The Wedding | 18+

Chapter 1

Cora

"I can't believe she's getting married!"

I have a huge smile on my face as I'm holding the invitation in my hands.

We both had always imagined having a lavish wedding and wearing stunning dresses. Back then it seemed like a silly idea, because none of us were from a wealthy family and we couldn't even keep a boyfriend longer than a month or two.

But here I was, holding onto this delicate pink envelope in my hands, even its scent evoking the essence of a luxurious perfume.

I won't lie, it became increasingly challenging to maintain contact with Anna over the past five years after she made the decision to move away after graduation and dedicate herself to surfing and rescuing animals. Eventually, our communication dwindled until we stopped talking altogether. But not long after we both had moved to pursue our dreams, she met the love of her life Theo. They have been inseparable ever since. That's something that I can only dream of.

Life has not been easy after my move to New York to study movie direction, but even on my hardest days, I wake up with a smile on my face. And even then, I don't care about my apartment being the size of a bean can. No one ever believed in me nor that I could make it. Not even my mom and dad. Not even when I sent them a picture of me smiling big on my graduation and not when I sent them the link to my first short movie project. I never got even a thumbs up emoji.

We never were really close, just living under the same roof, each of us going after something completely different in life. I had to grow up all on my own and be my only friend.

Mom and dad never showed any signs of affection to each other. My happiest moments as a kid was those rare nights where the three of us would sit and watch a movie, and they would laugh from time to time. And I would laugh too, even if I didn't understand what the movie was about.

On the same night when I had texted them about my first project, Leo rented a movie for us, the one where everyone is shooting and hitting each other and even though I hate thrillers, and you would think that your boyfriend of almost three years should know that, it was a good night overall.

Love is on my mind a lot. But the kind of love that you make movies about and the kind Anna and Theo have, not the kind of love my parents have nor the one I have with Leo.

I dream about the kind of love that makes it hard for you to breathe when they do as little as look at you, or that it makes your skin burn on all the places they have touched you. The kind where you can't stay away from them. Love that is the most dangerous feeling a person could ever feel. I dream and I make movies.

But I know that the love I have had around me my whole life and the one me and Leo share has been the right love. The safe love. It is quiet and it doesn't bring you any bad surprises. It doesn't consume you, it just exists alongside you.

For me it was never about the success. I don't even want to prove anything to my parents. There was no other reason for why I moved so far from home than the fact that I just want to feel like there is a place where I belong. I just want to find home. My home. I ache for a feeling that feels like home. And even though I feel safe here at my small apartment that I share with Leo, it has never made me feel like home.

"Babe?" I hear Leo's voice coming from the door and his keys falling onto the floor.

I walk out of our room and give him a little smile, he nods.

"Tough day?" I ask as he picks up his keys.

"No, it was just another Tuesday."

I wait for him to ask about my day, but when that doesn't happen I show him the invitation.

"What's that?" He has his back turned on me while he takes out two oranges for my every morning orange juice and his two beers for his every night escape, as he likes to call it.

"You remember Anna, right?"

They have met one or two times here in New York, back when she still came to visit.

"Oh, yeah. I never liked her man, what was it, Rich?"

"Well, they are getting married!" I yelp in excitement.

He finally turns around to face me and his eyes widen a little.

"I thought that all that they do is surf and watch sunsets together, how in the hell they can afford to have a wedding?" He laughs and I can see that he is waiting for me to join him, but even if I wanted to, I can't seem to find that funny.

When I think about it, Leo has never made me laugh so much that my stomach starts to hurt and my eyes start to sparkle. That's what is supposed to happen, right?

When he sees that I won't laugh with him, he reaches out for my hand.

"Well if they can, then we can too, babe." He smiles.

"When is the wedding?" He asks, letting go of my hand.

"In exactly one month from now, on the 15th of June." Suddenly I feel tired.

"Oh, babe, dang it, I have a work trip for that whole week. Looks like you will have to go alone and give them my best." He sighs, but it doesn't look like it means that much to him. He scratches the back of his head as he waits for my reaction.

"And on the 17th?"

"Yes, work trip. Why 17th?"

"Just thought that we will do something for our three years." I look him in the eyes and I see remorse there.

"Right." He has a pause. "Right, our three years, of course. I'm sorry, babe. I promise we will do something after I get back. I could rent a thriller that you liked so much again. Remember?" He gives me a smile and a kiss on my forehead before walking past me into the living room.

I almost let out a laugh. Or a cry. I don't know.

Is this all that there is to my love? Suddenly I realize that I don't wish my love on anyone, even if it is the right love.