Introduction
But let us start at the beginning. As I said, my name is Mary Morningstar and I am twenty-six years old. I look younger, don’t I? Yeah, I know. I have always looked too young for my age.
My childhood was ideal, but ended one rainy night when I opened the front door and saw a police officer in a wet uniform. “Hello. Is there an adult home?” he asked. The next thing I knew, my grandmother was screaming and collapsed on the floor. And then I knew. Unfortunately, the little voice in my head was right. My parents were dead. The police said it was a drunk driver and that the rain hadn’t helped. The car had caught fire. I was only 10 years old when this happened.
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved to draw. Everyone said I had great talent. My mother always said I would be a great artist one day and my father always called me ”my little Picasso.” But that night I burned all my brushes in the fireplace and never painted again.
After that, my grandmother was forced to go to work so we wouldn’t be homeless. You see, we didn’t get the money from the insurance company because the drunk driver was never arrested. I don’t blame her for anything. She did the best she could for me. She was my rock, despite the pain of losing her beloved and only daughter, but she left me far too soon.
She died seven years after my parents. The worst part was that it was the same day as my parents. Yes, I know the irony. I was on my own. At only 17 years old, I was alone, with no family. With nothing. I finished school and started working shortly after.
In every single job, I had the same problem. The boss or the boss’s son demanded something that I didn’t want to give. They wanted me to be their mistress. Don’t get me wrong. I am not like these so called ‘moral girls’ who claim to be offended by such proposals. If any of them were what I was actually looking for, and not so damn creepy, I would have done it.
Now you are probably going to ask me what I’m looking for. I am not a pretentious woman, but if he’s handsome, rich, and famous, I certainly can’t say no. I’m kidding, of course. In all seriousness, and please don’t think I’m crazy, I’m looking for my Prince Charming. I want a man I can fall in love with just by looking at him. I don’t care about his looks, money, or social status. The only thing that matters to me is that he loves me too, nothing more. And then I would do anything for him.
After the problems I had with all my bosses, I swore to myself that I would never get involved in something like that. I would never let anyone treat me badly, but since life is full of twists and turns, that promise should be broken, but we will talk about that later.
I forgot to tell you that apart from many job changes, my life had nothing else. I had no friends, no social life. Nothing. Sure, there were a few random lovers, four to be exact, but nothing lasting and certainly nothing romantic. Just the satisfaction of my physical needs. The only good thing was my giant paper friend.
Now you are probably wondering what I mean. Well, one night when I was fired yet again, I was lying on the floor in the middle of the living room like Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, feeling sorry for myself. Suddenly, I heard an unusual noise in the street and ran to take a look out the window. I saw a team putting up a billboard directly across from my house. Curious, I went out and asked what it was about. I was told it was a ‘new perfume advertisement’ and not feeling like sleeping, I stayed there to watch the workers put it up.
After some time, it was finished and I stared at it like a silly fish. Before my eyes was the absolute cutest man I have ever seen. He was beautiful, of course, and really sexy, but not in my eyes. Where everyone else saw a hot model promoting a new perfume, I saw a best friend. A brother. The brother I always wanted but never got the chance to have.
I don’t know why, but the bright green eyes of this strange man awakened in me the need for a friend, for a brother, for someone to protect me and make me feel safe. At first, I thought I was crazy, but eventually I decided to accept it.
Since that day, every morning when I left my house I would say “good morning” to him and every night I would sit by the window and tell him everything. How my day was, what I was feeling, what I was doing, but I also talked to him about my past, my losses, my loneliness, and my broken dreams.
He had been silent most of the time, watching me with those bright green eyes ... but there were moments when he babbled. When I was on the verge of falling into depression, he would always say, “Hang in there, girl. Stay strong and your life will change. Fate will smile on you and your Prince Charming will come on his white horse”.
And that is exactly how it is today.
November 1995
