Always the Bride

2. How it all began

The door swings open and Marcus steps through. As he runs his hand through his thick, black hair his biceps flex. The smile he gives me makes me weak at the knees, the way it always does. He takes two long strides into the office, stopping in front of the reception desk where I am. On shaky legs I stand from my chair, holding onto the desk for support.

"Hello Teresa," he greets, flashing his pearly white teeth at me.

My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Marcus always has this effect on me even after two years together.

"What are you doing here?" I breathe, leaning in closer for a kiss. He leans in too but before our lips touch, he pulls away. I blink a couple of times in surprise then my smile disappears and I feel my brow furrow as he takes a couple of steps back.

When he reaches the door, he opens it and gestures to someone outside who I can't see. Seconds later a woman walks into the office. She's tall, blonde, skinny, sexy and oozes confidence. My heart pounds rapidly against my ribcage and my stomach drops. When Marcus wraps his arm around the woman's waist and pull her into him, I feel sick.

Everything becomes clear to me. This is not good.

Working in an open plan office is not ideal when your boyfriend decides to come in and break up with you. I can feel the eyes of all 10 employees staring at me and I can hear their sympathetic whispers. In desperation I try to think positive. Perhaps she's a relative? A long lost sister? A cousin?

It's only when I take a long, hard look at her that I realise I'm clutching at straws. Hell, she looks nothing like him. Definitely not a relative.

Then, right in front of me, he kisses her passionately, tongue and all. The penny drops. It's his new girlfriend.

The last thing I want to do is watch my boy—no ex-boyfriend—make out with some random bimbo but I can't tear my eyes away. It's like watching a gruesome movie and someone's about to be decapitated. You know it's going to be gross, you know blood is going to spurt everywhere but one part of you still has to see it happen.

By this point I feel like a statue. I'm frozen. Everything around me is moving in slow motion but I can't react. No thoughts are going through my head. All I feel is an overwhelming emptiness and the pain of a breaking heart.

Tears burn my eyes but despite my unmoveable state, my pride stays in tact just enough to hold those retched tears back. I am not going to let him see me cry.

Time speeds up when they break the kiss and I'm once again fully aware of what's going on. My mouth drops open and in a daze, I turn to the bimbo. Her lips are red and swollen and she gives me a sly look. Then I turn to look at Marcus who smirks at me and closes his eyes, groaning in pleasure. My fists clench at my sides and my breathing becomes laboured yet I still can't seem to move from my spot.

"Oh," Marcus says, his eyes snapping open, a wicked smile crossing his face, "sorry about that. I forgot you were here." He kisses the bimbo on the tip of her nose then pulls her close to him and looks at me. "Teresa, it's over."

I can't do a damn thing except look like a bloody goldfish as my mouth opens and closes, no words coming out. My head is screaming obscenities at him but I've lost the ability to talk.

"You see, a relationship needs something other than kissing, holding hands and snuggling up in front of the TV. Two years is a long time without getting any, Teresa."

With those words, he turns and walks out of the office with his bimbo in tow. The pain in my lungs reminds me I've stopped breathing. I release the breath and the pain subsides but it's replaced with something worse. A breaking heart. It feels like someone has stabbed a dagger into it and is twisting it back and forth. A groan of despair escapes my lips as my shaky legs collapse underneath me and I fall onto my chair.

I'm vaguely aware of people asking if I'm okay but I'm unable to respond. My eyes start to flutter close, dizziness envelops me then...everything goes black.

***

So this, my friends, is how it all began. Quite often when you ask someone how a moment in time began, they struggle to answer it. They get themselves into a situation and can't remember how it all started. For me that's not the case. That moment is forever etched in my mind.

But it's what happened only a few days later that really changed my life. When I met Gregory. Six months ago that was.

Gregory Hudson, the man who whisked into my life, picked up the pieces of my failed relationship and promised to look after me. You saw how my last relationship ended. A shambles. Can you believe my relationship with Marcus was my first ever too? Two years we had been together and I was convinced we were going strong.

The day he turned up at work was the worst day of my life. It didn't bother me that he broke up with me in front of my colleagues. It made him look like the idiot, not me. What bothered me was how it came about.

It does nothing to a girl's confidence to be told your boyfriend doesn't want to be with you because you don't have sex. Okay let me explain something here. I've got nothing against sex. It's not that I don't want to have it. It's as simple as this: I'm old fashioned. Sex is a big deal to me so I intend to save myself for marriage. I wanted Marcus to be my first...on our wedding night.

Obviously he couldn't wait so he strayed.

Marcus is an extremely good looking man so it's no wonder he was snatched up so quickly. He is the typical cliché alpha male—tall, dark, and handsome with a toned and well defined body and of course, a smile that makes one weak at the knees.

He's not the kindest or most caring person in the world, in fact he's very arrogant, but somehow we were drawn together. I loved him and I thought he loved me. Obviously I was wrong.

Despite his flaws, he has a lot of good qualities too. He's patient, he's skilled in many areas, he's a good businessman and he's genuine. Even though he always told me he was happy to wait for sex, I realise now it was all a lie. This was one area he obviously wasn't patient in.

I shouldn't be surprised really, considering who he is but I led myself to believe it was real. We were together for two years! Two years and he never once complained about sex. In fact, when we started dating, he said he wanted to wait until marriage too. Liar!

I never did find out why he changed. Personally I think the blonde bimbo offered herself to him and he couldn't resist. Men like Marcus have a weakness, and it's for women like her.

Oh well, good riddance to them I say. It took me a little while to get over the shock because it hurt a lot but I am now. I really had no choice but to get over it quickly. I mean how else could I get on with life? I wasn't going to let him win one over me. I need to prove to him he's not capable of making me fall apart completely.

But it's not always that easy, is it?

A few days later, I met Gregory. I work as a receptionist in a lawyers' office and he came in one day for an appointment with our real estate lawyer. Gregory is the complete opposite of Marcus. He is podgy and balding with square shaped glasses which look odd against his round face. When he smiles, his whole face crinkles up like a pug dog.

His looks aside, I knew the moment I met him that he was a genuine person. I was on the rebound so when he showed an interest in me, I responded. Yes I might feel in control and yes I might feel I'm over Marcus but deep down I know I'm not. Not really. I need someone to care for me and tell me it's all ok.

Gregory is that person.

I'm 25 years old and he is older than me by 15 years but he is a very kind and genuine person. As I said, he is the complete opposite of Marcus.

Oh don't get me wrong, Gregory is far from perfection but I know he'll look after me and he'll help heal my wounds. Whether he'll make me happy or not, I won't know until we marry. We all have to take risks, right? This is my chance to prove I'm over Marcus at last.

So a month after meeting, we started going out and four months later we were engaged. Quick? Yes but what's the point in waiting? This is what I need to do.

Now today, a month later, is my wedding day.

This is how it all began.

***

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