"I brought you coffee and donuts, not your usual breakfast, but..." Ezra puts the package on the table.

  "Thanks, I'm ravenous." I reach for the package.

  Kate slaps my hand, " Only coffee. We don't want a gluten belly in the wedding dress."

  I roll my eyes. Kate puts the comb she's been using to fix my hair on the table. "Ezra, make our bride something with more protein and bye felicia!

  Ezra picks up the doughnut on the table, raises both hands in surrender, and walks backwards out of the house.

  "What about my breakfast, Kate? I can't starve myself to look pretty, I'm not like that." My voice is tearful. I drop my head on the table.

  "Hey, I'm doing your hair!" I look up at Kate's very serious warning. I put my most kittenish look on my face. My look pushes her to prepare something for me.

  "Oh, poor thing, I'll make you an oat omelet, but you mustn't get the smell in your hair. Show me where the ingredients are and go inside."

  I do as she says. I go into my room and sit on the bed. I can see myself in the mirror directly opposite the bed. My eyes flicker between my reflection in the mirror and the wedding dress hanging on the back of the door. I am getting married. My father expects me back in a few weeks. To come back and marry the way he wants me to. Now I'm getting married without him knowing. I think about how he'll react when he finds out. A twinge shoots through my stomach. A pang of excitement, a deep fear. I take a deep breath. One more breath. I can hardly breathe. My sight seems to black out. I hear Kate opening the door. I feel her approaching me, holding my hand.

  "What happened to me, Kate?"

  "I think you had a panic attack. It must have been the excitement. Are you feeling better?"

  "Yeah, I'm just hungry."

  Kate makes me eat the omelette she cooked. I feel a bit better. I drink a big glass of water. Then I point to my stomach, "Look Kate, my little water baby!"

  She laughs. "The panic attack wore off quickly, you're ready to get married!"

  She does my makeup and puts on my wedding dress. When it's all over, I take one last look at myself in the mirror, "Compared to everything else that's waiting for me, this really is the best of all possible worlds."

  "What did you say, honey, I couldn't hear you?" Kate calls from the sink where she has gone to wash her hands.

  "I said, we have a good life ahead of us, don't we?"

  She comes and hugs me. "Oh, of course. Don't worry about having no one, okay? I'm always here for you. We're always here for you, me and Georgie. I want you to always think of me as a sister."

  I look into her eyes. They're filled. My eyes are teary, too. I'm really touched. "You're my sister, Kate. You always will be."

  She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. Then she wipes under my eyes without disturbing my makeup. "Come on, photo time. Come here."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  I stand in front of her. I pose. She takes the photo with my phone. I look at it. While I'm looking at the photo, I get a message. It's from Ahmet. I feel a second twinge in my stomach. What could my fiancé, whom I've only spoken to once, want from me?

  I open the message, "Are you okay? I haven't heard from you in a while."

  I don't know how to reply to the message. I write something and delete it. The doorbell rings. Ezra must have come. We have to get out of the house. We're getting married. We have to go to our wedding. I reply with a photo of Kate, with a message underneath, "We're getting rid of each other forever."

  Kate snatches the phone out of my hand, "Come on, no messing around, let's go!" I walk out of the room and see Ezra in a tuxedo. He takes a step back. "Wow!" He puts his hand on his heart, like he's been shot in the heart.

  I laugh, "Clown. And dressed as a penguin."

  He straightens his bow tie. He runs his hand through his hair in a cool way. "Not once. I'm the most handsome bartender/husband in the world right now."

  Kate interjects, "Husband-to-be. If you don't move fast, you're not really going to be her husband today."

  "I really don't understand how we're so late." We rush down the stairs.

  I can't believe my eyes when I see the bar. It's unbelievable that this bar has turned into a wedding venue. "Kate! How did you do all this?"

