CHAPTER 2
1039 Words
Chelsea's lipstick was outside the line on the left side. Barely a millimeter. I was unable to look away from it.Chelsea was talking about the ceremony. How lovely it would be. She cried yesterday at the rehearsal. Hudson looked at me the way people describe in love songs.
Someone handed me champagne.
I was holding champagne.
When did that happen?
"Sal, you okay?" Chelsea was looking at me.
"Yeah." My voice sounded normal. How did I do that? "Just nervous."
"Sal, come on. Nervous is normal." She squeezed my hand. My free hand. The other one held champagne I did not remember accepting. "It is your wedding day."
Mara pulled out her phone and leaned forward, grinning. "Okay, bride pic. Sallie, hold up your champagne–perfect–"
I smiled.
The camera clicked.
I looked happy in the photo. Mara showed me. There I was, smiling, holding champagne, surrounded by friends. The beautiful bride.
*Sweet, simple teacher.*
My smile felt stapled on.
"Ten minutes," the driver called back.
Ten minutes.
Amy flipped open her compact and dragged lipstick across her bottom. "I still cannot believe Hudson planned that whole surprise proposal. The rooftop, the lights, the photographer–"
"He hired a photographer?" Jess asked.
"Of course he did. He thinks of everything."
*Amazing what a little guidance can do.*
Chelsea was still watching me. She had been staring at me the entire ride.
"Sal." She said it quietly, just for me. "You can still say no."
I looked at her.
"We can turn this car around right now. I'm serious."
My throat closed.
"If you're having doubts–"
"OH MY GOD WE'RE HERE!" Mara pressed against the window. "Sal, look how beautiful it is!"
The church. White stone, massive doors, flowers everywhere.
The car stopped.
Everyone piled out, talking and laughing while they fixed each other's hair.
Chelsea stayed close to me. "Sallie–"
"I am fine." Absolute lie. "I'm okay. You know me and change."
"It is still okay to have more than nerves, Sal."
Then someone was herding us inside, through hallways, into the bride's room. More people appeared. Hudson's cousins. His aunt. The wedding coordinator with her clipboard and headset.
"Thirty minutes to processional," she announced. "Sallie, we need you ready in fifteen."
Fifteen minutes.
I ended up in front of the mirror. Hands tugged at my veil.
"You look like a princess." Someone said.
*He saw what she could BECOME.*
"It's time," the coordinator said.
Then I was at the back of the church. Alone.
I chose to walk alone. No father to walk me down. Then the doors. The music. Everyone standing, turning.
Two hundred people.
All watching.
I started walking.
One step. Another step. The aisle stretched forever.
Hudson was at the altar. I could see him now. His tux was perfect. His hair was perfect. His smile–
He looked so happy.
Like I was the best thing in his world.
Maybe I misread everything. Maybe the speech cards meant something different. He is looking at me like... that has to be love.
Right?
*I love being the person who elevates her.*
My feet kept moving.
Past the pews. Past the flowers. Past faces I recognized and faces I didn't.
Past everything.
Then I was in front of him. Hudson took my hands. His eyes were shining. "You're beautiful." He whispered.
The officiant started talking.
---
"–and I knew right then, I wanted to be the man who–" He stopped, swallowed. "Who deserved someone like you."
His hands shook. I felt it.
"Someone who saw people instead of numbers. Someone who made me want to be... more."
He was tearing up. Half the guests were tearing up.
My stomach was turning.
"So I made myself a promise. I promised woul'd become the man you needed. I'd give you everything. Not just things – though god knows I want to give you everything – but opportunities. Experiences. A life where you never have to compromise or want for anything."
Compromise.
Like my life before him was compromise.
"Because that is what love is to me, Sallie. It is not just feeling something. It's doing something. It is showing up every day and asking, 'How can I make her life better? How can I... can I give her more?'"
His voice broke again.
"You have made me better than I ever thought possible. And I can't wait to–" He paused.
The church exploded with soft "aww"s and alot of sniffles.
"To do the same for you."
Hudson squeezed my hands. Gosh I never thought he would be a crier.
The officiant turned to me. "And now, Sallie, your vows."
I pulled out the card. It was just now that I realised that this is expensive cardstock. And it was embossed with our initials. Hudson's assistant had ordered it if I remember correctly.
My hands were shaking.
"Hudson, when I met you... I thought I knew what love was."
My voice sounded steady. How?
"I thought love was... quiet. Simple. Two people choosing each other and building something together."
I paused. That was what I'd thought. Before.
"But you showed me love could be bigger than that. That it could be–"
I looked down at the card.
The next word was "transformative."
I'd written "transformative" three weeks ago.
"–that it could be..."
I couldn't say it.
I looked up at Hudson. He was smiling, encouraging, squeezing my hands.
"You have given me so much. Opportunities I never imagined. Experiences I never–"
Wait.
I was saying the same things he just said.
When did my vows start sounding like his?
"You've shown me a world I–"
*Sweet, simple teacher.*
*Amazing what a little guidance can do.*
*I love being the person who elevates her.*
I looked down. The card was shaking.
"I'm sorry, I–"
"Take your time, baby. You're doing great." Hudson whispered.
You're doing great.
Like I was performing. Like this was a test I was passing.
"Hudson, I–"
I turned my eyes to face him.
The pride in his eyes. The way he was watching me like I was his greatest accomplishment.
- Writer
