Flash Marriage: Shrewd Wife, Devious Husband
Chapter 255: Love, For The Win

Chapter 255: Love, For The Win

The host and Marcella talked about a lot of subjects.

"Some say you are just a pretty décor standing beside your husband," Everly said.

Marcella could only laugh. Yeah, she was known for what she wore and her beauty. For some reason, papers liked to write about that.

"Yeah, and some say I am the mastermind behind my husband, puppeteering him to world domination," she said.

Some jealous people say that she was just a doll and others consider her the evil mastermind.

"If I took every criticism thrown at me, it wouldn’t be feasible. I do take criticisms seriously when they are sincere and come from a good place..." Marcella added. "Others, I just ignore. I know my value. My family knows my value. I might not be very smart. I just have a high school diploma. But I strive to do things closer to my heart. If at all one person thinks that I have made a difference in their life, I consider it my great success."

The host agreed and moved on to a lighthearted question next. "Is your husband your high school sweetheart?" she asked.

"High school? Oh, gosh!" Marcella smiled bashfully. "We knew each other even before that... I think I was eight or nine when I first met him. We went to the same middle school and everyone thought he was our brother because he carpooled with us... And then in high school..."

Marcella smiled in sweet ponderance. "We went to prom together..." she had to pause as there was heavy applause.

Marcella laughed covering her face. He refused to kiss her that night and she held resentment in her heart for what... ten years! Wow! That was a long time.

Thinking back, it was funny for her.

"We went on our own paths after that and... we met after ten years, on an autumn night in the streets of NY city...He didn’t let go of my hands from then on, and... here I am..."

There was a heavy applause. Marcella found that people were always looking for love, maybe throughout the ages since humans came to be. A true love story gives so much hope for everyone. She was glad she was someone who gave hope to the next generation.

Everly clapped along. "On that note, I think we can introduce our special guest on today’s show..." she stood up.

Marcella was not told that there would be any special guests. She turned back to see who that special guest was.

Boy, she was in for a shock!

Wearing a dapper suit, entered a man with a majestic gait, waving to the audience. The stage lit up with red blue and white.

"Let’s all welcome our President!" Everly clapped. The whole set stood up and clapped for Tony.

"Tony!" Marcella exclaimed. Without knowing, she walked to him.

Tony turned his attention toward her the moment she took a step toward him. With a bright smile not many were accustomed to, he walked to her.

"I didn’t... You said you had an important meeting..." Marcella placed her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes.

Tony smooched her lips wrapping his hand around her waist. They then went to take their seats. Marcella couldn’t hold back her smile after Tony’s arrival. She loved it when he surprised her like that.

Everly asked some questions to Tony with respect. Tony answered it all with his usual charm. When Everly looked at Marcella with a smile, Marcella knew that something was coming.

"We’ve collected some pictures of you two," Everly smiled and pointed at the big screen in the background.

There was a carousel of pictures of Tony and Marcella, most of them were public as they were taken by reporters and printed in papers. Some were unpublished pictures that were taken during events.

"I, being the nuisance I am, noticed something..." Everly said with her playful smile. "Did you notice it too?" she asked looking at the audience.

There were loud noises and applause from the audience. Marcella and Tony looked at each other as they didn’t find anything weird in those pictures.

Everly continued, "In all the pictures, you two are having some sort of physical contact with each other. Here, see... Here, your knees are touching, here the President’s pinky is touching your hand, deliberately, here his hand is on your back, here you are placing your hand on his thigh...I could go on... Even now, you are holding hands," she winked and the entire place burst with applause.

Marcella noticed those details only now. She didn’t even realize that they were holding hands. She smiled at Tony and he leaned and kissed her ear only for the applause to get louder.

"Well... We are married..." Marcella shrugged. She didn’t know what else she could say. "I don’t know if I could say this, but I am sleeping with the President. Sorry, Mr. President for breaking our secret," she leaned on his shoulder.

The crowd loved the moment.

She couldn’t believe she was doing this on the most popular show in the nation. Never in her childhood and when she was a young adult, did she think that she would be enjoying herself in a talk show. But she did.

His charm must have rubbed on her.

"It is good to see a couple in love," Everly said. She then pretended to wipe tears from the corner of her eyes while acting jealous. "I am happy. Very happy..."

