Day
N. L. Robertson
Copyright 2016 N. L. Robertson
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The rain poured heavy in the town. The wind was ice cold and when people exhaled, they could see their breath floating in the air. Sally, on the other hand thought today was perfect. Today was her wedding day. She was marrying her soul mate. No one could stop her.
You would think she would be running around the room, getting ready as quick as she could. Then she could worry about other things, like making sure the cake was perfect, or the caterer hadn’t cancelled. She knew Riley would be doing that enough. There was no point in both brides worrying about the same thing.
‘Are you excited?’ Sally’s sister, Chantelle, asked Sally from behind the bathroom door.
‘Is that a trick question?’ Sally asked, as she zipped the dress up.
She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. Her weight had stayed exactly the same since she bought the dress. Riley would love it, and she couldn’t wait to see Riley in her dress.
‘Ta da!’ she said as she came out of the bathroom and all eyes were on her.
Chantelle put her hands to her mouth, tearing up as she did so. ‘Sally! You look so beautiful!’
‘Like a princess,’ Abbey said from behind Chantelle, a proud smile on her lips. Abbey was Sally’s best friend and maid of honour.
‘I know,’ Sally said, as she turned to the full length mirror they had placed there just for today. She was allowed to be confident and vain today. She and Riley were going to be the main attraction that afternoon. ‘Oh no!’ she cried. ‘There’s a hole in my dress!’ Sally’s eyes instantly began watering. ‘This can’t be happening.’
‘Let me see,’ Abbey said as she pushed past Chantelle, to have a closer look.
‘Can anyone sew?’ Sally was devastated.
‘I’m sorry, Sal,’ Chantelle said. She walked to the other side of Sally to look closer.
‘Never fear,’ Abbey said, pulling a ribbon from her hair. She tied it around Sally’s waist, then stepped back to view her handy work.
‘But your hair, Abs.’
‘Nonsense. Your dress is more important than all my hair staying in place. You’re the main attraction today, Sal.’
‘Thank you.’ They hugged. Chantelle smiled and joined in the hug and it turned into a group hug.
‘Can we come in?’ a voice asked from the closed door on the other side of the room. Sally and Chantelle knew it was their mum, who would have dragged their dad along.
‘Come in!’ Chantelle called out as Sally broke from the hug and turned to face them.
The door opened and suddenly a woman burst into tears, seeing her eldest daughter. ‘Sally! Look at you — You look —’ She paused to burst into a new round of tears.
‘Beautiful?’ Chantelle asked.
‘Like a princess?’ Abbey asked at the same time.
‘You’re not a little girl anymore,’ Trevor said from behind Heather. ‘You’re a woman now. A woman who I couldn’t be more proud of.’
‘Mum! Dad!’ Sally complained. ‘You’re going to make me cry. Stop it!’
‘We love you,’ Trevor said while Heather was composing herself.
‘I love you both, too,’ she said as she walked forward and hugged them both.
‘I especially like the ribbon around your waist. A gorgeous sky blue, which matches your eyes.’
‘Thanks,’ Abbey said, as she flicked a strand of hair, which had come loose, over her shoulder. ‘It was my idea.’
‘It’s a long story, mum. I’ll tell you later. Now, go! I need to do my hair.’
‘Come back in 10 minutes though, Trev,’ Abbey said. ‘We need you to walk Sally down the aisle.’
‘Aye aye, captain,’ he said, saluting her.
Sally took a seat in front of the vanity. With her dress on and make up applied, all that was left was her hair. Abbey and Chantelle got to work straight away. They transformed her usual long, straight, blonde hair into curls, and pinned it all back. By the end, when they all looked at Sally’s reflection, there were tears in Chantelle’s eyes again. Sally grabbed a handkerchief and handed it to her sister.
‘I’m sorry, I told myself I wouldn’t cry. You just look so beautiful. I hope I look just half as beautiful as you when I get married.’
‘Speaking of, when are you and Henry getting married?’ Abbey asked, turning to Chantelle.
‘Whenever he proposes,’ she shrugged. ‘Ask him.’
‘Chantelle, you know, in this day and age, you can propose to him?’ Sally said, turning around to face her sister.
‘Just look at Sally and Riley,’ Abbey said. ‘There is no man in this relationship and they’re getting married today.’
‘I know. I just want the perfect night. I want to be surprised.’
