Bridal Wrath

This was it. Dan knew if there was ever a time to give Ava the news, it was now. As he walked down the spectacularly lit, florally decorated hallway, Dan couldn’t help but smile. Sure, he felt bad for what he was about to say to his sister, but he’d never liked the man she was about to marry anyway.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Dan knocked on the dressing room door gently and waited for a response. Leaning against the timber, Dan barely deciphered the words, “come in,” because she’d uttered them so softly. He pushed open the door and stopped in his tracks momentarily, breathless, as he took in just how beautiful his little sister looked. Though he knew nothing at all about wedding dresses, the ruffled, princess-style gown she had donned was nothing short of spectacular. “Avaleine, you look absolutely gorgeous.” She smiled, rubbing her hands along her hips to flatten the fabric as she showed it off, and Dan could see her blushing even through the bridal makeup. He almost didn’t want to go through with it, but figured everything would sort itself out quickly.

Closing the door behind him, Dan took a few serious steps toward Ava and sighed. Using his hands to aid his words, he said firmly, “Oh Ava, I’m so sorry. Maybe you should sit down. There’s something I need to tell you.” The look on Ava’s face dropped. Dan could see the worry set in and wondered how she was going to react. She stood so rigid and was clearly not going to move, so Dan continued. “I found a note in his dressing room. He’s not coming, sweetie. He said he couldn’t go through with it.”

She made a noise like a wounded dog and placed a flat palm across her stomach, simultaneously clasping the other hand across her mouth like she was going to be sick. With tear-filled eyes, she composed herself and murmured, “Really? Did he say why?” As she said it, her voice faltered. It seemed she’d lost her strength momentarily, like she was going to crumble into a million pieces, but just as Dan went to answer, Ava threw her hands in the air and cried out angrily, “Uh! How dare he! He has no idea who he’s messing with.” She stormed across the room in a flash, catching Dan off guard and flinging him out of the way as she marched into the hallway. He tripped on the rug and tumbled to his knees, unable to prevent her from rushing out the door, presumably to cause a scene. “Ava, no, wait!” Dan called out, fumbling to get back on his feet.

Ava moved quickly down the hallway, ignoring his pleas. Like a building-sized monster unleashed in a populated city, she emitted a war cry as she threw open the door to the kitchen, almost ripping it off the hinges. The caterer got quite a fright as Ava burst in, almost dropping the pan she was holding. “Is everything alright madam?!” Ignoring the question, Ava simply glared at her and charged at the round, decorated table where the pristinely tiered wedding cake perched perfectly.

Meanwhile, Dan jogged into the garden area beside the church where the ushers were crossing names off the register and seating the guests for the wedding ceremony. Though they took little notice of his shaken manner, Dan felt like he was stumbling more than he should be, due to his feet moving faster than his body, and corrected himself as subtly as he could. He looked around frantically, but Ava was nowhere in sight. Shaking his head, more panic set in when he noticed Ava’s fiancé, Brody, step up on the altar platform with the other groomsmen, happily conversing in his own little world like he had nothing to worry about. Dan debated approaching Brody, edging slowly toward him, but decided it would make more sense to find Ava and put an end to the panic, rather than causing more.

A rather pompous looking usher tapped Brody on the shoulder and informed him that his grandmother had arrived but was refusing to get out of the car without seeing him, claiming she’d been brought to the wrong wedding. Brody thanked the usher and followed him around the other side of the hedges, heading for the carpark. Unsure where he should look for Ava next, Dan scanned the grounds briefly once more, and took off back inside, hoping she’d gone to cry in a closet somewhere.

Passing by the kitchen, Dan heard loud, indistinct chatter coming from the staff and decided to stop and ask if anyone had seen his sister. As he entered the room, his heart sank. The caterer, waiters, and a few bar staff were standing around a blob of shredded, pulverized goo, which had mostly become one with the floor. Three tiers of fluffy, creamy goodness, crafted by the best cake maker known to the entire town, were now nothing more than a blended mass of coloured icing and flour. With a hand pressed on each of his cheeks, Dan took in the scene before him, feeling as though he’d just walked in on a murder. After a few moments, he bent down and picked up the remains of the cake topper, observing the message that had been left behind. Someone had torn the cake topper in half, leaving the bride intact while they tore off the groom’s head and smashed it into a thousand tiny pieces.

