Canceling the Wedding He Never Deserved

1: 1

That evening, home from work, I called Curtis Harding on video the way I always did.

Not a minute in, he said, Never mind, I'm going to go shower.

So I sat on the couch, phone in my hands, waiting.

He didn't call back until four hours later.

His face filled the screen, laughing, more alive than I'd seen him in ages.

"My assistant made a fool of herself again. She can't even get the numbers right on a slide deck."

"Annie, if she were half as smart as you, I'd be set."

A moment later,

he laughed again. "Well, you can't expect every woman in the world to be as driven as you. She can just be the cute one."

In that instant, everything I wanted to say stuck in my throat.

Three years long-distance.

He used to call back the second he was out of the shower.

He'd ask what I'd eaten that day, whether the commute had gone smoothly, what color flowers I'd bought.

But at some point, all of that liveliness started going to someone else.

What was left for me was one word. Whatever.

Watching the side of his face, still smiling, I suddenly felt so tired.

It turns out that when a person is thoroughly let down, they don't even have the strength to be sad.

The call ended.

I watched the minutes slip by.

Sixty-seven of them.

Curtis never called back.

Something clogged my throat.

It was like this every time.

He'd say whatever he'd wanted to say, then hang up.

Only Maggie Cox made him talkative.

"Maggie got lost again today. Wandered around the office building for half an hour."

"She actually spilled coffee all over a contract. She's hopeless."

I tried to steer the conversation somewhere else.

I said I was craving a barbecue back in Harborview, and out it came:

"Maggie can't handle anything that greasy. She's always begging to go get cupcakes."

Then, backpedaling:

"Next time you're here, I'll take you."

My phone lit up. I opened my feed.

Curtis had posted photos from a work get-together.

The last two were of him and Maggie together.

They stood under the string lights, easy and familiar with each other.

I looked at it for a long time.

I typed, over and over.

Are you two together a lot these days

Then deleted it.

I scrolled up and down through our chat history.

Since two years ago, all that was left between us was:

Mm. Sure. Got it.

It hadn't always been that way.

Back then, he'd photograph a stray cat just to send it to me.

But once, I told him my supervisor had chewed me out.

All he wrote back was: Don't you have your own work to do?

It was as if, from that moment on, something began to tip out of balance.

I took a deep breath.

Curtis, my supervisor gave me a lot of days off. I've booked a ticket to Harborview to come see you tomorrow. Are you happy?

By the time my phone was down to three percent battery,

at 1:17 in the morning, he finally replied, his tone like a stranger's:

Annie, why wouldn't you tell me about something this big ahead of time?

Why do you always just decide things on your own? Is my whole life supposed to be tied to yours forever?

The words blurred where water had smudged them.

Never mind, do what you want. I'll pick you up tomorrow.

Never mind.

He'd said those two words too many times.

When I asked where we should go for the long weekend, he said never mind;

when I asked him to call me every day, he said never mind;

even on video, in under thirty seconds, it was never mind.

The next day I got up early.

I put on the dress he'd said looked nice last year.

At the boarding announcement, I texted him:

I'm through security

Half an hour until takeoff

I'll send you my location when I land.

No reply to any of it.

The plane touched down in Harborview, and I rolled my suitcase toward the exit.

Thinking he might be late.

Bracing myself to wait another hour.

Last time he'd said he'd come get me, and because of some proposal of Maggie's, he'd left me standing in the arrivals hall for an hour.

But now, I spotted him right away.

He stood there, two milk tea lattes in his hands.

I couldn't help lifting my hand to wave.

The smile hadn't fully formed on my face

when I saw Maggie come out from behind him and take his arm.

Curtis frowned.

"What took you so long? Maggie can't stand the heat. She was so close to passing out, waiting."

Maggie laughed and swatted at him.

"It's just been so long since your wife came to visit. Don't be so harsh."

Her hand, looped through his arm, never let go.

Getting into the car, I caught an unfamiliar scent.

The seat covers had all been switched to pink.

