Broken

TWENTY

Leila's POV

The days had passed by slowly at the beginning, since I stayed home most of the time, but ever since we began to prepare for Tori's wedding, they flew by just like that. Since I was her maid of honor, I had been with her when it came to choosing the best cake flavor, the theme colors of the wedding, the venue, the dress, everything. It kept my mind of of you know who. His name shan't be mentioned.

There were moments when I thought of it, but I quickly dismissed those thoughts before they took me to places I didn't want to go; to a place where I could feel all those emotions again.

The day before her wedding, we had her engagement party, where women and mothers from the church came and told us all the juicy stuff. I remembered that most of the time, I closed my ears or excused myself to the kitchen. Tori looked outright uncomfortable, and I couldn't help but laugh at her. Our mothers were with us as well, so my Mom made sure that whenever she got lucky and saw me try to escape, she'd hold me back.

"You need to know these things, baby. You'll need it some day."

Not anytime soon.

The party was a success and everyone learned all they could, while I tried to wash out as much as I could but I failed successfully. These women could be crazy sometimes, if you actually sat with them long enough and had weird conversations. Surprisingly, when I told my mother about how I didn't want to go through what Tori did in my future, she said that she already knew who to call when it was time. That only freaked me out all the more.

******

Finally, the day for the wedding had finally come and everyone was getting ready. Tori was already in her dress and she looked stunning. The makeup artists were still putting on their final touches while the bridesmaids wore their dresses.

"Leila......I don't think I can do this."

Suddenly alarmed by my friend's statement, I quickly rushed to her side and held her hand.

"Yes, you can. It's the wedding jitters that are getting to you. You love Gabriel, don't you? Don't answer, I know you do. Now, you're about to go on the biggest adventure you've ever had in your life. It's gonna be bumpy sometimes, which I'd suggest is the reason for you to say what you just said. You just have to be strong and don't forget that God is always there, at the center of your marriage."

She smiled then, and gave me a hug, careful not to remove the makeup from her face.

"Thank you, Lei. You always know what to say."

I winked and smiled at her.

"I try. Now, let me gift you my goodbye present, since you're no longer in the single squad."

I took the necklace that I'd seen in a jewelry store and had reminded me of her, and carefully put it on her neck. It looked great on her, amd I was glad that I'd made a great choice. Suddenly, the door was opened and my Dad peeped in.

"People are waiting for you. The flower girl and the boys are ready."

"We'll be out soon. Just a few more minutes."

Tori and I looked at the mirror in front of us, and we smiled, suddenly remembering how we'd said that we'd be each other's maid of honor and there we were.

"Let's do this."

********

We could hear the buzz of activity going on in the church when we got there, and we began to get out of the rented limousines. The little flower girl got out of the car first and went with the little boy who was there. She had the basket of flowers while the boy had the rings.