Further down the hall, Ava entered the room where the reception would soon be held. She stared briefly at the tables all set up neatly, awaiting the wedding party’s future arrival. The DJ came strolling out of the personnel door opposite her, carrying a single, corded microphone he left in the van he’d pulled his equipment from earlier. He stopped halfway across the room, a concerned look on his face when he saw the bride standing in the doorway. “Uh, Miss, I don’t think you’re supposed to be here yet.” Ava stared blankly ahead, scanning every table carefully and taking in all the beautiful details she’d spent almost an entire year preparing. She and Brody had spent countless hours making each of the centrepieces by hand, together. Though she wanted to curl up into a ball and wail incessantly, she fought the urge and let anger take over once more, marching full speed at the tables and hurling the centrepieces onto the floor, one by one.

Dan heard a smashing sound coming from the reception hall and knew in his gut that something bad had happened at Ava’s hand. He turned and bolted, but by the time he got to the room, she’d done the intended damage. Every single centrepiece, the beautiful hand-decorated jars filled with crystal hearts, had succumbed to the furious bride’s wrath. The personalized flower sashes which had hung from each of the guest chairs earlier that day had been torn off and ripped apart, left strewn on the floor like garbage.

A flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye caught Dan’s attention. He focused on a sliver of someone’s face peering around the largest speaker by the speech podium, whom he recognized as the DJ. He appeared to have been hiding, curled up behind his equipment for safety. When he noticed Dan had seen him, he stood up and gestured toward the tables in the room. “Man, your sister is one crazy lady. I had to take cover to avoid being sliced by flying glass.” Dan’s eyes widened as he nodded, awestruck by how quickly the situation had spiralled out of control. “Did you see which way she went?” The DJ gestured toward the sliding doors leading onto the balcony overlooking the grounds. Dan’s stomach churned. She was heading for the garden where the ceremony was set up.

Ava clutched the bottom of her wedding dress in her hands, allowing her to move as quickly as possible. It was time to face the humiliation head-on, to admit to her family and friends the cowardly stunt her fiancé had pulled. She figured if she made a scene now, made an announcement to the guests herself instead of having an usher do it after she’d run away, it would make a more powerful statement. Especially to her future mother-in-law, who she was sure would still find a way to blame Ava for her son not showing up. With the ceremony only fifteen minutes from commencing, most of the guests had already been seated, with only a handful of empty chairs from both the bride and groom’s side still awaiting a family member.

From a distance where she hadn’t yet been spotted, Ava looked down the aisle at the altar, noting the gap where Brody was supposed to be waiting for her was indeed empty. His best mates and groomsmen, minus her brother, were standing in a clump, conversing with each other. She wondered if they knew Brody had no intention of coming, or if Dan hadn’t mentioned that little detail to anyone else.

The musician must have seen her, for the bridal welcome music Ava had selected began to play. Guests’ heads began turning around, and Ava could see smiling faces ogling at her bridal beauty. Her mother checked her watch, glancing at the chair beside her and looking around, most likely wondering where Ava’s father was. Ava felt guilty; he was probably outside the bridal dressing room by now, wondering where she’d gone. Ava motioned wildly with her hands, indicating the band should stop playing, and the song quickly ceased as fast as it had begun. Storming down the aisle, she soon stood at the altar, alone, staring out at the sea of guests, most of whom she loved so dearly. Ava snatched the microphone from the bewildered celebrant and cleared her throat.

Dan sprinted at full speed toward the ceremonial garden. He had to stop Ava before she completely destroyed her entire wedding. There she was, standing at the altar, a microphone clutched tightly in her hand. “Ava!” Dan called out desperately, but it seemed she was too far away to hear him. Slowing down but not stopping as he ran, in an awkward skip and hop, he removed a shoe and lobbed it down the aisle, simultaneously calling out, “Stop!” The shoe successfully hit its target, smashing into Ava’s fingers and causing the microphone to clatter out of her hands. She looked shocked and furious, putting her hands on her hips as Dan caught up with her at the centre of the altar.

As Dan struggled to catch his breath enough to even speak, Brody appeared from behind a large hedge slowly, his doting grandmother clinging onto his arm. At first, he was oblivious to the gobsmacked bride standing at the altar before him as he guided his favourite relative to her seat, but when he looked up, he stopped so suddenly he almost knocked his grandmother’s chair over. “Ava, baby, is something wrong? What’s going on?!” He seemed devastated, and Ava looked very confused, staring back at him with her mouth open.

Finally able to breathe properly, Dan raised his hand to get their attention, and filled with regret, announced, “Ava, it was supposed to be a joke. There was no note. You’d been so casual organizing this whole thing, for just one moment I wanted to see you panic.” Ava’s eyes grew wide as the reality of the situation set in. She felt sick, as if someone had punched her in the stomach. “Oh, Daniel, what have you done?”