennifer constantly had arguments about finances.

Day after day, it was the same thing over and over again until one day it stopped completely.

She became agreeable and stopped arguing over every small thing.

There was finally peace and I never knew why, but I didn't care to know why. It was better this way. Plus I had more urgent things to spend time thinking about.

What do I do about my business? I thought. I was going to have a meeting with the creative director of my company as he let me know that he had ideas for boosting our profits and stocks..

I hoped it would make a difference because I was seriously considering borrowing money to help it get back on its feet.

*Sigh*

I needed to prepare for and attend the meeting, a video conference call.

I set up my laptop and left to eat breakfast. I still had an hour before it was time for the video conference call, and I was going to relax.

In the kitchen, the chef, Mrs. Johnson, was making pancakes, bacon, and coffee.

Her pancakes smelled divine, like a pastry shop.

"Good morning", I greeted the middle aged lady standing in the kitchen.

"Good morning sir. Did you sleep well?" she replied.

"Yes, I did and you?"

She nodded and focused on the work she was doing.

I sat on one of the kitchen stools after which she brought my breakfast to me. The aroma alone made my stomach grumble for joy.

She laughed softly, hearing the sound.

"Thank you" I said thanking her for the food.

It was a surprise to me that she stayed around. Most of my workers quit their jobs because I couldn't pay them as much as I did earlier on.

I still remember the conversation we had about her leaving like it was yesterday.

Her exact words when I asked why she didn't quit like the rest were "If I leave, who would do these for the household".

She knew that Jennifer would rather drink poison and die from internal bleeding and damaged organs than ruin her perfectly manicured hands by stirring a pot in the kitchen.

Jennifer wasn't the best chef, but her food was okay to be consumed. In the course of our marriage (7 months after we got married), she demanded that I employed more hands to help around, which I did. I knew she wouldn't be doing any chores, and I was fine with that. What I didn't know was that she wouldn't even supervise the work being done. *Sigh*

Now she just goes out and takes pictures for the gram, with actors, celebrities and socialites.

I remember when we had an argument because I didn't understand how her homely nature suddenly evaporated into thin air. She cared less about building a home every single day. Everything became about "Building her brand" which I wasn't against until her whole life revolved around that single purpose.

Anything she did, she would take pictures. At first I thought they were for memories, but no, they were for the gram, as always.

She'd get harsh criticism and come back moody and ready to act out on every single thing that happened to her throughout the day.

She argued that I was always disturbing her peace and I was being very unsupportive towards her goals. She proceeded to call me a misogynist just because she wasn't in a good mood.

She apologised the next day and I forgave her because a marriage couldn't work without forgiveness and letting some things slide.

I shook my head in an attempt to push all those thoughts aside.

I should be thinking about other things right now.