One
"You're like an angel today, honey. You look fabulous. No wonder Rick decided to marry you. I'm so happy for you." I smiled at what my mom said.
Yes, I'm getting married today. After being in a 8 years relationship with my boyfriend, we had now finally decided to get married. Eight years is way too long already. We have encountered many obstacles that we managed to surpass. We have spent so much time with each other so now we should take another step to seal our life with each other.
"Thank you, mom. I'm so blessed to have you as my parents. Thank you for supporting me all the way until now." I said. I felt teary eyed.
"My baby girl is now finally getting married. Time really fly so fast. It was as if yesterday you were just a baby sleeping in my arms, but now you're leaving us to have your own family to start." Dad said as tears started to fall in his eyes.
I tried so hard not to cry because it would ruin my makeup. Minutes from now my wedding will start and I'm done with everything including my hair and make up.
"Dad, stop crying. You'll ruin my makeup." I said as I tried to stop my tears from falling.
"I'm sorry, honey. I just can't stop myself. Who would have thought that you would be this beautiful today." He held my hand and pressed it gently. "You should always remember that no matter what happens, you will always be our baby girl. Even if you're gonna get married later and gonna have a life on your own."
I nodded to what he said. "Be a responsible and loving wife to your husband okay? Even though you know that we don't like him for you. But now that you're gonna marry him, we will try our best to consider him as a part of our family also." My mother said,
My parents really don't like Rick from the very start. Back when he was just courting me, my parents opposed having a relationship with him. They said that they don't trust him because they thought he'll just be a hindrance to my studies and he'll do no good for me.
But Rick still decided to pursue courting me and showed to my parents that what they thought of him is wrong and his intention towards me is pure and genuine. I was 18 years old back then while he was 19, that's why they were too overprotective of me.
But after a year of courting, I finally decided to be his girlfriend without my parents' approval. They were so mad at me for deciding such a thing without talking to them first. But I knew that they wouldn't let me so I didn't tell them. But after a month, they finally gave up but told me that they are still mad at me but couldn't do anything now since it already happened. After that, they just always tell me and remind me to not do anything else until we graduate.
Of course I knew what they meant by it. Well, I understand them if they had acted like that in the past. I was just an only child and the fact that I'm a girl.
"Of course, Mom, Dad. Don't worry about me. I'm not a baby anymore okay?" I said and they both nodded and looked at each other with sad eyes.
"Yeah, you're not a baby anymore but you are still our baby girl." Dad said and hugged me and I hugged him back.
After an emotional talk with my parents, they said that they'll be outside and called the organizer of our wedding to ask if everything is okay in the church.
I took my phone out of my bag and dialed Astrid's number, my best friend. I've been waiting for her for about an hour now but she still hasn't come here. Why did it took her too long to come?
After how many rings, she didn't answer and so I decided to call her once more hoping that she would pick it up this time, but again she didn't. "What's with this woman? Why isn't she picking up her phone?" I wondered.
I decided to just send her a message saying that she needs to hurry because she's my bride's maid.
Astrid and I have been best friends since highschool. Before I entered into a relationship with Rick, Astrid and I were inseparable. We're like glue stuck together. We considered ourselves not just best friends but also sisters.
After sending her a message, I took a deep breath. I'm so excited yet so nervous. I don't know what I should feel at the moment, it seems to be a mixed emotion. I think it's just normal for a soon to be married woman.
I then heard the bedroom door open and there I saw my cousin Viy. She's wearing a pink dress and she looks so lovely. I smiled at her as soon as her eyes laid on me.
"Hi, Viy. Have you seen Astrid outside?" I asked her but then she didn't answer me.
There's worry in her eyes which made me confused. "Hey, what's wrong? Something happened to you?" I asked her.
She shook her head and forced a smile. "No, it's nothing." She said,
"No, you can tell me." I answered.
I can see in her face that she's having two thoughts whether she'll tell me or not. She heaved out a deep sigh before looking at me. "Well, it's nothing big actually. It's just that I heard that something's going on with the church. I don't know exactly." She said,
My chest suddenly beats fast to what I heard. It felt weird hearing it because it makes me nervous and overthink.
"What is it?" I asked while holding out my breath.
"I don't know either. I just heard from Aunt Cecil when she was talking on the phone that there's a commotion in the church." She said, "But don't worry. I don't think it's a big problem though. I even heard Uncle Bun that they'll take care of it, " she explained.
I nodded to what she said but I'm still uneasy about it. What was the commotion about? Did something happen there?
Then my parents came in. The look on their eyes doesn't have a hint of worry so maybe the problem was already resolved. "We should go now. The wedding will start in 10 minutes." Mom said and assisted me with my dress.
"I'm gonna go now. I'll just head out first to the church. See you all there." Viy said before going outside first.
"I heard something come up in the church, what was it mom? Did something happen?" I asked.
I saw Mom and Dad look at each other before they look at me and shook their heads in chorus. "Of course no. There's nothing wrong." Mom answered. I can sense that the way she answered was a little bit defensive but I didn't mind it.
"How about Astrid mom? Have you seen her? I've been trying to call her since earlier but she won't answer."
"Maybe she's already in the church." She answered.
My parents assisted me until I sat inside the wedding car. Good thing is that the church is five minutes away from our house.
When we had finally reached the church, I got out of the car as my parents helped me. As soon as I stood in front of the church, I saw that the church door was already open and there I saw people coming in and out. It made me confused about what's happening.
"Mom, Dad?" I called my parents and they looked at me with sadness in their eyes. I suddenly felt that something's wrong.
I saw Rick's parents approaching us. They seemed to be tense. "Lauren, where's Rick? Did something happen between you two?" They asked.
"What? What do you mean where's Rick? Isn't he supposed to be inside now?" I asked. My heart was pounding fast.
"What? Rick isn't here and we've been calling him for almost two hours now!" Aunt Lucy- Rick's mother said. I was not able to answer her because I can't think straight.
"There must be a misunderstanding." I answered. I turned to face my mom. "Mom, can you give me my phone? I need to call Rick." My hands were trembling and my voice was already shaking.
Too many things were running out inside my mind. It's not like what I'm thinking is right? Rick wouldn't do it. Rick wouldn't leave me, not on our wedding day. He wouldn't do such a thing.
When mom handed me the phone, I took it and dialed Rick's phone number while my hands were shaking. I waited for him to answer the call but he didn't. That's when my tears started to fall one by one.
This isn't happening. Rick maybe had an important reason for him to not be here yet.
I tried calling him once more and that's when I felt relieved when he answered the call. "Rick, love. Where are you? People were asking why you're not here? Did something bad happen?" I asked worriedly.
He didn't answer back. "Love? Are you there?"
"I'm sorry." The two words he answered which made my world shattered into pieces.
"W-what?" My voice is shaking.
"It's not you, it's me. I don't wanna hurt you anymore. I don't want to hide what I'm feeling. I've tried so hard to stop it but I can't. I just can't." His voice sounded hurt and like pleading.
I closed my eyes as tears continued to fall. No, this isn't true.
I laughed nervously. "Come on, Love. Don't be like this. This isn't funny."
"Let's break this wedding. I can't marry you." He said and suddenly the call ended.
After the call ended, the phone on my hand slipped down and fell on the floor. My legs were shaking and after a minute I also fell on the ground.
I couldn't think properly. My mind was vague enough to think what was going on. I just cry and shout at the same time. People around us and inside the church were confused about what was happening.
It seems like everything was just some kind of a joke. I tried to stand up but the more I tried, the more I felt pain. The next thing I know is that I fell on the ground.