About Me

Words: 1028

From now on, it is going to be all about me.

No more letting someone else choose which movie, which restaurant, which vacation, which night-of-the-week ...

So if I want to buy this house, I'm going to. It's my inheritance, so spending it is my decision.

I must admit I fell in love with the house the moment Karen showed it to us. Which is funny, because Karen herself was less than enthusiastic about it. A switch from how gushingly she had displayed the six other houses she had shown us, almost as if each brick was personally related to her. But this one, she had sounded hesitant, been reluctant and finally relented as a last ditch effort. Karen's real-estate business needs to pick up momentum, to put it mildly. She can't afford to be picky.

Danny thought it was a joke, because it's October and Halloween is coming up. He couldn't believe anyone was really selling that place to normal people. When I told him I was considering buying it, he almost had hysterics. I've never seen him like that. It was quite interesting, actually. Wish I'd thought to whip out my smartphone and video him. Couldn't even tell if he was laughing or crying.

Anyway, after that one outburst and one rather heated debate that followed, we haven't spoken about the house. But now I've decided I'm going to buy it. And if you're wondering what all the fuss is about, here's a photo.

Yes, I'm in my right mind. Yes, I am a normal human being. As normal as one can hope for, anyway. And yes, against the wishes of my longstanding boyfriend and even the wishes of the real estate agent herself, I want to spend a lot of my precious inheritance buying this house.

Why?

Good question.

I guess the real reason is to prove to the world that it's about me this time.

*********

Even the seller looked taken aback when he saw who it was signing on the dotted line. He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Hilarious. Could see the question forming in his brain and then another part of his brain warning him not to ask it. "You're buying this place? Why?"

Fortunately this didn't cause a split between Danny and me, or a rift in my friendship with Karen. We had a house-warming party and some of the guests did the open-and-close-mouth routine. Those who knew me well just smiled to themselves.

Our first night after we moved in was fun. We've never before made love in a carved four-poster bed embellished with cobwebs. It creaked a lot, too. Nice and goose-bumpy, the two of us naked, cuddling together. I wish some owls or wolves or something had hooted, but all we had was a moth whirring somewhere on the premises.

*********

Aunt Edna came to tea. She's eighty-five years old and doesn't go anywhere much now but all the gossip she'd heard about the house brought her. "Pictures aren't enough," she said, through a mouthful of cucumber sandwich.

Then she added, "You aren't fooling me, young lady."

I laughed.

Trust Aunt Edna. She sees through my grandma (her sister), she sees through my Mom and now she sees clear through me. It's like she can read minds.

Danny looked at both of us across the tea table. He raised his eyebrows. He's always been fond of Aunt Edna. "What isn't she fooling you about, and am I, Danny, being fooled?" he asked.

"If you don't know why she bought this house, then you are," the old lady gave him her radiant smile, showing all her fourteen remaining teeth.

"She bought this house so we'd have a nice, scary place to make love in," Danny responded. "Or so I thought anyway."

"It's not only you two going to make love in here, Danny," Aunt Edna twinkled.

"Who else is?" he asked.

"Your guests."

"Guests?"

"Sure. I can see right through this young lady. Since she could prattle, she talked of how she was going to own a hotel one day. I guess this is it, my darling great-niece?"

I sighed. It was time to confess.

"Yes, Great-Aunt Edna. I am going to make a hotel of this place."

Danny's tomato sandwich dropped out of his fingers. "You never told me!"

"I know. I wanted to live here first and get the vibe. I didn't want to build up anyone's expectations till I was sure. I would've told you over the weekend, I've decided I can make this place work as a hotel."

*********

There were two guests to start with. Then four more. Then those four told another dozen, and soon we were all booked up and had a wait list. Danny's cousin joined us as our manager, and we hired a couple of helpers.

It was all about me.

It was all about my creativity.

It was all about what I could do to make the place alluring - the decor, the menu, the entertainment, the activities ...

We pulled out all the stops. Only my creativity mattered. If I could think it up, we did it, the more bizarre the better.

And they lapped it up.

Because underneath it all, it was all about the guests, too. Making them comfortable. Giving them their money's worth. Making them feel special. Anticipating their needs, pampering them, giving them new things to look forward to.

Making sure they shared photos on social media, talked about us to everyone they knew, and came back to visit again.

Yup, it's pretty unbelievable.

But you know what Danny finds most unbelievable of all?

That I want a conventional wedding in an old-fashioned church.

"But I thought -" he protested.

"No, no. I want to be crazy and weird and creative on the outside. But deep down I'm an old-fashioned, traditional girl. I want a church wedding with a white dress and a veil and all. After all, my wedding day is all about me, isn't it?"

"All about us, dear girl. And thank goodness I bought an old-fashioned engagement ring."

He slipped the ring on my finger. I slipped into his arms.

It was all about us.