TIES

Chapter 2

We got to Illinois Beach Hotel, where our wedding was taking place. It looked like a paradise; beautiful flowers used to decorate everywhere. I loved that I got the perfect view of the sea.

Everyone was already seated on their seats. We had sent invites to just 50 persons since I wanted a small cool wedding. The priest stood in front of the guests, at the spot I and Ethan would stand to exchange our vows. He held a big brown book which I guess was the holy book on his palms. My bridesmaids were all present, excited and anxious to walk me down the aisle. My mum stood by me with tears in her eyes. Since my father wasn’t present, she was going to be the one to hold me in her hands and work me down to my husband.

The groom’s men didn’t look ready. They looked so tensed up, especially, Dan, Ethan’s best man. Ethan hasn’t arrived yet. He was the one we were all waiting for. I had forgotten to call him earlier when I was still at home with Maggie. We had left with so much excitement that I forgot.

It was getting to 12, and he still wasn’t there. The priest was already angry and wanted to leave. The guests were getting so tired of waiting. The wedding was scheduled to hold by 10 a.m but there was a bit disruption. Traffic that day was so terrible that we had to extend it to 11 a.m. and yet, Ethan was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t with my phone so I requested for Maggie to give me hers, which she did.

I quickly dialed his number on her phone but it wasn’t reachable. I tried again and again, yet, I got the same response. I was asked to drop a voicemail.

I got tensed and so scared. I walked hastily towards Dan.

“What is it? What is the problem?” Maggie chased after me asking but I ignored her and walked faster.

“Dan! Dan!... Where is Dan?” I asked, searching around for him. Finally I saw him, down the other side of the beach.

“Dan!... Where is Ethan? Why isn’t he here yet?” I asked as I walked hastily towards him.

I could see unrest on his face. He tried to speak but nothing came out.

“What is it? Why is Ethan not here yet?” I shouted, drawing the guest’s attention towards me.

“Stephanie, please, calm down” he pleaded.

“Dan, I am calm. Just tell me where my fiancée is. Why isn’t he here yet?” I asked in a lower tone now.

“Dan, talk already. Where is Ethan?...the guests are tired of waiting. Same with the Priest. He wants to leave” Maggie said.

“Ethan… won’t b…be coming” Dan stuttered.

“I don’t understand. Why won’t he be coming for his wedding?” Maggie asked, confused as I was.

Dan stood there staring at us in silence as he scratched his head. The silence only got I and Maggie more tensed.

“Can’t you talk again? Where the f**k is Ethan?!” I screamed on my voice.

“Ethan doesn’t want to get married. That was what he said to me over the phone early this morning” Dan said.

At that point, I felt the world crumbling. It still didn’t make any sense to me.

“Why will Ethan suddenly say that he didn’t want to get married to me again?” I asked, confused.

“I tried stopping him but he didn’t listen. I’m sorry, Stephanie” he said with a pitiful look in his eyes as he walked away from us.

“Dan!!!!” I shouted and tried to chase after him but Maggie, held me back.

The world was shattering just in a twinkle of an eye. I guess my mum must have seen me crying as she ran to meet me.

“What happened? Where is Ethan?” she asked but got no response.

“No!!!!” I forcefully drew away from Maggie, running into the ocean but Maggie chased after me and held me.

Death was the only thing on my mind at that moment. The only man I had ever loved had betrayed me this way. I still couldn’t believe it.

“Give me your phone. I want to call him. I know he will come. Maybe he’s stuck in traffic” I said in tears.

“Step…GIVE ME YOUR PHONE!!!!” I shouted at Maggie who quicjkly gave me her phone.

I dialed his number again, and again. I kept dialing it repeatedly until Maggie, dragged her phone from my hands. It was crystal clear that Ethan had left me. I sat on the beach sand, in my wedding dress and cried in regrets. Was that the reason he never told me that he loved me and never proposed until I did. The signs were glaring but I was so much blinded in love that I didn’t notice until now. What was I supposed to do now? What was I going to do with the foetus in me?

I had planned to break the news to him that night, after we were done with the wedding. When we are both wrapped into each other’s arms in the cool night. I had envisioned how excited he will be when I finally break the news to him. I imagined him placing his head on my belly and feel his seed growing in me. But I guess, it all ended in my imaginations. I had to face reality now. Reality had hit me so hard.

I hadn’t realized how empty the wedding venue had gotten when I turned around and met the seats empty. The wedding planner with her team were already there packing their sits and decoration materials. Once again, tears flowed down my face. I wiped my runny nose with my wedding veil that had fallen off my head. My hair now looked ruffled and scattered all over my face. My tears were black in color. It washed my mascara away, down to my cheeks. My head banged so hard, and my eyes were so dim and weak. My feet were feeble as I walked to Maggie’s car on ten toes. She had my shoes in her hands. I looked so messy.

I was tired of crying. All I wanted to do at that moment was rest my head and sleep. The deed had already been done, so I needed to move on. But, how I wish it was as easy as I thought about it.

Ethan wasn’t just any man. I loved him. Deeply, more than he loved me. I was ready to wait for him if he had told me that he wasn’t ready yet. I was ready to sacrifice my whole life for him. But what did he do? He shattered my dreams and broke me into pieces.

That was what I got for loving a man so much.

I dozed off in the car as Maggie drove down and only woke up when she tapped me on my shoulders let me know that I was home. Without saying a word to her, I came off the car and was about to knock on the door when my mum opened the door. I walked passed her and headed to my room where I laid on my bed.

“No, no no… get up. You need to wash yourself up. you can’t sleep this way” Maggie said, as she entered into my room.

She dragged me up and unzipped my wedding gown, then led me into the bathroom. I switched on the shower and stood under it as the water ran down my body. I sobbed silently. The pain and humiliation was so unbearable. I took a sponge and soap and sponged my body. After I was done bathing, I tied my towel around my waste and applied shampoo on my hair, about to wash it off when the shower stopped rushing.

I hit the wall angrily and sat on the floor there, crying before Maggie walked inside and helped me clean off the shampoo from my hair.

I cried that night until I dozed off.