Uninvited Groom: I Turned This Wedding Down

A week before we're supposed to register our marriage, my fiancee, Celine Payton, asks me to book eight train tickets to the beach. She says it's our last trip before we get married, and everyone close to us is going. I spend three days scrambling for tickets and finally manage to get eight seats together. After I pay, a group poll pops up in a chat called "No Henry Sharp Travel Group." The question is simple. "Should Henry come with us?" Seven votes are against it while one person abstains. Not a single vote is in my favor. The voters include Celine, my older sister, Celine's childhood best friend, and my younger cousin, whom I had practically raised. I ask Celine if she's the one who abstained. She rubs her temples. "Yes. I didn't vote against you, and that's already me looking out for you. "Everyone's worried you'll try to control everything and complain about this or that. No one will have any fun. Just give me some space before we get married, okay?" I ask, "Then why do you still have me book eight tickets?" Her answer comes naturally. "You're good at getting tickets. The eighth seat gives us extra room for luggage. I'll send you the money later." My older sister, Joanne Sharp, tries to reason with me. "We're about to be family. Don't let a few tickets ruin your marriage." I look down at the eight seats sitting side by side. So I spend three days scrambling for tickets, not because I'm going with them. I'm only helping everyone else book a trip that doesn't include me. The app reminds me that I have ten minutes left to cancel the tickets. But by then, I don't care whether I can get a refund. What matters is the woman I'm about to marry. Even when everyone else turns against me, she can't bring herself to cast a single vote in my favor. Chapter 1 When the refund countdown dropped to nine minutes, Celine Payton took my phone from me. She warned, "Don't do anything rash. Those train tickets were hard to get." She looked down to check the booking, and after confirming that all eight seats were still there, she visibly relaxed. I looked at her. "Are you afraid I'll cancel them?" "You're angry right now. Once you've cooled down, you'll regret it," she replied. "What will I regret?" "Ruining everyone's trip." She closed the refund page right in front of me. My older sister, Joanne Sharp, happened to be over for a free meal that weekend. She sat at the dining table peeling an orange, trying to talk me down. "Celine will be with you every day after you get married. It's only three days. You're a grown man. Don't keep such a tight leash on her." "I never said she couldn't go," I replied. "Then why are you making that face?" Joanne asked. The orange peel snapped between her fingers. She frowned, just like she always did when she thought I was being immature. "Henry, you always have a way of making a small matter awkward for everyone." Celine put my phone back in my hand, and then transferred 600 dollars to my bank account. The tickets came to a total of 500 dollars. The extra 100 dollars came with a note from her that read, "Don't be mad anymore. Buy yourself something you like." I sent it back. Celine gave a quiet laugh. "There he goes again." "What do you mean by that?" I asked. "You say you don't want something, then wait for me to coax you. Henry, I know this routine by heart." She said it softly, even reaching up to straighten my collar. The gesture was so familiar that my body moved before my mind did, and I leaned away from her hand. She hesitated for a moment. "Fine. Take some time to cool off. We still have to try on clothes for our engagement photoshoot. Don't forget about it." Joanne checked the time and picked up her bag to leave. "I should get going. Oh, and the sun is strong at the beach. I gave Mike that new sun-protective shirt you got me. His skin gets irritated easily." I looked up. "Didn't you say you weren't going?" "I couldn't make the schedule work. I was the one who abstained," she said matter-of-factly. "I didn't vote against you. Isn't that enough for you?" So even the abstention hadn't been Celine's. I looked at Celine. She was silent for a moment, a hint of impatience flashing across her face. "Does it really matter who voted for what? The result is the same." "Then why did you say you abstained earlier?" I asked. "I was afraid you wouldn't let the matter drop, so I just said it," she replied. She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Then she poked her head out and asked, "What do you want for dinner? I'll make a reservation." She acted as if that poll had never happened. I didn't answer and went back to my bedroom. At the back of my closet sat a small metal box. Inside was a ticket Celine had left behind seven years ago, when she had traveled from the neighboring city to see me. We were in a long-distance relationship then. Every time she came to see me, she'd mail me her return ticket. The last time, she didn't. She pressed the ticket into my hand and said, "You won't have to wait for an envelope anymore. I'm moving here to be with you." There were words she had written on the back of the ticket all those years ago. It read, "Return Date." I ran my fingers over the faded handwriting and slipped the ticket into an empty envelope. