Wedding Bells Ring Only Once

Another short story.....  
It is very light and fast moving
Hope you all enjoy it! :) :) :)

WEDDING BELLS RING ONLY ONCE

“Tomorrow is the day!! I’m getting married in the morning. Ding dong the bells are going to chime. I’m actually getting really nervous now. Oh well, I think I’m going to cry.”

That is my sister singing in the shower. She is always full of life. It is really annoying at times as I like some peace and quiet.

“Amy, will you stop singing and get out quick? Keep your happiness to yourself. You do know there are other people who need to use the toilet and you are not the only one, right?”  I shouted with disgust.

“Well, you do have your own toilet too. It is not my problem that you only want to use mine.” 

She screamed back at me. 

I knew there was no point in further arguing with her so I went back to my room and shut the door.

Just then, the phone rang. I checked the caller id and it was Aunt Sheryl. I was going to pick it up, but then I could see mum from the kitchen picking it up. I was bored and I enjoy eavesdropping on their conversations so I picked it up anyways.

“My dear cousin, before I continue our usual gossip sessions, I wanted to tell you something I heard from my next door neighbour. Please promise me you will keep your cool and not get worked up?"

She was saying that Tim had still not as yet filed the divorce papers as he had still not gotten over Amy. 

"I did not know whether to tell you or not but on second thoughts, you are my most favourite cousin so I felt you needed to know.”

There was a quiet silence at my mother’s end. Tim was my sister’s ex-husband. He was a terror and disliked by all my family members. The fact that my aunt had kept her mouth shut all these days was very strange. It seemed very mysterious because my mother and father were at his house when the divorce papers were sent across to him. 

My mother just ignored it as she knew Aunt Sheryl very well by now. She was a harmless person but when it came to talking about people and causing trouble, that was her passion. It was something she loved doing and was very good at. 

So my mum finally ended the conversation saying, “ I’ve got something on the stove, I will call you back in a while.”

“My daughter is a smart girl. She would have thought about all of this over and over again before even planning another wedding. Everyone has always been jealous of her. She was a bright student, won all the talent competitions back at school and found herself a great career.”

She thought to herself.

“Tiya!! Tiya!!” my mum called out to me, “Get me my bag! We have to pick up the flowers from the florist. I don’t want to leave anything for the last minute.”

“Yes Mum! I am coming.”  I put the phone down gently. 

I could not stop thinking in my mind all that I had heard before. I hated my sister. We never really get along well but I looked at her as my role model. I did not have the slightest doubt about her whereabouts. She had planned this wedding, months before even the divorce papers came, but did not even start any preparations till she knew they were signed. She trusted Tim. What a skank he is! How could he do this to her?

I grabbed the phone and ran out of the door to meet mum in the car.

“Tim here. May I speak to Amy?”

“She is not yet back home. Any message for her?” my grandmother sweetly spoke.

“Nothing at all! Was just trying to reach her on her mobile but could not get through. Please give her the message.”

My grandmother was stunned. Why would he call a day before she is getting married to someone else? She did not want any more drama so she decided that the best thing to do was to keep her mouth shut.

We were back home soon, had an early dinner and went to bed.

                                                                    ***

The next morning there was too much commotion around in the house.

It was the day of the wedding. The day Amy had been eagerly waiting for weeks now.

I slowly peeped into her room and saw from the mirror that she was giving me this half- smile.

"She’s actually being nice to me and not picking a fight." I smirked back at her.

Just then mum came in, literally running, “Oh my! Not again. A gorgeous bride standing right in front of my eyes looking even better than the first time.”

“The last time I actually prayed so hard for your marriage not to work out.” She giggled.

There were tears in her eyes. She was crying a pool of water. I just hope that she would do the same for my wedding too.

“I’m so happy for you. You will have your fairytale wedding this time. I am sure of it.”

“Thanks mum! Love you loads”, my sister replied back as she pecked her on the cheek.

                                                                    ***

Beep beep honk honk

The car had arrived.

After all the old uncles and aunties had blessed my sister with all their good wishes, we got into the car and it took us straight to the church.

There was a lot of traffic on the road which delayed us by ten whole minutes. The good thing was that God had been good to us this time and there was no outburst of rain.

When we reached the church,there was a lot of muttering happening.

 “There is no sign of Kevin. Where is he?” said a middle-aged woman, who I had never seen in my life before so I presumed she was invited from the groom’s side of the family.

We got out of the car and I held her trail. They tried calling him on his phone but it was switched off. 

As we reached the steps of the beautiful, little church, his parents came running towards my sister. 

“We do not know where he is. The guard said that he had left earlier this morning. We have tried tracking him down the entire day. We are very sorry.” they said.

I could not bear to look at my sister. She was a mess. She just stood there like a zombie getting ready to explode any minute.

It seemed like her world had just come crashing down. Being stood up twice in a row? Now that is harsh indeed!

The bouquet of flowers dropped from her hands and fell onto the floor. The tears came rolling down, messing up all her makeup. Nothing mattered to her. She could not hold herself anymore and fell into my mother’s arms balling in pain.

It was such a happy morning that turned out to be so disastrous. Who could ever imagine it would end this way? I wanted to curse every soul that had something to do with this. Could it be Aunt Sheryl? Could it be Tim?

I hated to see my jolly, crazy sister this way. A miracle had to happen. This had to be another dream. This is not how weddings are supposed to be. 

We all know that wedding bells only ring once but there are special people in this world who deserve another chance. 
My sister was one of them.