RPOV:
I'm someone who is open-minded to new experiences because they teach you new things. –Marilyn Manson
I crossed my legs at the ankle and licked my lips. I couldn't believe I was doing this- being interviewed to find a husband. How had it come to this? My sisters- of course. They were the reason I got in to a lot of the issues I did. Kate, Irina and Tanya were always talking me in to things. Kate had seen the application around somewhere and dragged it home to show us. Arranged marriages were all the thing now. It was laughable really. We'd all filled out the application, but it was me that had been called back. Kate was 18 and Irina 20- hardly old enough to know if they wanted marriage. They weren't done finding themselves. Hell, I was 24 and I wasn't done finding myself and yet here I was. Tanya should have gotten called back. She was 27 with a flourishing florist company. She'd settled in to who she was. She was prepared to take on marriage. She wasn't sitting here however, I was. I was sitting here in the office of a professional matchmaker in a pair of heels and a dress with my typically curly hair straightened.
I offered a small smile and the woman across from me, all woman business suit and tight brown bun, smiled back. Her manicured nails tapped on her clipboard and she looked over a paper before her with her deep brown eyes before picking up a pen and looking at me.
"Rosalie Hale," she said my name slow and I nodded, "Why are you here?"
I thought about that carefully before I answered. I was sitting here at an interview to be married at first sight. I did have crappy luck with meeting men and dating, but I didn't think I was this far gone. Maybe I was. What was the worst thing that could happen?
"I'm here because I didn't think you would call back," I admitted.
The woman chuckled- Jen I thought her name was.
"And are you disappointed that we called you back?"
"No."
Another admission I hadn't been sure about until I'd heard the question. I could do this and worst case scenario I would be 24 and divorced. It would make a good story for my future children.
"Good," she crossed her legs, "I'm going to ask you a few questions and you just answer as honestly as you can, okay?"
I nodded.
"How old are you?"
I was sure that was on my application in front of her.
"24."
"Where is your hometown?"
"Here in Washington actually."
"Are you a U.S citizen?"
"Yes."
"What do you do for a living?"
"I own a dance studio."
"So you dance?"
"Yes, I dance and choreograph."
"And it says here," she glanced down quickly, "You have 3 siblings."
"Yeah, three sisters."
"Are you close with your sisters?"
"Extremely."
Jen nodded and wrote something down.
"Do you think you would work better with a traditional or untraditional marriage? Traditional being a man in charge and a woman more of the homemaker."
"Nontraditional," I answered almost instantly.
"Would you rather be matched with someone younger or older?"
"Older."
"What are deal breakers for you, Rosalie?"
I thought about that- hard. Not liking animals came to mind. So did snoring however. I didn't want to base my marriage on if my significant other snored. I needed to think of something I just could not live with.
"Smoking."
"Do you have any children?"
"No."
"Do you want children?"
"Eventually."
"When was your last relationship?"
"A little over 2 years ago."
"And how long did it last?"
"4 years."
Jen jotted some things down.
"Why did you guys break up?"
"We wanted different things."
"Are you parents still married?"
"I have adoptive parents and yes Carmen and Eleazar are married."
"How has that affected the way you view marriage?"
Jeez. I felt like I was in a therapy session. I leaned forward in the chair.
"They made me want to get married. They made me want to spend the rest of my life with my bestfriend. They argue, but they always pull through. They're always there for each other and for me and my sisters."
"How would you describe your dating life?"
"Nonexistant," I scoffed.
"Describe your perfect mate. Be as specific as possible; looks, height, ethnic preference, hair, anything that you can think of."
"I don't have a type," I shook my head and leaned back, "I don't care what he looks like really, as long as we connect."
Jen smiled at that and wrote some more things down.
"I like tattoos," I added and she chuckled.
"Why are you ready for marriage now?"
"I'm ready to stop dating. I've opened my studio and the last of my sisters is graduating soon so there's no reason for me not to. I don't have that safety net of not wanting to go off and have time taken away from them. I uhm," I licked my lips, "I've recently had a friend enlist and while nothing has happened to him, worrying about him just makes me think about how short life is and I know that I want to be a wife before I die. I want to have and be that support. I want to have something real. I'm ready for that."