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was a message from Eddie Smith, my company's editor-in-chief. "The Norwell branch still needs someone to run it. You said you weren't interested the last time because you were getting married. The position is still open for you. Let me know by tonight." Three months ago, I had turned it down for Celine. In the living room, she was sending the ticket details to everyone going on the trip. No one asked why I wasn't going. I typed a short reply. "I accept." The message was sent just as Celine walked in. She glanced at the envelope in my hand and smiled. "Are you looking through the old tickets to make yourself feel better again? Come on, I'll take you to a new place for dinner tonight. That's enough already." I pushed the envelope into the drawer. She didn't know that this time, I was going to mail that ticket with the words "Return Date" back to her. Chapter 2 The night we went to pick out an outfit for our engagement photoshoot, Celine showed up 40 minutes late. The clerk had already ironed the white dress twice. When Celine finally arrived, Mike Young was right behind her. He had been her close friend since childhood, and he was also the person she cared about the most on this trip. "I ran into Mike on the way. He happened to be looking for some clothes too, so I brought him along," Celine explained. She took the glass of water the clerk handed her. "You don't mind, do you?" Before I could answer, Mike smiled. "If Henry minds, I'll leave right now. I wouldn't want anyone talking about how I don't know where the boundary is." He said he'd leave, but he was already sitting on the couch. Celine frowned. "Don't mind Henry. He's still upset about the poll." The clerk brought over two dresses, one cream-colored and the other light blue. "Your fiance picked the white one earlier. This gentleman picked out the other one. Which one would you like to try?" "The light blue." Celine reached out for it. "Mike always had good taste." The clerk glanced at me. I had come in three days ago to get my measurements taken and pick out the style. Celine had thought that it was too much trouble and hadn't even looked at the photos closely. When she stepped out of the dressing room, Mike walked over and adjusted her collar. "This color makes you look younger, and it'll keep the wedding photos from looking too formal." Celine looked at herself in the mirror. "It really does look better than the white one." "Then let's go with this one?" "Let's do it." I spoke up. "The white one was supposed to be for our engagement photoshoot." Mike pulled his hand back. "Sorry. I forgot you were here." After he said that, the store fell silent. Celine looked at me, her tone carrying a warning. "Mike meant well. Don't take it the wrong way." "I didn't say anything," I said. "It's written all over your face." She walked over and gently smoothed my brow. "We're getting married soon. Don't always make everyone guess how you're feeling." I moved her hand away. "Let's postpone the wedding." Mike froze. But Celine smiled instead, as if she had expected me to say it. "Fine. We'll postpone it." She didn't even ask why. "How long do you want to wait? Until after the trip, or until you've cooled off?" "I'm not throwing a fit," I said. "Sure. You're not." She went along with me, but her expression said otherwise. The clerk quietly asked if we still wanted the clothes. Celine pulled out her bank card. "We'll take both." "The white one too?" the clerk asked. "Yeah. Henry likes it." She said it so naturally, as if buying the outfit I had picked somehow made up for everything. After she paid, Mike got a call at the door. He spoke to the person on the other end for a moment, then covered the phone. "Celine, they're asking how we're dividing the rooms at the beach." "Didn't we have four rooms with two beds?" Celine asked. "The hotel says the plumbing in one of the rooms broke. Now there are only three rooms with two beds and one with a king bed. The king room is an ocean-view suite." Mike looked at me and joked, "We had an extra seat for our luggage, and now we've got an extra bed. Henry, want to come along after all? "You'd have to share the suite with Celine, though." Before Celine could answer, people on the other end of the line started chiming in. "Come on. If he comes, we'll have to call it a night right on schedule." "Let Mike stay in the suite. He's been down in the dumps lately." "Then who's staying with Celine?" Celine turned the speaker down, but didn't turn it off completely. I heard my cousin, Yelena Lynch, say, "Who else? She has to pick between her fiance and her best friend." Everyone looked at Celine. Celine sighed. "Mike will get