Page 3 of Love Unavoidable
“I don’t understand.”
“I am so sorry, Aaron. I never should have let it get this far—”
“Should have let what get this far? What are you talking about?”
“Us. This.” I gesture toward the closed double doors that lead into the ballroom where we should be saying our vows right about now. I look down at the flowered carpet in the hallway and shuffle my twinkling feet, following the repetitive pattern of petal morphing into leaf morphing into petal until he speaks.
“Usandthisas in our wedding day?Faras in you should not have let it get to the point of a wedding? Is that thefaryou’re referring to, Sadie?”
I nod.
“You shouldn’t have let it get this far. Okay. Meaning what exactly?” he asks.
“Meaning, I can’t marry you.”
“Today? Or ever?”
“Both. I can’t marry you today or ever.” Tears begin their slow descent down my cheeks. I turn to look down the hall toward the exit/entrance of the hotel and away from the direction that my parents headed in earlier.
“You can’t,” he says, his voice breaking. “You can’t . . . okay, well, I can’t . . . holy shit, Sadie . . . do you have any idea . . . are you fucking serious right now?” He turns away from me and paces, running his hand through his hair, messing up all the carefully coifed strands.
I follow him back and forth as he goes. Not knowing what to say to make it better. If I even can.
“All those people in there came for a wedding. We paid for dinner and dancing. They brought us presents. We registered, for fuck’s sake!” His stride gets shorter, speeding up his pacing. I come close to a jog trying to keep up with him.
“I know. I’m sorry. I will pay everything back. I will send apology notes to everyone who came today. I will return all the gifts. I just . . . I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“You can’t?” He stops.
I shake my head and look him in the eye. Tears form in his, matching those already streaming down my face.
“That’s . . . Jesus Christ. Sadie, Iloveyou.” His voice breaks.
“I know. I just . . . I don’t love you. Not like that.”
“Not like that?”
I shake my head again. I hate that he keeps repeating what I say in the form of a question back to me. It makes me feel even worse for ending this.
“I am . . . um . . . I think it’s best if I go. So . . . I am gonna go,” I say jerking my thumb toward the exit.
“You’re going to go?”
“Yeah.”
“Just like that?”
I nod.
“What the hell am I supposed to tell everyone, Sadie?”
“Um . . . I’ll tell them.” I hurry toward the double doors and pull them open. Three hundred sets of eyes land upon me. I take a deep breath and get ready to apologize for the bazillionth time today, but only make it to the halfway point of the aisle. I figure at this point it’s best to have less distance between me and the door for when I have to run out.
“Hello. Everyone. Um . . . I am sorry to say . . . there won’t be a ceremony today.”
Hey, that rhymes.
I scoff at my own immaturity, especially given the occasion. “But . . . um . . . feel free to enjoy the reception right across the hall in the Serendipity Ballroom. Please remember to take your gift back home with you.”
And with that, I turn and run for the doors, pushing one side open so far, it bounces back off the wall toward me. I side-step it fairly efficiently for someone in such a voluminous dress who has consumed as much alcohol as I have today. And run right back into Aaron.
“You told them to take their gifts home with them?” His eyes squint and he rubs at his brow with his fingers.
“Well, yeah. It’s not fair to keep them, right?”
“So, you’re really not marrying me?” His face is an unnatural shade of pale.
“No, I’m not. I’m sorry, for what it’s worth,” I say, then turn to sprint down the hall as fast as my three-inch, open-toed Betsey Johnson heels will take me toward the lobby and the hotel entrance/exit. Where, if I am lucky, Tenley will have had a taxi driver pull around and wait for me in the front circular drive for a quick getaway.
