Marriage is Not Scary

Gavin Zang looked down, hiding a hint of annoyance among the crowd at his wedding party. To him, this marriage was merely a business transaction to fulfill his father's requirement for him to become the CEO of the family company. Nothing more.

The abstract pattern on the luxurious carpet beneath his feet was more captivating than the people around him. Especially, watching the bride embracing her mother. Even Gavin's ears were disturbed by the bride's sobs and please to her mother.

"Brie wants to go home, Mom. I don't want to stay with that man. Please, Mom, allow Brie to stay with you, okay?"

Gavin concealed a thin smile. He agreed with the woman's, uh, more like the bride's, opinion. He gladly allowed the woman, named Brie, to go home with her parents to their lavish house. He had only met Brie the night before, so there was no reason for him to insist on taking her to his apartment, even though they were already married. Once again, for Gavin, this marriage was nothing more than a business deal.

"What are you doing, Brie? Aren't you ashamed to be seen and heard by Gavin?" Rhea, Sabrina Brie's mother, responded.

Brie shook her head, "There's no need to be ashamed. I'm not ashamed at all. I just don't want to live with that man. I want to live with Mom."

"Don't play around, Brie. The man you're referring to is your husband now," Rhea replied.

"This marriage is just a business deal. So, why should I have to call him my husband, Mom?" Brie stomped her foot. The sound of her heels on the same luxurious carpet that caught Gavin's attention was barely audible.

"Of course. You. However, Gavin is your husband. No matter if you and Gavin were arranged to be married," Rhea sighed and rolled her eyes. She was so annoyed that she wanted to pinch her daughter's cheek if there weren't so many people around.

"Gavin," Joseph, Brie's father, called out to Gavin.

"Yes, Dad?" Gavin replied, deciding to look at Joseph. It wouldn't be polite to keep staring at the abstract pattern on the carpet he was standing on. Respecting the conversation partner, more appropriate.

"Please take care of Brie. She is an independent child, but her spoiled nature runs deep in her. Please understand," Joseph approached and patted Gavin's shoulder twice.

Gavin smiled and nodded, "Yes, Dad. No problem with that. I understand."

"You're a good kid, Gavin," Joseph praised.

"I'm not that good, Dad," Gavin humbly replied.

Joseph laughed, "Look, Rhea! We didn't choose the wrong son-in-law."

Brie cringed at the words that came out of her father's mouth.

"Why, Brie? Don't be rude to your husband!" Rhea, hearing Brie's cringe, immediately reminded her of her rude behavior.

Brie sighed heavily, "Okay, Mom. I got it," she didn't want to argue with her mother anymore.

"Yesterday, Brie asked to live with us after getting married, Gavin. However, Mom thinks it's better for Brie to stay with you alone. It will bring you closer together," Rhea said to Gavin, continuing the conversation from her husband about Brie's overly spoiled behavior.

Once again, Gavin nodded. He behaved as if he understood and sympathized with Brie's situation. In reality, he was just being polite to his in-laws.

"Yes, Mom. I understand. I will treat Brie well, take care of her, and not make things difficult for her. I promise," Gavin added.

Meanwhile, Brie, hearing Gavin's words, could only hold back her cringe. If she did it again, her mother would reprimand her, leading to a longer string of advice.

"All right, listen to your husband. Go home with him and don't make that sulky face," Rhea insisted.

"What about the guests, Mom?" Gavin asked. If he went home now, what about the guests at their wedding party? Wouldn't it be strange if the newlyweds were absent from the party?

"Don't worry. The guests will understand. We're just afraid you both will get tired. It's better if you go home so that your parents can handle this event. Besides, the number of guests attending is decreasing," Rhea said. She looked around. And indeed, the number of guests had decreased. Perhaps because the event had been going on for quite some time.

For Gavin, it would be better than staying there and just hiding his annoyance.

"But, Mom," Brie protested. She didn't want to part ways with her parents so quickly, especially leaving herself alone with Gavin.

"Don't be like that! Come on, be more mature!" her father exclaimed.

