Vows and Veils

Carla’s POV

I can vividly remember that day. The day what I feared the most happened.

I was seated in the bridal suite, admiring my beautiful self in the mirror in front of me. I looked so beautiful that I couldn’t stop admiring myself.

“The day has come. The day everything would change for good” I had thought to myself, putting on a smile. I was happy that after 7 years of courting him, he was finally going to be mine. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure if that day would go as planned.

Her words from the night before echoed in my mind.

“You think I will allow the wedding to happen? Stop dreaming, darling. I will make sure I stop it at all costs. You can’t take him away from me!!!” she had yelled at me with fury. Her look was fierce like that of a Lion. With the look on her face, it was evident that she wouldn’t back down. She was ready to do anything to make him hers.

The thought of her taking him away from me made me cringe and my hand began to tremble.

“What is she planning to do? Will she show up at the church and create a scene? Or will she kidnap me?” Different thoughts began to run through my mind and my once happy face turned pale. I was engulfed with fear, as I was unsure of what would happen at the church where the spectators had converged.

Just then, a beautiful figure walked in. It was no one other than my best friend, Amelia. The only person who had stood by me through thick and thin. Her presence pulled me out of my thoughts, which made me momentarily forget my worries.

“See my beautiful bride. If I were a man right now, I would have snatched you away from Charles. Because WTF!!!! You are as beautiful as a goddess” she had said, being dramatic as she always was. I rolled my eyes before I eventually burst out laughing.

“You are a drama queen, you know right?” I said to her as she giggled. Although I was smiling, I was still worried. I tried to hide my worries away from Amelia because I knew she would nag as usual, but I couldn’t hide from her as she knew me too well and always saw through me.

Walking up to where I was seated, she took my hands in hers and asked, “Do you really have to do this?”. Her tone was serious, and the environment felt tense. I averted my gaze from hers, thinking she wouldn’t dwell further as I knew where she was heading to, but she wasn’t one who would back down easily.

“Look at me, Carla” she said as she turned my face to face hers.

“He doesn’t deserve you. You deserve someone much better than him. I know you are doing this because of Mia, but she will be fine without him in her life. Those two years he wasn’t around, you singlehandedly raised her, and I am sure you can still do a better job without him in it. Let go of him before it’s too late, Carla. I beg of you. I do not want to see you get hurt” she pleaded with sincerity in her eyes, but her words only fell on my deaf ears.

“Amelia, I understand your concern, but I am doing this because I love him, and you know he loves me too. What happened was a mistake. He has promised me that such wouldn’t happen again. He has nothing to do with her again, he is only seeing her because of their son. I will be fine, Amelia” I said calmly, trying to assure her but that only got her angry the more. She swiftly let go of her hold on mine and her eyes turned red.

“Are you f*ck*ng serious right now? He loves you? He loves you but he still went ahead to impregnant another woman? Not even a random woman but your sister’s best friend? And you are still giving excuses for his mistakes? Snap out of your dream and accept the reality!!!!” she yelled angrily at me, which made me flinch. I had never seen her as angry as she was that day before.

“They are no longer together? Have you forgotten I saw them both walking out of the hotel last week? Your soon to be husband lodged in at a hotel with another woman a week to your wedding and you are telling me he loves you? No babe, he doesn’t. If he does, he wouldn't be treating you this way!!!” she further blurted out. I knew all she had said was nothing but the truth, but I was too clouded by love and fear of not being able to live without him, that I failed to accept the truth.

I got up from where I was seated and approached her. I knew she was looking out for me, but she needed to take my feelings into consideration too.

“Amelia, I know what he did was wrong, but love is all about forgiving. I know you are worried about me, but I can assure you that I will be fine. I promise” I said as I held her hand, assuring her that her fear wouldn’t come true. Luckily, it didn’t but something worse than that happened.

While amid our discussion, my aunt walked in. Her look was unpleasant, which showed that she was angry.

“What are you both doing? Aren’t you supposed to be in the church right now? Don’t you know you are keeping us all waiting?” she yelled angrily. My aunt was one devil in a human form. Her presence always made me feel unsafe and unsettled.

“You don’t have to yell before you pass a message. Not everyone is as deaf as you are. Today is her happy day, so try to be humane and make her happy. Although, we all know you aren’t” Amelia said before I could response, as she gave my aunt dreadful glances. Amelia hated the sight of her and at any opportunity she got, she was always ready to strike her with words.

Her tone was laced with barely concealed disdain. My aunt’s face stiffened but Amelia didn’t seem to care as she continued glaring disdainfully at her, as if daring her to say a word if she had the gut. The room became tense, and I had to step in to prevent a drama from happening.

“I am sorry, Aunt. Was about coming out before you came in. Can we go now?” I asked, as I rushed to her side, holding her arm.

“You had better be” she said as she yanked off my hand away from her arm and dust it off as if there was dirt on it.

“Get ready and let’s leave” she finally said as she rolled her eyes. Not wanting to annoy her further, I quickly grabbed my bouquet of flowers and told her I was done.