In the storage compartment, a little mirror, lipstick, hair ties.

A plush toy hung from the rearview mirror.

Maggie took the passenger seat.

Curtis stuck a straw into her milk tea and handed it over.

She bit down on the straw.

"That client last time was hilarious. He actually asked if I could turn the proposal into a slide deck. Please. It was such a pain."

"So what did you do?"

"I just sent him the PDF. If he can't convert it himself, that's not my fault."

Curtis laughed out loud, his eyes crinkling.

I hadn't seen that in a long time.

And he talked. A lot.

So much that, in the forty minutes from the airport into the city,

it was more than all our video calls of the past week combined.

I turned my face to the window.

Harborview's buildings were so tall they made my eyes sting.

The car stopped below his apartment building, and I followed him up.

The door swung open, and I froze in the doorway.

The living room was completely different.

That home, once cold and bare to the point of emptiness.

Now pink was everywhere.

A pink rug, pink cushions, the coffee table piled with face masks and snacks.

A piece of lace lingerie hung over the couch.

On the plant stand out on the balcony, rows of succulents.

Before, I'd set a single pothos in his place and he'd complained it was in the way.

But now it was different.

Maggie kicked off her shoes like it was second nature.

She gave me a sheepish smile.

"Don't mind it, okay? I've been looking for a place and haven't found one yet, so I'm just crashing at Curtis's for a few days. You're not mad, are you?"

2: 2

Curtis's voice went soft.

"Maggie can't help it. She's fresh out of school, barely started working, and it's hard being out here on her own."

"You went through this stage too. You of all people should understand."

"She's a good kid. She doesn't really cause me any trouble. We get along fine."

I opened my mouth to say something.

His brow furrowed, like I'd disappointed him.

"Anna, when did you turn into this? You used to crouch over a stray dog on the side of the road and cry your eyes out, insist on bringing it home."

"Maggie's a living, breathing person, and you're keeping score against her?"

I stood there with nowhere to hide.

There was a time when we'd go out to eat and some girl would come over to add him on WeChat.

He'd turn her down flat.

Like he was announcing to the whole world that he was already taken.

But now he stood beside someone else and asked me why.

Maggie's voice came out soft and sweet.

"Oh, it's normal for her to be upset. She's still a maiden after all, untouched. Curtis, go easy on her."

"Let's go watch TV first and let her work through it on her own."

She turned and headed for the living room.

Maggie dug out a bag of potato chips like she owned the place.

She called Curtis over.

I watched the whole thing.

A variety show was playing on the TV, and Maggie was laughing so hard she kept tipping over, her whole body leaning into Curtis.

He tucked her hair behind her ear without thinking.

The gesture was so natural he didn't even notice he'd done it.

I walked toward the bedroom, and the laughter dropped by half.

I don't know how long I sat there.

The TV went quiet, and Maggie ran back and forth.

"Curtis, where's the hairdryer?"

"Second drawer on the left side of the vanity."

"Oh, found it. Night."

"Yeah, get some sleep."

Right after that, Curtis pushed the door open.

He saw me sitting there and paused.

"Why aren't you asleep? You've been on a plane all day. Get some rest."

I stopped him.

"How long is she going to stay here?"

"I have a friend with an apartment in Harborview, less than a ten-minute walk from your office, cheap rent too. Want me to reach out and have her move"

"Anna."

Curtis turned around, his expression changed.

"I'm not some object in your life."

He said it slowly.

"Don't just arrange my business however you like. Maggie's my coworker. Am I supposed to throw her out without any regard for how she feels? How can you be so heartless?"

I pulled my hand back.

"Fine. I won't say anything about her."

I took a deep breath.

"I got promoted recently. My supervisor gave me a transfer request form. I could apply to move to the Harborview branch. If it goes smoothly, it might not take lon"

He cut me off.

"What would you even come to Harborview for?"

Maybe he saw my face change, because his tone softened again.

"Annie, we're both grown up now. We're not kids."

He put his hand on my shoulder.

