A clerk called their names and in the gaping silence, she didn’t know what to do.
She checked her phone. No messages. No missed calls.
The rain on her hair dried, leaving it frizzy at the edges. Her makeup, carefully applied this morning, felt like it was starting to smudge. Her bouquet was looking decidedly worse for wear. Perhaps it was a sign; the universe was trying to tell her something.
After a minute or two, the clerk called out names.
NOW SERVING: B71
A couple stood, laughing nervously, and disappeared through a door marked CEREMONY ROOM. She watched them go with a sinking stomach.That should have been her and Brad.She checked the time again. The couple came out of the ceremony room and the number board ticked on.
NOW SERVING: B72
He should have been here hours ago.
Tears stung her eyes but she held them back. She tried calling him, but it went to voicemail.Did something happen? Had he had an accident on the way? Didn’t he have his phone on him?
She stood up. They had missed their slot and she had to talk to someone, rearrange something. The number board kept ticking, and she realized she was alone. Her phone was still blank.No messages. No missed calls. No explanation. She tried calling a second time and again voicemail clicked in. This time she left a message in a hoarse whisper.
“Where are you? Have you had an accident? Call me.”
She tucked her phone back in her purse, the chain digging into her shoulder as she reached the counter. The female clerk gave her sympathetic smile. Her look said she had seen it all before.
“Do you want to cancel your appointment, sweetie?” she asked softly.
The endearment nearly undid her. She swallowed hard and nodded. The clerk tapped a few keys on a keyboard, printed something, and stamped it with a heavy, official thud. She handed the paper to Aelanna.
“All right. You’re all set. You can come back any time.”
Reassuring words, but they landed in her brain with a thud.
Come back any time.
She turned away from the counter, blinking fast, holding back tears. Head dipped as she rushed toward the exit, she passed couples who were nervous, excited, hopeful; everything she wasn’t.
At the door to the waiting room, she bumped into someone coming in. A man, smartly dressed in a suit. He wore a red carnation in his buttonhole. She knew him. It was Brad’s best man, Ryan.
“Ryan!” Her relief was overwhelming. “Where’s Brad? Is he with you?”
He didn’t reply but gently pulled her out into the hallway, away from curious listening ears. By his apologetic expression, she knew what he was going to say.
“I’m sorry, Brad’s not coming.”
She didn’t believe him and her eyes searched his face.He couldn’t be right, could he? Had he got it wrong?She had known him as long as she’d known Brad. They were best buddies and she never known Ryan to lie to her, not deliberately.
“He’s not coming,” he repeated, his expression more somber, if it was possible. “We’ve fallen out over it.”
“He’s changed his mind?” she squeaked, at least, herhigh-pitched voice sounded squeaky to her.
“I’ll talk some sense into him, he’ll change his mind,” Ryan offered, and with every ancient instinct about men that women were born with, Aelanna knew Brad wouldn’t. If he didn’t want to marry her that day, he never would.
She pushed past Ryan as she made for the main doors, and the world was swimming through her tears.
“Aelanna! Are you alright?” he called after her, but she ignored him.
The glass doors opened with a soft hydraulic sigh, and she stepped outside into steady rain. The air was cool and wet, and it hit her like a shock after the overheated waiting room.
What would she do now?
