Infliction

35

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to introduce to you the new Mr and Mrs Carlos Greigh!"

Everyone stood up and applauded, throwing flowers and letting their dragon flies free. The sky lit up with them and it was truly a wonderful sight. Who would have thought such small creatures would actually make a very beautiful and aesthetic scene?

"I'm married, bitches!" Vi yelled to the crowd at the top of her voice as Monique and I stood side by side as bridesmaid and maid of honour and watched her swallow Carlos' face.

Quite literally.

Daniel and Kyle stood as grooms man and best man and watched them seal his 'entrapment' as they had called it.

Soon everyone was seated in the hall decorated with crown flowers and balloons in every corner, something you only imagine or see on television. The cake was marvellous and the dance area was lit up with a disco ball. Carlos didn't want their first song to be slow like any other normal couple. He has literally said, "We gonna turn it up on the dance floor!"

I was currently standing at the munchies table, eating anything and everything my fingers could touch. I had sent Daniel away when he came, wanting me to stop eating before I became too full and would want to head on home too early. Of course I shooed him away. He's now casually glancing at me while talking to some guests he knows.

"I want to know why men think they can control our eating habits," a very furious Monique came to stand by my side and stuffed more food in her mouth than I ever thought was possible to fit.

For as long as I've known her, she was always one to be careful with how she eats. She hardly spills or gets crusts on her clothes but here she is, getting her hands dirty with chocolate syrup.

"Yeah, what did that goodfornothing Kyle say to you?"

"That I shouldn't eat too much in case I become too tired and would want to head on home. Ugh! I can't stand him lately."

I look behind us and stick my tongue out at Daniel as he still stares at me. I shift closer to Monique and let my voice go really low as I ask, "Is that you or the pregnancy talking?"

She repeats what I'd done before bending to pick up more food and stick into her mouth. "Definitely the pregnancy. How come you're not experiencing backaches?"

"Girl, my feet are killing me!" I whine as I look at my toes through the crocks I wore.

I'm twenty-four weeks pregnant but I'm still not showing out of the ordinary. Talk about being blessed. Monique. on the other hand, looks like she ate a lot too much. Her stomach has gotten so big that she is sometimes insecure about it because she can't wear her usual clothes without feeling the need to cover up any more. She also couldn't stand in high heels for a long time so along with the dress, she wore sandals. She did manage to pull that off and now rocks her baby bump while using the pregnant woman excuse to the best of her abilities.

"How are our two lovely ladies doing?" A voice said beside me and I rolled my eyes.

"What do you guys want?" Monique huffed.

"Who said we're talking to you?" Daniel retorted.

"We're the only ones around here," I said, eyeing some pig ears on the other table.

"We're talking to our two tiny girls," Kyle says in a duh tone as he motions to our bellies. Oh.

"For the last time, they are not girls!" We both say in unison but the guys just laugh us off and turn to face the stage where Vi stands in all her white and silver glory as she looks around while waiting for everyone to quieten down.

"I'd like all my girlfriends to flood the front please, it's time to toss the bouquet," she says happily. I smile as I put my juice in Daniel's hand and pass him a small smile which he struggles to return and somehow gives me a seemingly hesitant one in return.

I don't say anything about it because I was already walking to the front with Monique. We agreed that we'd stand at the front and catch that bouquet, even if we had to fight every girl and break off nails and clip off wigs. We will get that bouquet. End of story.

"Ready?" Vi yells, turning her back to us and the females roar in anticipation. It feels like the last race of scavenger hunt and I feel like this is the ultimate goal. Monique braces herself beside me and we wait as the count down commences.

"Three... Two... One..." Everyone screams and jumps while Monique and I stare at the flowers in Vi's hand and I almost frown when she turns around and starts walking towards... Me? It all feels like it's happening in slow motion as everyone separates like the Red Sea did and Vi walks through. I don't know why, but I didn't move out of her way. I think all that food I ate is weighing me down.

The cheering became distant to my ears as Vi stretched her hand out and with tears in her eyes handed me the bouquet, giving me a side hug and simultaneously turning me around, a flat 180°.

Hot tears filled my vision as Daniel kneels on one knee with the most nervous and uncertain look he ever had on his beautiful face. The one question swam around his eyes as they remained fixated on mine.

I choked back a tear as I realised the ring sitting in the box was none other than his mother's, the same one his dad had proposed with. A flashback of the time he proposed the first time came back to mind. It was in San Diego and I had had to say no at the time because I still had to get over my shit and I felt like I wasn't ready. He agreed to wait as long as I needed him to. Little did I know his comeback would be massive.

"So, what do you say now?" He asked smugly, knowing that he had finally won me over this time. I didn't have to say anything as he stood up and took my hand in his, slipping the ring onto my finger to find that it's a perfect fit.

Tears rolled down my face and onto my dress. Laughter filled the hall as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply, tears mixed with emotions until we didn't know which ones belonged to whom.

I'm engaged to the man of my dreams? Damn. Life couldn't get better than this.

×

"Tess, wake up," someone nudged me and my eyes fluttered open. I struggled against the blinding lights in the ceiling and had to shut them because they burned. I opened them again and looked around the white room that smelled like disinfectant and then back to the handsome face, smiling weakly at him.

"It was just a terrible dream."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Huh?

Oh -- Everything came rushing back to me. Where I am and what had happened.

Shit.