Knight in Shining Suit (2 page)

I sighed. “I guess you’re
right. The sight of this very place I used to love makes me want to
puke already! And I don’t think I can stand to see another wedding
again. Please! The thought of it not ending in happily ever after
is enough to make me want to hang myself!”

“
Good! Because that is
exactly what our clients want to do after they meet up with you!” a
familiar voice said behind me.

I didn’t have to look to
know who it was. Fiona Lewinsky stood in front of me with a glare
on her heart-shaped face. She claimed she was meant to do weddings
because the shape of her face alone spells love. I had to roll my
eyes the first time I heard her say that. And it still makes me
want to roll my eyes now.

“
Fiona...” I sighed. “I
think I need a little holiday,” I said to her.

“
Take one permanently.
You’re fired!” she said to me without blinking.

Nicole stood up in shock.
“Fiona! You can’t do that! You owe half of your success to her! She
made you rich, for crying out loud! She’s going through a rough
patch. Anyone in her situation would be upset! I think you’re being
too harsh.”

Fiona raised a brow at
her. “She deserves it! I lost two clients in one week because of
her.”

“
She gave you almost a
thousand of them since she came to work for you!” Nicole argued.
“We wouldn’t be where we are had it not been for her.”

“
The reason why she was
that good is because I taught her well. I’ve given her one week to
mope and cry over her broken engagement. It’s been three weeks
already! She’s getting worse. I can’t jeopardize my business
because her fiancé left her at the altar!”

“
That’s not true!” I spoke
for the first time since she fired me.

“
Yes! That’s not true!”
Nicole agreed. “You didn’t teach her anything. She was fresh,
dynamic and creative. And she was the one who came up with the most
ambitious concepts we ever used on the weddings we did for years.
Right, Ash?” She looked at me as if she was begging me to defend
myself.

I took a deep breath.
“What I meant was… it’s not true that my fiancé left me at the
altar,” I said in a serious voice and Nicole stared back at me,
unable to wipe the shocked expression off her face.

“
That’s great dear. At
least it didn’t get too embarrassing,” Fiona said without even a
hint of emotion. “Now, before every other bride-to-be ends up
having your unfortunate fate, I suggest you go. You’re jeopardizing
my business. I thank you for your services, but I already lost two
clients because of you, I cannot afford to lose any
more.”

I didn’t know if I felt
heartbroken because of what she said. Sure, it was sad to see your
boss not seem to care about you, especially since she owes half of
her company’s growth to you, but at the same time it was also a
relief to know that I need not make another bride’s dream come
true. It’s been difficult for me since I, myself, was a
bride-to-be, but the engagement did not last long enough for me to
make it to the altar.

“
Fine,” I murmured. Then I
took my cell phone and my bag. “I do expect to receive my full
benefits, Fiona.”

She raised a brow.
“Compared to the amount of business I would lose because of you?
I’ll be happy to give you your severance pay on a silver
platter!”

I rolled my eyes at her
one last time and then I marched out of the room. Nicole was on my
tracks the minute I got to the elevator.

“
Get back in there Nic, if
you don’t want to share my fate,” I warned her.

“
You are out of your mind,
Astrid! You should fight this! She owes you that much!” she
insisted.

I shook my head. “Did you
really think I didn’t want this?” I asked her. She opened her mouth
to say something but no sound came out. “Goodbye, Nic. I’ll see you
later.”

“
I’ll talk to you later,”
she said as the elevator door closed behind me.

I exited the building and
hailed a cab. There, in the backseat, with only the cab driver as
company, I lost it. I cried my heart out.

***

The new Mr. and Mrs. Bryan
Bryans!
I heard the host announce
excitedly. I held on to my new husband’s arm happily.

Bryan smiled at me gently,
his eyes were teary. He leaned forward to give me a kiss on the
lips.

The place was magical. The
garden just outside the church was covered in moss green and brown
fabrics. I was warm in my pristine white gown. I wanted a long
train, but Bryan had been afraid that he would somehow trip on it.
I figured that was just his one request so I settled for a
waist-length one. The long lacy sleeves of my bolero jacket covered
my arms. It barely showed flesh. My gown reflected the prudent,
virginal bride that I was.

The cake was a perfect
two-tier with little green flowers on its base. The cake topper was
the traditional bride and groom locked in a sweet
embrace.

My bridesmaids, who were
dressed in elegant moss green and brown swirled gowns, danced
around us. With the two-inch heels that I wore, my violet eyes were
at almost the same level as Bryan’s brown ones. He wasn’t tall, but
it really didn’t matter to me. He was my groom, my husband. He made
this dream wedding come true. He agreed to make it my way, exactly
the way I dreamed it would be.

I danced happily in
Bryan’s arms. Then the host announced a change of partners and I
was whirled out of Bryan’s arms. I looked around to find where he
had gone. And then I saw him… in the middle of the dance floor,
dancing happily with a bridesmaid wearing a revealing moss green
gown, a flower tucked on her right ear. She looked at me and a
mischievous grin flashed across her beautiful Barbie-like features
and then she laughed the most malicious laugh I have heard in my
entire life.

“
This is my wedding!” I
shouted at her. And then I fell to my knees, crying.

I felt someone reach out
for me and force me to stand up. It was my least favorite person in
the world, Adam. He shook me and said, “Pull yourself
together!”

“
I can’t…” I
said.

“
Will you wake up,
Astrid?” he shouted at me.

I felt him shake me more
intensely.

“
Wake up!” he
shouted.

The world whirled around
me. I forced myself to open my eyes. I found myself staring into a
pair of intense blue eyes, outlined by a handsome tanned face. I
stood up from my bed and stared back at Adam.

He raised a brow at
me.

“
Are you okay?” he asked
me.

