Lisa
Driving home from a shoot, I glance at Judd's house and I'm surprised to see Nini's black Range Rover parked in the driveway. I coast up to the house, not seeing Judd's truck anywhere.
I turn right and pull into the driveway, wanting to see what's going on. Nini is usually never home without Judd there, causing my concern to spike. And if anything, there are a few questions that I've been meaning to ask Nini about the wedding, so why not catch her while I can. There's only a few days left before her wedding day.
Hopping out of the truck, I walk up to the back door and softly knock, not wanting to startle her. I wait a few seconds and when there's no answer I raise my hand to knock again. Before my knuckles can hit the wood, I hear a loud thud come from upstairs followed by a crash.
Alarmed, I fling the back door open and run in. "Nini?" I yell, worried.
I make a break for the stairs, running up them two at a time. When I make it to the second floor, I hear Nini yell, with something shattering soon after. I race to her old bedroom, with my heart slamming in my chest.
I push open her door and stumble inside, the sight before me shocking. Nini stands in a lacy, body hugging wedding dress with long sleeves. It's beautiful, elegant and modern, but I'd be lying if I said that Nini didn't look like a complete mess in it right now.
I glance around her old teenage bedroom, with memories flooding my head. Not much has changed in it since high school. Her walls are still a pale yellow, her artwork adorning the walls and her sunflower bedspread still on top of the twin mattress, but everything on top of her dresser seems to be strewn all over the floor, with some glass shattered.
"Nini." I say carefully, clearly interrupting her meltdown.
Her blue eyes, wet with tears, find mine. Mascara is running down her face along with some tears and she looks at me desperately.
"What's going on?" I ask softly, while tiptoeing around the mess on her floor to reach her, placing my hands on her shoulders.
Her bottom lip quivers and her eyes flood with tears. "Everything is going wrong!" she cries. "Taehyung's barely helping me prepare for the wedding, he does not even care. He's just out hanging out with all his friends all the time, and just leaves me dealing with everything on my own. And Barbara is up my ass about everything too, she's the one who made me buy this stupid dress and now I can't get out of it because the zipper is stuck! All I wanted to do was to wear my mama's dress, but Barbara said it was too tacky, and then you're here and I've practically forced you into shooting my wedding. You probably hate me. All I have coming to the wedding on my side is you and daddy and a few co-workers that are standing in as bridesmaids who aren't really my friends, and... and she should be here!!" she sobs hysterically.
I blink, once, twice. "Who should be here?"
"Mama!" she cries, wiggling out of my grasp and grabbing the framed photo of her mama on her night stand, hurling it at the adjacent wall where the glass shatters upon impact. A heart wrenching sob escapes her lips and she falls to her knees, hiding her face in her hands as she cries uncontrollably.
My heart immediately breaks for her, seeing her like this. I know just how hard it was for Nini to lose her mother, to watch her wither away day by day, knowing that the inevitable was coming. I can't count how many times that I've sat in this very room with Nini, holding her as she cried over her mother.
Mrs. Kim was an extraordinary woman, the whole town loved her and wept when she passed. Even people who were practically strangers adored her and felt some sort of pain when she left this world, so I can't even imagine what that pain must feel like for Nini.
"Oh, Nini." I whisper, sinking down to my knees in front of her. Some shards of glass pierce into my skin and I instantly worry about her. "Come on." I scoop her up into my arms, standing and carrying her to the bed. I set her down on the edge, while kneeling down in front of her.
I scan my eyes over her, brushing my palms over the skirt of her dress to make sure there's no glass clinging to it.
"Shit, Nini." I curse, while spotting some red seeping through her dress right at her knees.
I quickly jump up and run to the bathroom, wetting a wash cloth. Ringing out the rag, I run back to her room and kneel in front of her, dabbing at the blood but it only smears, staining the white fabric.
"Shit." I curse again, but I try my best to remain calm for her sake. I'm sure my mum can think of something to get the blood smears out. "It's going to be okay, Nini." I coo soothingly, while running my hands up and down her arms.
"No, it's not!" she cries. "I just wanted this to be my wedding. My wedding, not Barbara's. All I wanted was to wear mama's dress and get married in the little church that she went to every Sunday, but no! Barbara had to book an over the top venue and bought me this awful dress that I'm literally stuck with because the zipper won't budge and I can't get out!" She slaps her hands down on her thighs and looks at me helplessly.
