The Wedding Guest

Thorn

Linking my arm through Ian's, we emerge from the elevator into the lobby where guests are already gathering. All dressed up for the day ahead.

Among them are two groomsmen and the groom. People politely smile and say hello to Ian as we stride towards his brothers.

    "Ian!" The one with the white cravat, who I can only assume to be the groom chirps gleefully, grasping the attention of the two groomsmen, who must be his other brothers.

They all look different at first. The groom is about the same height as Ian but leaner, he has short dark brown, quiff hair unlike the other three who have a light brown hair; Ian's similarly styled as the grooms but with spikes, another brother has an over grown style that flops across his forehead and the last brother has his head shaved tight.

Upon closer inspection I quickly notice the similarities between all four brothers. They each have some similarities to others but the main similarities they all share are their endearing smiles and the wide hazel eyes that any girl could easily get lost in.

    "Hi Ethan" Ian chirps, hugging the groom first and then the other two before turning back to me. "Guys this is my date Nikki" He smiles broadly, introducing me proudly, like a trophy.

Remind me why I came again?

Oh yeah because Ian's my friend and if the tables were turned he'd do this for me.

The three men look at me momentarily stunned, And I highly doubt it's because of how drop dead gorgeous I am because trust me, I'm nothing special.

The groom smiles politely and introduces himself before introducing his brothers; Martin the eldest with the tightly shaved hair and Killian the second oldest with the mop of hair.

Moments later we're joined by two women. Judith; a beautiful, tall, brunette, who is introduced as Martin's fiancé and Claire; Killian's girlfriend who's about my height, minus my heels and who's rocking her pregnancy bump in a black, mid length, fitted dress.

    "I swear I'm not fat, just pregnant!" She jokes, rubbing her bump.

    "How far gone are you?" I ask politely, making small talk.

    "Four months and it's been torture" She titters, with a hint of seriousness behind her comment. "Do you have any children?"

I shake my head. "No but I have a lot of experience with children" I smile weakly, glimpsing at Ian, who comes and stands by my side again, taking my hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

Before our conversation can commence, a young woman in a navy suit with a clipboard interrupts. "Good afternoon. Could everyone please make their way across to that room" She points across to where the double doors are being held open by large candle lit lanterns. "and find a seat before the bride arrives"

The crowd of about a hundred people follow the groom and groomsmen into the large room, filled with white chairs facing the top of the room.

    "Ian?" A female voice questions and we turn to see an older woman in a cerise pink dress and matching fascinator, stood with a man in a suit that matches the wedding party.

    "Your parents?" I whisper and Ian nods in response confirming my suspicions.

    "Hi mam. Hi dad" Ian says, hugging each of them. "Sorry Nikki, this is my mam Anne and my dad Frank" He introduces and Anne looks me up and down while Frank smiles. I now see where the four boys get their smile from and their height. "This is my date Nikki" Ian concludes and Frank's smile falters momentarily. If I hadn't of been looking at it I'd of probably missed it.

    "Nice to meet you" Frank chimes, shaking my hand.

    "You too" I reply politely before turning to Anne.

    "What a pretty young lady" She smiles kindly at me.

    "That she is" Ian chirps. "Come on we better take our seats" He says ushering me into the room, away from his parents.

I take a seat in the second row next to Judith, with Ian on the far side of me; he just had to have the aisle seat. Ahead of us, Ian's parents sit with the row of empty seats for the groomsmen.

From where I'm seated I have a clear view of the groom. He stands nervously tapping his foot, looking around and occasionally speaking to his best man, who Ian informed me is his life-long friend, Glen.

    "Here we go" Judith chirps excitedly as the music begins playing.

Everyone stands up and turns to look at the bridal party entering through a single door but I look forward keeping my gaze on the groom. Not just because he's, without arguement a gorgeous looking guy but my absolute favourite part of any wedding is watching the groom's reaction to seeing his wife-to-be. 

One by one the bridesmaids make their way up the aisle and stand in their places at the table, Mirroring the groomsmen.

Then the double doors both open for the bride and Ethan looks up. His eyebrows knit together in confusion. Not the typical reaction a groom has for his bride.

I turn to see what he, and everyone else sees, the bride is standing there but her attention is stolen by some man in jeans and trainers. They seem to be having a very heated conversation, judging by the frowns on both their faces.

Twisting back around to look at Ethan, his expression has softened but his eyes look hurt.

    "Who the hell is he?" I hear Claire spit venomously.

I'd hate to get on her bad side with all those pregnancy hormones.

I glance back at the bride, just in time to see her look at Ethan before she backs away from the room, from her own wedding.

Ethan physically deflates in front of everyone. I don't know how it feels having your heart thorn to pieces in front of everyone you know but I can only imagine and feel so bad for the guy. I wouldn't even wish this upon my worst enemy.

He shakes his head faintly before storming off, pulling the cravat from around his neck.

    "You need to go after your brother!"