Page 86 of Only for the Week
I become engulfed in the game. It’s so realistic. My character and Rome’s character go on a lot of dates, some of them being exact replicas of dates he and I have taken in real life. Saying and doing things to build your characters’ bond earns you points and those points lead to achievements. When I hit certain achievements, it provides cut scenes showing our characters moving to the next phase of our relationship. The cut scene for our characters moving in together showed them dancing in the living room, surrounded by her boxes, which is exactly what we did the night I moved into his place.
“Damn, this game is moving so fast. I kinda wanna slow it down a little bit. Or is the point to get people to play it through several times trying to get different achievements or different partners?”
He doesn’t answer my question but I’m too enraptured to care.
I hit another achievement, prompting another cut scene. This one looks different from the others though. Instead of playing like a movie, it shows the Rome character getting on one knee in their house and then the title screen pops back up. Part of the title falls away, though, and changes so that it readsOnly Foreverinstead.
A menu screen pops up that reads “Do you want to continue?” with yes or no options underneath.
I click yes but nothing happens. The Rome character just remains on bended knee with a smile on his face and a ring in his hand.
“Wait, what? Is it over? Why didn’t it continue when I clicked yes?” I tap the screen a bunch of times, hoping to make something happen but it doesn’t change.
“Because it hasn’t happened yet,” I hear him say behind me.
“What?”
I spin around to look at him but damn near fall over when I see him in the same position the Rome character was in the game. He’s on one knee, holding a ring box out to me, with a smile on his face.
“I said that part of the game hasn’t happened yet, J. But I was hoping we could write it together. I love you more than I ever thought possible. I know our relationship has been a bit of a whirlwind, but you once said that when your soul finds its tether that‘too fast’doesn’t exist. I’ve known you were my soul’s tether since the day we met. So, I’m asking you, Janelle Lashaun Cross. Will you marry me?”
Sometimes, I think about the fact that I almost let Rome walk away from me. What would my life have been if I had only given him that one week? Then moments like this remind me that I’ll never have to know.
I drop to my knees in front of him and take his face in mine. “You are the one person I trust the most with my yeses. So, of course, I’ll give you this one too.”
The End
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Behind the Epilogue
Chapter One
Janelle
Three months after the wedding
“Okay, stop. I want you to acknowledge what you just said.” Amerie’s therapist, Dr. Sampson, pauses her with a hand in the air.
“What did I say?” Amerie asks.
It’s hard for me to even focus on Dr. Sampson’s response. My eyes drift around the warm space she’s curated. The navy blue walls, matching velvet couch, soft lighting, and tall, vibrant plants would make anyone feel at home enough to share their feelings, but I want to leave.
This is the third therapy session I’ve been to with Amerie since she returned from her honeymoon. She begged me to come with her to try to mend our relationship. The very fact that she’s in therapy and asked me to join shows that she’s trying, right? Yet every time we come here, it feels like this is a giant performance she’s putting on, and I’m nothing more than her supporting cast. I leave this office feeling more drained than anything.
I turn to look at Amerie. Her hair hangs to the middle of her back in beautiful, loose waves. Her makeup is flawlessly natural. Her cream cashmere turtleneck sweater and black wide-leg trousers are tailored to complement her body perfectly. Her gorgeously manicured nails fly around animatedly as she speaks. She truly looks like a goddess who has all her shit together.
It’s her eyes that give her away, though. I don’t know why I never noticed before; maybe I didn’t want to, but her eyes are so far away and miserable. She hides it well, but I see past the facade now. How is she newly married to the love of her life and still so miserable inside? It almost makes me feel sorry for her, but then I remind myself that my sister is a Venus flytrap: beautiful on the outside but ready to pounce at the moment of contact.
I observe her sweater a little more until I realize she’s staring right at me. I turn to Dr. Sampson and she’s staring at me too. One of them must have said something to me.Shit.
“Umm, I’m sorry. What was the last part?”
Amerie rolls her eyes and drops her hands in her lap. “I’m so horrible, and yet she can’t even listen to me during therapy.”
And here I zone out again.
