A long lane at night

1.26. VOWS

** BRIAN **

'I'M SORRY, MY LOVE. I CAN'T FOCUS.' I WHISPERED to Allan, trying to not disturb the other people watching the movie. 'I'll wait outside. I want to be alone with my thoughts for a little while.'

Allan looked at me with disappointment on his face. I knew it was at himself, not me.

'Okay. But call me if you need me and I'll come find you, all right?'

'All right.' I whispered back and kissed him gently and quickly on the lips.

I appreciated what Allan was doing for me. It's the same thing Nanna and grandpa would do every time those two forgot that I existed, which was a lot. But this time, it wasn't working. Maybe because this tactic was done to exhaustion, or maybe because this time their transgression felt worse than ever before.

All I knew was that I was having a seriously hard time digesting my mom's text, because she couldn't even bother to call me, all she cared to do was send a text so small that the whole thing fit the notification bar.

Hey, baby.

I know your special day's this weekend, but dad and I forgot to book the flight & now we can't find any.

Sorry.

Mom.

And just like that, she got rid of it. I didn't want to confront her or anything, because I knew she would never come round and I would feel even worse, having purely wasted my time and energy. I barely replied with 'ok it happens', without even opening the messaging app, and told the phone assistant to delete her message. She didn't continue the conversation.

'Tough day?' A voice came to me out of nowhere. I was so distractedly wandering about the place that I didn't even notice I had entered a record shop.

I wasn't in the mood for talking, but something in the cashier's voice seemed genuine.

'When it was supposed to be a happy one,' I replied, not knowing why I was opening myself up to a stranger. The last time that happened, it was when I met Allan.

'Oh, those are the worst!' The man said. 'Can I offer you something to drink?'

'No, thanks,' I replied. 'I don't drink alcohol.'

'I want to say it's a good decision, but right now you look like you need something strong,' the man said, then he procured a small box from behind his counter, opened it, and offered me its contents.

'When alcohol won't do the trick, chocolate will,' he winked. 'There's no alcohol in them, you're safe. Help yourself,' he said after I raised a brow suspiciously at him.

I took a sweet from the box and chewed on it while I looked round and at him. He seemed to be a bit older than me, certainly younger than Allan. He was right, though, the chocolate somehow made me feel better.

'I have never seen you here before,' the man said.

'I'm getting married by the pond off town this weekend,' I answered and his face lit up in recognition.

'That makes you Brian Leech, then! I knew that long hair looked familiar. Your wedding was all over the local news, you know? There have even been some debates about it.'

'Are people opposing a wedding?' I asked, getting another sweet from the box after he pointed to it one more time.

'Not the wedding itself,' the man answered. 'But while some people say that it's nice someone is doing something there, others are complaining about outsiders. But don't you worry, those are the ones who never even go there in the first place, they just like to complain and not help. I personally think it's great someone finally saw the beauty of that place.'