The Ride of My Life

Runaway Groom

I took a deep breath and turned to the full length mirror. And gasped.

Was that really me?

The woman in the mirror looked back at me with an expression of surprise. The wedding dress she wore was timelessly elegant, a strapless gown nipped in at the waist with a belt of diamante crystals. Her dark hair was pulled up into a perfect bun, studded with Swaroski pins. Dark green eyes were rimmed by smokey brown eyeshadow, and full thick lashes. She looked stunning.. Beautiful, even.

I could hear sniffles behind me. My two best friends, Erika and Kate, were looking gorgeous in pale peach tulle dresses. Erika wiped a tear away from her cheek as I turned back around to face them. Erika was my oldest friend, and we had grown up together in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, Texas. She had flown all the way to New York for my big day, and was the only thing resembling a family I had. She was 5ft 2" of pure chaotic energy and I loved her to bits. A total contrast to Kate, who was my colleague and first friend when I had moved to New York 3 years ago. We both worked as editors for one of the most prestigious publishing groups in the country. She was tall, incredibly attractive and one of the most glamorous women I had ever met.

"Oh my god, Bea.. you look so HOT!" squealed Kate, and I couldn't help but giggle. I picked up my glass of Moet and we toasted to the day ahead. My wedding day.

I couldn't wait to see my fiance at the end of the aisle. Tony and I had been introduced through Kate at a networking event a year and a half ago. He was an agent for one of our top-selling authors, and I happened to be editing their latest book. It didn't take much for me to fall for the tall, fit born and bred New Yorker. He was half Italian and as smooth as you can get. When he proposed 6 months ago in our favorite restaurant I couldn't believe how lucky I got. My heart skipped a beat when I thought about him in the suit we had picked out just a few weeks ago, and how gorgeous his blue eyes looked with the navy blazer and grey pants... which were just a little tight in a certain area.. I fanned myself with a freshly manicured hand and suddenly the room felt very warm. I looked down at the huge diamond on my hand and smiled widely. It felt like a dream come true.

Kate's phone rumbled on the table with an incoming call. A work call, most likely, I thought.. The work never sleeps when you're as busy as we are. I'd turned mine off for the entire day, something I probably wouldn't get away with on our honeymoon. She picked it up and with a quick apologetic smile, left the room talking quietly into the phone.

I sat down on the plush armchair in the hotel room. Sunlight was streaming in through the open balcony doors, the transparent curtains moving gently in the breeze. It was utterly idyllic. We sat there for a while like that, just drinking champagne and laughing about old times.

Erika looked at her watch and wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"They should be here any minute to let us know to come down." My voice shook a bit, the nerves were really getting to me now. Thank god we had hired one of the best wedding planners in the city to make sure the whole day went smoothly, I didn't have to lift a finger.

She laughed, looking at me and slapping me playfully on the arm. "Girl, I never seen you this nervous before. Y'all marrying Mr Action Man.. look how far you've made it Bea.." her voice took on a tinge of sadness suddenly as she trailed off. Her big eyes suddenly shone with tears.

"I wish I got out like you. I'm still in that dead ass town doing the same lame ass job waiting tables and making milkshakes. You're here headbutting the rich and famous and making bank! Your mom would be so proud Bea.. I'm so proud."

My breath hitched as she mentioned my mom. Tears pricked my eyes as I was reminded for the umpteenth time today that my parents were not here to see me on the most important day of my life.

Erika looked like she was about to say something else, when there was a cacophony of knocks on the door to the room and without any of us saying anything, it flew open to reveal a dishevelled looking Liam, aka Tony's best man. I stood up in a hurry, thinking we were late. He looked from Erika to me a few times, his mouth partly open as if he was struggling to get the words out.

"Bea.. you better sit down." he eventually said, straightening his tie.

My heart started thundering in my chest. "What? What's wrong? Are the caterers here? Is someone missing? Tell me what's wrong and I'll fix it." I said, looking at Erika, who was just as confused as I was.

Liam flopped into a chair and put his head in his hands.

"It's not that.. Bea, Tony.. He isn't here. He didn't turn up this morning. We've been looking for him everywhere.. He finally picked up ten minutes ago and he said he's not coming."

My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"What do you mean, he's not coming?" I asked breathlessly.

He wiped his sweaty brow with a hand. "Bea.. we are all as surprised as you are. He swore there isn't anyone else when I asked, he didn't say anything else.. I'm really sorry. He said he doesn't want to talk, he doesn't want you to contact him. He said it's over between you.."

Tears blurred my vision as I started sobbing in shock. Erika threw herself on me, wrapping her arms around my neck as I cried onto her shoulder. My heart was jackhammering against my chest and it ached with pain. I had to push Erika off me and run to the ensuite bathroom where I threw up in the  toilet. Liam and Erika were talking in low voices in the bedroom as I rinsed my mouth out under the tap and retched. I looked in the mirror. My face was covered in melted mascara and my eyes were already puffing and swollen. I wiped my face with a towel and took deep breaths. Just breathe. In and out. In and out. 

Was this even happening? What the fuck?! My dream had turned into a nightmare.

2 hours later

Erika waved the uber off as we stood on the sidewalk outside my building. Me and Tony had a penthouse, rented of course, but still, a penthouse in New York was a pretty big achievement.

My face felt tight where tears had dried on my skin. Erika and Liam with the help of the wedding planner, had avoided major embarrassment by telling our guests that there was an emergency and that the wedding was being postponed. They probably all suspected the real reason though, why else would a wedding get called off half an hour before it was due to even start?

I felt a sob build up in my throat and quickly swallowed it back down. Erika glanced at me and grabbed my hand reassuringly.

"Look, Bea, if he's here, we will get the fucking truth out of him. Even if I have to waterboard him in the shower. That's if he's still even alive after I beat the shit out of that guy for leaving my best friend at the fucking altar." she said, squeezing the life out of my hand.

I grimaced and nodded. The elevator ride up to our floor felt like it took a lifetime. I felt dazed, like I was in a dream. Nothing made sense. We were happy. I'd only seen Tony a few days before and we had had a lovely pre wedding dinner at the same roof top restaurant he had proposed at. He was so excited for the wedding..

My hand shook as I held the keycard to our door. Erika pushed past me and barged into the apartment, her handbag swinging in her hand like a weapon. "COME OUT YOU BASTARD!" she shouted as she marched inside.

But there was no answer. All the lights inside were turned off. He wasn't here..

And he wasn't the only thing that wasn't there.

The first thing I noticed was our photos had all been taken down and I could see them piled up in the trash can in our kitchen. Even my family photos had been ripped out of frames and thrown in the bin. I fished them out, now feeling my sadness turn into pure rage. I didn't even know the person who would do this. Tony knew how important these photos were to me. I hardly had any photos of my parents. I smoothed the crumpled pictures out on the marble worktop and put them safely in my Birkin bag.

Then I noticed the bookcase was half empty. All of his books, gone. He had emptied his wardrobe, bedside drawers, everything. Not even a hair was left behind. It was as if my fiance had never even existed..

I sank on the bed in a state of shock and anger. "What the fuck.." I whispered. A year and a half of memories, gone in an instant.

He had taken everything..