The church was shining for the early evening wedding ceremony of Ingrid and Richard. Almost one hundred guests were seated to witness the union of this young and beautiful couple, but oddly enough it was the groom and not the bride, who was making everybody wait.
Fortunately, they could smell the daisies that were positioned along the corridors and enjoy some beautiful music played by the band, which had been specially hired by Richard. Being a musician himself, it was easy for him to find the right one and still count on a great discount.
Ingrid was waiting in the car just in front of the church´s steps. Because half an hour had already passed and her father was complaining a lot, she decided to enter the church by the side door and talk to Josh, the best man, and friend of the groom.
When she appeared at the front of the benches, there was no way to stop the whispers among the guests. Being half English and half Irish she was a tall woman with long and curly red hair. And the white gown with the long veil would be a giveaway all the same. But she couldn´t care less about the gossip. After all, Richard was not answering his phone and she couldn´t help but imagine if some sort of accident could have happened to him.
“Josh, have you had any luck talking to Richard?”
“Oh, Ingrid! You should have stayed in the car.”
“I know. But I couldn´t anymore. If I had to listen to another whining remark from dad, I would get a headache. Besides, I am worried. You know that Richard is very punctual.”
As Josh took his cell phone out of his pocket to try calling his friend again, the priest approached to tell Ingrid that the ceremony would have to be a short one, since there was another wedding scheduled after hers.
The movement at the main door attracted all eyes, even though some people knew that Richard was supposed to enter by a side door.
But it was only John Bluesmith, Ingrid´s father, who saw it as his responsibility to walk around shaking hands and apologizing for the delay. It gave on Ingrid´s nerves because her father was always trying to get people´s attention at all costs. Furthermore, if Richard had suffered an accident there would be no reason to apologize, but instead, a necessity to send for help.
She entered the aisle with decided steps because she intended to drag her dad back to the car and call the police to find out if there was any car crash in the region of the church. Richard´s apartment was not that far.
But Ingrid had not walked more than ten steps when Josh grabbed her elbow and showed her his phone.
“Ingrid, wait… Richard has just messaged me. Look!”
The relief was so great that she didn´t notice his somber tone of voice or the frowning of Josh´s forehead. But then she read it and her reaction was immediate. Her body doubled in half as if she had felt the worst stomach pain. She couldn´t breathe and for a second Ingrid thought that she would fall. But Josh´s hand was still holding her and her cousin Nancy´s arms joined him to support Ingrid.
“Calm down, sweetheart. You are scaring us. It can´t be so bad. Why is Richard late?”
Ingrid looked at Nancy but couldn´t grasp the meaning of her words. Then she looked at Josh again, as if in need of confirmation. He said to Nancy the dreadful words, “Richard canceled it. There will be no wedding.”
And having heard it out loud, Ingrid ran down the aisle and out the door. She didn´t stop at the car. All she could do was run down the street and run and run… Away from the horrible reality and the complete humiliation she felt right now.
LIVING INSIDE A BLUR
Six months had passed since the worst day in Ingrid´s life and she was still not her old self, the young girl full of life.
She moved as if in slow motion, not paying much attention to the simplest of the tasks. One day, for example, she put more than twenty cans of soup in her kart at the supermarket, and then she was so embarrassed when the cashier commented something that she just decided to pay for them with some lame excuse of a special diet. On other days she would go out to buy milk and go back home empty-handed. She would often forget to put gas in her car and run out of it in the middle of her way from work.
But that was the only place where she could still concentrate and feel more like herself. At her work. Ingrid had a veterinary clinic that she had inherited from her mother and it was the apple of her eyes. When her mom died, Ingrid was only twelve and the clinic had stayed closed for a long time. Her father worked with insurance and had zero interest in pets. So he was disappointed when Ingrid chose her mother´s profession and he had made it very clear to her, criticizing her every step of the way. As a student, he called her mediocre, when she started an internship at a cattle farm, John called her crazy, and finally, when Ingrid was ready to reopen the clinic, he would not give a penny to help her.
It was a hard start, being indebted with student loans and purchasing loans since she needed some equipment. But people soon discovered that Ingrid had a lot of talent in her field and their pets were well cared for. For that reason, they indicated other pet owners and soon the clinic was a success.
And even after being abandoned by Richard on her wedding day, Ingrid still felt joy when she was treating the animals at her clinic.
SOME CHANGES
The weekends had become torture to Ingrid. The long-empty hours made her feel lonely and sad. She would walk around her flat wearing her pajamas all day long. And the place was a mess because she didn´t have the energy to tide it up.
Because she had planned to live with Richard at his place after the wedding, Ingrid couldn´t stand to stay at her father´s house anymore. She took all her things that were already packed anyway and moved to the second floor of the clinic´s building. And the boxes with stuff from her work were spread around those that contained her personal things. Some suitcases were opened on the top of an old table and she took clothes from there, not bothering to hang them or put them in drawers.
The mess made her feel worse but there was no way around it since Ingrid would burst out in tears when she attempted to tide the place. Thoughts would come to her mind of how perfect Richard´s place was with the beautiful garden and a view of the river. She had dreamt of starting a family there and now she felt the stings of abandonment.
She had heard no word from Richard and she wasn´t even sure whether she wanted some explanation or not. Because if he had decided not to marry her it could only mean that he found her inadequate. Could she listen to him explaining that he didn´t love her and that the last two years had been a long mistake?
Maybe it was true what people said about the truth setting you free but Ingrid just couldn´t face it at this point of her life.
Because of her serious relationship with Richard, Ingrid had not kept in touch with most of her friends. And she thought it was a natural thing because who would have the time for dating and meeting friends?
Richard consumed all of her free time because he wanted Ingrid to watch his music rehearsals and be there when he had gigs. She felt all warm inside when he said that she inspired his art. And then there were nights at the movies or they would go out to the new restaurants in town. There was nothing wrong with all of that because Ingrid felt happy all the time and when Richard finally popped the question, her yes was enthusiastic.
So, it was not only a terrible surprise but it almost hurt her physically to be abandoned by Richard on the day of their wedding. How could he do such a thing? It didn´t look like him.
But then, probably every abandoned bride on the planet must have felt the same way.
Ingrid saw her future as a tedious amount of days to be endured. So, when her cousin Nancy called her on a Sunday morning, she couldn´t understand why she sounded so happy.
“Little cousin, you have to come and have lunch with us. Bradley has wonderful news for you.”
Even though she admired Nancy´s husband for being so dedicated to his wife and three sons, Ingrid couldn´t imagine how this sweet middle-aged accountant could have any good news for her.
“Nancy, it´s almost ten. It will take me a while to get ready and arrive at your place. I don´t want to make you wait. Maybe another time.”
“Nonsense. Bradley is getting the barbecue place ready as we speak. Anytime you arrive there will be some delicious food waiting. In fact, you must spend the whole afternoon with us. I already told the children and you know that they adore you.”
“Okay then. And about the news that you talked about? What is it?”
“Hurry up so we can tell you in person. You will love it.”