I should've listened to my mother. She didn’t like Wilson from the moment she met him.
Every time they were in the same room, she would purposely move to the opposite side, to get as far away from him as possible.
So of course when I showed her my engagement ring, she didn't smile. She didn't even acknowledge it, actually. There I stood, with my left hand outstretched, waiting for her to ooo and ahh. But she didn't. Instead, she turned back to the sink and continued to wash the dinner dishes.
That’s why, on the morning of my wedding day when I realized I hadn't heard from Wilson in over 24 hours, I didn’t tell my mother. In fact, I didn’t tell anyone. I didn't worry about it at first, until I called the jeweler to make sure that Wilson had picked up my re-sized engagement ring. (I had lost almost twenty pounds unintentionally over the past few months, so my ring kept sliding off.) But instead of telling me that Wilson had in fact picked up the ring, the jeweler said that he had just spoken to Wilson, and that Wilson said he would be away for at least another two weeks because we had decided to elope.
But how could we possibly have eloped when I was still here in Blue?
~*~
The night before
I could hear the whispers as I stood at the altar for our rehearsal. “Where’s her boo?” one of Wilson’s cousins whispered. “He should be here!” “Wilson had an unexpected meeting,” I said before anyone else could question where he was. “Besides, he doesn’t need to be here anyway, his part is very small in all of this. All he has to do is stand with Pastor Jacob. The rest of us have to figure out how to get down the aisle without looking like a bunch of clowns. Now, I just need all of my bridesmaids to stand with their groomsmen. And my flower girl and ring bearer should be next.”
As the wedding party begin to shift places and stand in their assigned spots, I felt a little more at ease. I had always known I would have a large wedding party, but I never dreamed I would have fifteen bridesmaids and fifteen groomsmen. I tried to focus less on the things that could go wrong and more on the beautiful photos we would end up with.
Pastor Jacob entered the sanctuary and walked over to me. “Where is your fiance?” he whispered. “He had...um...a meeting…”I said. I hated lying to a Pastor in his own church. “He really should be here, Genesis,” Pastor Jacob said. “Is everything okay? You didn’t have a fight or anything, did you?” “No!” I said. “Everything is fine! He’ll be here bright and early tomorrow for our ceremony” I said with a smile. Even though my stomach continued to churn as I stood at the altar. O To be continued...
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