Becoming Mrs Miller

CHAPTER SEVEN

The series of events that followed next seemed like a dream to Gabriella, she had walked out to a crowd of photographers and on lookers , flashlights flashing before her eyes, a cheering crowd, ground littered with petals. Her mum had said it would be a magnificent wedding but the reality was nothing compared to what she had heard. She wasn’t prepared for so much paparazzi, a part of her wanted to run back and hide. Perry, on the other hand seemed to be having so much fun, she waved at the camera like she was the bride and she was too busy to notice the glances Maxwell was passing her. 

Her parents met her at the front porch and escorted her to the white limousine which was to take her to the Venue, alongside Perry. The Miller sisters entered one of their own, her parents had another which Max joined. The convoy had nothing less than ten white cars. Two body guards had been assigned to her. Gabriella wondered why go through so much stress when the venue was within walking distance.

 Her vehicle stopped at the venue and she had a clear view of the guests. The car door opened and she immediately recognised Simeon. 

" You look stunning ma'am,” he said taking her hands.

 “Thank you Simeon, Good to see you,” She faked a smile as he helped her out, handing her over to her father who was ready to walk her down the aisle. The Miller’s had arranged for the priest to be brought down to the large hall where they would be wedded. Gabriella knew there was going to be an after party but she would worry about that later.

 Right now, her heart was beating so fast she feared it may come out of her chest. Her greatest fear was coming to pass, she was getting married to her worse nightmare. She was almost sure the fear showed on her face but she was trying all she could to hide it. Her dad was all smiles as he took her hands. Looking at him made her angry, her father rarely ever smiled but here he was, on a day that she tagged her worse day, smiling like he had won the lottery. She had pitied him after learning what he had to go through but right now, seeing him all dressed up, smiling so boldly, pity was the last thing she felt for him. How good he was at pretending, she thought. 

Her mum and brother were already seated, she recognised few people as she made her way down the hall, the Miller sisters too were seated, she recognised the governor and his beautiful wife. Bruce Miller occupied the same table with the governor, Perry had found a seat next to her boyfriend David who had the nerve to wink at her but that was the last thing on her mind. 

She was not sure whether to cry or run when Barrett who had been waiting in front of the priest turned in her direction. He wore a smirk on his face, he looked amused at the sight of her and she wondered if perhaps she looked like a clown to him. The pride on his shoulders were so obvious, he wore it like a second coat. Her head was pounding, all this people had gathered because of her. She had never thought a day would come when she would set her eyes on the governor talk more of him attending her wedding.

 Her father squeezed her hands as they got to the alter before putting her hands in Barrett’s. Ella could barely look at his face, she was not even sure how to act, she had expected a little crowd but there was nothing little about the crowd that faced her. Her mind was filled with thoughts, what could she do to stop the whole wedding? Would she live the rest of her life in regret? Barrett had showed her he was anything but nice, his sisters were obviously trouble makers and found fault in everything. Ella blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes as the priest smiled and began his sermon.

 “You look like you’re going go fall any minute,” Barrett whispered to her. “I know its overwhelming for you to be in the presence of such distinguished people , just relax they won’t bite, most of them have their eyes on me, none really cares about you except your family of course,”

 It was definitely not the kind of words she expected to hear on her wedding day. Did groom’s not always compliment their bride's? All the whispers they shared were probably compliments, Ella thought. She had attended few weddings in her life time and each time the groom said something to the bride, the bride usually responded with a wide smile which was why Ella wondered why her own groom had just insulted her. 

 Gabriella ignored the obvious insult and tried to focus on what the priest was saying he was about to start reading the vows and Gabriella was to repeat after him before Barrett did. The ring bearer came forward with the rings and Gabriella’s heart pounded even faster, she turned and her eyes met with Perry's , Perry gave her a wide smile and all the excitement showed on her face, she also noticed Perry had been separated from David and given a special seat as the maid of honour and besides her was a rather awkward looking man who she assumed was Barrett’s best man, something about him was scary too, did he just look awkward or wicked? Yes that was it, he looked mean. As far as she was concerned everybody in the hall looked wicked to her, so long as no one was making any efforts to end this injustice, they were all wicked, she thought to herself. 

The priest blessed the rings and handed her Barrett's own to place on his fingers as he read out the words for her to repeat. 