the suite. Yelena and I will share a room with two beds." "What about Henry?" Mike asked. "He wasn't going anyway," she answered too quickly. The paper bag holding the white dress suddenly felt lighter in my hand. The bottom had come loose. The dress I had spent three days picking out fell to the floor. Someone walking past stepped on it, leaving a dusty footprint across half of it. Celine bent down to pick it up, but a hotel reservation slipped out of her pocket. The note on the reservation read, "Anniversary setup. Mr. Young likes white roses." Chapter 3 Celine explained that it was a divorce celebration for Mike. "It wasn't easy for him to get out of that marriage. Everyone just wants to help him feel better. It's not what you think." She wiped the footprint off the white shirt with a wet wipe, her tone patient. "And he paid for the suite upgrade himself. I was worried the front desk might not treat him well, so I used my VIP account to book it for him and added the note while I was at it." I asked, "You remember that Mike likes white roses. Do you remember what flowers I don't want at our wedding?" Her fingers stilled. "Don't you hate flowers?" I didn't say anything more. Last year, Celine gave me a bouquet of lilies with a strong scent for my birthday. I was allergic to them and coughed all night. She stayed by my bedside, brought me water, and said she'd remember that from then on. Turns out, she only remembered who needed taking care of. And it wasn't me. … The next day, my company officially transferred me to Norwell. I was to report there at the end of the month. I didn't tell anyone right away. I had paid the deposit for the wedding venue, and I still had all the wedding plans in my hands. I went through the cancellation deadlines one by one, then called the real estate agent to schedule an appraisal for my new home with Celine. That afternoon, Celine's mother, Marika Shelton, called me. "Henry, I heard you're postponing the wedding again." "Yeah," I replied. "Celine says you're upset about her going on the trip, so you're only trying to scare her," Marika said. "I know you care about her, but you're an adult. Don't make such a big deal out of nothing. "A woman needs her own friends and space before she gets married, too." She laughed as she tried to reason with me. "Just try to be a little more understanding, okay? Once you're married, you still have to be considerate of her in front of her friends." "Celine said I'm trying to scare her?" I asked. "Doesn't she know you by now?" Marika said. "Every time you say you want to break up, aren't you just waiting for her to talk you out of it?" I held the phone and said nothing. In the past seven years, I had only asked to break up twice. The first time was after she guaranteed a loan for a friend and ended up owing 20 thousand dollars. I sold the gold bracelet Mom had left me and covered the shortfall. Celine wrote me an IOU and promised to pay me back twice over after we got married. She even held me and swore she would never put her friends before us again. The second time was at our engagement dinner. She left to pick up a drunk Mike and left me alone with both our families. She stood downstairs all night. I ultimately gave in. Apparently, to her, neither time was about me being truly disappointed. I was just using it to get her to comfort me. That evening, everyone going on the trip came over for dinner to go over the plans before they departed. I had just set the food on the table when Zoe Newman laughed. "Henry, can you pack Celine's medicine bag too? She's allergic to pollen. "Don't let her have another reaction at the beach." Yelena chimed in. "Remember to pack her chargers and some motion sickness patches too. You may be a little controlling, but you really do pay more attention to the details than we do." I looked around the table at the people who didn't want me on the trip. They didn't want me to come along, yet not one of them turned down anything I prepared for them. Mike handed me a list. "Everyone's details are here. Keep an eye out when the return tickets go on sale, too. You're faster at getting them." "I don't have time," I replied. His smile stiffened. "It'll only take a few minutes." Celine served me a bowl of soup. "Henry's been busy lately. I'll get the tickets." Zoe immediately waved her off. "You'll never get them. Last time, Henry stayed up until midnight to buy them." "We'll deal with it when the time comes," Celine replied. Then she pushed the soup toward me and softly said, "Eat first. Don't make it awkward for everyone." I didn't touch the soup. After dinner, they played a truth game in the living room. Someone asked Celine, "Seriously, will you still come out with us after you get married?" "Of course," Celine replied. "What if Henry doesn't let you?" Celine glanced at me. "I'll just say I'm working late. Haven't I gotten away with that before?" Everyone laughed. I stood at the study door, holding a piece of paper I had picked up beside the