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Chapter One
Jillian
I could hear the soft music play as the guests gathered inside the church and took their seats in the wooden pews beautifully decorated with white satin bows and roses. My mother and bridesmaids were shuffling around, ensuring everything was to perfection, including me.
“Giorgio, darling. Come here and fix Jillian’s eye shadow.” My mother ordered as she snapped her fingers.
“Of course, of course,” he spoke as he ran over to me.
“My eyeshadow is fine, Giorgio. Please step away from me before I lose my shit.” I casually smiled.
His eyes widened as he set down his shadow palette and slowly walked away. I took a deep breath as I stared at myself in the full-length mirror, dressed in white from head to toe, in a wedding dress I hated—a dress my mother picked out. This day had been planned since I was born, and I should be happy, right? After all, it was my wedding day. The day every girl dreamed of.
The girl staring back at me was someone I didn’t recognize. I didn’t know her. Everyone who had ever known me knew her. But to me, she was a stranger. As everyone was hustling and bustling around, I slipped out the room's side door and made my way down the hall, where I looked out into the church and saw Grant standing at the altar with his best man, Paris. I was numb. Completely numb, with no feeling inside me. When I looked down at my engagement ring, it had no meaning. As I removed it from my finger, I looked around and saw the side exit door of the church. This was my chance. It was now or never. I slipped back inside the dressing room.
“There you are, darling. It’s time to line up. The ceremony is about to begin.”
“I’ll be out in a minute, Mom. I want to be alone for a few minutes to calm my nerves.”
“Now, Jillian dear. There’s nothing to be nervous about. You’ve waited your whole life for this day.”
I flashed her my fake smile. A smile that I had perfected over the years.
“I know. I just need a few moments. Okay?”
“Okay. We’ll be outside the door, waiting for you.”
As soon as everyone left, I grabbed my purse, took my phone out, and dialed a cab to pick me up at Pier 59. After doing a factory reset on my phone, I threw it down on the chair and laid my ring next to it. Turning around, I took one last look at the stranger in the mirror. Ripping the veil off my head, I quietly slipped out the other door and left the church without anyone noticing me. Nerves flooded throughout my body as I ran to the limo, climbed inside, and told the driver to step on it.
Pulling up to Pier 59, I climbed out of the limo and straight into the cab.
“Where to, lady?” the driver asked, giving me a strange look.
“The Travelodge on 6th Avenue. I’ll need you to wait for me because I’m going to the airport.”
“Sure. Okay.”
When he pulled up to the hotel, I told him I’d be a few minutes and took the elevator to the second floor. Inserting the key card into the lock, I stepped inside the room and stripped out of my wedding dress. Unzipping the suitcase that was lying on the bed, I changed into a black maxi dress, slipped my feet into my black flip-flops, unpinned my brown hair, threw it up in a ponytail, and grabbed my other purse, which had my wallet and new phone in it. I took my luggage down to the lobby, handed it to the cab driver, and climbed inside.
The reality of what I’d done finally set in, and tears streamed down my face. The emptiness I’d felt inside me for so long was still there, even though I was free—free from the rope my parents had tied around my neck since I was born. My mind was cluttered with chaos and racing a mile a minute, and the perfect wedding that was twenty-four years in the making was ruined. It wasn’t my fault. How could I marry someone I didn’t love? I could no longer pretend to be the happy, perfect Jillian Bell that everyone believed I was. A weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and a new life was about to emerge. A life that I would be solely responsible for creating.
As I walked through the airport, pulling my carry-on behind me, I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything all day. My mother had told me that if I ate before the ceremony, I would bloat, which was the only thing the guests would focus on. I was starving, so I stopped at La Pisa Café and ordered a panini and a bag of chips. When I sat down and took a bite of my panini, I pushed the button on my phone to check the time. Shit. My flight was already boarding. Setting my panini down on the plate, I shoved the bag of chips into my purse, grabbed my carry-on, and headed to my gate. When I reached the gate, I noticed it said the flight was going to Houston, Texas. Looking at my boarding pass, I asked the attendant behind the desk where the flight to LAX was.
“That flight was moved to Gate C24.”
“Since when?” I asked with irritation.
“About thirty minutes ago.” She politely smiled.
“But that’s all the way at the other end of the airport, and it’s boarding now!”
“Then I suggest you run. An announcement was made overhead.”
Shaking my head, I started to run through the airport to gate C24. This was my punishment, my karma for leaving Grant at the altar. Instead of sitting down with him and my parents, I took the coward’s way out and ran, and I was still running. This was unbelievable. Who does that sort of thing? A person who had been held a prisoner all her life and suddenly snaps—that’s who. Just as I reached the gate, they were getting ready to close the doors.
“WAIT!” I shouted breathlessly as I handed the attendant my boarding pass.
“You’re lucky. You made it just in time.”