●●●

As Gavin and Brie arrived at Gavin's apartment, Gavin asked, "Have you been crying?"

Brie nodded, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Gavin reassured her, "It's okay," as he opened a small drawer near the shoe storage, "I can pretend to be your husband when we're out. But here, I can't."

Brie took what Gavin handed her and quickly read through it.

"It's about the terms of our marriage. The marriage will end in a year from now," Gavin explained.

"In our country's Marriage Law, there's no time limit for marriage. This agreement is invalid, even though I'm willing to sign it," Brie stated after a quick read.

"Invalid?" Gavin muttered.

Brie nodded, "Yes. This agreement is pointless. If you want to end this marriage, why not just talk to our parents tomorrow? Regarding the reason, just say that there's no compatibility between us."

Gavin sighed, "That would hurt our parents, and also, what would others think of our relatively short marriage?"

"Oh, so you care about what people say too?" Brie handed the agreement back to Gavin.

"Of course. What about the reputation I've worked hard to build," Gavin replied, accepting the paper handed by Brie.

"Okay. Um, is that room over there mine? Or is it the adjacent room?" Brie asked. She didn't want to bother commenting on Gavin's reputation-oriented views.

"You can use the one over there," Gavin pointed to the room next to the pantry.

"Okay. I'll leave the marriage decisions up to you. It's up to you when you want to end it. I don't care," Brie said before getting up, "see you tomorrow, good night."

Gavin just watched Brie leave without returning Brie's good night wishes, "She's really different. Not like the woman who was crying in her mother's arms earlier."

"Damn! Tired of this," he crumpled the agreement paper and threw it in the nearest trash bin.

●●●

In the room, Brie didn't immediately rest. She tidied up the things in the room, from the wedding gifts scattered on the floor to the positions of objects that made Brie want to tidy them up immediately.

"Is this what they call a room? To me, it looks more like a warehouse," Brie complained.

After tidying up the things that needed to be sorted in the room, Brie went into the bathroom. She intended to remove her makeup and change her party dress to comfortable home clothes.

"This is better," Brie emerged from the bathroom and checked her smartphone. An unanswered call from her friend made her call back.

"Hi, Baby Brie!" greeted her friend, Emy.

"What's up with the call?"

"Are you with your husband?" instead of answering Brie's question, Emy asked about the whereabouts of Brie's husband.

"No," Brie replied shortly.

"That's good. In that case, I'm not disturbing you two," at the end of her sentence, Brie heard Emy chuckle softly.

"What do you mean by disturbing?"

"Disturbing your evening, Brie. OMG, you're so innocent. Oh, have you opened my gift?"

"Not yet. I haven't opened any gifts from anyone," open a gift? For what? Brie didn't even like this wedding party. So, would she be happy to receive a wedding gift? Oh no! That's not what she wanted.

"What's inside? You must've sent me some weird gift," Brie guessed.

"Not weird, Baby Brie. Just open it if you're curious. Oh, I can't chat with you for long. I'm afraid of disturbing your evening," Brie heard emphasis on the last two words spoken by Emy.

Brie sighed tiredly, "Alright. I'll end the call."

"Okay. See you tomorrow," the call ended.

Brie turned around. She quickly opened her room door. She had heard a faint sound from outside her room amidst her conversation with Emy on the phone.

"What's up?" and it turned out to be Gavin standing in front of her room door.

Gavin cleared his throat, "I thought you were busy talking on the phone."

"Oh. That was a call from Emy. What's up?" Brie asked again.

"If possible, would you mind coming to my parents' house tomorrow?"

"And then?"

"Well, you just go there, representing me. I have an important meeting at the office tomorrow."

"So, I go to your parents' house on my own?"

"Yes, if you don't mind," Gavin scratched the back of his head, "if you mind, I'll call Mom if you can't come to our house."

"No need. I'll go there tomorrow. Anything else?"

Gavin shook his head.

"Okay then, I'll go to my room now. Good night," Brie quickly closed her room door.

She then lay down on her bed. She looked at the ceiling of the room, and before she knew it, she fell asleep.

●●●

--- to be continued ---