The Truths Behind the Life of Maeve Sun Lively

81

I WAS AT THE WEDDING part, wasn't I? Sorry, I got a little carried away with the other memories.

My maid of honor was some actress, Jessica, that befriended me in a movie I did with her a few years back. When I told her to be my maid of honor, she was so overzealous I was about to change my mind. But if not her, I would just have to find some other person and pretend to be friends with them too. So it was back and forth the same thing.

Cameron's best man was supposed to be Mason, and I remember telling him I didn't think that was a good idea but he must've thought I was joking because he asked Mason anyway. Of course he said no. I mean, is it nice to witness the marriage of your own lover to someone else? Especially doing the very fine job of helping? That wouldn't be nice. But I at least expected him to attend the wedding.

He slipped away last second.

So here we were, me and Cameron, my maid of honor and his best man both being someone we pretended to be close with.

I knew Klarise wasn't coming, but still, as I got ready, as I greeted people, I looked for her. I looked for a girl that stands out now, that doesn't blend in with the crowd, I looked for a girl with long straight black hair that had the most captivating energy. I never found her.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of a very fine couple that we have set eyes on since decades. Now, to have you all here for the joining of Maeve and Cameron, I allow you..." The welcomer and announcer's voice starts to fade in the background as my hair has been nicely curled and put into a French bun. My bridesmaid and others who have been in the preparation room all wish me luck and give me good luck kisses on the cheeks. When they leave, I feel some sense of small relief.

The last step is to put the veil over my face and wait until it's my time to go. Except I didn't want to do any of that.

Juno and I are the only ones left here. Mason was supposed to walk me down the aisle, but in his place, Juno was here instead. It's been a while since I felt so in need to hold his hand, for him to tell me this will be okay because he's here. I think when I thought about marriage, I had just always expected it to be Mason who would always be there for me.

"The readings are happening now," Juno said as he came back from peeking at the door. We look at me in the mirror. My makeup was so beautiful, and so was my wedding dress. Everything was like a girl's dream for their own marriage. "Wow, you look fabulous. But of course you already know that."

I laughed, "I am still blessed to hear you tell me that."

He bows exaggeratedly. "My pleasure, malady."

This will be the only part of the day where there are no cameras. Outside, once I step out, my wedding is streamed live into the whole world. It was the whole purpose, to make it as big as possible, to make it so well that it will be impossible to believe that me and Cameron weren't an actual couple. Still, after all these years, being nervous with cameras was just starting to get to me.

Time felt too fast. Because what may have been thirty minutes felt like two minutes. It's time to go.

I put the veil over my face. I let Juno take my arm. I close my eyes and put one foot in front of the other. I mean, what else do you do when you're doing something way out of your heart?

I hear the clicks, the murmurs, the awes. And when they get louder, I open one eye. Under my veil, this veil, it was the only barrier I had left with these people. The only thing to protect me...

There's fog near the floor. There's a small indoor man made jungle waterfall. Lotus flowers floated on water banks and ponds with striped and patterned gold fishes swimming about in the water. It's humid in a warm way, not too hot but enough to make you really feel like you're anywhere but in the city. This place is big, fitting maybe over five hundred people or more. Cameron wanted to set this wedding up as romantic as possible. The feeling this whole thing gave off was a combination of rainforests and Chinese tradition. Rainforest, but without any bit of the uncontrollable wildness that I felt pumping in my heart each second as I tried to cage it down. Everything was made from such expensive stuff, so much preparations and effort, I start to forget sometimes that this is just a wedding. A fake one too.