I have a lot of relatives on my mother’s side – she has three brothers and one sister, so I have a lot of brothers and sisters, too. We hardly ever see each other, we all very rarely get together at the table on holidays, because everyone is grown up, many of them have families or friends of their own. But this, of course, did not apply to my wedding. I entrusted the organization to my mother and older sister, who also helped my bride to choose a dress, hair and makeup, booked tables in the cafe, coordinated the menu and guest list, inviting more people. My parents and Sara paid for everything, so they kept an eye on the budget as well, figuring that they could afford to invite all my relatives. My cousin was one of the guests.
Sarah and I were accepting congratulations and gifts before the ceremony began when he came over to congratulate us. He noticed my fiancée and was confused for a while. He congratulated quietly, embarrassed, and disappeared into the crowd. Afterwards there was the wedding and we went to the restaurant to celebrate. There were a lot of people around, all the bridesmaids wanted to dance with me, and my friends with Sarah. My brother was also among those who wanted to dance. While dancing, they chatted about something for a long time. I was curious.
– What were they talking about? – I asked my brother when we ran into each other at the dessert table.
– About the celebration, it’s all very beautiful and expensive, my parents did their best, as I see, – he kept smiling. – Your bride is beautiful, too. She’s a good bride… but she’s already run away from a wedding once. Our wedding. So don’t let her get away.
He patted me on the shoulder, walking away to his seat and the girl he came with. His words kept me up all evening, and at night, when my wife and I were alone, I asked her if she knew my brother.
– We met when we were at university. Not long, until the first fight.
– He said you ran away from the wedding…
Sarah laughed awkwardly, as if she was ashamed to remember those times.
– Well, yes, he jokingly asked if I wanted to marry him, and then suddenly decided to take me to the registry office. We’d only known each other for a month, and he and his wedding… Of course, I ran away. That’s how we fell out. We didn’t see each other for four years.
Afterward, Sarah laughed a lot and encouraged me to laugh, and I kept thinking about my brother and how his intentions were quite serious. He wasn’t kidding then and it must have been a real surprise for him to meet his ex-girlfriend at a wedding where she was the bride.
The only good news is that he and I are unlikely to see each other anytime soon. There will be holidays again, not everyone will be able to get together, we’ll be scattered around the world again. But it’s still unsettling that my wife used to date my brother and at least for him, but it was very serious.
