Sapphic Voices Romance

The Bride In Pearls And Blood

Part Two

The setting sun's rays worked with Catalina's heavy tears to obstruct her vision. While she wept, the woman was still standing there before her, watching her, or so it looked from what little she could make out from her lachrymose eyes. She hadn't even noticed the sarcasm in the woman's first statement, but before she knew it, she was pouring out her heart and soul to her, in a desperate, needy attempt to ease her own pain.

"..Please..Don't let this happen to me!.. I don't want to marry anyone! Not now, not ever!.."

With her face still buried in her hands, she could only make out the woman's cold response, in the same way she could only hear the step closer the stranger had taken.

"..Having an archaic set of problems aren't we?.."

Catalina's desperation led her to rush down the steps, in her attempts to flee. The woman that stood before her was her only obstacle, and when she bumped into her blindly, she clutched her shirt, with the pain in her eyes depicted as clear as water.

"You've got to help me! Please! I can't go back to my homeland! I don't want to marry this man, I don't want to have any children now! Please tell me this is all a nightmare.. Please tell me I'm going to wake up soon! Please!"

After a few seconds, Catalina hung her head in shame, realizing what she had just done. She felt her face redden, and looked away embarrassed and angry at herself. She had always known herself to be such a reticent person, and then she had gone and done that. The stranger's sardonic voice caught her attention though she didn't look up at her, still ashamed about the emotive outburst from seconds before.

"..Girl.. You have a lot of gall spilling your guts to a complete stranger."

"..I-- I'm sorry.. I didn't meant to.. Please.. Forget about everything I've said, I-- I'm going through a difficult time, and--"

"Who are you marrying?.."

Catalina finally got herself to look at the stranger, with some exasperation accommodating itself into her gaze.

"..That's none of your--"

"..I think it is.. You gave me a taste of the script,so you might as well spoil the whole drama."

"What?.. Just who do you think you are?!.."

"Your accidental confidant. It's not like I want to hear it you know, but... I think it's a better idea that you get it all out before it makes you do something crazy."

"I don't even know you.. Why should I tell you anything!"

"..You didn't think about that before, now did you?.."

Catalina met her gaze for long seconds, caught up in her cold but inquisitive stare. She felt as if she couldn't stop looking into those strange eyes for a moment, and a second later, she turned her gaze away, realizing her own awkwardness. She wiped away a remaining tear from her cheek with a swift move of her palm, trying not to seem so pathetic to this woman whose biting frankness was leaving her speechless.

"..I'm sorry.. I really didn't mean to let out so much earlier.. It's just that I've been holding all this back for so long, and I-- well.. I guess it just got the better of me, moments ago.."

"Tears aren't running down your cheeks anymore, so you must be feeling better.."

"..No..The countdown is still going.. In only a few months, I'm going to marry someone I've never met, and I'm going to live with him for the rest of my life.. This relief is only momentary.."

While she finished her comment, Catalina eyed the woman before her slowly, but discreetly. She seemed much taller up close than she did last week when she had noticed her sitting by her doorsteps through her window. In fact, she was tall enough that Catalina felt rather short standing before her, which was a little funny because she was about five foot nine. Her skin was pale, though she couldn't decide on her racial descent, and her eyes were a very dark green, a color Catalina had never seen on anyone's eyes before. The woman's slightly indifferent expression hadn't changed when she addressed her again.

"..Getting married to a stranger huh. What the hell kind of outdated epoch are you living in?.."

"..You don't rightly think I have a choice in this do you?!"

Catalina watched her scoff as she shoved her hands in her pockets, and slanted forward a little to guise her chuckle.

"..Of course.. I'm sorry, I forgot you're the woman. Ah.. I always did love history."

Catalina observed her, growing all the more annoyed the deeper the conversation became. The woman looked back at her with amusement still clearly drawn in her face.

"What do you mean "you're the woman"?! You think that's enough reason for me to have to go through this?!"

"Don't misunderstand miss. It's just tradition. This kind of thing is always the same. Female consent is never really needed. I'm sorry that you're still living in 1650 though."

Catalina turned around abruptly, angry and climbed the steps back to her door. She wished she hadn't spilled so much to the woman earlier because she felt that she would be subject to that same mockery every time she ran into her.

"..Forget it! I should have held my tongue before speaking to some random freak! You're just--

"Didn't catch your name missy."

"What?! You're joking right??"

"Go ahead. You've already told me more than what I needed to know. I wasn't aware I was going to get hired for a psychotherapist's job without even an interview, but if you want to talk, I live in the first building down the street."

"Just what makes you think I'm going to ever address the likes of you again?!"

"The same thing that made you beg me for help minutes ago."

Catalina noticed the haughty grin on her face and frowned as the woman began to walk away. The remaining rays of the sun made her dirty blonde hair glimmer on the edges. Catalina felt her blood boil at the woman's cocky, careless demeanor.

"You really should lose the attitude lady."

"Forgive me, we haven't even been properly introduced yet. If you change your mind, my apartment is 6C."

