"He looks so...rough around the edges," Laurence plays with his expensive opal necklace. One of his admirers bought it for him a long time ago. The necklace looks like the ocean. It's the birthstone of the zodiac. It's clean, sophisticated and rare just like.

My friends have gathered in my living room after the matchmaker event. I can tell by how quiet everyone is that they seem worried about my new husband. My husband Mark is over by the house robot. He's punching it because it isn't listening to what he says. Even up on Scale Mountain we had robots. He's acting really unsophisticated right now. It's kind of embarrassing. It's clear that my friends are a bit worried for me.

"I'm so sorry this happened," Laura tells me.

Her brother and her seem like I've just lost a family member or something. They seem like they are in mourning. Jackson puts on a smile probably trying to stay positive for me. Then there is Shauna. She is smiling as well but I think she's enjoying every moment of this.

She snickers a little bit, "This is a mess. You're supposed to be the High Liberty and you're married to an Aries. Look. He's about to fight the robot. Look."

She laughs. It annoys me that she's laughing at him honestly. I don't think Mark is used to the robot. I don't think they have robots in Ram Country. They probably can't afford them. It's probably one of the poorest Zodiac nations besides the City of Crabs. The thing about the Cancers is they actually chose to be humble and live simple lives.

"You aren't helping," I tell her.

"I apologize. It's just...I married a Gemini. Everyone else supposedly married an Aquarius, right?" she asks looking around, "How did you manage to marry an Aries. I didn't think that was possible."

"It's rare," I explain, "Usually Libras only are compatible with Gemini and Aquarius."

"You should talk to the High Liberty about this. I hear they can override these things. There has to be some sort of mistake," Laurence states.

I look over at Mark. My friends are outraged. The fact that Shauna is so gleeful makes me realize just how serious this is. This never happened. Aries was the opposite on the Zodiac of Libra. Libras were everything that Aries was not. I understand how it looks. I have to put on a brave face.

I'm not going to let Shauna or the others shake my confidence right now.

"The matchmakers don't make mistakes."

Laurence looks like he's about to cry, "Be reasonable. What if he...what if he beats you?"

"He's not going to beat me."

"Those people are aggressive people. You don't know that," Laurence says.

"I hear when they are 8 years old they are sent to a ring and have gladiator matches. Only the strong are allowed to hit puberty. The rest are killed," Laura shakes.

Laurence is tearing up at what his sister is saying. he's always been freaked out by things he couldn't control. His way of dealing with situations was breaking out in tears. It gets worse when his sister Laura starts comforting him. The two look at me as though I'm going to be next. It's getting a little ridiculous. I never heard that rumor but god knows what these people were really about. Right now it didn't matter. He was my husband. The matchmakers didn't make mistakes. The others just were so sure that I would have ended up with JB. Hell, Laurence ended up with Young-jae.

"Ok everyone we need to stop being dramatic and worrying Jr," Jackson says, "Everyone out. Let's go. Shauna. You too. Let's go. Time to go back to your own husband."

Shauna is so amused by this. Jackson literally has to usher her out of my apartment. The sliding doors close behind the girls and Jackson just gives me a wishful stare. I know what he's thinking. He's trying to remain positive for me.

"Thank you Jackson."

I kind of remember why Jackson is my best friend after all right now. He's always positive. He's always trying to make the best out of things.

"The matchmakers don't make mistakes. Right?" he asks.

I look over at Mark. He's completely broken the robot. It's in scraps all over my floor. He's kicking around the scraps now. I'm shocked he was able to destroy something so expensive and advanced so quickly. Jesus Christ, he was like a Neanderthal.

"No they don't make mistakes."

Jackson pats me on the back, "Get to know your new husband. He looks cute under all of that. I mean look at him. Give him a good bath, change his wardrobe, trim those eyebrows and maybe get rid of that goatee," Jackson tells me.

Jackson leans in and gives me a tight hug. The hug lasts for quite a while. He knows me well enough to know that I need the strength right now.

When Jackson leaves I walk over to Mark. The first thing I notice is the smell. He smells like he's had a very rough life.

"Your friends clearly are disgusted by me," Mark states when he notices I'm walking towards him.

Rough around the edges is the right word to describe him. He has wild facial hair. He looks like he never had a haircut in his life. The facial hair damn near covers his face. He's wearing rags. He looks like he's homeless or something. I can swear I see blood on his collar. I'm pretty sure he's wearing the same clothes that he wore when he got into that bar fight with Nyxx.

I don't even mention my friends. The last thing I want to do is lie to my new husband or make him feel insecure. I have to make this thing work somehow. It would have been so easy if JB was my husband but he wasn't. Mark was my husband. I had to find a way to deal with it. One way or another.

"So..." I start with a smile, "I know that the two of us may have started off on the wrong foot but..."

"Save it."

"Excuse me?"

Mark looks at me hard for a moment. He crosses his arms, "Save it. I'm not your type. You're not my type. We aren't compatible."

He says it bluntly at that moment. I am kind of shocked by it. He glares at me with those eyes of his that seem to stare intensely into my soul.

"The matchmakers don't make mistakes."

"They made a mistake today. I don't even know you and you're probably the person I dislike the most in this whole goddam city. I found out that there was a way for us to file for a divorce. We have to pay 30,000 credits. I hear you Libras are given money just for breathing. I know you got it. We just have to go to the Justice building and file for it and..."

"I'm not agreeing to a divorce," I respond

Mark looks at me hard, "Excuse me."

"I'm not agreeing to a divorce. I believe in this system. The system says that you're my husband. So I'm going with it. We don't even know each other enough to know that it's not going to work out."

He looks me up and down. The Aries circles me. I don't know what he's looking for but he's trying to read me. His eyes are glaring at me as though I'm something to eat. He doesn't seem impressed. He just crosses his arms the entire time. I don't get it. I'm a Libra. We lived our life to be fair and balanced. We lived our life being beautiful. The fact that he was acting like he wasn't admiring me is ridiculous. Who was he fooling here?

"I don't see anything here I want," Mark tells me bluntly. His words hit me like a stab in the heart.

"You can go down to the Justice department if you want. I'm going to deny it. I'm not paying that money either. Can you afford that many credits?"

Credits used to be called Dollars years ago. Soon paper money went extinct in the wars. The only thing that stayed around as far as currency was credit. The credit system was similar to the dollar system. In fact, 1000 dollars from the past was probably similar to 1000 credits now. There was a time of inflation but that had all stabilized with the Zodiac System.

"No..." he states.

"How about this?" I ask Mark, "We spend a month together. We get to know each other..."

"It's not going to work," he cuts me off quickly.

"If it doesn't work then I pay for the divorce. I'll be working full time as a Liberty as well. I'll be able to get the divorced approved."

He pauses. He sighs a little bit. I can tell he's resistant. I don't know why the guy hates me so much. It can't have to do with the train. Maybe it's because Nyxx messed up his finger at the bar. He still has his finger wrapped up right now. The way he is looking at me though is almost like he really hates my guts. I've never had someone look at me with such malice and hate before.