Chapter Two
~Violet~
The slow rhythmic chiming that signals the end of the yoga class sounds, so I lift myself out of corpse pose and bring my hands together in front of me.
“That’s the end of our session today,” I tell the room filled with students of various ages and sizes.
“May the peace and relaxation you achieved here follow you throughout the rest of your day. Namaste.” A chorus of ‘Namaste’ sounds back to me as I bow to my class and start gathering up my mat, strap, and block.
My muscles are nice and loose from the stretching we did in class as well as from the other three I taught today.
Normally I would only teach the morning classes, but the evening teacher called in sick, so here I am.
I may be a little sore tomorrow, but it was worth it to get to help these good people achieve a little bit of lightness in their bodies.
“Excuse me,” a voice sounds over my shoulder and I turn to see an older gentleman smiling over at me. “I just wanted to thank you for class this evening. Janet is great, but I really enjoyed the accommodations you were able to make for my sciatica.”
Smiling at the older man, I hike my gym bag over my shoulder and walk over to the side of the room to slip on my shoes.
“You’re very welcome,” I tell him sincerely.
“I’m glad that we were able to find a position that worked for you.
” We walk together and I slip on my ballet flats before opening the door for the older gentleman.
“I’m sure if you mention the new pose to Janet, she’ll work with you on it a little more. ”
“I hope so. Have a good night, miss.”
“’Night,” I tell the man before I make my way out of the facility and over to my small, beat up sedan.
After struggling to get the door open, I slip inside and take a nice deep breath.
This is my least favorite part of the day.
Going home to an empty apartment with nothing but my loneliness to keep me company.
As I drive through the pleasant suburb where the gym I teach at is located, I look at all the homes and can’t help but wish I had one for myself.
A home filled with a husband who loves me and a few kids running around the yard.
With a sigh, I steer away from the neighborhood of my dreams and into the rundown apartment complex of my reality.
At only twenty-six years old, I shouldn’t feel nearly as defeatist as I do in this moment, but I can’t help it. Usually I’m a look on the bright side of things type of person, but lately, it’s been hard to be optimistic about life when you’re living it all alone.
I have parents, but we don’t really talk anymore.
They are the founders of a chain of health food stores on the West Coast, and as a bigger gal with curves on my curves and no desire to fit the skinny mold they wanted me to, I just didn’t have a place in their empire.
Most of my childhood was spent on a diet or being told I needed to diet.
I tried my hardest when I was younger and didn’t know any better, didn’t realize that I could love myself and my body exactly as it was, but my body always rebelled against starving itself (as it should), and I always ended up disappointing my parents.
The last straw for them seemed to be when I decided to get trained in yoga with a focus on inclusivity for all body types and ability levels.
My parents said that I was part of the problem, contributing to the worlds declining health, so we parted ways.
I left the door open for them, but so far it’s been almost five years and they haven’t taken me up on it, nor do I ever expect them to.
All of that would be a lot easier to carry if I had a man to help share the burden, but no such luck.
It’s not as if I haven’t tried to find someone, I just haven’t had much success.
You would think that living in St. Louis, a city of over two million people, I would be able to at least find one that would want to be with me for more than a night, yet here I am, single.
I’ve been on some dates and even hooked up a few times, but most guys here aren’t looking for more than that and I’m ready to get married and start having babies as soon as possible.
If only there were a dating app for people like me, I lament to myself as I park and hop out of the car.
The walk up to my studio apartment is a short one, and I step inside the small space, wishing there was someone there to greet me.
I would even take a pet at this point, but I barely make enough to support myself let alone an animal.
Oh well, at least I have my yoga students during the day to keep me company, and at night, I have my movies.
After heating up a frozen meal, for one of course, I head over to my sofa bed and click on the television.
I flip through the channels for a few minutes before settling on the classic movie channel.
Something about the past calls to me, like I wish I could live in another time where apps and swiping didn’t exist, where people still wrote love letters and didn’t judge you before getting to know you.
I smile at the thought as I tuck into my veggie bowl and settle in to watch an old romance.
The movie sucks me in, and I lose myself in it for a while, only coming back to the present moment when the man on mentions wanting a mail order bride.
Are those still a thing? I ask myself, setting aside my empty dish and picking up my laptop.
After a quick search, I find out they are still very much a thing with more than one site offering their services.
