Christina's Funeral 2

The truth was that Christina and, her fiancé, Richard's courtship and subsequent relationship were not something that they deliberately willed to happen; it wasn't the hands of Fate or some other force of nature that brought them together. It was willed by their parents, who both ran lucrative businesses in the form of travel agencies and real estate and thought that a solid bond such as a wedding would mean more money for both families.  Richard, having his parents in mind, taught himself to like Christina, while Christina, having no other choice on the matter, went with the flow and learned to like Richard in turn.
And finally, there came a time when both their parents hinted at the necessity of marriage.

Christina thought about their relationship for the past years, which, if she was allowed to give form through words would come out in the form of "It's okay." And her heart sank; she was in the car with the Mom and the Dad on either side of her and they were on their way to church. Christina had the feeling that she couldn't breathe through her gown, which might've been fastened too tightly at the back. Her heart sank because she believed that people got married for love, and not just "okay love" but fantastic, stellar, crazy love. She tried to envision Richard in her mind and yes, he was handsome, a gentleman and he was rich; a lot of girls and women sought Richard, and when their wedding announcement was published in the papers, Christina received numerous hate mails, death threats and notes filled with insults. And she dealt with it in the only method she knew (this was unbeknownst to her, the best way too), which was to ignore everything completely. Her mind was occupied with uncertainty of the marriage, and its main component was fear. She feared the honeymoon and the subsequent death-trap of domestic life and child-bearing. Christina was a free-spirit, she did as she pleased, took the courses she wanted in college (not the ones the Dad wanted her to take, they were too boring, Christina decided), indulged herself in the satanic ritual of irresponsibility and gave herself dread-locks, which she wanted to have before she turned thirty, until the Mom, driven into derision and overrated motherly concern had her remove it, which involved Christina being bald for some time and which drove the Mom crazier. Surprisingly, the Dad had laughed himself silly all through-out the whole experience and froze all of Christina's credit cards, forcing her to beg and whine for allowance every demented week until her hair grew to her shoulders again.

And Richard, Richard was the total and absolute opposite of Christina. Richard was the good kid; he was so obedient you'd think him stupid. His parents' words were like the Sacred Scripture and he would never, ever break it. Richard took up Business Administration in college, tucked his shirt inside his pants, went to church every Sunday, shook hands with his father's business partners, charmed his mother's friends and became the perfect picture of a preppy kid-slash- heir of a rich family. At first, before the entire arranged marriage shenanigan (which all too often happened in the country, still), Christina thought that Richard truly sucked, and that was why the Parents chose him for her.