Marriage certificate

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Mary calmly watched as Raymond rolled up his sleeves and walked away from her to confront the lunatic she had been running from, who was foolish enough to keep standing there even when Raymond arrived. Knowing the drill, Mary turned around and took a deep breath, and soon after, she heard the sounds she had become so familiar with: Raymond beating the hell out of her stalker. 

She was so familiar with the sounds that she could tell the difference between the sounds made when Raymond punched her stalker's jaw and when he punched his stomach. She had turned around only because she knew it was going to get bloody; Raymond always made sure it did, and she was uncomfortable with the sight of blood. 

Five minutes passed, and calmness returned to the night. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of her stalker groaning in pain and coughing up blood. Mary visibly relaxed at the realization that her stalker was beaten up and wounded and that he wouldn't be coming anywhere near her for at least two days, thanks to Raymond's beating. Two days might be a short while, but for Mary, it would be the most peaceful two days before the lunatic showed up again. 

As she knew that the one-sided fight was over, Mary turned around just in time to see Raymond pull out a document and show it to her stalker. "Miss Moore and I are married now, and this is the certificate of our marriage, which has been signed by both of us," Mary heard Raymond say as he showed her stalker both their signatures. "If I find you anywhere near her after this, I will be forced to take legal action against you. You have just been released from prison; I believe you don't wish to go back there for stalking my wife." 

Hearing these words roll out of Raymond's mouth so naturally, Mary, shocked to the bone and frozen in place, thought that she was either hearing things or trapped in a realistic dream at this point. Those words kept replaying in her head again and again, and for the next minute that passed, all she heard was "Miss Moore and I are married." In fact, she was still replaying those words in her head that she didn't realize when Raymond came over and carried her to his own car, which was parked only a few steps away. 

Thirty minutes on the road, Raymond stopped at Mary's home. He glanced at Mary sitting next to him in the passenger seat and noticed her silence, perhaps shock. Well aware that she was still shaken by the earlier incident with her stalker, he was patient enough to stay quiet and not disturb Mary as she left his car to go inside so that he could go home and have his rest. 

Meanwhile, contrary to what Raymond was thinking, Mary was shaken, yes, but not because of her crazy stalker—that was the least of her worries now. Instead, she was revisiting the moment when Raymond had said that they were now married. She never viewed Raymond as one who would tell a lie, not even to save a life. Neither did she know him as someone who would tell such an expensive joke, which was why she needed an explanation, both for his words and for the paper that was in between them. 

The paper was right in her face, but she dreaded looking at it. Who knew what she would find? What if they were actually married and Raymond was right? Then again, what if not? 

She parted her lips to ask the question that was bothering her, but just then, she happened to turn to Raymond and found him taking up the papers and flipping through them. 

"This is our marriage certificate, Miss Moore. I got it legalized today, like you asked," Raymond spoke calmly and passed the papers to Mary, expecting her to take them and see for herself that he had done the job she asked of him. "Now we just need to put up with this until Mr. Moore comes back, and then we will get a divorce. I have prepared those papers as well." 

Mary's hand instinctively found its way to her head as she suddenly felt dizzy from the overwhelming information she was receiving. Not only was she now Raymond's wife—which she still believed to be some sort of joke—but a divorce certificate was also already waiting for her. 

"What are you saying?" she managed to ask in a weak, breathless voice. Her shaky hands reached for the papers Raymond was giving to her, and when she took them and read through it, her eyes widened in shock. On the left side of the paper, right underneath her name, was her signature on the certificate of marriage. 

"What… what kind of joke is this? Why does it have my name and signature? Who said you could do this?" She fired the questions one by one at the unsuspecting Raymond, who flinched at the tone of her voice. "Give me an answer right now, Raymond! Who said you could do this?!" 

Raymond was surprised, but he could understand where her anger was coming from. He too he would be mad if he were married to himself. "My apologies, Miss Moore, but when you asked me to find you a husband that day, I couldn't find anyone trustworthy enough to be your husband, so I signed it myself. But you shouldn't be so worried; it's only for a short while until your brother comes back. The divorce papers are ready." 

Like it wasn't enough that her head was already spinning, Mary began to feel hot all over. She was both angry and confused. "I asked you to find me a husband?" 

Raymond narrowed his eyes and slowly nodded, somewhat guessing that Mary had no memory of the day she gave him a signed marriage certificate to find a man trustworthy enough to be her husband, with the hope that it might deter her stalker for a short while. After all, she was pissed drunk that night. 

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