Page 122 of The Marriage Narrative
“You’re sure you’re coming? You promise?”
“Where’s Zinnia? Is she there?”
“Do you think I’ll be a good mom?”
“I’m scared. It’s okay to be scared, right?”
He’d set his ringer to full volume. He refused to miss a single call.
“Places!” Wedding Segment Producer Neal gestured for Jordan to go stand on his mark. They were filming the last look before separating, because there wasn’t going to be a first.
Zinnia was waiting for him inside of a stone gazebo in the center of a floral hedge maze. Sunlight shone through the columnsand haloed around her—a sun goddess beckoning him to come up the stairway to his personal heaven.
Lulie’s handpicked neutral block colors streetwear wardrobe didn’tfeellike Zinnia, though. She chose to wear it ninety percent of the time she was on camera these days. He hoped she packed at least one of her cardigans for their bondingmoon redux.
Jordan was a cardigan man now. No going back.
He loved the way she looked at him, always one feature at a time like she could never quite figure out how to memorize his face and refused to stop trying. She traced along his jaw with steady fingers. “Would you leave me if you found your soulmate?”
Sometimes, storylines needed a firmer curating hand to properly come to an end. They’d been given scripted dialogue to perform—the question was fake, but did have a real answer.
Zinnia was never going to fall in love with him.
She was never even going to ask ifhewas with her. He’d given her several openings to do it. But she didn’t take a single one, because she didn’t want to. He knew her well enough to understand that. Maybe someday he’d find out why, but he wasn’t counting on it.
The answer was a nonanswer. Jordan was never going to tell her the truth, because it wasn’t something Zinnia wanted to know.
“Do me a favor,” he recited. “Ask me that again tomorrow. I have a surprise planned for you.”
“I do love surprises. It better not involve cake, though.”
He loved that she was comfortable joking about that prank now, but he still had nightmares about it.
The surprise was a performance by a popular singer who had a hit song about soulmates. Sadie tried to get the Spice Girls to attend the wedding as a present, but two of them were busy and another was retired. They all sent their congratulations by video, though.
“Perfect,” Neal said. “And if we could get a shot of you kissing—”
“No. We haven’t done that on camera yet,” Jordan said.
Neal gave them a strange look. He was no Mabel, but he was highly recommended.
“We’re saving ourselves for marriage,” Zinnia joked. “You’ll get your kiss tomorrow.”
The next time Jordan saw his wife she’d be walking down the aisle toward him.
Zinnia
Her wedding dress was hanging in front of the wardrobe—ivory lace and beadwork against dark, polished wood. She felt like a princess waking up in a cloud, surrounded by white plush blankets and pillows. The luxurious bridal suite even had a chandelier above the four-post king-sized bed.
People were talking and moving around beyond the closed door, but her camera pod was already filming inside her room.
“Good morning, Nora,” Zinnia called with a yawn. Having familiar faces on her team made filming much more bearable.
“Morning!” she whispered.
They were also allowed to talk to her now, albeitquietlyand never during important scenes. Nora, specifically, functioned more like an assistant at Sadie’s suggestion. “You need a Mabel,” she’d instructed. “Nora has potential. Trust me.”
And so, she did.