"Isn't it good for each of us to work hard in our own field? I'll come over someday."

Before, it was: wait until he landed this project.

Wait until he made supervisor.

Wait until the project wrapped.

I waited from spring to fall, from summer to winter.

His "someday" was like a road that never reached its end.

"Then what about our engagement?" I heard myself say. "Isn't it time we set a date?"

His voice finally sharpened with anger.

"Anna, there's no reasoning with you. Are you that desperate to get married? I'll marry you eventually. What are you even in such a rush for?"

Like I was the one being unreasonable.

"I really don't get you. Think it over yourself."

The bedroom went quiet.

I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time.

The sky wasn't fully light yet when the door was shoved open.

I squinted on instinct.

The next second, I saw Maggie standing in the bedroom.

My clothes had been thrown onto the bed one by one.

She was still muttering:

"These clothes of yours are so ugly! I'm shooting photos today, and what even is this style, so dowdy and dated"

I sat up in bed. "Maggie, did you knock?"

She turned her head, and her expression flipped from disgust to hurt in an instant.

"Curtis told me you'd brought dresses, that's why I came in. How can you talk to me like that..."

Before she'd finished, Curtis's voice came through, thick with impatience:

"Anna, do you have to be so nasty? Maggie didn't mean anything by it."

3: 3

For the first time, I didn't look away from him.

Curtis sighed.

"Come on, she's just a kid. Why hold it against her?"

His voice softened.

"We finally get a break. Don't be upset. How about I take you to the theme park later, hm?"

I thought of my birthday last year.

On the phone, I'd said I wanted to go to the theme park in Harborview.

And he'd said, "Isn't that childish? You're too old for a place like that."

But today he was the one offering to take me.

I swallowed the tightness in my throat.

I told myself.

Let it go. He didn't mean it.

I hadn't come here to fight.

I nodded.

He smiled, visibly relieved.

The park was packed wall to wall.

Curtis went to buy the tickets, Maggie right beside him.

She pointed at a character cutout nearby.

"So cute, Curtis, look!"

He glanced over and said something.

From the moment we passed the turnstiles, she was hanging on his arm.

Taking photos the whole time.

In front of the castle. On the carousel.

Even a balloon vendor on the path had to be photographed.

She ran him like her own personal photographer.

And not once, the whole time, did he get annoyed.

Once, I'd asked him to take a picture of me with one of the cartoon bears.

He'd held up the phone and jabbed at it twice, impatient.

All three came out blurry.

The last one only got the bear's backside.

But now, here he was, half crouching to find the right angle.

And after each shot he'd lean in to check the preview.

The two of them, heads together over the screen.

The sun was blazing, and I felt cold all over.

They did the roller coaster, then went for the drop tower.

I sat on a bench and waited.

Next to me a couple was sharing a single ice cream.

I felt an odd little pang of envy.

By the time they came out, the sky had shifted.

Maggie tugged at Curtis, saying the haunted house was next.

Curtis didn't mind. "Let's go. Line's about half an hour."

I stood up, and for a second my vision went black.

"Curtis, I want to go back."

His mouth pressed thin, the impatience spilling right out.

"Anna, everything's fine. What are you throwing a tantrum for?"

"I'm not"

"We've been catering to your mood all day, since this morning."

His voice climbed half a step.

"And you just have to ruin it right now, is that it?"

I opened my mouth.

I badly wanted to say I'd thrown up twice since morning.

To say my legs were shaking.

But I couldn't get it out.

Maggie watched me with a coldness I couldn't quite read.

"Enough already, Annie. You've been giving me dirty looks this whole time, and I put up with it.

"Curtis and I had plans to go somewhere else, and it all got canceled because you came. What more do you want?"

She paused after that, then gave a little laugh.

Flipping her mood like turning a page.

"Forget it, forget it, Curtis, I won't hold it against her. Even if she is a total buzzkill. I don't know how you stand her."

She turned her head and shot me a look.

"Or how about we go with Annie to try on wedding dresses?

