7“Wait there,” Pamela instructed me when we stopped in front of a bridal shop. We had been spending the past hour doing last minute shopping for the barbecue event at her house. “None of us are getting married. We do not need a wedding dress,” I called out to her, but she already disappeared into the shop. I decided not to chase after her because I was sweaty and tired.
The last thing I needed was to go on a meaningless shopping spree at a bridal shop. I leaned against the brick wall next to the white door of the shop and dropped the shopping bags onto the floor. People walking along the five foot way threw me a judgemental look, and I ignored them. “Okay, I am ready,” Pamela joined me after what felt like an hour later. “Let’s go home.”
The ride in the car suddenly turned awkward. Pamela was paying attention to the road while I had countless of thoughts in my mind. Pamela was someone who thought things through, but seeing her purchasing the white gown for no reason was a shock to me. I waited until we were no longer stuck in the traffic jam to start talking again.
“So did Eric said he was coming?” I asked instead. “We broke up months ago,” Pamela informed casually, as if I knew they weren’t on good terms. Having the new information, it made no sense that she bought a wedding dress. “We decided not to tell anyone until we were sure. I just never really bother talking about it.” “I’m sorry to hear that.” “I’m not,” Pamela snorted as she took the turn on the left to enter her neighbourhood.
“What happened?” “We were heading the wrong direction the whole time. I wish I knew earlier on.” Pamela stopped the car in front of her house, and we carried the bags into the house. I took out the groceries while she headed back to the car to collect the wedding dress.
She left it on the couch and helped me in the kitchen. “What do you mean both of you were heading the wrong direction?” “We were just not on the same page,” Pamela sighed.
“It felt as if I was the only one in that relationship, and I found out I was. There was no commitment from him and –“she stopped. I was slowly gathering what I heard from Pamela, but something was wrong. I didn’t want to believe years’ worth of relationship just vanished into thin air for no reason. I replayed her words trying to piece the puzzle together, and it didn’t take long for the lightbulb to light up in my mind. “He was cheating on you,” I blurted out walking to her.
“How do you know?” she asked trying to turn away from me, but I caught her and hugged her. She embraced in my long needed hug and burst into tears, tears that was suppressed for months. “You should have told me because I would have been here for you.” “I know, but I feel so stupid,” Pamela wiped away her tears and took a step back. I looked at her, her eyes were puffy and her nose remained red. Just by looking at Pamela, I felt my heart breaking for her.
“So, now you know why we broke up. When I suspected him not being faithful, I confronted him, but of course, he lied. We stopped spending as much time, and when I found him cuddling another woman in the cinema, it was confirmed. He no longer loved me.” “Oh, Pam, I am so sorry that you went through this on your own,” I shook my head, disbelief that Eric was a cheater.
“Well, life goes on. There is no use of crying or being sad over him because he is not doing that,” Pamela walked to the living room and I followed her. “It’s his loss for losing such an amazing woman,” I added as we stood staring at the sparkly wedding dress which would look perfect on Pamela or a princess. We stood in silence for a while before I asked, “So, what is with the wedding dress?”
“You’ll laugh if I tell you,” Pamela stated. “Just tell me,” I tried. “After the breakup, I wasn’t really myself. I ate and slept too much. So I challenged myself to go out, and that was when I ended up at that bridal shop. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I tried on many wedding dresses and decided to get this one, for next time,” Pamela finished her explanation and in a few seconds, we burst out laughing and collapsed onto the floor. “We are hopeless,” I chimed in. That was four years ago.
This morning, we stood in front of the same wedding dress in the same living room and walked down memory lane, filled with bittersweet memories for a few minutes. Three hours later, Pamela walked down the aisle in that elegant wedding dress to meet the man of her dream at the altar while I reminisced the time I walked down the aisle with that same dress the year before. Carina Lim bears different messages through her fiction. These messages could be useful in life. She can be contacted at mermaidgal03@ yahoo.com.
