“You really thought I’d sit around waiting for you?” Emily laughed straight in James’s face. “Ten whole years?”
“Well, no, of course not,” James muttered, looking down.
“And why are you now full of complaints?” Emily asked. “Why did you even bother coming back after a decade? Nobody missed you! No one got lonely!”
“I’m here to see my parents,” James began to explain.
“And why did you show up at my door?” Emily pressed on. “Your disappearance a week before the wedding, as far as I can tell, tied up all the loose ends!”
“Emily, try to see it from my side!” James pleaded, his voice tinged with exasperation. “You swooped in so fast back then”
“Look, I was already halfway through the wedding paperwork, the registration fee paid, the venue booked” Emily cut in. “Your parents were already roped in.”
“So you bolted, and now, after ten years, you waltz back to tell me I rushed things?” Emily clicked her tongue. “Your sudden exit told me you never intended to be my husband!”
“I didn’t expect everything to move so quickly,” James shook his head.
“Fast or slowdoesn’t matter,” Emily shrugged. “Wed been dating for two years already!”
One might have guessed you were gearing up for the altar, or perhaps you thought we were just a fling? Ah, rightyou thought that was all!”
“I didn’t think it’d be like that; I was just scared I wasnt ready to be a husband,” James stammered.
“So you finally ripen after a decade, and the bride’s already married? Come to settle the score?” Emily giggled. “What, you think you can stroll in now and claim I didnt wait for you?”
“James, youre not a fairytale prince you can keep locked in a tower for ten years!”
“In my eyes, youre essentially nobody! As for my family youre better off not knowing!”
“Emily” James reached out, avoiding her stare.
“What? Emily, what are you trying to say?” she snapped, eyes flashing. “What more do you want from me? When you ran off, I crossed you off my lifegone!”
“Now you pop up and accuse me of not waiting, of getting married, of having a child! Who do you think you are?”
Emilys fury sparked James to fire back, though hed only been gathering the courage to speak his mind.
“Fine, I get it, Im to blame for everything, but dont act like a saint!” James barked. “I could see you getting married; the date was setright after I left. You found a replacement in a flash!”
“Or did you have a backup plan all along? A second bloke waiting in the wings?” Emily sputtered, dumbfounded.
“You were juggling two suitors! As soon as one vanished, you hustled the other to the registry!”
Emilys cheek went pale; the slap that followed rang like a dinner bell. James felt his ear swellEmily had really laid it on thick.
James didnt linger on the wet pavement; he straightened up.
“Your reaction says it all. If it werent true, you wouldnt have slapped me.”
“Youre lucky ten years passed. If Id caught you back then, Id have turned you into mince pies!” Emily scowled. “Do you realise you didnt just ditch a weddingyou set me up for a disaster!”
There was still a week left! The dress was bought, the restaurant paid for, the cars hired, deposits in the bank. Even the wedding planner had been paid upfront. No one was about to get their money back.
The hotel for the outoftown relatives was already settled, half the extended family had arrived and checked inalong with your lot, James.
James winced.
“Want to hear the funniest part?” Emily asked. “When the guests were seated, glasses raised, your relatives kept asking: Wheres our James? It was a riot trying to explain hed bolted! And thenHarry, my former sweetheart, stepped in and said, Ill marry you!”
“Harry knew I had no love to give yet, but he hoped it would grow. Hes a good bloke, and Im glad he became my husband. Never once regretted saying I do with him.”
“Why I chose you over him? Still no clue.”
“Nice guy,” James sneered. “But you never really know why I left!”
“Doesnt interest me,” Emily replied, tone unchanged.
“I think you deserve to know,” James said haughtily. “Harry gave me money to get away, and before that I pulled the plug on my own head, wondering if I was ever ready for marriage!”
***
Emily had only seen runaway grooms and brides in films, and shed either excused or condemned them according to the plot. Deep down, she treated such stories as fairytale fluff, never imagining they’d happen in real life.
Shed watched her friends wrestle with the skyhigh costs of wedding planning. Unless youre royalty, both sidesand the parentsfoot the bill. If a groom ditched the day, his own family would probably be furiously angry at the wasted cash.