Then there was a knock on the door. ‘Is it safe, ladies?’ Trevor asked from the other side.
‘Come on in, dad,’ Chantelle said as she handed the handkerchief back to Sally.
Sally stood up from the vanity and stood where her dad would see her as soon as he walked in.
‘Wow. You look absolutely beautiful, Sal,’ Trevor said. This time he was the one who needed the handkerchief.
‘Don’t tell me you’re going soft on me now, dad,’ Sally said, handing it over to him.
‘Don’t tell your mother. It will set her off again.’ Sally laughed as Abbey took Chantelle’s hand.
‘Time to get started,’ Abbey said. Trevor walked over to Sally and took her hand as the four walked out of the room. Abbey and Chantelle lead the way.
As they got closer to the hall, they heard the music louder than before.
‘Wait until we get to the end of the altar. Chantelle and I will lead, followed by Riley’s bridesmaids. Then you two come, and Riley will walk in with her dad when you guys have stopped walking.’ Abbey was the best maid of honour Sally could ask for. She had been working closely with both brides and Riley’s maid of honour, Alex.
‘I know all this. I was there when we planned it,’ Sally joked.
‘Your dad and Chantelle weren’t. I am just making sure everyone is on the same page here.’
‘Just go!’ Sally laughed as she pushed Abbey and Chantelle down the aisle.
Riley was nowhere to be seen, but her bridesmaids were. ‘She still deserves better than you,’ Riley’s bridesmaid, Meredith, muttered under her breath. They began walking down the aisle behind Abbey and Chantelle before Sally could say anything. Sally always knew that Meredith didn’t like her, but today was the day they were getting married. Sally assumed Meredith would put all that behind her and support them.
‘You ready, sweetheart?’ Trevor asked. Sally looked at him and nodded after a sigh. She knew she wanted to marry Riley, but after the dress malfunction and now Meredith, she was feeling the stress from planning coming back. ‘You do look beautiful.’
‘Thank you, Dad. Let’s do this. I’m getting married,’ she said, trying to sound convinced. After today, they would be married and the dress and Meredith will be forgotten.
‘And to the perfect girl, too,’ Trevor said, just before they began walking down the aisle.
Sally smiled at each person as she walked past. As she got closer to the front, she began seeing the people she was close with. Her family, Riley’s family. Her mum was sitting in the front row, doing all she could to stop herself sobbing. It wasn’t really working.
She got to the end, and her and Trevo
r turned around. Trevor was waiting to do the exchange, so he stayed.
When she turned around, Sally was expecting to see her wife-to-be to be walking down the aisle already, and so did the audience; however the aisle was empty.
Sally looked from the aisle to Abbey, giving her a questioning look. Abbey shrugged, mouthing I don’t know. Then she looked at Alex, but she looked just as confused as everyone else. ‘She was right behind us,’ Alex, whispered back. Sally looked to the front again, hoping it had changed, but nothing had.
A few minutes later, the audience had gotten a bit restless.
‘Abbey!’ Sally whispered loudly behind her. Abbey went straight up to her. ‘Can you see what is taking so long?’
Abbey ran out of the room and left Sally fearing the worst.
‘What if she left, dad?’ Sally said quietly to Trevor. ‘I couldn’t handle it.’
‘Of course she didn’t. She proposed to you. She did a lot of the organising. She wants to marry you. Maybe she had a last minute dress accident.’
Sally shook her head. ‘It’s something bigger than that, dad. I know.’
Abbey came back and ran straight to Sally. ‘She wasn’t in her dressing room, Sally. I don’t know where she is.
All of a sudden Riley’s mum got out of her seat and walked over to them. ‘I got a text from Riley,’ she said.
Sally grabbed her mum’s phone quickly and read the text. I can’t do it. Tell Sally I still love her and I am sorry.
Sally shook her head. ‘This can’t be true. Daddy, please tell me I’m dreaming. This is all a nightmare!’
‘I’m sorry sweetheart.’
That was all Sally needed to hear and suddenly she was in a ball on the ground, crying. She didn’t see anything else going on, she couldn’t hear when Meredith laughed, or when Alex told her to shut up. She didn’t even care. There was only one thing that could ruin her fairy tale ending, and this was it.
About N. L. Robertson
Natasha Robertson was born in Western Australia in 1992. She has been writing since 2008 and is currently studying Writing at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. The ‘Best’ Day is her first published piece, but won’t be her last.
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