Chapitre sans titre 1
Today is my very special day. At least, that’s what everyone keeps on telling me even though I feel like it’s everyone’s special day but mine. In Mauritius, following numerous traditions, a bride-to-be must follow countless rituals. No men are allowed at the bride’s parents’ place, so there were no signs of Michel, my gay best friend! We all have one, you know—the brutally honest friend who never keeps anything to themselves, so intimidating yet refreshing in a world filled with people pleasers. Michel and I were neighbors; we grew up together. I witnessed him become the self-assured person he is today, secretly envying how he dared to defy societal rules to live the life he always wanted.
I, on the contrary, was always so obedient and too afraid of strict parents. When they learned that Lenny and I started seeing each other after a summer camp with both of our families, they jumped on the occasion and assumed we were made for each other. He was from a good family, his dad worked at the bank with mine, and our mothers would go to church together on Sundays! What a perfect family, right?
When the time came for us to choose a career, my parents decided it would be safe for me to work as a teller at the local bank, a secure and well-paid job. Lenny, however, got to go abroad for three years where he studied to become a landscaper. So there he was, freshly out of college, with a secure job and ready to get married and start a family.
Our families nicely planned the wedding; we only had to get dressed and be present, and so we did. They even paid for our honeymoon in Amsterdam, and I have to admit that this was not my dream destination. Even though I’ve never really been interested in traveling the world, coming from a paradise island where it’s summer all year in the Indian Ocean, it was even crazier to think of going on holiday to the Netherlands, where it’s cold and snowy.
Anyway, I’ve always been used to keeping my opinions to myself, and that’s exactly what I was about to do. So Amsterdam, here I come!
“You can still escape and come to Île aux Bénitiers with me!” a reassuring voice entered my room. I knew it was Michel when I saw all my aunts turn in shock as if a serial killer had just entered the room.
I jumped into his arms and he whispered in my ear: “As your best friend, I’ll make the sacrifice and go to Amsterdam for you. But the wedding part... hm, if Lenny was my type, I could help with that. But sorry, chérie, he’s too... hm... how to say it nicely?... uninteresting.”
We laughed. Only Michel would say something so wonderfully unhinged. He never really liked Lenny; he thought he was a human dimmer switch for my shine—always playing the security card and doing things “the right way.” Michel, of course, was convinced we’d lead a boring life together and that I deserved some fun. He always said I needed someone more... like him. Seriously, he’d claim that if he were into girls, he’d definitely marry me. A compliment, I guess, but also a low-key roast of my fiancé. He wasn’t entirely wrong, though. Maybe a little fun would be nice.
Anyway, it was a beautiful ceremony, packed with all our family members and friends, plus the friends of our family members, and their families. It was, in other words, a celebration filled with strangers who came to witness the union of two people they barely knew! But that’s just how it’s supposed to be in Mauritius. If the whole island doesn’t attend your wedding, was it even a real wedding?
A wedding, they say, makes you question everything. For me, it feels like my life is already over. From here on out, it will be the same thing on repeat, every single day: wake up, go to work, and eventually, have a child and take care of it. The thought of such a life used to feel just fine, but now that it’s real, I feel like all my possibilities have walked right past me, leaving me with a profound sense that I never had many choices to begin with. I was raised with the belief that we all had a life written just for us that we should trust will fulfill us with all we need.
