Rainy Branch
The trip for my wedding photoshoot had been planned for weeks, but I came down with acute gastroenteritis out of nowhere. My fiancée, April Neville, looked at me with nothing but concern. "Then none of us will go. What's the point of a trip without the leading man?"
My best friend, her sister, and her closest girlfriend all agreed without hesitation.
I thought I had found a once-in-a-lifetime love and friendships to match.
Some time later, I picked up my fiancée's tablet to stream a show and accidentally tapped into a shared cloud album.
In the latest live photo, my fiancée and her ex-boyfriend were kissing beneath the bell tower in Miravel. The friends who had sworn the trip would mean nothing without me were clapping and cheering in the background.
"April and Sebastian finally got their happy ending. You have to admit, it's pretty romantic."
"Without Oliver stirring things up, Sebastian's so much happier."
"He probably still has no idea they never even bought him a ticket. The only one they booked was for Sebastian."
"And his stomach bug? April left him that glass of juice on purpose. It had been sitting out for two days."
Listening to those familiar voices, a chill settled over me.
If the leading man in April's heart was never me, then it was time I went and found the leading lady meant for me.