– How can you call yourself my wife? Did I walk you down the aisle? Did we exchange vows? Did I put a ring on your finger?
Charlotte hesitated. She had always wanted these things, but somehow, they managed without them.
– No! No! And no! – Edward shouted. – You’re nobody to me! By what right do you call yourself my wife?
– Ed, please don’t punish me with silence! – pleaded Charlotte. – Let’s just talk!
– Talk? What more is there to say? – Edward was exasperated. – You’ve already said more than you should have!
– But I didn’t say anything awful, – Charlotte said.
– Remember, or better yet, write it down: silence is golden, especially in your case! – he turned away.
– Darling, come on, don’t sulk! – she moved closer.
– It would be better if you didn’t speak at all! – he threw up his hands. – How do you women manage to ruin everything with just one phrase?
Is this something you learn in school or is there a course on how to drive men mad?
Charlotte assumed Edward was sulking because she had yelled at him in the morning. Sure, he had broken both his and her favorite cup.
– How could you do that? – she fumed. – Everyone else can manage, but you seem to be all thumbs!
Fine, you broke yours, but why touch mine? Or was it intentional, so there’d be no favorite cups left?
It was just an ordinary domestic tiff. Usually, these things don’t bother anyone, they just go in one ear and out the other.
But Edward went off to work sulking, and when he returned, he didn’t utter a word to Charlotte.
He just stewed in his anger, ignoring everything she did, even refusing to come for dinner when she called him three times.
But peace had to be restored!
– Ed, forget about the cups! Let’s go shopping on Saturday and buy new ones! Your hands are perfectly fine!
– What on earth are you babbling about? – Edward glared at Charlotte, his eyes wild. – Don’t you realize what your words have caused?
– I can apologize, – Charlotte replied hesitantly. – Darling, just don’t be mad!
– Apologize? – he laughed hysterically. – If an apology could fix what you did with your words, I’d be the happiest man alive!
But you just killed me! Destroyed me! Made me feel worthless!
– For heaven’s sake, what did I say? – Charlotte realized it wasn’t about the cups. But what it was about, she couldn’t even guess.
– Who answered my boss’s call today and told her she was talking to Edward’s wife? – Edward spat, nearly hitting Charlotte’s face with his words.
– You were in the shower, and the phone wouldn’t stop ringing, – Charlotte said in confusion, – so I answered, asked her to hold on so I could get you.
She asked who I was, and I told her your wife. By the time I gave you the phone, she had hung up. What’s the big deal?
– You still ask what’s the big deal? – Edward shouted, his face red and a vein throbbing at his temple. – What’s the big deal? How are you my wife?
Did I walk you down the aisle? Did we exchange vows? Did I put a ring on your finger?
Charlotte hesitated. She had always wanted these things, but somehow, they managed without them.
– No! No! And no! – Edward shouted. – You’re nobody to me! By what right do you call yourself my wife?
***
– How long will this go on? – Susan inquired with a smile.
– Mum, – Charlotte scolded gently, – times have changed, and you can’t preach old-fashioned ideas. You yourself lived with several people after Dad died!
– Don’t you start on about your mum! I know what I need! – Susan said with a grin. – I’m old enough that no rumor will stick to me! You’re still young; you’ve got a life ahead of you!
– Mum, fifty-four is not old! You’ve got time to remarry, maybe even several times given the trends!
– If I met a decent man, maybe I’d do that, – she said, smoothing her hair, – but for now, I’ve made do with surrogates!
– And you’re lecturing me! – Charlotte laughed.
Then Susan’s smile faded:
– Lottie, I get that many today live without official ceremonies, have kids, and it’s considered a normal family.
But legally, it’s just cohabitation, which offers no guarantees!
– Mum, love is a better guarantee than any paper, – Charlotte replied.
– Love might be here today, gone tomorrow, but a husband, if he’s official, provides some security! For a child, he’ll have responsibilities like child support.
If it’s about property, assets, who gets what if he digs in his heels?
– Mum, Ed and I are great together! We’ve been living together for six years. Why do we need to make it official? We earn the same.
– That’s not reassuring or convincing! – Susan wagged her finger. – Lottie, at least start preparing him!
In passing, call him your hubby, ask him to hug his wifey. Let him get used to the words, let them linger. Then you can tie him down!