"Okay," Jen nodded, "describe your current living situation."
"I live alone in an apartment near my studio."
"Okay. Do you have any piercings or tattoos?
"No tattoos, but I have my stomach pierced and my nose obviously. You can see it and just these three in each ear," I put my hair behind my ears automatically.
"What are your goals and dreams?"
"I strived for this studio and I have it, so now I just want to pay off the loan on the place and help my sisters get through school. I like to make several small goals that will get me to the bigger goal. I don't make unrealistic expectations, but eventually I want a larger studio."
"Please describe your views on religion,"
"Not applicable," I shrugged, "I'm not a really religious person. I mean I believe in vibes. I believe that the energy that people give off is real, but I don't pray to one God over another."
"What means the most to you?"
"Family," there wasn't a question about it.
Jen nodded and scribbled away for a while before setting her pen down.
"That's it for today Ms. Hale."
She stood and I followed suit.
"We will let you know if you've made a match in the next week or so. You were one of the last applicants."
"Okay. Thank you," I shook her outstretched hand and all but ran out of the office.
That had been intense. There was a possibility that someone would be calling me about getting married to a complete stranger in a week. My stomach was in knots. I didn't realize I'd cared about the chances I'd get paired with someone until this instant and I wasn't sure how to exactly deal with that. I pulled my phone out of its normal place in my bra and dialed Tanya as I headed towards the staircase.
EPOV:
I yanked open the door of the therapist office and walked in. I got a few wondering glances from the people in the lobby but ignored it. I probably did look a little… off. Everyone around me had on dresses and suits or at least nice shirts and bottoms. I'd come in my tennis, basketball shorts and a tshirt. I grabbed my black shades off of my face and made my way to the elevator.
I was more than happy when it closed and I was the only person in it. I felt vibration and pulled my phone out of my shorts pocket. Of course my annoying little sister, Alice was calling. I answered rather quickly.
"Yes Mary Alice?" I leaned back against the elevator wall, one arm crossed over my chest.
"Are you at your appointment?"
"I'm on the elevator."
"What did you wear?"
"Shorts and a shirt?" I scoffed.
"Like khakis and a nice shirt with buttons?"
"No, like I just came from the gym."
"Emmett McCarty Cullen! Have you lost your mind? You can possibly be going off to meet my future sister-in-law and you're wearing your workout clothes?"
"She won't be here today and I forgot about the meeting. I came straight from the gym. I could have went change, but then I would have been late. I'll always choose punctuality over fashion," the elevator let out a ding, "and I have to go now. I'll call you later. Don't tell Edward anything. Goodbye," I hung up and stepped out of the elevator depositing my phone back in to my pocket.
Alice was 6 years younger than me, but she still liked to chastise me like a child. You would think that being a junior in college would distract her from breathing down my throat, but it didn't. She was more excited about this process than I was. She and my mother, Esme were extremely supportive of me going after the whole marriage at first sight thing. Edward and my father, Carlisle however had no idea. Edward was two years older and he and his wife, Isabella had the picture perfect relationship. They'd met one day in high school and never separated. Edward was 29 now, Isabella 26 and they had a darling 3 year old named Renesmee. The last thing I needed was Edward worrying about my love life.
I made my way to the designated office and pushed the door open. I'd been instructed to just let myself in. So, I did. I was met almost instantly by some brunette. Her hair was up and she was wearing a outfit that did not look comfortable. She looked like what you would expect a therapist to look like; serious and hard to talk to. She gestured to a chair that was facing an armchair and I took a seat, leaning back leisurely and crossing my arms over my chest. She grabbed a clipboard from somewhere on her desk and then sat in the armchair crossing her legs at the ankle.
"Emmett Cullen," she offered me a smile and I smiled back, "I'm Jen and I will be helping you through this process. It's nice to finally meet you in person."
"Likewise."