"You two were on video the other day and she kept going on about it, right? We're already out, might as well go take a look."

I stood there.

So she'd been right beside him during all our video calls.

Suddenly I wanted to laugh.

Fine.

I'd been planning to cancel the wedding anyway.

"Okay. Let's do what she says."

4: 4

We had barely stepped into the bridal shop when the clerk spotted Maggie and broke into a wide smile.

"Miss Cox, you're back! Here to try on gowns with your boyfriend again?"

"That mermaid style last time looked gorgeous on you. We just got a few new arrivals in today, would you like to"

Then she noticed me.

"And this is...?"

Maggie laughed.

"Oh, this is Curtis's fiance. I'm just tagging along today to help her look."

Curtis said nothing.

So he'd already brought her here before.

I thought back to our video call last month.

I'd shown him the gowns I'd saved online and asked which one he liked.

He hadn't lifted his eyes from his screen.

"Whatever you want is fine."

I'd asked when we could go to the shop to try them on.

He'd said we'd figure it out later.

So his "later" had meant coming here with someone else.

Maggie looped her arm through mine.

"What are you spacing out for, sis?"

"Today's all about you. I'm still waiting to drink at your and Curtis's wedding."

She turned to the clerk.

"Could you pull a few that would suit her? Nothing fancy."

The clerk glanced at me and grabbed one at random.

"This basic style is lovely too. Want to try it?"

Maggie pushed it into my hands and steered me toward the fitting room.

The fabric strained across me, the cut all wrong, the waistline sitting too high.

When I stepped out

Someone snorted.

I don't know who laughed first.

"She looks like a chubby melon..."

"You know what, she kind of does."

"This is really Mr. Harding's girlfriend? For real?"

"She's nothing compared to Miss Cox."

Their eyes drifted to Maggie.

The corners of her mouth curled up, like she was laughing at me for not knowing my place.

Just then, someone walked in.

The moment he saw Curtis and Maggie, he hurried over:

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Harding! I was just wondering when I'd get you and Miss Cox in here."

"The weather's perfect today. Why don't the two of you do a proposal?"

His smile turned eager.

"We've been short on proposal shots lately. You two just stand by that backdrop wall, and the effect would be"

People started egging them on.

"Do it, do it!"

Maggie's smile turned sly.

"Curtis, since everyone's saying it, why don't you propose to me? It's just for fun anyway."

Curtis stood in front of her, the corner of his mouth lifting.

Like he was caught up in the mood, like she'd left him no choice.

He went down on one knee.

She reached out her hand, laughing.

Around them, people clapped and cheered and snapped photos.

I turned and walked back to the fitting room.

Changed into my own clothes.

By the time I came out again, the room had gone quiet.

Curtis's brow furrowed at once:

"Anna, can you just"

I cut him off.

"Curtis, let's break up."

A moment passed.

His expression went from stunned to furious.

"Anna, you're getting more and more out of line!"

"You think breaking up is some game? Do you need the whole world to bend to you before you're satisfied?"

I looked at him.

When we first got together, he used to call me at three in the morning.

Back then his eyes only saw me.

Now his eyes held everything except me.

"Whatever. I'm leaving."

I walked to the front desk, my voice low:

"Hi, I'd like to cancel a wedding scheduled for three months from now."

She paused. "You are...?"

"Anna Sawyer. September twentieth, the Grandview Hotel."

She checked her computer. "Are you sure? The reception deposit has already been paid..."

"I'm sure."

I pushed the door open and walked out.

The sky had gone dark by the time I got back to the apartment.

I packed as fast as I could.

And boarded a plane to Ashford.

That night.

Curtis came back to the apartment with Maggie.

Something felt off.

Anna's things were all gone.

Was she really leaving?

His thumb hovered over the message box.

Before he could type anything, a call came through.

"Hello, Mr. Harding. We received notice from Ms. Sawyer today that she wants to cancel the wedding booking scheduled for three months from now. Is it off, then?"