01 | In Which He Never Arrives

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Present Day . . .

I wiped a tear from my face as I pressed send on a quote about heartbreak and lies on my Instagram page.

The quote brought back the hurt and I broke down crying as I felt the plane taxi down the runway. Beside me in the tight seat, a fat woman didn't try to conceal her anger and disapproval.

It was then that I noticed that everyone with a direct line of sight to me was staring.

“What?” I yelled, unable to control the volume the words came out with. “I bought this seat with my money. If any of you can give me a refund I’ll gladly get off this plane.”

My outburst snapped them out of their daze and they all looked away. All except the middle-aged woman beside me.

“You're a mess,” she said frankly, her brown, watery eyes oozing displeasure.

“I'm already familiar with that fact, Captain Obvious,” I bit back.

I was in a bad mood and was ready to give twice as much as I got.

“What happened?” Her tone didn’t suggest she asked it because she cared. I bet she just figured that getting it out of me was the only way to shut me up.

“I’m not sure I can speak . . .” I cleaned a few stray tears. I felt the hole in my heart grow bigger and a weight sink deeper into the pit of my stomach.

“Good. Now, stop it with the sniffling, I need to sleep.”

She shuffled her legs around in the nonexistent legroom of economy class and hit me in the shin in the process.

I glowered at her and rested my head on the window.

I sighed in despair and stared at my phone screen as I ruminated over what led to my present predicament.

Present-day, 10 hours earlier . . .

“I cannot believe how good you look, Dee,” Hanna squealed from behind me. The image of her blonde hair moved vigorously as she straightened my veil behind me.

I was facing a giant floor-to-ceiling mirror admiring my beautiful wedding dress.

It was a stunning ivory beauty I rented for a steal. It had a sweetheart neckline embroidered with tiny delicate flowers. It cinched at the waist then flared out into the most glorious ball gown.

I ran my hand down the chiffon and sighed with happiness.

My reflection showed a woman basking in the euphoria that only love could bring.

“She’s so lucky,” Debra sighed and adjusted my veil. “She turned the boring office brooder around.”

Nika snorted from where she was leaning on the door. “Once a player, always a player,” she uttered a string of words in Russian before taking a sip from the bottle of Johnnie Walker she was holding. She was dressed in the same maroon, off-shoulder dress as the other bridesmaids.

“Always the skeptic aren’t you, Nika?” I teased her.

“If you grow up in the barren, cold streets deep in Moscow where everyone wants the fur that keeps you alive, you trust no one. No. One,” she spat.

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