Catalina watched the woman disappear into the very last building at the end of the block. She didn't give so much as a glance back to her as she walked away, and although the woman's attitude had infuriated her, Catalina was thankful that she had spent the time arguing with her when she walked past her mother after getting back inside. The time she had spent talking to the stranger had allowed her tears to dry up and her eyes to lose some redness which spared her having to explain to her mother the reasons behind them. She retreated into her room for the rest of the evening, thinking about Felicio. She was still awake at around 12 am, reading her language and prose books, or rather, attempting to read them but she really couldn't. She kept thinking about the days closing in on her, about the night in which she'd have to sleep beside a man she didn't love. All the thoughts got the better of her eventually however, and she set aside her books, then slumped down on her bed. Some heavy tears escaped her eyes as she drifted off into slumber.

......................................................................................................

A week had passed, and her dress was already complete. It had fit beautifully this time, hugging her waist enough to give it a more shapely elegance when she wore it. She sat in her bed, looking at it hang from her wall, protected beneath its plastic cover.

I wish I could tear it to shreds..

She could make out her mother's humming as she cooked dinner with her sister downstairs. She had just finished her chores for the day, and was resting on her bed, exhausted from scrubbing arduously at the tub, and her father's shirts, the ones the washing machine never tidied up as well as he liked. Her own room was spotless and she felt happy that she could finally take a breather. It was only around 7 o'clock, but she felt like sleeping and she had noticed that it had become her only means
of escape. She would always wound up dreaming of not getting married, again and again. Peering outside her window, she observed the random stars twinkling in the pink violet sky, and when she looked down she saw the woman from the week before, walking home silently. Catalina had observed her all through the week with mixed feelings of annoyance and confusion. She still remembered her words, her sarcasm, and even her apartment number, and she wondered why, because it wasn't as though she was going to go there. Her mother's calling caught her attention, and she left the window to head downstairs. When she reached the kitchen, her sister handed her the phone with a wide smile on her face while Catalina looked back at her, baffled.

"..Answer it Catalina! It's Felicio. He called to hear your voice for the first time."

"...What?.."

"Answer it girl, don't make him wait! You know how costly international calls can be!"

Catalina observed her hesitantly when her mother walked by and gestured her to pick it up with a stern expression in her face. She picked up the phone, with a shake of her hands, and the stutter in her voice didn't go unnoticed by the others nearby her.

"..A-- Alo?"

"..What a pleasure to finally hear your voice, Catalina."

"..H-hello Felicio.. How.. How are you?"

"..I'm well and good, thank God. And very happy. I finally get a chance to speak to the woman I will share my life with.."

He continued speaking to her about various things she didn't hear entirely. She was busy listening to the sounds of his voice, trying to connect the image of what she had seen in aged pictures to the person on the other line. He sounded so ahead in years, though she had been told he was only 38. For a moment, she felt as though she was talking to her own father rather than the man she would marry. The pictures of him she had seen of him were tainted a little, and frankly she feared he seemed
much older than he really was. It all just fueled the feeling of disgust in her. When she snapped back to reality the connection had been lost, and she hung up the phone to later sit through the giddy interrogations of her mother and sister. She could only tell them whatever she had absently heard while she was delved in her own thoughts. It took her great effort to swallow her anguish until she was alone in her room again. So much was going through her mind that it was overwhelming. All the
things she wanted to yell out to the world and she couldn't because she had to marry, she was a Christian, and so was her family. She felt herself falling apart inside, as if her whole soul was nothing but a vessel of nothingness. As she ducked under her covers, she hugged herself, imagining how in a couple of months she would be surrounded by the warmth of another, not that of her own body. In her lingering slumber, she told herself she'd go visit the woman whom she had spoken to before,
because she needed someone to listen to her, and help her cope, even if it was a rude stranger.

......................................................................................................

It was around 7 pm when she rang the bell of apartment 6C. She had mustered up enough guts to bring herself to lie to her mother, telling her she was going to visit a friend from junior high that lived in the area, and it took an even greater effort for her to get herself on the elevator, and ring that doorbell. She had been lucky. Someone was on their way out, and she had snuck into the building, without having to ask the woman to let her in. She rang the bell twice, her fear making her ankles shake a little. There was no answer for a good long minute, and just as she turned to walk away, the door opened. Feeling herself shake as she looked upon the woman again, she held her arms to her midriff, to try and camouflage her unease. The woman stood by the door looking at her with impression and curiosity in her face. There was also a good amount of that smart asses attitude in her crooked smile as she leaned heavily on the iron door.

"..Well, well.. What the hell are you doing here?.."

"..I-- I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have come--"

"You're at my doorstep. No turning back now."

"..Look.. I know we don't know each other but.. I just wanted to talk.. I need someone to listen to me.. I know this is just stupid but..God, I don't even know what I'm doing.. I just-- I just need someone,anyone to give me a little attention.. Even if it's just part of a big prank.."

Catalina watched her rake her fingers through her lengthy bangs before opening the door a bit wider, and appearing to gesture her in.

"I never expected you to take the offer seriously, but sure.Come on in. A little drama will balance me out."

The Bride In Pearls And Blood - End of Part Two

If you have enjoyed Foreigner's "The Bride In Pearls And Blood - Part Two", then please be certain to e-mail at  SeekersRhapsody[at]yahoo.com  and thank her for posting this Story.

Click here to continue on to "The Bride In Pearls And Blood, Part Three"

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