Perfect Life

Merle Ken's head throbbed as she woke up, and she blinked at the sunlight piercing the room from the window. She must have drunk too much last night. Sitting upright on the bed and her sight clearing gradually, she realized she was in a hotel room.

The room was suffocatingly small, the walls closing in on her like a cage. The silence in the room was heavy, and only the sound of the air conditioner could be heard. The bedspread smelled of cleaning chemicals, which made her feel uncomfortable. "What the hell am I doing in a hotel room?" She tapped around the bed, looking for her phone.

"There you are," She muttered, checking her phone to see what time it was. "Oh my God!" She suddenly jerked up from the bed when she remembered it was her wedding and she was already late.

"Fuck! How could I have woken up so late on my wedding day? And why the hell am I here in the first place? Brian would be f*cking angry at me by now. He must have been in the church waiting for his bride." Merle paced the room, trying to recollect the event that had brought her into the hotel room.

"Oh, now I remember. Where the hell is Marly? I have to get back home right now, get dressed and rush to the church. Oh, Merle, what have you done to yourself?" She muttered, picking up her phone and the scarf she had come with. She reached out to the door and tried opening it, but the door was locked from the outside. She searched the room, maybe the key was lying somewhere, but she found nothing.

Merle's face went pale, her hands trembling, sweat forming on her brows and tears already welling up in her eyes. "Is this some kind of joke? If it is, then who has the godamn right to joke with her special day? Did someone lock me up at my wedding?" Merle muttered, trembling and pacing the room.

"Merle, calm down," she composed herself, trying to figure out why and how she ended up here. Then she remembered that Marly, her identical twin, had come back the previous day.

Merle and Marly lost their parents ten years ago in an air crash while coming back from abroad. Shortly after their burial, Marly stole everything they left for her and her twin sister and left the country. Merle tried all means to get through to her twin, but all was to no avail. And then she concluded her twin had made away with their inheritance.

Marly suddenly surfaced a day before Merle's wedding, pleading for her forgiveness. Merle, in her kind heart, forgives her twin and welcomes her back. Marly suggested they both go somewhere to celebrate Merle's last night as a spinster and also to catch up on time.

In a lounge, not too far from Merle's house, the twin sisters sat at the bar, enjoying themselves. Marly insisted that Merle drink, but she refused, telling her she didn't want to get drunk on her because her big day was the next day. She requested a cup of non-alcoholic wine, which she was sipping all through her conversation with her twin.