"I need to clear some things up about last night." 

I had barely stepped inside the house, and Salvador was already wanting to clarify things about Amber with me. I was completely fine with that. Their house looked much better than it had before, so we could afford to sit and chat today. 

"Sounds good." I replied as I took off my shoes and placed them neatly by the front door. There was no need to leave them on now that the floor was clear of clutter. I sat down at their dining room table, and Salvador sat across from me. 

"I don't want you to think I have anything against those with mental illnesses." He began in a serious tone. "If I did have issues with it, I would never have married Amber. I know she struggles with seeing reality at times, but I also know about her family history, and I think you ought to know about it too."

I was intrigued and absolutely wanted to know more, so I nodded my headed and waited patiently for him to continue. 

"Amber is the second, and youngest child. She has an older sister who was extremely athletic and showed promise in going far in gymnastics. Her parents thought she would make it to the olympics, as did her coach. But..." He sighed, "she had an accident that paralyzed her from the waste down. She became wheel chair bound after that." 

"That's awful." I said sadly. I couldn't even imagine how that would feel, working my whole life towards the dream of winning a gold medal only for it to be shattered to pieces. 

"Amber was jealous of all the attention her older sister was receiving, so she pretended that she was dying. Her family wasted thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to seek a cure for something that wasn't even real. Amber wouldn't eat, and when she did, she threw up her food, she pretended to be paralyzed, and so on." 

My eyes widened in surprise. "That's insane." I exclaimed in shock. "She really did all of that?"

Salvador nodded his head in confirmation. "When I met her, she was still pretending to be wheel chair bound. We had met online because she was learning Portuguese. I went to visit her several times and knew she was lying because she had no problem eating when I took her on dates, and she always seemed so happy and cheerful being out of the hospital, but when she got back, she suddenly went right back to pretending to be mysteriously ill." 

He placed his fingertips together on top of the table in thought. "I did catch her walking on one of our dates. I had left the room to get something, and when I came back, she was standing up, and then proceeded to fall down and pretend like she had been sitting the whole time... I gave her an ultimatum. Either she stop pretending to be ill and paralyzed and we get married, or she continue her bullshit and I break up with her. She chose to get married."

"You married her despite knowing how much she was lying to everyone?" I couldn't help myself. It sounded so absurd and impossible to me. How could anyone do something like that? Part of me wondered if he was taking advantage of her after all. 

"Yes. Her parents preferred her sick because it meant all of that money spent on her fake illnesses was somehow justified. They pressured her to stay ill. I took her away from all of that, and she soared once she realized how much freedom she had." 

"Oh..." When he put it like that, it made much more sense. "You saved her." I murmured in awe.

He shrugged his shoulders, but he slightly blushed at my comment. "You can put it that way if you want. I see it as just allowing her to be free to discover herself." He shifted slightly in his chair before continuing. "When I was growing up, my family was very similar to hers. I wasn't allowed to be my own person. They were overbearing atheists and insisted their way was the only way, and had insane ideas about how the world worked and how it should be run. I would have appreciated having someone free me from my situation, but I discovered how life actually was the hard way." 

"What do you mean by that?" I asked curiously. 

"Well..." He sighed. "I used to be much more arrogant about how I perceived things. My family always acted like they knew better than everyone else around them, and I did too, until I realized how many friends I was losing because of my attitude towards things." He looked down at the table in shame. "I've been humbled over the years by my own failures, but I'm a better person because of it." 

"I appreciate you telling me about you and Amber, I really do." I suddenly understood why he was telling me all of this. Before he said anything, I knew where he was about the steer the conversation. 

"When I look at you, I see a rose that's constantly being stepped on by others." He said after looking into my face with his beautiful, sea green eyes. "That's what I saw in Amber, and that's more or less how I used to be as well. Amber and I used to allow ourselves to be controlled by our families, the ones we were supped to look up to for guidance and love... Now, we're free from that. You, however, are still being trampled on, and unless you change your situation, you'll be living like this forever. I know you don't want this to be the rest of your life." 

Chills ran down my spine when he said that. I couldn't deny the truth in what he was saying. 

"If you ever need help with Oliver, I can look after him. I work from home, it wouldn't be difficult at all to take him every now and then." 

I knew what he was implying. We both knew without having to say it. I was terrified of my family turning on me if I didn't obey them, and the possibility of them completely cutting out Oliver and I was very real. 

"Thank you." I breathed. "I'm leaving for my brother's wedding next Monday. When I come back next Friday, I have to file for divorce." I wanted to start crying, but I held in my tears. "Please give me plenty of encouragement to follow through, I'll be scared the entire time and be questioning whether or not I actually can." 

He nodded. "I will, I promise." 

I gazed at this man in wonder. He understood what I was going through, and he had enough compassion and empathy to reach out to others in similar situations. Amber was incredibly fortunate to be with someone like him...

My heart hurt within my chest. I wished I could have a husband like him...

"Hey Shy, do you want to learn how to drive stick shift?" 

"What?" I was caught off guard by his sudden change in topic. 

"I was just offering, since you've helped us both so much with cleaning up our house. I figured it'd be a fun thing to do."

"Sure." I smiled widely. "My siblings both know how to drive a stick shift, I guess I should learn too." This was true. I hadn't been taught how, but they had. After I had my son, it was as if nothing I wanted to do for myself mattered anymore to my family. I was a mother now, that was my only job, my only purpose in life. 

"Amber and I really like taking road trips," Salvador continued thoughtfully, cutting into my thoughts," but if we want to carpool, you'd have to know how to drive stick. Our van is stick, and that would make the most sense to drive for future shows." He smiled as he continued, "I've been writing songs for our band, along with digging up older ones I wrote several years back. Someday, we should be able to travel and play shows." He winked at me playfully. 

"Are we really a band though?" I laughed. "We can barely play three songs altogether, that doesn't sound quite like one to me." 

"We'll get there. We have to start somewhere." He grinned. "I used to play all around the world in different bands, actually. I put away my seven string guitar over ten years ago, and now, I have a reason to play again. It feels really good, despite me being rusty, and I know Amber is having fun learning bass too." 

"It's really important for all of us, isn't it?" I mused aloud. 

He nodded his head in agreement. "I think so. It's worth pursuing." 

"Have you thought of a name for our band yet?" I asked playfully. 

"Not yet, but we'll think of something." 

"I'll make a list of potential ideas." I suddenly offered. "I'll have a few by tomorrow, and I'll text you and Amber. We'll make something."

"Are you already kicking Steven out of the band?" Salvador teased. 

"Yes, I am." I grinned. "Hopefully we'll be divorced two weeks from now." It was wishful thinking, but it felt good to confess my thoughts aloud without being judged or punished for doing so.

"Good luck." He sighed. "It'll be a roller coster to go through, I've been married and divorced before, so I know. We didn't have any kids, though, thank god." 

I was worried about how Oliver would handle the divorce. Heck, I was worried about my family turning their back on me for disobeying them, but I longed to be free from Steven's tyranny. I had to be strong enough to not let them get to me. 

"One disaster at a time." I said aloud in reply. "That's all anyone can handle." 

"It'll feel like you're being hit with several disasters at once, but you won't be alone." He placed his hand on top of mine. "I promise." 

* * * * *

*"Pretender," by the band, "TGTG."