  "By magic, honey." She leaves me at the entrance and goes to her chair at the front and sits down. Georgie comes and takes my arm. As he leads me to Ezra, he whispers, "Thank you for coming into our lives and giving us my friend back."

  I gratefully shake Georgie's hand. Maybe I am being given a new life, how can I explain it to him.

  I take my seat across from Ezra and we recite the vows we wrote and memorized together with great acting. We agree to be each other's wife and husband. We put on the rings. The famous sentence is spoken, "You may kiss the bride."

  This would have been so easy if nothing had happened between us. But now, I don't know what to do. I'm waiting for Ezra to kiss me. I'm in a state of nervous surrender. When our lips meet, I feel the world stop again. When our lips part and our eyes lock, I see in his eyes the same fire of passion that burns in mine. I want him to take me home right now. He doesn't even have to take me home. I want him to take me on his lap, to take me to the little room in the back, but I know that's not going to happen. Before the applause stops, I put my hand around his neck and press myself against his lips again. This time I give him a kiss that is more passionate, more real. He kisses back. The music starts. Ezra takes me by the hand and pulls me to the center. Just as KAte had planned, everyone pulls their chairs out of their seats and to the sides. This frees up the dance floor. Ezra leads us in our first dance,

  "It was a good move. My kiss was a little too cold. If they recorded the second kiss, it must have been very convincing. For the interrogators, I mean."

  I swallow. In a second I lift my chin and straighten my head, "That's exactly why I did it, clown. It was like you forgot to kiss."

  He smiles, "Thanks for reminding me."

  ***

  We're leaving people to continue having fun in the bar. I'm sure everyone thinks that the newlyweds are running home excited about making love. But we're exhausted.

  We walk in the door laughing, Ezra asks "Do you feel like you've been liberated from the cage?"

  I take off my shoes, two white shoes on each hand, exhausted from the weight of the wedding dress. I laugh, both at myself and at the situation I am in. "I should feel light as a feather, shouldn't I? I should, but for some reason I don't."

  He tugs his shirt through his pants. He pulls out a chair and sits down. I try to sit on the chair too, but the skirt of the wedding dress doesn't allow it.

  "Oh, sorry."

  Ezra gets up and helps me get settled. We take our places at the table where we talk about important things.

  "It will take two years to get green card. That's two years of putting up with each other. Then there's the uncertainty of citizenship. Before that, we have to convince the interrogators. When I think about it, I get pangs in my stomach. And what will happen when my father finds out..."

  Ezra interrupts while I'm talking without breathing, "Hey, hey, calm down." He takes my hand, "We have reached an important stage. The only important thing from now on is to convince the interrogators. We've worked out the plan so well that I'm sure it will be very easy. For citizenship, you just need to learn to be a little bit American. And don't worry about your father. He can't come and get you. He's already missed that train."

  "I want to sleep." I put my head on the table.

  "Not like this. Come, let me help you."

  I stand up. I reach for the strings behind the dress. I can't loosen them, so I give up. I look at Ezra. He's already there, ready to help. He gets behind me. He is trying to untie the strings of the wedding dress. He picks up my hair that is blocking him and puts it in front of me. The feel of his hands on my skin as he does so sends shivers down my spine. A minute ago we were both laughing, now the room is deathly silent. The sexual tension is so palpable it could be cut with a knife. If he grabs me and pulls me to him, I won't say no. For a moment, I feel him sniffing my hair. His hand finishes with my wedding dress. He leans in towards my ear, "It's done, you can take it off."

  I slide the straps of the dress off my shoulders, my face on fire. Oh, I want to be yours.

  He holds the straps of the dress in my arms. It's like he's holding them with his hand so I don't pull them down any further. "Not here, take it off inside. I don't want to break a big rule."

  "Again..." I say vaguely.

  "Again..." he says in a whisper.

  I go to my room. I close the door. I step out of the dress, like I'm shedding skin. I leave the dress in the middle of the room and go to bed. I fall asleep crying.