Lucy stood silently throughout, studying her husband as the urge to say something slowly built inside of her.
She knew what today’s purpose was, and she had no problem with it whatsoever. Just as she knew what she needed to do to complete this ruse that Marcus was so sold on. The problem, as she saw it, was how fake it all sounded. To her ears, it came across as if he was saying what he thought they would want to hear, without saying anything that might suggest that the two were happy.
All these cliches and tropes are surely not working. While I know little of love and romance, I know enough to understand that love is not about compliments and exaggerated declarations.
It is not real… anyone can see it!
It was just after Marcus finished explaining how utterly obsessed he was with Lucy that she decided that she’d had enough. While she did not really care what people thought of them, she knew that Marcus did, and that was what mattered.
“Marcus…” She pulled gently on his hand. “Might I have a word?”
“Oh?” He looked at her. “Is it urgent? I just spied Lord –”
“It is.” She widened her eyes at him. “Believe me, it is.”
He clicked his tongue, gestured to the lord who was coming their way, and allowed Lucy to pull him from the crowd so that they were alone. She was sure not to look annoyed, smiling the whole way, not wanting people to think that they were having a fight.
However, once they were separated from the small gathering, she turned on him.
“You really need to stop,” she said.
He blinked. “Stop? Stop what?”
“The way you are behaving… the things you are saying. They are ridiculous. Worse than that, they are so obviously false I am surprised that nobody has called you out.”
Marcus was clearly confused. “Lucy, you know what today is about. As I explained, we need to make it appear as if we are in love and happy.”
“Which is the exact opposite of what you are doing.”
“I am not,” he argued. “I have made sure to tell everyone how obsessed I am with you. By the time today is done with, my infatuation will be well known.”
“What will be known is how desperate you are to make it seem as if we are in love,” she said sharply. “The things you say… that is not real love. It is false, sickly sweet, and it sounds as if you are making it all up.”
“I –” He started an argument but caught his tongue when she raised both eyebrows at him. “What do you know of such things?” he countered. “I admit I know little about your past, but I know enough. You know as much about love as I do.”
She scoffed. “I know a great deal more than you, I promise.”
“How so?”
In some ways, Marcus was correct. Lucy had never been in love before, so she was far from an expert. However, she had seen couples who were in love before…my parents, for one, before my mother died. That was true love, and it is nothing like this.
Lucy was ten when her mother died, so her memories were fuzzy. And perhaps they were false, she could not say. But what she did remember was how her father used to treat her mother, and how her mother acted around her father. It was always more subtle, more subverted. They never felt the need to announce their love, nor did they bother showing it with grand gestures.
They simply were in love, and that was enough.
Contrast that to her stepmother and her father’s current relationship. How many times had she seen her father try and woo her stepmother, as if he needed to prove that he loved her? And how many times had she seen her stepmother dismiss such gestures because one as cold as that was not capable of love.
Lucy considered her parents further… she thought back to those small moments… she felt her heart flutter in her chest… and she knew just what to say do Marcus might finally understand.
“Small gestures,” she said. “Intimate moments. That is how you show someone that you love them. By knowing them better than you know yourself, so that you can give them what they desire most in this world. It does not have to be some sweeping romantic gesture, or some declaration of utmost love. That is for fairy tales and storybooks.”
Marcus considered her. “That is all well and good, but I see one problem with your theory.”
“It is not a theory.”
“Still, the problem remains.” He looked pointedly at her.
“And what is this problem?”