She never expected to be *the* bride whose fiancé fled the night before. That was a twist even she hadnt pencilled in.
Emily always took relationships seriously, not merely at the mercy of a fluttering heart. She fell in love like any girl, heart in shards, but she never rushed into the serious milestones.
She knew reputation was a delicate china cuponce cracked, you cant glue it back. Her own dating life started at university, but nothing serious could happen then. Only after graduating did she start weighing suitors for a lifelong partner, still without haste.
She refused to marry multiple times, following the example of her parents, whose courtship lasted seven years of steady, dramafree courting. Their marriage was a quiet, solid affair.
She didnt want to be the loadbearing locomotive, nor the towtruck trailer; she wanted a partnership where harmony was built before the altar.
She was beautiful, witty, educatedboys adored her, so she had plenty of attention. She needed to decide which fellow shed bind her life to, and that took thoughtful deliberation.
At twentythree, Emily chose James. He was a decent chap, three years older, pragmatic, grounded. Sometimes a bit dull, but she figured a life with a steady hand beats a nightout with a charismatic rogue.
She and James moved into a modest flat to test cohabitationso many marriages crack over daily life, after all. Two years later, the trial was fairly successful.
Most of her other admirers resigned themselves to her choice, though most is the operative word. Harry, a close friend and former suitor, didnt take it well. He and James were buddies, and both had been courting Emily simultaneously.
Emily turned down Harry because he was a relentless gogetter. Hed started his own business straight out of university, always on the move, never idle. That hustle, while successful, seemed too chaotic for a settled life.
Harry kept sending flowers, gifts, offers of helpevery time Emily asked for a favor, he was there. He simply couldnt quit trying to win her heart.
Harry, youre a great bloke, Emily would say. But Ive made my decision.
And as long as Im breathing, Ill have a shot! hed reply, never backing down.
Two years of courting James wound down, and wedding talks begannaturally the next step. They filed paperwork and set a threemonth countdown.
Harry didnt know exactly why Emily liked James, but hed known James far longer than she did. He saw doubt flickering in Jamess eyes.
Are you truly ready to marry Emily? Ready to take responsibility for her life? Harry probed.
At first James blurted Yes! then hesitated, offering vague answers like Well, well see when we get there. Harry nudged him with absurd hypotheticals.
How about thisI’ll give you £100,000 if you ditch Emily, Harry suggested.
Ridiculous, James snapped.
£500,000? Harry raised the stakes.
James thought, then declined.
£1million, Harry pressed. If I handed you a million, would you still walk away?
What are you on about, Harry? James snapped.
I just want Emily to be happy. Im not convinced youre the right man, Harry said. He then produced six bundles of £5,000 notes from his briefcase. Heres £3million, no fantasyreal cash. Take the train, disappear, no goodbyes.
James froze. Three million pounds was something hed only seen on the big screen. It sat there, crisp and tangible.
Weve got a wedding next week, James managed to say.
Ill sort it out, Harry replied coolly. Your call.
***
You bought her like a trinket! James shouted. A toy! And youre throwing thankyou notes around! You blame me, but youre no saint either! You just bought her!
My parents said you footed the bill later! So you sold yourself, right? And you blame me?
I sold, you sold, you bolted, and you didnt even think about the money already spent on the weddingrestaurant, hotel, food, drinks, everything! Emily retorted.
Harry had not only covered the outstanding invoices, hed even reimbursed Emilys parents for the contributions theyd made to the wedding fund.
But you didnt marry for love! James roared. He bought your affection!
No, he earned it! I realized hes dependable, responsible, and he fought for my happiness and future. He never tried to sell me. Not for three hundred thousand, not for a million. He loves me honestly, and I love him. Our family is wonderful. With you, nothing would ever have worked.
Jamess face twisted with disgust. Hed come back seeking revenge, only to find himself the villain.
He left his hometown quickly, intending to expose his friend and former bride, but ended up looking worse than the man hed accused. Harry and Emily were happy, and that was the only thing that mattered. As for James, the price of his folly was three million poundsnow thats a hefty sum for a broken heart.