– If I scare him with those words, I’ll end up with a fight, resentment, and then loneliness! – Charlotte shook her head. – Happiness is fragile, Mum; you have to protect it, not test its limits!
– It’s your life, after all, – Susan shrugged, – I’ll still have you, with or without a grandchild, as God wills.
But think, life isn’t all about fun; it comes with responsibility.
And in your relationship, there are no obligations. It might be fine, but it’s not the smartest move!
***
Charlotte appreciated her mother’s kindness and support. But her advice made Charlotte think.
Marriage was more of a security for her. It favored women more than men.
Her friend Anna also urged Charlotte to make it official with Edward, but her reasons were different:
– Imagine you get a loan for a house or car, or maybe a holiday home. Or at least fill your house with appliances. The loans will be in the name of your makeshift family’s head.
– Anna, – Charlotte scolded gently, – spare me the terms!
– Fine, – Anna agreed. – In Ed’s name. And suppose you decide to part ways!
– Don’t be pessimistic!
– Okay, – Anna waved her hand. – Let’s say something drastic happens and you split, – the look Charlotte gave Anna made her change course. – Ed might want to gift the house, vehicle, or holiday home to his favorite nephew, mum, Uncle Pete, Aunt Molly. And he can, and you can’t say a word!
– I can voice my opinion, – assured Charlotte.
– Sure, voice away! – Anna demonstratively smiled. – But proving it’s joint property, bought or financed from a shared fund, that’s another story! You’d lose out on shared assets!
– What about court, witnesses?
– A court’s your only chance to assert your rights. But it’s tough proving you are part of it; that you have rights, especially if the inheritor brings in a bunch of people claiming you didn’t contribute a penny!
– You’re painting the worst-case scenario! – Charlotte said.
– I’m sharing a common courtroom scenario for couples like you and Ed.
– So, I need to save receipts, manage finances, and maybe even record conversations about money and purchases? – Charlotte asked.
– Or simply take him to the registry office, – Anna’s smile was now kind and open, suggesting the best option.
– My mum also thinks I should drag him, but first, I need him to want it. She suggests easing him into terms like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’.
– Then start working on it!
***
Adding “hubby” to the roster of affectionate terms was easy. Referring to herself as “wifey” fit naturally. The words rolled off the tongue smoothly.
At first, Charlotte feared Ed would react badly, but he just laughed it off and never echoed the words.
Charlotte, however, kept at it. She called him her husband and herself his wife at every opportunity.
She got so used to it that she didn’t even realize she told her husband’s boss she was his wife when asked who she was. It came out casually, as if it had always been.
***
– Ed, we’ve been living together for so long, – said Charlotte, – I thought we were a family. Yes, without the paperwork, but that’s normal now. We have a future with kids and a long happy life!
– You should have kept thinking that rather than telling my boss you’re my wife! Why did you answer at all? Just handed the phone to me!
– Darling, I’m always calling you my husband, how is that different?
– It’s different because thanks to you, I’ll be sacked! You didn’t just ruin my day; you’ve ruined my life! You’ve cut my career short just as it was taking off!
I won’t marry you now, nor live with you! I’m packing up right now!
– Ed, aren’t you overreacting? – Charlotte asked, stunned. – So, I said I was your wife to your boss. How does that change anything?
– It changes everything! Your utterance made my boss realize I’m taken. She was holding onto me hoping for… more. Now that she knows I have a wife, she fired me just for a bit of revenge!
***
A week after Edward left, the infamous boss, Ms. Mira, paid a visit to Charlotte:
– Charlotte, I came to apologize, – she began, – but not for dismissing Ed, but for revealing the truth about his deceitful ways…
– I get it, – Charlotte waved it off.
– I had… aspirations for him. We met after hours, you see. And he had already charmed many colleagues…
Charlotte swallowed hard, fighting back nausea.
– We thought he was unattached, so we competed for his company. If we knew he was married, none of us…
– We weren’t officially married…
– Well, then, living together…
– Not anymore, – Charlotte lowered her gaze.
– You know, – Ms. Mira spoke confidently, – it’s for the best. Because he’s neither husband nor partner, just a fool! It’s actually lucky he set you free!
Charlotte couldn’t disagree.
Neither a husband, nor a partner, just… a fool.