Marcella laughed.

"Mr. President, Mrs. Crawford told us a lot about you. Let’s hear from you. Tell us about your wife," Everly asked.

Marcella looked at Tony. She loved to hear it.

"I know I don’t talk about her much," Tony winked. He did talk about her all the time and everyone erupted into laughter.

"We know," Everly said. "We want to know what you tell us this time."

Everyone knew Tony loved talking about his wife. He never repeated his praises either. So, everyone made it a habit to ask him this question.

"Did she tell you that she was not very smart?" Tony asked Everly.

"I did not," Marcella answered.

"She did...she did..." The audience shouted.

"I’ll tell you something. She speaks fifteen languages, ten of them, she knows how to read and write. She is incredibly smart..." Tony couldn’t speak more as the audience’s applause made Tony’s voice inaudible.

They had to cut to break and when they returned, Tony continued his answer.

"She is my rock," he rubbed her back. "There were times when I’ve thought about giving up. One word from her would nourish my soul. I’m yet to meet someone as strong as her. I can’t believe she married me..."

Marcella rolled her eyes. "You’re too good to pass," she said.

"One more thing you can say about Mrs. Crawford that we don’t know?" Everly said.

"You might think that she loves jewelry and clothes but no. Those are not her favorite gifts. She loves it when I get her new appliances for our home... True, it’s true..." Tony looked at the audience.

Everly looked at Marcella.

Marcella shrugged. "My favorite gift is the washing machine he gifted me for my last birthday."

"She’s like a demon when it comes to laundry. She doesn’t let anyone else do laundry. She doesn’t even let me keep the in-between pile... You know, that pile you have that is too clean for the laundry but too dirty for the closet..."

"My God, Tony!" Marcella hit his thigh playfully. "You’re still holding it against me after all these years?"

She was not very happy she outed her on national television. Yeah, she didn’t like it when others did their laundry, so, she still did it. What was wrong with that?

Everly tactfully changed the topic to Tony’s policy positions and his campaign for the next election. Marcella watched with awe as he spoke.

She still couldn’t comprehend the mystique behind those beautiful blue eyes that made her heart skip a beat. She could watch him like that all her life.

"What are your plans after all this? Assuming you serve for another term. You cannot run the next time and..." Everly asked.

Tony didn’t even think of the answer. "I’ll retire to spend more time with my Birdie," he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Marcella bowed her head. Till then, they’ve kept his name for her a secret. Now it is public. She didn’t care. It’s not going to change anything for her.

"All my life I’ve run toward something, one thing or another. After she joined me, my life changed. I have peace. We had great moments together and weathered so many troubles together. After all this is over, I am going to make more of those moments. I want to give her peace. I have nothing more I desire other than spending time with my wife. She..."

Tony met eyes with Marcella.

"She is...my wife," he said.

For others, this might not have meant anything. They would have thought of it as a generic statement. But only they know the deep meaning behind those words.

She said that being a wife encompassed all the roles when they were newly married. She lived up to that word throughout their marriage. She became whoever he needed her to be. Who other than her would do that for him? Only her.

Marcella patted his chest with a smile. She is his wife, indeed!

"Any advice for couples?" Everly asked.

"There is one rule we had followed," Marcella said. "Tony said that to us when we married. We made sure we never forgot that one rule."

"What is it?" Everly and everyone got curious.

Marcella placed her hand unconsciously on Tony’s thigh. She loved his warmth and naturally gravitated toward him.

"Loving, liking, and respecting your spouse is important in any relationship. Along with that, what’s more important is each of them giving their 100%. Not 50-50 but giving 100%. We never separated our household chores. We did what we can. One day I work more and another day he works more. Neither of us complained. When there were rough patches, as it would be in any relationship, there is only one magic phrase that helped us out..." She looked at Tony.

Tony smiled and their eyes met. Both of them said at the same time.

"It is us against "it"..."

"Whatever "it" might be...We remembered that we are a family and we needed to find a solution together."

There was heavy applause as everyone gave them a standing ovation.

Marcella smiled, her heart bubbling with joy. She leaned on Tony’s shoulder meeting his eyes. As he smiled back, she found her place in the world. He was the one who gave her everything. She would love him to the end, whatever the future may bring.

Love wins, forever.