So she said she wanted to marry, right? Like what, she said that maybe 5 years ago. I guess I thought she meant it in the way I mean it when I say I want to be a scriptwriter. Like it may not happen. As of some kind of desirable possibility. But then again, nobody has ever married in my circle. Nobody. And I always thought of marriage as of some kind of funny joke from the States. Something antique, that you don’t do anymore. So I nod and I say, cool, cool, go ahead, marry a guy. And then 5 years later there we are, all serious and all, and she’s marrying. And she’s like what, my age? And it’s not even about her age, that’s not what I mean. I mean, marrying someone is a lifelong compromise. Some real serious stuff there. And I just can’t see how someone could be as arrogant as to say, yeah, I know and trust myself enough, and know you and trust you enough to hereby certify I want to spend with you, and only with you, the rest of my life. Not when you’re 22 and know nothing about life. Maybe not even when you’re 60. Or else you don’t really mean it, and then what’s all the mess for? Then you’re just lying your guts out, lying to that person you supposedly love so much. I don’t get it.
So I book the tickets, spend a fortune, save some money. And I am a girl, so I have to find a pretty dress, and tights that go with it, and shoes, and a purse, and god help me, maybe even a hat, you never know with the brits. And think of the correct make-up and a plausible hairdo. And a coat or something. That’s a lot of money, but it’s not really about money, it’s about time. That’s space in my mind I need for other things. I go to university. Sometimes I need to think. Even if I didn’t go to university, I’d still much rather think about other stuff. And of course she also expects me to go with someone. But not just someone. She’d rather see me with my “special” someone. Like I have one. Heaven almighty, define “special”. Like, what, just because you’re marrying it means I also have to have a special someone, and not just have it, but bring (read: drag) him over? I may as well go with my cat, the orange one, he’s fond of weddings. Oh my, what would you think of me if I showed up alone? Or with a cat?
And then the gifts. Of course, she says, you “don’t have to”. But she knows I have to. So I look at the gift list. And I gasp. But can you believe that? A cutlery set? A wine glass set?
Bath towels? A set of four chequered glass placemats? I don’t even know what those things are, and to be honest, I think those are words I’d rather not have in my English vocabulary. The combination of words “bath” and “towels” evoques a grey routine in my mind. I say “bath towels” and I see a couple who have adopted a hamster to cuddle while they watch Big Brother thursday evening. “
Bath towels” means sex twice a week before sleep and cooking his meals. Oh my god, cooking his meals. Talking 13 minutes a day as statistics say couples do after they’ve married, and I believe it. Maybe even a child. Or two. I see a vision of nightmare in front of me. It’s nightmareous that someone may consider this happiness. This is all wrong. And worst of all: I can’t say any of that. She must not hear that. It would be way too harsh. You don’t tell that to a bride-to-be. Not to one who is your friend. She’ll figure it out herself, someday. So shut up Altea. Smile and wave and don’t say those monstrous things you’re thinking of. Somehow it’s hard to imagine myself shutting up. It’s wrong not to say what I think. It’s wrong to hurt her. Hello, help?
But this isn’t right. I feel sick and I shiver of fear, so this can’t possibly be right. It isn’t right to spend so much energy and dedication on something you abhorre. So I start thinking of ways to cope with it. Could I show up wearing jeans? Too mean, she’s supposed to be the centre of attention. Bet she wouldn’t be if I wore my broken jeans. I can’t jeopardize her big event, her bourgeois princess-for-a-day show. The white dress and the vows and all. I give up. There’s nothing to be done, just to be there and smile and pretend I’m not freaking out. Try not to faint when she says “yes, I do”. I think of an alternative strategy, something more constructive. I try to imagine my own wedding (ouch!). Not that I have anyone to wed, but anyway, imagination is not what I lack. Yes, that sounds definitely much more cooperative. Very polder-model like.