"I Gabriella Long take you Barrett Miller to be my husband....” the priest said waiting for her to repeat after him but Gabriella was silent, her mind had drifted off, it took Barrett squeezing her hands a little too roughly for her to realize she had drifted off. 

 “I’m sorry,” She told the Priest “Please repeat that,”

 It may have been just her imagination but she could almost feel the tension in the crowd. The priest repeated the lines and this time she repeated after him, word for word, she said her vows, with a heart so heavy, she proclaimed love that she did not feel for this man, who stared like her like a clown and in turn, she listened to him read his own vows. 

"I now proclaim you man and wife,” the Priest said, and the crowd cheered in excitement, “You may kiss the bride,” 

Gabriella hadn’t bargained for that. The last thing she wanted was to kiss Barrett, Barrett however seemed pleased with the words. She shook her head and took a step back but that only brought more cheering from the crowd, she could even hear Perry’s giggle amidst the crowd. This people were obviously enjoying the show, was it not obvious how pained she was? Was the bitterness not written all over her face? Or had the make up artist done such a perfect work on her face that it was hard to see how unhappy she was? 

“Don’t be shy now,” the Priest smiled at Gabriella.

 Barrett was beginning to get irritated , the look on his face said it all, he had disgust written all over him, did she irritate him that much? Was she actually married to this man? A man she was just setting her eyes on for the second time in all her life and they were already married? And he was going to kiss her? The thoughts kept going through her head, over and over again.

 She didn’t expect Barrett’s next reaction, he grabbed her by the back of her head and forced his lips on hers. The crowd cheered even louder this time . He tried to push his tongue into her mouth but she resisted, tightening her lips together, Finally he tore his lips from hers and let go of her head. Once again he looked at her amusingly. 

“You are lucky it’s our wedding day “ he said in her ears, smiling so that the crowd wouldn’t guess what he was saying “I wouldn’t take that from you on another day and pray that no one noticed,”

 Gabriella caught the threat in his voice, before she could say anything, the guest surrounded them, exchanging handshakes and many congratulations, She did her best to smile. She did her best to put on a smiling face as her mother and Perry had reminded her to. 

Bruce Miller approached her, “Welcome to the family,” he said planting a kiss on each side of her cheeks. 

“Thank you...” her voice was faint, if she thought she was scared of Barrett , she was definitely terrified of his father. It was her first time seeing him in reality even though her father told her he had come to see her several times as a child, bringing gifts. 

Mrs Long joined them then.

 “I see where you get your beauty Gabriella,” Bruce said to Ella as be shook hands with her mum. 

 “Bruce,” Mrs Long greeted him.

  “Welcome to the family Mrs Long,” he smiled at her “Your life is about to change for good,”. 

Well, Ella guessed the pride was passed from father to son.

 “I’ll like to have a word with you Mrs Long,” Bruce said to her mum “Now if you’ll excuse us,” he said and left with Mrs Long. 

Perry ran to her almost immediately and hugged her so tight they almost fell and just then she saw a familiar figure on the far end of the hall, her heart stopped for a second, she only knew one person with that height, the figure was one of the tallest she had seen in her life. Then her eyes met his and she recognised him immediately. Ryan. She froze in that second, like she had seen ghost, she blinked several times, maybe she was dreaming, she hadn’t seen Ryan in a year. As far as she knew, Ryan had been her own fantasy, maybe she had imagined the episode when she saw him last year. What then was he doing here?

 “Hey girl, I’m so happy for you. I hope you are happy for you too,” Perry said releasing her from the tight hug. Perry looked at her friend but it was obvious she didn’t have her friends attention. 

“Hey, cheer up okay it’s not the end of the world okay,” Perry said and turned in the direction Ella was looking. Then she saw him too. “he’s hot right,” she giggled “I’ve been staring at him too, he's been at the last table, and he had his eyes on you all through,” she laughed again, this time a little too loud “too bad you are already taken,” 

"Perry....” her voice trailed off. 

 “What?” Perry asked worried. 

Her heart was filled with so many questions, why had he disappeared only to appear on her wedding day? She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, a part of her still felt betrayed but the better part of her wanted to run into his arms, why was God punishing her so bad? why had he not shown up all this while? 

Ryan smiled and waved at her. 

“Ryan,” she whispered and Perry’s eyes almost popped out of its sockets.