ANOTHER DAY

It is the day. Yet another wedding. But this time, things are different. You wake up. The first thing you see is your reflection in the mirror opposite your bed, your hair all messed up, wrinkles by the eyes and the cheeks, smiling back at you. You cannot possibly believe this is happening for the third time. All the previous men's faces, or rather ex-husbands' , flashing before your eyes. The first man with the drinking problem, Ali who was very boring, clearly not your type. It was hard not to think about them. You struggle to put their thoughts away and slowly walk towards the bath.

The assistant will be here any moment. You hear a knock from the threshold and you already know it is her. Approaching the door, you have no feeling of excitement left. It had died in the previous occassions. The divinity of wedding was no more new to you.

Again sitting in front of the mirror, staring blandly at the reflection, you see the lady combing and twisting your thin, brown hair into a neat, tight, bun. This time, you do not let her do your face. In fact, not even a new wedding gown. It is the same gown from your wedding with Ali.

With very little makeup and getting ready to do, you get ready in what seemed like just an hour. You are two hours ahead of schedule. Standing up, you teeter towards the door, the weight of the wedding gown pulling you down. The door opened to the corridor to the hallway. On reaching the door all you feel like is to run away. Outside the room of the Starcrossed hotel, the wedding preparations being done. Nothing great, nothing flashy. You are now slowly walking by the aisle towards what you can call a raised platform, not even a stage. Mental images from the past rushing by your memory lane, as you walk down the aisle. You seat yourself on the first chair in the front row of the only two rows. Seems like people lost interest too. After all, how many times can one get married, and still expect people to turn up and cherish it? After a wait of almost an hour and a half, your attention is drawn back to the now, by the few honks from a car behind. You turn back, and see her. Dressed in all white. The gown flowing like a brook. She, a big bundle of joy and excitement, adorned beautifully with a smile that stretched all the way from one end of her cheek to the other. You see her and you instantly feel it. This is what is meant for you. This is you. This is us. You struggle to fight back the tears welling up in your eyes. You see her getting further closer, accompanied by her best friend. She stops just beside you and you turn to look at her. She touches your hands which were interlocked and whispers "Jess!". You lose it there, you break down then and there and you feel vulnerable. Beautifully vulnerable, humanely vulnerable like never before. This is what you have been waiting for all these years. Two tiny beads roll down your cheeks and you let it fall and shatter. Hand in hand, you slowly walk with her and it feels fresh. A whole new experience of getting married. Divine.