shredder. It was in Celine's handwriting. "Mike is in a bad mood. If Henry asks, say it's a trip for everyone. "Drinking, staying up late, and booking the suite. Just tell them Henry is too strict. Don't let him know." Another line of text was at the bottom of the page, torn in half. "If the wedding is postponed, it's a chance…" The rest was missing. Chapter 4 I asked Celine what she planned to do if the wedding was postponed. In the midst of packing, she didn't even look up. "What?" I put the half sheet of paper in front of her. She glanced at it and tossed it into the trash. "Zoe wrote that as part of some stupid game. You actually took it seriously?" she asked. "That's your handwriting," I replied. "She copied it." "Celine, whenever you lie, you touch your watchband with your right hand." Celine's hand was resting on her watch. The room went quiet. She lowered her hand and finally looked at me. "Henry, do you really have to dig into every little thing lately?" "I just want answers," I said. "The answer is I love you. I'm still going to marry you, but that doesn't mean I have to give up all my friends." Her voice was steady. It sounded like reassurance, but also a warning not to push my luck. … The night before the trip, both our families had dinner together at a restaurant. Celine called it a pre-wedding dinner and said we'd use it to pick a new date for our wedding. During dinner, Zoe brought up the poll again. "Henry, seriously, don't take it personally. No one has a problem with you. We just feel like we have to watch ourselves when you're around." Yelena put a piece of fish on my plate. "Henry, you always have to worry about everything, even when you were a kid. Just loosen up and let a few things go. Who wouldn't want you around then?" Joanne nodded too. "See? Everyone's giving you a way out." I put down my fork. "Then let's vote again." The table went silent. I looked at Celine. "No anonymous votes this time. Choose in front of me." "Choose what?" Celine asked. "Tomorrow, only one of us will get to go—me or Mike." Mike spoke up at once. "Henry, don't use me to pressure her. I can stay home." He said he was willing to step aside, but his hand was still resting on the handle of his suitcase. Celine's expression darkened. "The plans are already set for seven people. If you join us now, we'd have to reorganize the train tickets and rooms." "I have a ticket. The eighth one," I said. "That seat is for our luggage," Celine argued. "The luggage can be checked in," I countered. "Everyone will be uncomfortable," Celine said stubbornly. "So you're still not choosing me," I said. She reached out and took my wrist. Celine wasn't gripping hard, but she wouldn't let me pull away. "Don't make a scene in front of our families. If you really want to go, we can go on a trip alone next time." "I'm only asking once," I said. She stared at me, the last bit of patience draining from her face. "Fine. I choose Mike." Everyone around us froze. Celine still didn't let go of my wrist. "He's not doing well. This trip was meant to help him clear his head," she said. "You and I have our whole lives together. You can spare these three days." I looked at the watch on her wrist. Celine had bought it with her first paycheck after I sold Mom's gold bracelet to pay off her debt. She had said that wearing it would remind her of who had stayed by her side through the hardest time of her life. Now, that watch was pressed against my pulse. I asked, "That note said that postponing the wedding is a chance to do what?" Celine was silent for a moment, then she finally sighed. "It would let Mike relax and enjoy the trip. He has always been afraid everyone will drift apart once we get married." "So you wanted to postpone it all along?" "Just for a week. We'll get married after the trip. Nothing will be affected." "So you were the one who started the poll?" "Yes." "You had everyone vote on whether I should go, then showed me the result?" "I wanted you to know that I wasn't the only one who thought you shouldn't be there." Celine even softened her voice. "Henry, you always say I'm not honest with you. This time, I came clean, and you still can't accept it." I nodded. "I do accept it." Celine's expression softened, thinking I had finally learned to let things go. I took the envelope holding the old ticket from my bag and placed it in front of her. "Then let's have one more vote." "What?" She sounded confused. "The question is whether Henry still wants to marry Celine," I said. I raised my hand. "My vote is no." I pulled my wrist free and got up to leave. Celine didn't follow me. She only called after me, sounding helpless. "Don't go far. I have to catch the train tomorrow morning. We'll talk when I get back." Just before the restaurant doors closed, I heard Zoe ask quietly. "Henry isn't really calling off the wedding, is he?" Celine laughed. "He can't bear to leave me." The doors closed behind me. Celine didn't know that my train to Norwell was leaving in 20 minutes.