I leave my mother and Natalie to talk in the room in private and proceed to wait in the hallway. I take a cigarette out of my pocket out of habit and notice a nurse preparing to ask me to take it outside. I, notably, nod towards the nurse and carry on outside. I take a seat on a stone bench sitting on the sidewalk close to the patient drop off and smoke my cigarette in silence. I promised Natalie I would quit smoking, but she also promised me she would tell me everything. I sigh, tiredly, and rub my head with the back of my hand. As I stare off into nothing, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and see a private number showing on my screen. I take a deep breath before answering.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Ramos, I presume?" the man asks. I turn to put out my cigarette next to a clump of dirt in a potted plant next to me and stand up.
"You presume correctly, who's calling?" I ask a little rudely.
"Ahem, I am Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Blanche's attorney, I have a proposition for you," before he can finish, I hang up the call. I'm not interested in anything Mrs. Blanche has to offer, nor do I care to listen to anything her lawyer has to say. I begin to walk back inside, and my phone goes off again, I look at the same private caller and decline the call. As I approach Natalie's room, a flashback from yesterday runs through my mind. Seeing her sprawled on the floor, legs and arms flailing all about, almost gave me a heart attack. Had I known she suffered from epilepsy, I would've planned things more carefully. But she didn't tell me, and I wound up rushing her to the closest hospital in Vegas. I'm not angry with her, but I'm disappointed. I had thought she trusted me enough to at least tell me about her illness.
Then I begin to think we may have rushed this too quickly. I've never been this impulsive or reckless in the past. But I've also never felt this way about anyone. I suppose I could have waited longer before biting the big one. Although, if I had waited any longer, her mother would have suspected something and pulled her away from me, and I would have never seen her again. As I debate back and forth about my erratic decisions, the door opens and my mother steps out. She looks at me with her large eyes and sighs softly.
"Why didn't you call me, mijo? I am always here to help you, no matter what dumb decisions you make," my mother reprimands me like I'm a child again.
"Mom, I was going to call you as soon as I got back but then-"
"I know," my mother says, and she closes her eyes and takes a seat on the chair next to Natalie's room. "You know, I am not going to judge you or criticize your decisions, but you should not have gotten married."
"I couldn't let her be under that woman's finger anymore Mom," I explain as I lean my shoulder against the wall next to my mother. "I do love her you know; this isn't infatuation or even a fascination with my model, she makes me feel- I don't know, more alive." My mother manages to smile while staring down at the floor. She then looks up at me and doesn't drop her smile.
"You know you're going to have to eventually face her mother and stepfather, she needs closure right now, and without a proper wedding at my church, I will not accept your marriage," my mother says very sternly, once again reprimanding me like a child. I roll my eyes in protest, I am not religious at all, and my mother knows this, but she insists on going to church and getting married by church, not just by law. My mother slaps my thigh, to show her disapproval of rolling my eyes and mocking her religious beliefs.
"Mom, you know I'm never going to do that, and yes I know I have to face Natalie's parents eventually, I'm just not sure that's what she wants," I explain. I stretch out my torso to make myself more comfortable against the wall and sigh. "I guess, maybe I made a mistake." My mother takes a deep breath and pats my arm.
"Mijo, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad about your decision, but please don't think you made a mistake," my mother says softly, "I'm not one to criticize you or your brothers, I just want you to make sure this is what you want." I begin to twirl my keys in my pocket, a nervous habit I have when I'm really thinking about something. Do I really want this? Am I happy? How do I smooth things over with Natalie? "Are you alright?" my mother asks meekly. I shake myself out of my trance and halfheartedly smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I muffle my voice, I can barely hear what I've said. "I guess I have to try and fix this mess I made." My mother nods and let's go of my arm. I take a deep breath before entering Natalie's room and step in. She is sitting up, staring sadly at me, fiddling with her small hands.
"Hey," she mutters softly. I smile and grab a seat to sit in front of her. I'm still a little mad and hurt, and I don't really want to sit too close to her. Natalie takes note of this and softly sighs. "Your mom is really sweet, must be nice to have such a sweet mom," Natalie says this as she looks down at her hands.
"Um, yeah, my mom is great," I say as nicely as possible. I don't understand why I suddenly can't tell her what's running through my mind.
Why didn't you tell me about your illness? What else are you not telling me? When are you going to be comfortable enough to trust me?
It all seems so meaningless now that we are faced to face. All I want is to hold her now, but I stand my ground and proceed to ask my first question. "Natalie, I-"
"I know what you're going to say," she cuts me off, almost sounding angry, "I just want to first say that saying 'I'm sorry' isn't enough to express my apology to you." I look down and rub my eyes.
"Okay," I get up and stand next to the window, "You go first." I realize if I listen to her a little while longer, maybe I'll calm down and organize my thoughts and questions better.
"I know I said I would tell you everything, and I meant to," Natalie says as she softly shakes her head and looks down, almost ready to cry, "I think my mother just got into my head in the moment and I let it get the best of me." Natalie looks back up to me then back down, rubbing her face with both of her hands. "My mother always told me that if I ever told anyone about my seizures, I would never get married. And for a long time, I believed her." Natalie brings her legs up to her chest. "I once got rid of a perverted old man by telling him I have epilepsy, and he quickly left me alone, so," Natalie sniffs and wipes away a tear from her cheek with a single finger, "Of course, I really believed my mother was right."
I take a long and deep breath and cross my arms across my chest, "Natalie, you know I would never do anything like that, I'm not one of them," I say, almost in an annoyed tone.
