Andrew had only ever met my parents a few times in the years we’d been married. When we’d first gotten married he’d allowed me to visit my parents on my own and even encouraged it because I missed them. After the accident, he’d made it perfectly clear that going to meet them in this Podunk town was beneath him and that he didn’t like them, so they came to us. Could a brain injury from an accident really change a person that much in a short amount of time? Apparently so.
Right now, I was glad that he’d never come once, so this place was untainted by him. My parents had liked him well enough, but like all southern parents, he’d never be good enough for their little girl. They hadn’t been afraid to tell me either. I still remember mama pulling me aside and asking me if I was sure he was the man for me.
Mama had said I was too young, that I could do better for myself. But like any young woman in love, I was an idiot. That’s probably the worst part of this whole situation. She told me he wasn’t right and I didn’t believe her. My pride was hurt but so was everything else. I was broken.
We’d gotten married quickly after that meeting. Andrew had moved us to the city where the rest of his family lived. I thought he’d wanted to marry me because he truly loved me and he had those first two years. But now that I think back over the last year we were together it had always been more about control than love. He’d wanted to own me. But it wasn’t until that fateful night that his true colors had shown.
Look where that naivety got me.
“Hurry up. I refuse to be late on your account.” Andrew yelled up the stairs.
“I’m almost done, I’ll be down in a couple minutes. I want to look nice for you, Andrew. We have time,” I yelled back. I finished putting my hair into a bun on my head, curled my eyelashes, and applied some lip gloss. I slipped my favorite dress up my body and looked at myself in the mirror. I loved how this simple black dress always made me feel comfortable, especially around Andrew’s work friends. I’d zip it up and the mess my life had become was stuck inside it, not to be revealed to anyone for the night. I was the perfect wife, the show up and look good on his arm, wife. Never speaking, always smiling. That’s what he wanted from me.
I rushed down the stairs ready to go.
“Is that really what you’re wearing?” I looked down at myself, confused.
“Yes, I think I look nice in this dress…”
“Well, I think it looks like shit. Why don’t you go back up and put on the red dress I bought for you last month that you haven’t worn yet? It’s sexy.”
I bit my lip, nervously. “That dress makes me uncomfortable, Andrew, and it doesn’t look good on me.”
He huffed, not even looking at me, “It figures, don’t think I hadn’t noticed you gaining a few pounds since I bought you that present. I’m going to have to get that trainer to start working with you again. Another thing I’ll have to pay for, but I’ll do it because I love you.”
I cringed. Every single I love you lately had been attached to an attack on my looks. I’ll find you a new hair stylist because this one isn’t working out. I’ll get you a new trainer because it’s clear you’ve gained some weight. I’ll buy you a new dress because the old ones make you look like you came from the back woods. He wasn’t doing it because he loved me. He was doing it because he thought I looked bad in front of his friends.
“I don’t want to change.” This statement held more than one meaning.
Anger radiated from his face, “Fine, don’t change. But know I’ll be the man others pity for having a plain, dull wife. I don’t have time to wait for you to take another twenty minutes to get ready. You stay behind me and don’t make a spectacle of yourself in front of my coworkers.”
We pulled up to the gates and they opened, automatically allowing us entrance to the monstrosity of the house where Andrew’s boss lived. Dinner parties were a part of life for us and I hated them. The fanfare, the fake-ness, the upper echelon of society. Andrew stopped the car and got out, leaving me to open my own door and follow him. He handed the valet the keys and told him not to damage the car before turning and walking off.
I watched the valet run around the car, get in, and speed off. For a second, I wished it was me running away from this stuffy place, but I wasn’t that lucky. I must have been dwindling too long.
“Cassidy, are you coming?” I turned to see an irritated Andrew looking back at me.
“Yes, sorry.”
He waved to me, “Come on, we don’t have all day and we’re already late.”
I caught up to where he waited, and he held out his hand. Appearances, right? I took it lightly and put on my smile, that’s what a perfect wife does. Never let them see you cry. Something I’d found myself saying a lot these days. The front door opened, and we were welcomed inside. The grandiosity of the foyer wasn’t lost on me. I could stand there for hours and never capture every single inch of it.
“Andrew, Cassidy, glad you could make it,” I heard the booming voice of Andrew’s boss behind me. We turned as he walked up, patting Andrew on the shoulder and I smiled my typical smile while affectionately looking at my husband, and not the other man. Never look at another man in my presence.