“This is dumb,” I say to myself as I move the computer to the side, but as the movie goes on, I find I’m no longer paying attention to it, but to the idea that I could be married as soon as next month if I really wanted to.
My eyes move over to my laptop once more. “Investigating a little more couldn’t hurt.” The fact that I’m talking aloud to myself for the second time in five minutes proves my point, so I grab my computer and click on a few sites trying to find the most reputable looking one.
When I stumble upon Modern Mail Order Brides, I get a good feeling and click through their site, reading testimonials and all about their vetting process and how the whole thing works. It’s legit, and before I can second guess myself, I start filling out the forms, ready to meet my future husband.
Maybe this will be the dumbest thing I have ever done, but the fact that it could all work out and I might have a family of my own soon keeps my fingers flying across the keyboard and hitting send.
Now, all I have to is sit back and wait for them to find me a match, a start to the happily ever after I have always wanted.
***
I’m in the middle of trying a handstand when my phone dings with a new email alert.
The excitement immediately blooms in my chest at the thought that I could have my match after only a couple of days, so much so that I fall out of my pose and land hard on my shoulder with an oof.
“Worth it,” I say as I scramble over to my phone and see that I do indeed have an email from the mail order bride company.
Grabbing my laptop, I log on and navigate to my email in record time, clicking on the message and reading it as quickly as possible.
They have found a potential match for me.
His name is Maverick Landry, a twenty-nine year old rancher from a town in Oklahoma that I have never heard of, but an online search tells me has a population of about fifty thousand and most of the land is agriculture or cattle.
I hum to myself as I read up a little more on Maverick.
His name alone sounds sexy as hell, but he declined sending a picture along with his profile information.
I would wonder why that is, but I did the exact same thing, wanting to get to know the person without them having any preconceived notions about me.
As much as I tried to shut it down, my parent’s voice in my head telling me that a man would never go for me based on looks may have also been a factor.
Shaking that thought away, I take a moment to look at the profile again.
He is the middle child of a family of five, and his older brothers are already married.
A big family like that could sound overwhelming to some, but to an only child like me who no longer talks to her parents, it sounds absolutely delightful.
Other than the basic information, Maverick identified himself as an introvert, listing hobbies like reading and stargazing as his favorite.
What really got me smiling was him saying that he wanted to start a family right away, just like me.
It’s not a lot to go on, but I bet he’s a gentle soul and we’ll get along famously.
It looks like he already viewed my profile and agreed to start communicating if I want to, which has to be a good sign.
Texting out of the blue might be a little much, so I decide that an email may be best. It will be like the love letters I was talking about. My heart catches on the word love. This man could be the love of my life, a thought that causes my smile to widen as I write out my message to him.
Maverick (or do you prefer Mav?)
I assume you’ve read my profile information, but in case you need a refresher, my name is Violet Garner, I am twenty-six years old, and I teach yoga in St. Louis, Missouri.
Teaching others to find peace within themselves and their bodies is something I love doing, and luckily, I can do it from anywhere if things should work out between us. I have a good feeling that they will.
I know it might sound silly, but I feel like I already have a sense of who you are just from the little bit of information I already have.
I bet you’re an old soul like me, longing for simpler times where the most pressing matter was ‘what’s for dinner?
’ Maybe a simple kind of life is something the two of us can create together.
I surely hope so. Looking forward to your reply.
Yours,
Violet
My eyes scan the short message one more time, and even though it might be a bit presumptuous, I hit send anyway and go about my day. Half an hour later, my phone pings again and I ignore it, grabbing my laptop and squealing with excitement when I see that I already have a reply from Maverick.
Violet,
You can all me whatever you want, little flower.
You were right about me being an old soul.
I do long for simpler times, times where I can spend my days working hard to support my family and my nights spent enjoying the love of a good woman.
I look forward to getting to know you better over the next few weeks, though like you, I kind of have a sense of who you are already.
Is that strange? My mama used to say that our fates are written in the stars.
I’m not sure that’s true, but I’ll be outside tonight staring up at the night sky just in case.
Maybe I’ll be able to see where our stories intertwine.
I have a feeling that where that star is will be the brightest and most beautiful one I have ever seen.
Yours,
Mav
I stare at the screen and reread his words much longer than is necessary. There is something about this man that already has me thinking wedding bells and baby booties. It could just be my own wishful thinking, or maybe, just maybe, its fate letting me know I’m on the right track.