I Do?

Today, I decided to take a stab at fiction. Enjoy!

The big day had finally arrived. After months and months of planning and stressing out, her wedding day was finally here. Titi could barely sleep the night before her wedding, she was on an emotional roller coaster and her stomach was so uneasy. She tried to chew on her nails like she always did when she was nervous, but she couldn’t because she had acrylic nails on for her wedding. Her sisters and her bride’s maids were lounging in the hotel room and were completely oblivious to the turmoil raging within her. As far as they were concerned she was the luckiest girl on the planet, but was she?

Titi had the same boyfriend from when she was sixteen till she turned twenty seven, she was so sure she was going to spend the rest of her life with wale, they did everything together and nobody knew one without the other, but on the eve of Titi’s twenty seventh birthday, wale proposed to another girl. Titi thought she was going to die, she went as far as attempting suicide, but her sister found her just in time. She had so much pain and bitterness inside of her because she had no clue wale was dating another woman, talk more of proposing to her. Where did he find the time to spend with her? How did they meet? How long did they date for? She had all these questions but the one person that could answer her was in Dubai celebrating his engagement.

Eventually Titi dragged herself up, put herself together and started her life afresh. She was determined to get over wale and she did, even though she had no closure. Fast forward ten months later, she met Chidi. A handsome, dashing Igbo guy who swept her off her feet. It was a whirl wind romance and before she could blink she was engaged and planning her wedding. Chidi loved Titi with every fiber of his being and anybody who had eyes could see, but a part of Titi still clung to the life she had envisioned for she and wale, she thought she was over him but she wasn’t.

Titi couldn’t talk to anyone about how she was feeling, how could she begin to explain that Chidi didn’t make her feel the way wale did? So she did what turned out to be the biggest mistake of her life, one Sunday night exactly three months to her wedding, she got in her car and drove to wale’s house. Titi had worked hard to put that Sunday night out of her mind, to focus on the future and the man she was about to marry and she managed just fine until now. She was marrying Chidi tomorrow but could she? Could she face Chidi and say I do?

Morning finally came. As the makeup artist worked on her face, her heart was racing. Her friends and her sisters were all dressed up, smiling and taking photos, her mother came in, blessed her and veiled her. Nobody saw the anguish in her eyes, nobody saw how badly she was trembling, everybody assumed she was just a nervous bride. Time was going by so fast, soon her hand was draped over her father and he was walking her down the aisle. Titi couldn’t see anyone in the church,all she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears. she had never been so afraid in her life. Chidi stood tall at the altar in his perfect suit, waiting for his bride. Soon the moment came; her father handed her over to Chidi and went back to his seat.

Titi finally looked at the guests seated behind her. She saw her father smiling proudly, her mother delicately dabbing at her tears with her pristine handkerchief, her sisters taking a group photo, Chidi’s parents smiling at her and then she saw him and her heart stopped. Wale was seated right there looking at her with expressionless eyes. Titi looked away and blinked back the tears that were rapidly welling up in her eyes. She looked up at Chidi just in time as the priest asked her if she was willing to take him as her lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, till death did them part.
But how could she say I do, when that fateful Sunday night changed the course of her life, how could she promise to love Chidi forever  when she was carrying wale’s child?