A Familiar Ring

CHAPTER 1: Never Be Afraid to Lose Love, Fear Losing the Memory

"This is not love, this is a fairy tale, a dream. But I've got to wake up, baby. I'm not meant to be here with you and I know this isn't fair but I have to go," he said quietly.

That was all he said, too. He was sincere as he looked at her pensively, waiting for a reaction from her, bracing himself for a physical attack. But there was nothing. He nodded his head as if to bid adieu and said nothing more. And with that, he turned towards the doors focused on the exit with his head held high—leaving her life forever.  When he got to the doors, he lovingly embraced a woman in a green dress and walked out. Cadence knew she would never see him again. She stood there frozen in shock as she tried to recollect the moments that just occurred.  Everyone stared at her in amazement; most never having been in this situation.  For everyone, this moment was one of the most artistically beautiful expressions ever witnessed though they were unaware that they were witnessing the raw emotion of heartbreak.

She stood there facing the space where her love had just stood. The tears began to roll just as time began to catch back up with her.  Her rage was hidden beneath the intricate details of the white lace, which hung from the crown of her head like gossamer.  She was confused. Why would he walk all that way just to leave without her?  She stared down the long aisle that led to the entryway. Was there something she had done that would incite him to embarrass her like this? She began to whimper.  The rest of the wedding party seemed to register what just happened as they saw the bride breakdown in tears. Bridesmaids rushed to her side while groomsmen ran out of the building to find the man that left the building moments earlier. No one could console her. Anya, her best friend since childhood and her maid of honor, hugged her so that she was blocking her from the onlookers and also so they couldn't try to read her lips as she talked to her.

"Sweetie, it's o—," she stopped herself. She knew it wasn't okay. "We can leave if you want," Anya whispered to her. 

Cadence shrugged her off. After a few more words of absolute nothingness, Anya sighed and went back to stand in her position as if there were still a ceremony to take place. She hated Duke for what he had just done to her best friend and began to hate herself for even introducing him to Cadence. Who the hell was that woman he was with? And why hadn't Mark, her husband and Duke's best friend, said anything about her? As if on cue, Mark ran back into the building and directly into Anya's piercing gaze. When they got out of this church, she was going to grill him about what happened here today. She felt he was partially responsible. Mark knew what his wife was thinking and he was feeling bad about it. So he averted his eyes to every direction except for hers. The room was filled with so much tension and suspense you'd have needed a chainsaw to cut through it. Finally, the bride spoke, nervously. Four minutes had passed.

"It seems that I will walk out of here just as I walked in, as Cadence Inez Mercier. Duke says we are not getting married today or ever, apparently. So please enjoy the food and music. And maybe y'all can do a white elephant with the gifts y'all brought since I clearly won't be needing them. I would not like for anything else to go to waste today," Cadence said as she finally took her first steps towards the door. The pastor tried to reach for her arm but she very firmly jerked her arm away, turned on her heels to look at him and whispered through her teeth, "If you think you're delivering a message from God to me, right now, at this very moment, you don't know God at all and you damn sure don't know women." The pastor stepped back and Cadence stormed out of that church with fury.

There were gasps and whispers and cries. No one wanted to see her hurt and while the events that had just transpired probably made everyone there a bit closer to Cadence that day, she would have preferred never knowing them at all. So she continued down the aisle alone and walked through those very same doors Duke had used just moments earlier to leave her. She walked down the steps of the church and almost passed the classic 1968 convertible Mustang waiting for her. Instead she stopped at the sidewalk, took off her heels and threw them in the backseat as the driver held her door open.