& They Did Not Live Happily Ever After - 23/12/2020
Slipping his navy coloured, pin stripped, jacket over his shoulders, rick looked up towards the clock that read 13:52. Holy fuck.. he’d be a husband within the hour and have the most beautiful wife by his side. How was this even possible? It still baffled him that kate agreed to be his forever, and never would he take her for granted. How lucky was he? His entire body tingled with nerves and he could feel his stomach threaten to blow the little breakfast he’d eaten that morning but, there was no real time to think about chundering as his best man informed him that they needed to leave, pronto. He was handed the thickest of doobies from his pal as they headed out towards the car that would navigate them to the most elegant of places - The Paramour Estate.
Kate’s father; a wealthy man, had kindly paid for their wedding and, although Rick felt as if he stuck out like a sore thumb, he’d do anything to make his fiancé happy.
14:25 come around so quickly, Rick’s hands destroyed by anxious picking of his cuticles as he patiently waited for his bride. There must have been a crowd of one hundred people gathered behind him but, the only person he focused on was Tyson. He was obviously doing his best to keep Rick calm, whose heart was beating so hard he felt like it was about to burst from his chest then, the sound of Bruno Mars rang through his ears as Kate arrived. Those worried feelings, the anxiety that had crippled him all morning disappeared as he turned, faced with the most beautiful sight. The bling of Kate’s dress sparkled so bright as the sun hit each diamante with every step she took towards him, both unable to hide back the tears of joy. Tyson gave Rick a reassuring pat against his shoulder and took a step back, greeting Kate as she finally stood beside her husband-to-be.
“Wow..” Rick exhaled a nervous breath as he tried to take in as much of Kate as possible, although no eye-contact was made, weirdly. Their bodies simply stood together with no other contact, no hand holding, nothing. It was starting to send Rick’s mind into over-drive, although it probably didn’t mean anything.
The ceremony began as the vicar welcomed those gathered to take a seat and introduced the bride and groom, soon before it was Kate’s turn to take her vows. She’d been oddly quiet since her arrival and only now did she look up towards Rick. She stared so deep into his eyes, fingers twiddling with the ring she was about to present Rick with before muttering the words. “I can’t do this..”
What did that mean? All of a sudden Rick was hit with a tonne of emotion, her apology a mere echo in his ear like he’d disconnected with his body. It was almost as if he’d frozen in time and all he could do was watch the love of his life walk away. He felt confused, angry, sad and hurt. Wait, this was real, right? This wasn’t some nightmare, was it? Rick eventually blinked once and witnessed everyone around him in shock, silenced. Why did he feel stuck to the ground like he couldn’t move? “Kate!” He screamed out, before breaking.
What had he done wrong? What the fuck just happened?