She smirked as if that was the funniest thing in the world. I was not kidding.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm here because I'm looking to get married. Isn't that the point?" she looked at me quizzically and I chuckled, "Look, when I played professional football for those 4 years I was swarmed with gold diggers, okay? Let me put it like this-the minimum wage for pro football players is $435,000 a year. I was a starter. Anyway, I took that money and invested it so when I quit the game I had shit to fall back on. I didn't intend on being good at what I did, but I was and I turned a few million dollars in to a few billion. I thought quitting the game was going to help and it didn't. More money means more problems. I got more gold diggers instead of less. So, this whole blind marriage thing is perfect. What are the chances of me getting a gold digger wife when she doesn't know how much gold she's getting before she walks down the aisle?"
Jen's mouth had fell slightly open. She corrected it and cleared her throat.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions and you just answer as honestly as you can, okay?"
"Alright. I'm always honest. Let's go."
"How old are you?"
"27."
"Where is your hometown?"
"Phoenix Arizona."
"Are you a U.S citizen?"
"Yeah."
"What do you do for a living?"
"I own several different successful businesses," I clasped my hands together, "I work with a lot of companies overseas. I buy businesses in the process of going bankrupt, fix their issues and then sale them. I also do some nonprofit work."
"Do you consider yourself a work-a-holic?"
"I consider myself dedicated- motivated even. I don't like to stop working until I have the results I want. You don't become a billionaire by doing mediocre work, Jen."
She wrote something down.
"And it says here that you have 2 siblings."
"Older brother and a younger sister."
"Are you close with your siblings?"
"Edward's a cunt, but I love Alice," Jen looked at me, her eyes wide and I laughed, "I'm not really close with my brother, but we're there for each other if we need each other."
Jen nodded and wrote something down.
"Do you think you would work better with a traditional or untraditional marriage? Traditional being a man in charge and a woman more of the homemaker."
"Nontraditional. My dad takes care of my mom and all that, but I want an equal. I have no problem with paying for things; our bills, our necessities, buying my wife what she wants, but I don't want to be leeched on either."
"Would you rather be matched with someone younger or older?"
"Younger."
"What are deal breakers for you?"
"Smoking," I didn't need to think about it, "When chicks smoke, it's disgusting. It's a turn off. It's just trashy to me."
"Do you have any children?"
"No."
"Do you want children?"
"Yes."
"When was your last relationship?"
"My last serious relationship was when almost 4 years ago."
"And how long did it last?"
"3 years."
"Why did you guys break up?"
"She was in love with my money, not me."
"That was a very bold statement."
"No point in beating around the bush, Jen," I winked at her, "You told me to be honest."
She wrote some things down.
"Are you parents still married?"
"Yes."
"How has that affected the way you view marriage?"
I scratched my head.
"They showed me that marriage is a partnership. There's no 50/50. They each give a hundred percent, a hundred percent of the time."
"How would you describe your dating life?"
"I haven't dated in a while. I gave up on it about two years ago."
"Describe your perfect mate. Be as specific as possible; looks, height, ethnic preference, hair, anything that you can think of."
"Fit," I said automatically, "I like to work out. I like to jog and hike. I need someone that can keep up. I'd prefer for her to be shorter than me. I don't care about the rest of that stuff really."
Jen nodded and jotted some stuff down.
"Why are you ready for marriage now?"
"I've been ready for a while, but I'm tired of the dating pool. I just want one specific person to deal with. I just want to travel with one person. I want to drag one person to my stupid business meetings and I want one person to come home to at the end of the day."
"Describe your current living situation."
"I live alone with my dog in a penthouse in the middle of the city."
"Okay. Do you have any piercings or tattoos?
"No piercings, but I have some tattoos on my back and well," I gestured to my arm where the beginning of a sleeve was showing beneath the arms of my shirt.
Jen nodded and scribbled away.
"What are your goals and dreams?"
"I'm living my dream."
"Please describe your views on religion,"
"I believe in action. I believe in me. I believe in what I can see."
"What means the most to you?"
"Family," there wasn't a question about it.
Jen nodded and uncrossed her ankles with a smirk.
"That's it for today Mr. Cullen."
"Cool," I clapped my hands together and hopped up.
Jen got up and offered me a hand. I grabbed her and pulled her in.
"You're looking for my future wife," I laughed, "You're practically family, Jen!"
When I released her she was slightly red. I gave her a pat on the back and headed out of her office, a new pep in my step. I felt like that went well.