And wouldn’t it be better to lie? The question rose up from the dew spotted tulips as Vienna strolled through the neighborhood park. She stopped to contemplate that opinion, certain it couldn’t have been her own. Tulips seemed such sweet flowers to have such dark ideas about how to fix a situation.
And then what? What to do after the lie? And what lie would she tell?
She strolled on, the questions bombarding her delicate forehead until the temples were pounding from the onslaught. Perhaps if she was already fatigued from even thinking about lying, that meant it was too much of an entanglement to even consider it.
But then, what could she do? How could she get out of this predicament? It had all started with Julienne suggesting there was no harm in spending time with two different men. No harm at all! Wasn’t it just the thing that men did, always keeping their options open?
If men did it all the time it was because they had control over the situation, Vienna concluded. Yes, that was the problem. At no point had she had control over the situation. A grave mistake from the beginning. One she would warn other young women about were they to think they were going to be so clever as to try the same thing. Perhaps she should write a book about it after all is said and done.
The tulips showed their dark side again, snickering with the wind at the idea of her finishing a book. Start one, yes. Finish? Well, wasn’t her house the one with the walls half painted? And the garden half-tilled? But once this problem was figured out, then she would have brain space to organize the book. She would know the ending and that would be helpful.
That, along with a scowl in their bright-yellow direstion, seemed to quiet the haughty flowers. There, now she could think. Though her head still pounded, the wind cooled her down just enough to be able to push past it.
Think, Vienna. She fingered the two rings in her pocket, each worth more than anything else she owned in her house.
Perhaps she should just move.
The idea snapped her head in the direction of her house, unfortunately pinching a sensitive nerve in her neck at the same time. The top of her house was visible in the distance, the trees in need of trimming glaringly obvious against the other trees of the neighborhood.
What an option. She was sure her neighbors wouldn’t mind, would they? It would require cleaning up and purging out half the things she owned, but she could pocket the money, leave the rings and run.
Her job would…well, she could find another job. For all she couldn’t finish she was always able to find a job. Quickly calculating how much she owed still on the house, taking away the price she thought it might sell for, Vienna felt her heart lift at the final solution.
Yes, sell the house.
Run away.
The image of the two rings being left on the counter, a note for each fiancee having been left in their mailbox for them to come fetch the rings occupied Vienna’s thoughts for a few rounds around the garden. She envisioned them finding their ring, clutching it to their breast and wondering where she might have gone to, what they might have done for her to leave so quickly.
The issue was with the first one finding the other ring. Perhaps they would wait for the other man to show up. Or perhaps Michael would take both, thinking it was his payment for her having left. He really wasn’t as clever as Jordan.
Perhaps they would both run into each other at the same time and a fight over her would ensue. The idea delighted her for another round about the garden. Then the tulips reminded her she wouldn’t be able to witness the fight, which erased her smile quickly.
She looked again towards her house and overgrown trees with limbs partly fallen and heaved a sigh. Lies wouldn’t work. Running away wouldn’t work.
Vienna out the two diamond rings from her jacket pocket and held them up towards the rising sun. The gleams of light sparkled around her fingers, but neither shown brighter than the other. She weighed them in her separate palms, trying to see if she held one man’s heart closer than the other, but only realized it had all been a game in the end. She didn’t care about either one.
And now she had the crummy job of admitting it. Because there was really no other way to go about it other than to tell the truth.
“Julienne, what terrible advice you gave me. You should have known I wouldn’t be able to say no to an engagement and now look at the predicament I’m in. Now, get me out of it.”
Solution in hand, Vienna marched home with her head held high.