The Mystery of the Missing Bride

Chapter 1 : Unexpected

Keith's face shone with pure joy and happiness that hurt the eyes of those present at the altar with its brightness. Right on cue, the band struck its chords and the lilting melody of the wedding march resounded in the church. All heads expectedly turned towards the door to capture the look of raw love and emotion flicker across the bride's face as she gazed upon her soon-to-be husband. The smiles lit everyone's face until it was rudely wiped off by  a certain 'eventful' occurrence, to say the least.

            Instead of the graceful walk expected from beautiful socialites, the entire altar saw Kim Jones-about to be Mrs. Keith Warren-sprint her way to Keith through the isle. A ravishing beauty, even disgruntled and out of breath Kim was pleasant on the eye. Her wedding dress was coupled with a pair of white sneakers-not the only thing people lifted they eyebrows upon. Utter bewilderment replaced the joy on Keith's face as Kim whispered a few words to the priest, muttered " I Do", kissed Keith for a mere two seconds before pulling away. She looked at Keith, mouthed a sorry, picked up her long white gown and sprinted towards the exit before disappearing forever.

One could taste the deafening silence that pressed upon the people present at the church. Keith was the one to recover the fastest. Although somewhat still in a trance, he dragged his feet beneath him as he sprinted after his bride. he glanced around and turned a three sixty but it seemed as though she had melted into nothingness.

       The scene back in the church had a touch of humour and a richly blended concoction of aghast expressions and profuse mutterings; all of which only added to the ludicrousness of the situation. Out of the blue, Mrs. Warren(Keith's mother) broke out into heaving sobs exclaiming she was never going to become a grandmother now. That was the waiting signal for everyone to launch into action. Friends and relatives divided themselves into two groups. While one group went to console Mrs. Warren, the other surged outside to decipher the problem and situation at hand. The latter group came outside only to see a disappointed and sombre Keith, a swirl of emotions churning in his warm brown eyes.

       A million thoughts at the speed of light bombarded his already confused brain. 

'Did she get cold feet ?' No, that was not possible; otherwise why would she have said her vows before they had been uttered by the priest. 

'Was this another of Kim's spontaneous plans like the time when I proposed to her and she said no because she wanted to propose to me first ?'

'Has she been kidnapped by ....?' Impossible! He had tasted the strawberry lip balm on her lips; which meant that she had put make up and donned on her wedding gown that ruled out the possibility of kidnapping.

 'Does she not love me anymore?' 

The last thought brought on an unbearable pain that made him falter in his pacing. That moment of self-doubt was fast dispersed as he recalled the sincerity in her eyes when she had said "I love you!" innumerable times. This turmoil made him want to clutch his hair, tear his eyes out and screen. Holding his head in his hands, he walked inside and moved towards his family seated in the front seats. As he walked down the aisle, the people lowered down their volume but he managed to intercept a few. 

"She was a nobody!"

"I always told his mother that the girl was no good and would certainly cause problems in his life."

"Wasn't she the one who rudely interrupted his first wedding to that model? It seems as though she is hellbent on making his life miserable. by the way that model was way better looking!"

"She came out of nowhere. I think she wanted fame. Getting engaged to one of the hottest and youngest successful footballer and then bailing on him? Now that's a sure way to feature cover page!"

Keith turned around to glare at the people who clearly did not know anything about Kim. Clenching his fists, he tried to rope his anger in. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished that the moment he opened his eyes he would magically be transported to an alternate universe in which Kim had decided to last throughout the wedding instead of running away. Suddenly his eyes popped open as though a sudden thought had hammered itself into him. His previously pale face was now alight with hope. He wheeled around and shouted, "Adam!" calling out to his best friend. 

Within moments he was racing down the street to his apartment and without bothering to lock the door of his Aston Martin behind him he barrelled to his room, Adam in the tow.

"She said something about a .... Must be that clue she was talking about..... It has to be here!" Keith muttered to himself as he tore the apartment looking for anything that might explain why Kim had bolted in and out on their wedding day.

Adam gazed at his friend, pain contouring his features. He wondered how he could possibly break it gently to him that Kim had left him. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the worst.

"Keith." he called out. 

No response.

"Keith," he tried again, but with a little more force this time. 

The only sound was that of Keith's frantic searching.

"KEITH!" he finally shouted.

Keith stopped what he was doing at the urgency that laced in his best friend's voice. He slowly turned around to face him as he sensed a feeling of foreboding. He was in no mood to take in any more bad news. 

"There is something that you need to know," Adam said, handing him an envelope.

Keith silently took the envelope. It was addressed to a 'Mr. Warren, my dear husband" written neatly in Kim's perfect handwriting. 

"I shall leave you alone for a moment," whispered Adam as he moved towards the door only to pause in his tracks when he heard a faint "No" from Adam. 

Keith shakily sat on the bed and taking a deep breath opened the letter.

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A/N

Firstly i would just like to say that people who chose to read this, thankyou very much. It means a lot to me.

I know that this person probably doesnt know me but i am a great fan of her works. @RidingLife thankyou very much for inspiring me and yes i have used the characters from your story 'And we meet again' but the names are the only thing i have used. It is not a continuation of your story or me stealing it frm you . It is an original idea with an Original plot.

Guys comment please and vote

It will encourage me to write more.

Adios.