Ten Questions for a Fictional Character: Aurora Blackright of Falling

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Spoiler alert! This post contains information about my short story titled, Falling. If you have not already read this story then click the link below before reading on.

Falling

The door to Aurora’s New York apartment stands ajar, a Bollywood beat filling the air. I call to her and she yells for me to follow the music. I find her in the back room haphazardly swinging at a punching bag. Aurora picks up a remote, turns off the music, and nods toward a pair of chairs. “So, your readers have some questions for me?”

“Thank you for speaking with me. You had some dream, didn’t you?”

“I’d put it in the nightmare category, but yes.”

“One reader asked ‘If you were worried about all the things you dreamed about in the first place, why did you marry Mark?’ ”

“I married Mark because I loved him. Because of that I told myself all my worries were unfounded. Normal wedding jitters.”

“Did your dream have a basis in your real fears, though?”

“Because of growing up with money, I’ve always been fearful of someone pretending to love me. Mark promised me I was safe, though. He even signed a prenuptial agreement.”

“So you two ended up actually enjoying Hawaii?”

She scoffs. “The islands were beautiful, but they didn’t fit the occasion.”

“How so?”

“Rome would have been better for an ‘annulment contemplation’ getaway. We could have battled in the Coliseum. I refuse to call what we had a honeymoon.”

“Another reader questioned, ‘Was Mark really cheating on you?’ ”

“Yes,” she laughs, “but I’ve learned Jenny is his cousin, not his girlfriend. My father—a well known doctor—testified against Jenny’s best friend and helped convict her of murder. Her best friend is Mark’s ex-girlfriend. They met as teens, broke up two months before she supposedly killed her new boyfriend, and got back together after she was sent to prison. He and Jenny thought it’d be poetic to have my dad pay for an attorney for her appeals trial. Mark legally changed his name before ‘introducing’ himself to me, and my dad had never seen or met him or Jenny. Mark and Ronda—his ex-girlfriend—were together until a week before we were married. I’m going back to my maiden name.”

“The same reader asked, ‘Who was really calling Mark?’ ”

“Jenny. She wanted to know if he’d wired her the money for Ronda’s appeals lawyer. That was the plan.” Her eyes water and she grips her chair. “Marry me, steal the money, and when he’d been with me long enough, divorce me and take what money he had earned working his way up in my dad’s practice so he, Ronda, and their son could have a better life.”

“Did he send her the money?”

“He could have,” she folds her arms, “but he didn’t. He broke off all ties with Ronda, except for his son—whom I’ve learned he has custody of. I have no idea when he was going to tell me he had a son.”

“Why didn’t he go through with it?” “My dad is friends with half the New York police force. Mark says he didn’t do it because he fell in love with me, though.” She goes back to her punching bag and slams her fists into it again, and again.

“Do you believe him?” After a moment, she stops. “He’s turned over every piece of financial information to a friend of my dad’s who is a forensic accountant. If we’re still married in sixty years, then I’ll believe him. Until then? I’ll just love him.”

 

Thank you so much for the questions y’all asked Aurora! Make sure to check back next week for a new short story! Here, for your viewing pleasure, is Aurora’s pin board.  http://www.pinterest.com/justinaluther/things-aurora-blackright-likes/

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