So I plan. I plan to marry someone with a lot of money who won’t mind me having a child with my ex and sleeping with a friend in the weekends. That sounds pretty good. I could even send death cards to my friends and family and have them come to the funeral, which would turn to be a wedding. Surprise! Would that be too cruel? Maybe they’d appreciate me more after that. Or maybe not at all. I leave that to further consideration. I’ll have them all wear normal clothes. Yeah. Or even better, I’ll have them dress up as whatever they fancy. Carnival! That should be funnier. After all, it’s supposed to be a happy day for all of us. Then there will be no priest. Fuck the priest. Maybe a pagan wedding? Or maybe just telling each other how much we love each other, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth. Would that be kind of cheesy? Surely. Nevermind. And no present list. I don’t want bath towels or pots or packs of cards. If they want to make a present, they should think of it as a birthday. Bring me a movie, you’ll make me happier. Bring me a book and show you know me. No wedding dress. No wedding meal. No church. Can we get some pizzas and loads of alcohol? Can we play twister and table games? Can we go swim in the sea?
It doesn’t really work. I still imagine for myself a painful life of serving my fat husband. Fat, and old, and sexually useless husband. Geez, this is getting really creepy. Cleaning his house, washing his clothes. Cleaning the toilet. I have an image in my head, of myself busy with the toilet. Surely this image is responsible for my sickness towards marriage. If I could only take it out, everything would turn to be fine. Yeah, have a honeymoon in
Spain, well, maybe somewhere else, since I’m a Spaniard. Where do Spaniards have their honeymoons? In
Paris? I’ve already fucked in
Paris. In
Amsterdam? Surely not, that’s where you go to get stoned. In
Greece? Yeah, I could go to
Greece with my fat, old, impotent husband. Or to some Malaysian island. Make some children. Do I have to take care of the children too, wipe off their asses? Do I have to quit a job I haven’t still found? What did I study for? What do I learn languages for? Do students marry too? Even in the so-called civilized countries like the
Netherlands women start working part-time after they marry, sometimes they even stop. This is all a fake. Nobody really expects me us to do big things. Just children and meals. Equality my ass. There is no such thing, there’s only diplomacy. Someone has cheated me big time. This wasn’t in my social contract!
My mother expects big things from me. That’s not a lot, I guess. Sometimes it even annoys me. But it’s better than anything, some don’t even have that. I had this friend whose mother used to say the girl didn’t need to study because she was pretty and good-natured and would find herself a good husband afterwards. Indeed she was pretty. And indeed she did not study. Well, I’m not too pretty, and I’m not too good-natured either. So I guess I may have to keep on studying. Also when I know that nobody expects me to go for it for real. That at some point I am supposed to stop the joke and settle down.
Had enough fun pretending you were an emancipated woman, Altea? Had a good time acting like you’d have your own future? Was it wild enough, was it any cool? Well you got your degree now, so you can quit pretending and get a guy comme-il-faut, a house and a mortgage. A proper boyfriend this time, please. One who’ll earn big money and be willing to tame you and dress you in the best shops. One who speaks Spanish, for Christ’s sake. An engineer or an architect or something like that. One who’ll have me to prepare sangria in the porche for his rich, good-looking friends. Wherever they sell boyfriends like that, like the ones my friends have, they can keep them.
But now she’s marrying. I can foresee how my friends are going to start marrying, one after the other. Happiness around! Bells ringing! It sucks.
And I wonder what’s going to become of me, all alone down here. If I will give in too. If I’ll find my precious freedom only to give it to someone else. To some fat, old, inefficient husband and some weeping children. Or if some of them will stand with me and rather say: I want to do it differently. I want to make movies and big loads of money. Write books and change the world. Also if I’m a woman and women don’t write neither they think. What do we need children for, if the world is finished anyway. I want to do as I please. No-one to give orders to me. I want to be my own master. Most of all, I want to be respected. For my ideas. For my brains, if I still keep some.
But you’re so in love. Everybody is so eager to be so in love and they can’t wait to tell the world how very much in love they are. Everybody is so special lately; everything is so full of “special” people. But maybe I better shut up, as hard as that may be, and try not to be bitter about it. Because hey, she wanted to marry, and she’s marrying. Maybe I’ll get what I want, too. Who’s giving wishes for free?