The opaque veil was probably so it wouldn’t ruin the look of the dress, not that I thought it was even possible. I twirled in front of the mirror with a smile on my face, and turned to look at Nora. Her eyes were misted a bit, just like mine.
“You look so beautiful, honey,” she whispered, emotional as she dabbed at her eyes. “Oh, just look at you! Here I am desperate to lose weight and you look so perfect. I’m not sure I’ll even fit into that dress…”
I smiled at Nora, feeling she was too conscious of her body. Sure, she had let herself go a bit since graduation, but she was just a little curvier than me.
“You would look amazing in a dress like this. It might need a few adjustments, but it’s absolutely perfect.”
She nodded her head. “You’re right, it’s really not something I can give up on, is it?” Then she sighed and shook her head. “I bet that bastard would be so regretful if he could see you now.”
The smile on my face grew strained at her words, but a small part of me would love for it to happen, just to see the look on his face. I completely gave up on the idea, though. It had been six years, he could have forgotten me, but then
I just looked up a little so I could blink back the tears that wanted to fall, as I glimpsed him walking inside. I was stunned for a second, doing a double take until I was sure that it was him.
Abe, the man that broke my heart so badly six year painful years ago, that I could only run away from him. He broke my heart.
Before, I could figure out what to do, he looked up and saw me, too. I saw his eyes widen in a look of surprise, and he walked toward us without seeming to think about it.
“Brooklyn?”
My body shivered at the sound of his voice, especially with the way he called my name. It was so fucking familiar, like I’d just been waiting to hear him call my name for the past six years.
I fixed my expression to something distantly polite. I had refined the look at work, and I didn’t think he would see through it easily.
“Abe,” I said indifferently, nearly having to choke it past my throat. “What a surprise to see you here.”
“You as well,” he said.
His lips twitched, and I didn’t know what look he wanted to make. It was such a minute detail that others unfamiliar with him would probably miss, but how could I? Abe Sanchez and I had dated for nearly five years before that incident from graduation. Hell, who was I trying to kid? In the past six years, I had missed him like crazy. Seeing him now was like feeding an old thirst. The only problem was, it also opened the old wounds in my heart that I’d tried so desperately to close up.
Whatever expression Abe intended to make, though, he never did, because he suddenly looked down at what I was wearing. He was stunned a second time, and I looked down at myself, remembering I was in a wedding dress.
Oh. It was clear Abe had misunderstood something.
“Brooklyn…?” he said my name again, with that shocked expression still on his face and his voice sounding confused, hesitant.
It only took a second to make my decision. He’d misunderstood, why bother explaining to him?
“Sorry, I didn’t expect to see you here. I came to look at wedding gowns. Don’t tell me you’re also getting married?” I said the words deliberately.
Sure enough, his eyes seemed to go impossibly wider, and his mouth parted, but he didn’t immediately speak.
Even with the pain still wracking through me, I felt some triumph in my chest at making Abe speechless in that moment.
“Were you in the middle of something?” I asked, looking around deliberately. “Please, don’t let us distract you. We’ll be here a while yet so we can see each other after you’re finished with your business. I only just tried on my first dress.”
No matter how much I still loved him, seeing him in here made me want to fall down on my knees.
Tell him that if he liked what he saw that I could be his bride.
I would wear this down the aisle and meet him and we could be happy, real happy. Maybe he had time and thought about it.
But then again, six years was a long time ago.
Yet, I still missed him as if it was only yesterday.
I knew that like six years ago, it would never be my reality with him and the only thing I could do was pretend that I was happy now and going to get married, even if it was all fake.
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