My Sweet Seduction

I folded my palms inside the bridal car. The nervousness in my chest pounded as I waited. I stared intently at the people inside the church who seemed to be in a commotion. Moments later, my mother, Letizia, approached the bridal car, her face visibly anxious.

"Hija!" she calls between the knocks on the car window.

I slowly rolled down the window for her. "Mother, what's going on?"

She seems restless and looks around. I straightened up, nervous, and spoke again. "Mom!"

"Hija, Lester is not here yet. He is over an hour late," she said.

"Maybe he is just stuck in traffic, or maybe his car broke down on the road. I will try to call him," I said quickly and fished my phone out from my clutch bag. But Lester's phone was off.

I don't want to think it, but one thing enters my mind: he's not coming!

I drop my phone and get out of the car. I don't care if people in the church can see me. I immediately find Lester's mom and hug her tightly.

"Mom, I can't contact Lester," I said between rapid breaths.

She grabs my two hands. "Hija, we still can't contact his cell phone," she said as I shook my head.

"He can't do this to us, Maricar. He can't embarrass us here!" said Don Simon, Lester's dad.

My chest throbbed even harder.

"No. This is just a dream," I whispered. I closed my eyes tightly and pinch my arm. It feels like heaven and earth have fallen on me. Tears well up in my eyes. "You said you love me? Where are you?" I said sadly.

Cindy, my best friend, approaches me, hugging me tightly and crying with me. "Margaux, calm down. Maybe Lester is just late," she said while stroking my back.

I quickly turned around. I wiped away my tears, then held out my palm to Cindy. "Where's your key?"

"Where are you going? Just wait a little more. Maybe he will come," she insisted.

"Give me your key!" I shouted. She sighed before speaking again. "In your condition now, you definitely can't drive properly. I will drive for you."

"Just give me your fucking key!" I shouted emphatically.

Cindy seemed shocked and bit her lip. She finally reached for her key with sorrow in her eyes.

I heard my dad call me. "Margaux!"

I glanced at Dad before running towards Cindy's car. I saw their attempt to chase me, but I pulled the car away. I didn't even know where I was going.

"I'm so sorry, Mom and Dad," I whispered.

I wiped away the tears that kept falling. I knew I was disappointing them. If I could turn back time, I would not want to embarrass them in front of so many people.

"Fuck you! Bastard!" I shouted.

I was ready. I really wanted to start a family with Lester, but after what he just did? What had I done wrong in our relationship?

Not only was my family embarrassed in front of many people, but he made me look stupid. My pain was intense.

I had no idea why he would do this to me. In the three years we had been together, our relationship had been smooth. He often made the effort to make plans because I was always so busy with work. He's also the one who wanted to get married. Fucking bastard!

I honked loudly at a driver who suddenly overtook me.

"Fuck you! You goddamn bastard!"

I was shocked when the car suddenly stopped in front of me. "Stupid!" I blurted out before hitting the brakes.

I immediately got out of the car. I'm wearing a gown but to hell if I care! I knocked on the car's half-open window.

"Hey, whoever you are, get out of there! You don't own this road, and you have no right to suddenly stop in the middle of the road after you overtook me!" I shouted with rage.

I backed away when the door opened, and a tall man in sunglasses stepped out. He was breathtaking in his white polo shirt and dark pants. But I was suddenly startled by the horns of the cars behind us.

"Get married, so they don't chase you on the road!" a driver shouted and smiling at us.

Even the passengers in the jeep laughed. Some trembled with excitement.

Are they serious? They thought this man left me at our wedding, and I was chasing him? Someone really left me but not this bastard!

I stared at the spectators and confronted the man who had just slammed his car door shut.

"Mr. Whatever, who you do you think you are, stopping in the middle of the road! What if I didn't brake right away?!" I wanted to express all my resentment even though I knew I was also to blame for what happened.

But he did not speak.

I let out a sigh and narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you deaf or something?"

"I do not see anything wrong with what I did. You are the one who is at fault for cursing at me," the man said while crossing his arms.

"Excuse me? So, I'm to blame?"

I heard him curse a few times while clenching his jaw. I was a little taken aback as I looked up at him, especially when he suddenly stepped closer.

"You're the reason why I'm late, Miss Runaway Bride," he whispered.

I swallowed hard. What did he just say?

My cheeks warmed. "You rudely stopped in the middle of the road! Also, I'm not a runaway bride!"

"It looks like your car has no damage. Unless…You want me to pay you, right?!" He smirked.

I was about to answer, but suddenly a traffic officer approached us. "Ah, I beg your pardon. Is there a problem here?" he asked.

"No, nothing. We're just having a small chat," the man in sunglasses said confidently. His hands were now inside his pants pockets.

"Then maybe you can step aside because you're interfering with the flow of traffic," the traffic officer said impatiently.

"It's okay. I have a meeting to attend to, so I better be going," said the man, "As for you, miss, you might be late for your wedding. What a waste of your gown and makeup if you just run away!" He laughed while he got into his car.

I winced at what he said.

Meanwhile, the man waved at me while he drove away.

