2- The Disappointment

“Uhhh…” the officiant froze in place. 

All of us froze. We did not understand what had just happened. I looked over at my father, and he seemed as puzzled as I was. I shrugged and then turned my head to Christopher's mother. She was as astonished as the rest of us. 

I turned around and also walked down the aisle. I tried to hurry down the long aisle as I held the ends of my dress, trying not to trip over it. 

I opened the doors and looked around. There was no sight of him. 

“Is he gone?” Roni asked as she came running to the back. 

I tried to walk on further as I heard the sound of Roni’s high heels clicking on the ground as she also ran. 

“TORI!” I turned around and saw my mother yelling for me

I waved her off and continued to run. 

“CHRIS!” I called out, “CHRISTOPHER!” 

I knew he wouldn’t have gotten that far. If he was running or walking, he should have still been somewhere. I gave up and stopped running. I bent over as I huffed and puffed in search of oxygen. Roni finally caught up and just stood next to me as she panted. 

“I’m sorry…” she sighed as she rubbed my back to soothe me. 

“He’s still out there.” I whined, “I know he can’t be far.” 

“Then, what are you going to do when you find him? Carry him to the church? Force him to marry you? What is your plan when you find him?” she questioned me angrily. 

I didn’t have a plan. I guess I just wanted to see him one last time. Maybe even ask him a few questions like why he left me or if he wanted to postpone to another time when he could be ready. It felt awkwardly left off. 

“Let’s just go back,” Roni said in a softer voice as she grabbed my arm 

“No…” I cried as I pulled back from her. 

“Tori, Tori. It is unfortunate that it has happened, but there is no use running after him.” she changed to an angry tone as she tried harder to pull me, but I fought back. 

She gave up and just stood next to me as I cried out my heart. 

“Do… you know… how…it…feels?” I asked as I sobbed 

“How what feels?” 

“How… Mom and Dad… always…come…home…and ask… me when I am…getting married?” I continued to sob. 

She shook her head. I wiped away my tears using the back of my hand, which caused all my makeup to smudge on my hand and most definitely on my face. I caught my breath after letting out the last few sobs and got myself together. 

“Every day it is, Tori, when are you moving out? Tori, when are you finding a man? Tori, when is the wedding? Every single day!” I practically screamed at her

“They were also hard on me” she simply shrugged. 

“Yeah, well, you eventually got married, and that’s something I always have to hear about.” I continued to cry. 

“Yeah, but it wasn’t easy, Tori. Dad was also always on my case. Whenever I did something, he always asked, ‘But where is the husband?’ and I would laugh it off because I had no time to argue with him.” she replied. 

Our dad was always so crazy about the idea of his two daughters getting married. If he had a way in all this, we would have married us off by the age of 16 and not looked back. Obviously, the whole community and his family would have frowned upon him. 

“So, let’s go back and let’s just go home. There is no point in chasing after him. When the time is right, the perfect man will come walking into your life and propose, and you will walk down the aisle, and he will be waiting for you, and he will not run away. Maybe it was not meant to be with Christopher.” she said in a calm tone once again and reached out for my hand. 

I took it this time. I stopped fighting her. It was time I headed back and faced reality. 

****

We reached my mother, standing there with her eyes puffed up from crying. 

“I am so sorry, Tori.” she sighed as she opened her arms wide to hug me and comfort me. “I am really sorry this happened to you. Maybe you will be lucky next time, and the right one will come running to you, and you will fall in love, and we will prepare a beautiful wedding for you.” 

She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and turned as we got ready to walk to the church. 

“No, Mom, I can’t do this.” I shook my head as I tried my hardest not to walk. 

“Come on, dear. We just need to tell people that the wedding is off,” she spoke in a soft voice as she tried her hardest to pull me.

“Nope, I can’t go in there. Do you know how embarrassing that is?” 

She looked at me in shock. My mother was slow to get angry, but at that moment, she looked like she was going to give me a few slaps. 

“Fine! I will go in!” Roni yelled, hoping it would at least help the situation. 

She dreadfully walked towards the church door and opened it. 

“What? I wasn’t going in there again. Everyone was going to stare at me and give me the pity looks.” I explained 

“Well, something unfortunate happened. You can’t blame them. People will obviously want to know if you’re okay.” she sighed. 

Then, Roni came back outside with my father. 

“So, the whole thing is over?” he questioned 

“Yes, the boy disappeared.” I replied, “Now, let’s go home before all of those nosy relatives come outside to pretend to feel sorry for me.”

I grabbed my mother’s hand and pulled her with me to the car park. 

“Tori, are you just going to give up?” Dad questioned, sounding a little flabbergasted by the whole thing. 

“Dad, the whole thing is off. He left. Maybe another one will show up, or maybe not. Let’s just go home.” I sighed as I continued to angrily stomp my feet to the car. 

I tried to open the door, but it was locked. 

“Dad!” I yelled 

“Tori, don’t yell at your father!” My mother snapped back. 

I peeped over and saw people slowly coming out of the church and heading toward us. 

My parents finally reached the car, and we drove off. Past the crowd and the busy town. 

“This is just embarrassing…” my father muttered under his breath.

“Elijah…” My mother tried to stop him. 

He continued to say a bunch of words under his breath as he held onto the steering wheel tighter. 

“I mean… how hard was that?” he mumbled

“Eli… it’s no one’s fault.” My mother stopped him again

“It is hers…” he continued to mumble. 

“Eli…”

“No, no. Let him say it!” I snapped from the backseat while Roni nudged me, trying to silence me. 

He was quiet as he continued to drive through the busy streets. 

“Dad, say it!” I urged. 

“You probably drove him away with your antics!” he replied angrily.