“Let’s go” she said as she looked disgustingly at me from head to toe, as if she wasn’t satisfied with my look. I held her hand as she was the one walking me down the aisle as my parents were dead and she was the only one I had apart from my stepsister, who had refused to show up at my wedding. We took a few steps and suddenly, Aunt halted in her steps only to turn around and shoot daggers at Amelia.

“Get yourself better friends. It’s not nice associating yourself with a mannerless and wretched beings like her” she said to me before she turned around and motioned for us to leave. As we took each step towards the exit, I prayed silently that Amelia wouldn’t utter a word as I knew she wasn’t someone who would back down easily. I knew she would, but I had hoped she wouldn’t at that moment, but she was one crazy b*tch after all.

“A wretched being?” Amelia said as she scoffed. “At least I am way better than you who can’t handle seeing other people happy” she blurted out. Upon hearing this, Aunt halted in her steps and turned around. As soon as she did, I knew trouble was knocking.

“Are you talking to me?” Aunt asked, as she walked towards where Amelia was standing.

“Yes, it’s you b*tch. I am talking to you. You think you can intimidate me like you do to her? Hell no, you can’t. I am your nightmare. As long as I remain friends with Carla, you will always see me. If you can’t deal with it, then go to hell!!!!!” Amelia yelled, still maintaining her composure. Aunt’s eyes turned red, and she clenched her fist.

“What? I am going to kill you!!!” Aunt yelled and before I could try to hold her down, she lunged at Amelia. Right before she could attack her, my soon-to-be husband walked in, saving the day.

“What’s happening here? Everybody including the priest is waiting. Enough time has been wasted already” he said in a calm voice. Seeing him, Aunt halted in her action.

“Sorry, we were just on our way out. Will be there soon” I explained.

“Okay” he said as he turned around to leave and just before he exited the room, he whispered the words, “You look so beautiful” to me, which made me blush. I was so flustered that I forgot what was happening before he walked in.

“Will you stand there and continue to smile like a fool, or you will follow me?” Aunt, who was already standing beside me yelled, bringing me out of my admiration.

“As for you, I will deal with you later” she said as she dashed out of the room angrily, leaving me to run after her in my wedding gown. Before I exited the room, I gave Amelia an angry look, pretending to be angry with her but all she did was to stick out her tongue, which made me burst out in laughter. I gave her a thumbs up for a job well done, before I dashed out of the room.

I was no match for my aunt, but I was glad I had a friend who was by my side.

As aunt held my arm in hers and walked me down the aisle, I gazed around to see if I would sight her, but I was glad she was nowhere to be found. As I got to where Charles was standing alongside the priest, I smiled at him, and he returned the favor.

The priest announced that it was time to exchange our vows and just as Charles was about saying his vows, his phone rang. He apologized and brought out his phone to decline the call. He at first ignored the call but the caller kept on calling, interrupting his vows. I told him to pick the call as the caller didn’t seem like someone who would stop calling until he did.

“There is no need” he said, forcing a smile on his face. He looked unsettled and disturbed, and it was at that moment I realized something was wrong.

“Let’s proceed, sir” he said to the priest smiling, and just before the priest could continue, his phone rang again. Annoyingly, he took out his phone from his pocket and excused himself.

I watched as he discussed on the phone at the corner where he stood, and I knew immediately that it was her who had called. His countenance changed and he looked distraught. I became scared. My legs began to tremble, and I held onto my dress for support. After some minutes, he walked back to the altar. He looked at me and I forced a smile on my face, affirming to myself that everything was okay. He didn’t smile back at me but instead, he adverted my gaze.

“Can we proceed now?” the priest queried.

Not minding Charles’ change in countenance, I responded “Yes, we can” smiling but the words that came afterwards made my world come crashing.

“No, we can’t” Charles had objected. I looked into his eyes surprised by what he had said, and I saw that he looked confused. It seemed like something was running through his mind which I wasn’t able to figure out.

“What are you saying? Are okay Charles?” I asked, in a low and calm voice.

“I am sorry, Carla but they need me” he responded, feeling remorseful and apologetic. By the word “they”, I knew who he was referring to. It was her and their son.

“I will be back soon. Just give me 2 hours. Just wait for two hours and we can continue with this. I am sorry” he said, as he got ready to leave. By this time, gossip had begun to fly around the church. Tears were threatening to roll down my cheeks, but I fought them back. “He is just joking. He can’t do this to me,” I had assured myself.

“No, please don’t do this. Don’t do this to me, please. I am not stopping you from seeing them but please let’s finish with our vows. I beg of you, Charles” I said, as I pleaded with him for him to stay back, but my pleas fell on his deaf ears.

“I am sorry” those were the last words he said, before he bolted out of the door. The tears I was trying to hold back couldn't wait anymore as they rolled down my cheeks. Everybody’s gaze was fixed on me, and it seemed as if they were mocking me. I couldn’t withstand the pain, nor the betrayal I had gotten from him.

The world around me began to turn and my vision became blurred. The last words I heard before I got taken away by the cold hands of sleep, were those of my friend Amelia, who was trying to jerk me back to life.