"Fuck you, bastard!" I shouted. I could do nothing but get back inside my car.

I went straight home to the condo. I took off my gown, and with a bitter smile, I threw it in the trash.

I went into the bathroom and let the water from the shower flow onto my body. At the same time, abundant tears flowed. An hour passed before I thought of getting dressed.

I slowly laid down on the bed, thinking about what had happened at church, tears falling from my eyes again. I couldn't feel anything except for the pain in my heart.

I wake up to the sunshine touching my cheek. I must have fallen asleep with my bedroom window open.

Even though I submitted leave for the wedding, I got up and prepared to go to the office. Since the wedding didn’t happen, I may as well go work.

"Margaux, why are you here?" There was a shock in Karen's voice, my secretary. "You should rest first."

"I will go crazy if I just mope in my condo. Besides, there is a lot to do here today. There will be holidays again," I said. I was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn't see my puffy eyes.

"Are you really okay?" she asked worriedly.

I just smiled at her and went straight to my office. I removed my sunglasses before facing the papers on my desk.

"Margaux, if you need someone to talk to, please do not hesitate to call me," she said in a low voice.

"I'm okay, Karen. I just don't want to talk about what happened. I'll call you when I need something."

"Okay," she answered and shut my office door.

I started work. I didn't want my brain to be free for a moment. And then the intercom rang on my desk.

"Lester is on the line. You want to talk?" said Karen over the intercom.

I closed my eyes firmly before answering. "I'll talk to him."

"Hello?" said Lester on the other line, but I did not answer.

How my heart broke when I heard his voice. "Margaux, can we talk?" My tears flowed.

"Baby, I love you…I know you know that. Something just happened that I couldn't make it to our wedding. Please, I need to talk to you," he said, begging. "Babe?"

I took a deep breath before speaking. "Okay. Let's talk after office hours." Then I quickly dropped the call.

The day passed quickly because I made myself busy.

"It's Lester again," Karen said on the intercom.

I pressed the enter button. "Hello?"

"I'm outside your office," he said.

"Okay, I'll come down."

I didn't bother to fix myself like I used to, with lipstick and blush.

When I came out of the building, I immediately saw Lester leaning against his car. My chest throbbed loudly. He was wearing a white V-neck shirt, bleached jeans, and rubber shoes. He looked like he had forgotten to shave. And because of the depth of his eyes, it looked like he hadn't slept. Despite that, he was still handsome.

When he noticed me, he threw away the cigarette he was holding and greeted me. He moved to kiss me on the cheek, but I avoided it.

"What are we going to talk about?" I said in irritation.

"Let's talk in some other place," he said in a low tone. He guided me into his car.

"No, thanks," I firmly refused. "I better use my car."

He had no choice but to agree, so I went to a restaurant using my car.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked as we sat down. "I'll just have water," I answered, even though my stomach was growling earlier.

I'm hungry, but I don't want to be with him for long.

"Marg, baby ... " He held my hand.

"Don't fucking call me that!" I said and pulled my hand away.

"Look, Margaux ... I'm sorry for what I did. Something really happened that day that I did not expect," he said, shaking.

"My God, Lester, I thought we both wanted this ever since I said yes to you. What we had for almost three years; you just threw away!" I spat.

"Believe me, I really want to spend the rest of my life with you ... " he said in a low voice, then reached for my hand again and kissed it.

I stared at him intently. He was still handsome, with dark eyes, a pointed nose, and red lips like an Adonis.

Suddenly the pain in my heart changed. I didn't want to cry in front of Lester, but the tears wanted to spill at any moment.

"Please tell me, Les ... What happened between us? Where was your promise not to hurt me? Even our parents were hurt by what you did!" Tears sprang to my eyes.

"Shhh, please don't cry, babe." He wiped away my tears.

"Stop it! Bullshit!" I pulled my hand away from him. The other customers were starting to pay attention to watch us.

"Please, baby, just give me one more chance. I can fix this. I promise!"

"Whatever the reason was that you did not show up to our wedding, I do not want to know. I guess this will be the end for us. We can never go back to normal because you broke this!" I got up and left the restaurant.

"Margaux!" Lester chased after me, and when he reached me, he grabbed my arm tightly.

"Let go of me!" I pulled my arm away violently.

"No, Margaux. We haven't yet finished. Come inside again, please ... " he begged as if he was running out of patience.

"There's nothing between us, Lester! We're through!" I said in my cold voice.

"I will not allow you to leave me. I'm just asking you for a little time for me to fix this problem. Believe me, after this, in any church, I will marry you. Please, baby ... "

His voice was gentler, but it was not enough to touch my heart. I slapped him hard on the cheek, which made him blush. He held the injured cheek.

"Fuck you! I am not a dog that you can leave anywhere and come back whenever you want!" I gasped. "You are my first love, my first boyfriend, and the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with," I continued. I didn't care if people watched us. "I gave you everything, but it's not enough! It's painful because you are the first person I loved, but you are also the first to destroy me."

Tears fell down my face. I deeply regretted crying in front of him, so I wiped away the tears before turning around and running to my car.