I took a deep breath and
tried to steady myself. Then I slowly nodded.

“
Your phone has been
ringing non-stop,” he told me. “I can’t concentrate and I’ve got a
pleading to submit tomorrow.”

Adam is sort of my cousin,
but we’re not really related by blood, although we grew up
together. He was my cousin’s half-brother. Ever since we were kids,
we never got along too well. He’s too frank, too tactless. He says
what’s on his mind, regardless of who will get hurt or who will
look like a fool.

I don’t really know why I
ended up in his apartment after my whole world fell apart. I shared
an apartment with Geena, the beautiful Barbie doll in my dreams.
She is my first cousin, and has been my closest friend ever since I
was a kid. I’ve slept over at her house more than I’ve slept in my
own bed. That was why it was just natural that we live together
after college. Only, it wasn’t really my apartment, but hers. Uncle
Jack, Adam and Geena’s rich father, made sure they were well
provided for.

Between the two of us,
Geena was the wild one. She wasn’t always smart, but with her charm
and looks, she survived all the challenges that came her way. Well,
if she got away with humping my fiancé behind my back, she can get
away with almost anything. Or maybe I was just too trusting… too
naïve!

My ex-fiancé is an
orthodontist. He is goal-oriented and ambitious, much like me. When
Geena needed a job that didn’t really have a lot of pressure, Bryan
took her in. I was not worried. They both loved me. They would
never betray me… or so I thought.

Back when I was still
clueless, Adam had been dropping hints to me; sometimes in the form
of a very sarcastic remark, but since I was so used to him being
rude, I just tuned him out.

So one evening, I planned
to surprise Bryan at work. I was about to open the door when I
heard him and Geena arguing.

“
You have to get rid of
it!” Bryan said angrily.

“
I’m not going to get rid
of it! I may have done shameful things in my life, but I will not
kill my own baby!”

“
Astrid will find out!”
Bryan argued.

“
And you still plan to
marry her after getting me pregnant!?” Geena asked
angrily.

“
I already spent a fortune
on that wedding she planned! It was too extravagant! What do you
want me to do? Call it all off?”

“
Oh, really? So you
want
me
to call
off
my
pregnancy
instead?” Geena asked. “I can’t believe you’re even considering
that! Perhaps you should have considered checking your ten-year old
condom before you jumped on the sofa with me!”

“
Are you sure it is even
mine?”

“
How dare you, Bryan?”
Geena fired at him. “We’ve been sleeping together for six months!
I’ve never let any other man touch me except for you!”

“
So what do you want me to
do? Choose between my wedding and your pregnancy? It’s a difficult
choice to make, you know!”

At that point, I couldn’t
take any more. I barged into the room, which shocked them both. I
stared at both of them, pasting a bored expression on my
face.

“
Oh, sweetheart… we were
just having a discussion about… a patient.” Bryan struggled to
lie.

I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Really? Which patient? Your unborn child?”

They were both shocked to
hear me say that.

“
I’ve been standing here
long enough and I assure you, I need no explanations from either of
you.” I struggled to keep my voice calm. “Bryan, I know it is a
very difficult choice to make. A man like you will not have balls
big enough to make a decision like that. So, why don’t I make it
for you?” I took a deep breath. “You both stay away from me for the
rest of my life! In case, you were too dumb to understand, Bryan…
the wedding is off!” Then I turned on my heel.

“
But… I already spent a
fortune on that damn wedding!” Bryan said angrily.

I turned around so I could
face him. “Well, then I’ll send you all your receipts and you can
see if you can get any refunds!” I stormed out of the
room.

I went home immediately
and gathered my clothes and as much stuff as I could fit in one
suitcase. I didn’t have anywhere to go at that time. I couldn’t
face my friends yet. I was too embarrassed. They already didn’t
like Bryan that much because they thought he was self-centered and
egotistic. I had defended Bryan, saying that at least he was
faithful to me. And now, this!

Before I could even have
second thoughts about leaving Geena’s apartment, I went to the
person who knew what was happening even before I knew it myself.
And I sincerely hoped that person considered me as family all
throughout these years.

Adam never liked Bryan. He
always told me that my boyfriend was up to no good, or that he only
thought of himself and he would only make me cry.

When he was suspecting
that things were happening between Bryan and Geena, he would say
things to me like
:

“
You’re so naïve,
Ash!”

“
Open your eyes sometimes
and stop trusting too much!”

“
Sometimes, the people you
trust the most, Ash, are the ones who betray you the deepest. Look
around. You just might understand what I am saying.”

So when I came to him that
night, I didn’t have to explain anything. He saw that my eyes were
swollen and that I was carrying a suitcase with me. Without a word,
he opened the door wider to let me in.

“
How long have you known?”
I asked him.

“
Does it matter how long I
have known?” he asked back. Although he sat beside me on the couch,
he offered no arm or shoulder for me to cry on. Adam isn’t a very
touchy feely person. But it meant a lot to me that he made me feel
that he was there for me.

“
How could they do this to
me?”

He sighed. “The more
important question is, what are you going to do about
it?”

“
She’s pregnant!” I
said.

For a while, Adam was
silent. I could tell he was brewing his anger all inside him. Then
finally he said, “I suppose I should beat the hell out of Bryan for
getting Geena pregnant. But right now, I want to give him a shiner
more for what he did to you.”

I stared up at him. He
smiled, which is something he rarely does. “You grew up with me,
Ash. You, too, are like a sister to me, believe it or not.” He
chuckled humorlessly. “Now, what happened to Geena, she’s an adult
now. She should know that her actions have consequences. I can’t
beat up Bryan if Geena participated in the act so willingly. But
you, on the other hand… it was not fair what they did to
you.”