“The wedding ceremony was beautiful one as well as organized, Chelsea had really outdone herself for sure.” Serena commented absent mindedly.

Serena couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the beaming bride, who was absolutely radiating in her beautiful white ball room gown. The bride seemed to be glowing with a happiness showed through her every movement from the way she danced with her husband on the first dance to the way she received compliments and blessings from the guests. Looking at the bride seemed to bring back every bad memory that Serena had tried hard to repress.

‘It could have been me’ thought Serena with a bitter look on her face.

“I could have been the one smiling from ear to ear. I could have been the one who would start a new chapter of my life. Tell me why my fate was now cruelly changed?’ Serena asked to no one in particular. Luckily no one seemed to hear her as they were all engrossed in all the on going activities of the wedding.

Serena couldn’t take these self depreciating thoughts any more. She needed something to quell the growing pain that was within her. She stretched out her hand to the passing waiter to collect a glass of champagne and clutched it close to her chest. Normally Serena was not one to drink any sort of alcoholic substance as even the slightest sip affected her to the point that she could get tipsy but she just needed a distraction from everything.

Her fingers clamped down tightly on the stem of the crystal glass before raising it to her lips and took her first sip. Serena felt the cool liquid slide down throat her throat and felt the buzz of alcohol hit her in waves. Serena gave a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, that was filled with sadness and took another sip and another, then another, then another until she finished the entire glass.

Serena felt better after each sip she took, at least it seemed to dull the overwhelming sadness that she felt. She called over the waiter to bring her a bottle of champagne to continue which he brought at once. Serena poured her self out a glass and focused her attention back to the bride in front of her. The more she continued look at her the more Serena downed a glass. Luckily for her, Chelsea wasn’t around to caution her as usual because she had been called out by the wedding planner concerning something about the wedding cake.

Chelsea would have been very concerned if she saw Serena drinking because she knew that Serena wasn’t much of a drinker, in fact she would have grabbed the glass from her hands if she was aware.

Serena wanted to stop but she just couldn’t help her self as she was already far gone. She felt small and inconsequential as if she could disappear any second. The thoughts of her wedding swirled all around her; the gown, the lights, the chandelier, the flowers, the cake…her everything!

She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to leave this place. She didn’t know where she was going to go but as long as it was far away from here.

Serena gently rose herself off from her chair and quietly walked out of the wedding hall.

****

Terrence had been watching her ever since they had parted ways from their introduction. It was not something that he would normally do but he just couldn’t help himself. There was just something odd about her, she looked cool and unassuming as if she couldn’t care less of where she was but her demeanor seemed to scream that something was bothering her.

He watched her pick up the glass of champagne from the waiter that passed by taking sip after sip before asking the waiter for an entire bottle. This woman…was she trying to get her self drunk? He saw her almost empty the bottle and get up quietly from the table that she was seated at before heading out of the hall.

Terrence had wanted to call to the attention of her sister of Serena’s disappearance but thought better of it. After all he wasn’t supposed to be concerned with a mere person that he was casually introduced to so it would seem weird.

Seeing that there was no other option Terrence decided to follow her out curious to see where she was going to. Once out of the hall he walked straight ahead in the darkness before coming to a fork in the road. He looked around confusedly his surrounding to look for her but he couldn’t find her anywhere.

‘What the hell are you doing Terrence? You are standing in the middle of an courtyard in the freezing winter all for a woman you don’t even know and from the looks of it doesn’t seem to like you much’ Terrence's subconscious chided him.

Terrence shook his head , shrugged his shoulders and was about to head back to the wedding hall when he heard a broken sob coming from the left side of the courtyard. He paused in his footsteps and wondered if his mind was just playing tricks on him when he heard it again. It sounded even sadder than the one that he had heard earlier. He decided to follow the sobbing to see what or who was crying when he saw her…Serena.

She was huddled up in the center of the courtyard with her knees brought close to her chest and she seemed to be subconsciously rocking herself back and forth as if trying to comfort herself. She looked so sad as if her life had crumbled around her.

He slowly walked up to her and crouched down in front of her but she didn’t seem to notice. It was as if she was lost in her own world. He wondered who could have hurt her so badly to make her completely break down like this. Something about seeing her like this struck a chord deep within him. For the first time in his life, Terrence felt an inexplicable anger consume him. He wanted to hurt the people who had done this to her. He wanted to make the go through the same pain that she was feeling.

He raised his hand gently to her face in a bid to wipe her tears. It was at that time that she finally acknowledged his presence and raised her eyes to meet his.

“M-Melvin?...it’s you? It really you?” she asked him in a daze.

“Why are you here? To see me at my lowest? To gloat about your victory? Answer me Melvin, why are you here?!” she said as she grabbed the lapels of Terrence's suit jacket.

“Why did you have to do that to me? Why did you decide to leave me completely stranded at the alter? Why did you decide to run away with my best friend of all people?” she whispered bitterly.

“You know that if you had told me that you were in love with Bebe instead of me then I would have gladly stepped aside for the two of you to be together. You know that I would have sacrificed everything that I had for the both of you hell I even defended you and cut ties with my sister because of the trust I had in you. And this was how you chose to repay me?!” Terence felt his heart break with very word she uttered.

Terrence didn’t know when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest. She struggled in his arms for a while before he finally calmed down.

“I hate you Melvin” Serena said as she hiccupped

“I really hate you…..”