“For your sake, it better.”
I smiled.
Six months of daily humiliation was about to end.
I could taste the final payment.
Then the groom’s limousine glided through the gates.
The announcer lifted his microphone. “Please welcome the groom, Adrian!”
The rear door opened.
“Please welcome the groom, Adrian!”
A polished shoe touched the gravel.
Then Sean stepped out into the light.
He was wearing the tuxedo I had chosen myself, six months ago, for our eighth anniversary.
My husband… was Vanessa’s groom?
There had to be a mistake.
I stared as Sean smiled and waved at the guests.
My husband… was Vanessa’s groom?
Then he turned toward the arch, and his eyes found mine.
The smile died.
The color drained out of him so fast I thought he might fall.
Vanessa followed his stare, looked at me, looked at him, and smirked.
“Oh,” she said, drifting toward him. “You never told me you knew the staff.”
I nearly dropped my clipboard.
“You never told me you knew the staff.”
Whispers moved through the courtyard like wind through wheat.
I looked around at the guests, at my husband, who was whispering fiercely to Vanessa.
And finally, at Vanessa herself.
She wasn’t even listening to Sean.
She was staring at me, her eyes glinting victoriously.
And that’s when I knew this job had been a setup.
She was staring at me, her eyes glinting victoriously.
My head was spinning, but I knew two things for certain.
ONE: I could not lose my cool.
And TWO: I could not stand by and do nothing.
So I stepped up onto the podium.
I reached for the microphone.
Vanessa moved at the same time, but I got there first.
I reached for the microphone.
The feedback shrieked across the courtyard.
The quartet stopped.
Three hundred guests turned toward me.
“Before the ceremony begins,” I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded, “I need to congratulate the bride.”
Vanessa paused.
“She has managed to keep one detail of this wedding completely secret from me.” I continued. “I never once guessed the groom was my husband of eight years.”
“I never once guessed the groom was my husband of eight years.”
The courtyard went silent.
Then phones began rising from laps and handbags.
Sean took two fast steps toward me. “Listen. I can explain.”
“Please do.”
He stopped, and for one second he looked frightened.
Then his shoulders straightened, a strange confidence settling over him.
“Listen. I can explain.”