"I know that," Natalie whispers, "I just wanted to be perfect and flawless, I guess," she quickly swipes another tear away, "Just like you." I begin chuckling and shaking my head.
"I'm not perfect," I reply, "What makes you think that?"
"You're so," Natalie begins demonstrating with her hands, "so, handsome, and brave, and have a very calm demeanor," She sniffles and holds her legs tightly to her chest, "It's no wonder all the girls are crazy about you." Natalie gently leans her head against her propped-up knees and smiles. I try not to blush, and turn my head away towards the window, hoping she doesn't notice.
"Natalie," I start, "I am in love with you, and I've never felt this way about anyone." I turn back to her. "I know the difference between infatuation and love, and I'm certain. I can't be driven away by any illness you have and I'm not going to abandon you because of it, so please," I walk over next to her and grab her hand. "Is there anything else, anything at all, that you need to tell me before we move on in this relationsh-," I correct myself, "Marriage." Natalie looks down and confirms something in her mind. My hope is that she understands I will never leave her.
"Well, yes," Natalie says submissively, "When you asked me to come here with you and get married, it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and it was also a way to escape and be my own person." I grab the chair and take a seat next to her. "Jacque, I love you, more than I ever thought I could love another person, but there's something else you need to know." I nod, giving her permission to tell me. "Before the photo shoot yesterday, my mother was figuring out that we were seeing each other, and she did what she always does when she thinks she's losing control of something. She tried to trap me." Natalie grabs my hand and kisses my fingers. "Have you ever heard of a man named Grant Fairbanks?" I realize I never told Natalie that I had overheard her and her mother arguing the first time we met. She mentioned that man's name: Grant Fairbanks, and I never bothered to look him up. So, I shake my head, and Natalie rolls her eyes in disapproval.
"I thought you knew everyone in the business, Mr. DeMille?" Natalie says with a lighthearted tone. I'm relieved that she is getting better. "Well, my mother arranged a marriage for him and I, and he happily accepted." I blink in amazement, and huff at this.
"Natalie, this is-"
"It's not important anymore, we're together now, everything will be fine, I -"
"No, Natalie," I get up and cover my mouth with my hand, a little worried now about the phone call I received earlier.
"A Mr. Thompson called me a bit ago, claiming to be your mothers' attorney," I say sternly, I hung up the call because I'm not interested in anything your mother has to offer me to let you go, but-"
"My mother's attorney called you? What did he say? Is it serious?" Natalie asks with a frown.
"I'm not sure how serious, he said he had a proposition for me, but I hung up," I fiddle with my keys in my pocket again. Now I'm worried Mrs. Blanche will try to take Natalie away, even though she is lawfully my wife now.
"I tried to tell you before we came here but," Natalie looks away nervously, "I don't even know why I didn't tell you, I guess I figured my mother was only trying to scare me, but then she said before I came to the photo shoot, that it was settled and I had to marry him."
"Who is this man?" I ask, a little angrily.
Natalie rubs her face and sighs, "He's heir to the Fairbanks family fortune, the only reason my mother is interested in my marriage to him. His family owns banks all across the nation, so my mother tells me, but when I looked him up, I found out he's also a magazine editor for a fashion magazine, and a total playboy."
"Which magazine?" I ask. Natalie shrugs her shoulders.
"I don't remember, but it's a really famous one," Natalie leans over and gestures her hand to reach out to me, "I don't want to worry about it anymore, please, sit with me." I scratch my chin and take a seat next to her. Not realizing, Mrs. Blanche is standing right by the door as I kiss Natalie on the lips.
"Mother," Natalie mutters shockingly.
"Natalie, my dear," Mrs. Blanche turns to me, "Mr. Ramos." I rise quickly from my chair. She stares down at me coldly, with ice cold eyes that could puncture a tire. I stare back, knowing what I know about her now, I won't let her win.
"The doctor says you are ready to go home, come Natalie, let's go ho-"
"No! I'm not going anywhere without my husband," Natalie shouts, so I reach out and grab her hand to calm her.
"Natalie, this is not a debate, come with me now-"
"She said no, Mrs. Blanche, she is a grown woman, or did you forget that while you were selling her out?" I say almost as harshly as she spoke to her own daughter. Mrs. Blanche is now like a deer caught in the headlights, and I feel as though I may have won this battle. Natalie grips my hand tightly and I sit back down.
"Mr. Ramos," Mrs. Blanche begins more softly this time, "I'm not sure what my daughter has told you, but I assure you, everything I did for us what purely out of love."
"Or greed?" I say almost cutting her off. Mrs. Blanche stands in shock and tightly holds onto her purse against her thigh. "I don't know what you're implying, I only-"
"Mother, please," Natalie says before I can say anything else, "I just want you to leave! I told you I would do anything to stop you from making me marry Grant and I did! Please leave!" Mrs. Blanche presses her lips together in disapproval and turns on her heel outside the door. Natalie begins to chuckle as tears start streaming down her face.
"Are you okay?" I ask with a smile.
"It's just, I've never spoken to her that way, and" Natalie tries to catch her breath, "It felt so good." I laugh with her, and she reaches her arms out to hug me. As I stroke her back, I look towards the door, hoping Mrs. Blanche has finally left, with a worried gaze, I kiss Natalie on the cheek, and pull her blanket up.
"Get some rest, I'll go check with the doctor," I tell her as I caress her face. I step outside and see my mother having a conversation with the doctor.
I suppose Mrs. Blanche lied to us. I wonder what else she may be capable of doing.