"It's…. beautiful."
Alexis relaxed her chin, earlier stiffened with tension after watching the white roses dancing within the sweet breeze of spring.
What made weddings special was indeed white flowers, white decorations and an outdoor setting.
Alexis has never tried shooting for weddings before, nor that she was invited as one today. But she wished she carried her camera with her this time. Although her ignorance on the topic of declining any invitation of wedding always had a significant reason, she could not seem to decline this one wedding invitation and presented herself as a decent bridesmaid.
Okay, more than decent. She looked nice, more than the effort she put into getting dressed.
The emerald on her satin hugged her body like she owned the color. And she really liked how her favorite shades of green always complimented her skin. And the outfit was anything but friendly enough to carry her heavy camera bag.
"Did you mean the decoration or me?" Rebecca chimed from behind, plastering her toasty smile on her lips. She looked gorgeous, or more than that. It will be quite hard to resist the urge to jump on her before her future husband spells 'I do'.
"Yes, of course, the decoration. Because you look like you do as always. Like a mother duck. Nothing special," Alexis half smiled, teasing her best friend like the old times.
Rebecca didn't refute, instead smiled a little.
"I missed you, Alex."
Alexis had her eyes soften, with her best friend's sudden submission. She missed her too. It wasn't easy for her either, being without her best friend, being without everyone around her for so long.
She put her hands on Rebecca's and squeezed them a little, her eyes playing the unsaid emotions. Rebecca would understand, wouldn't she?
"You should travel more. Take Josh with you too. It will be fun, three of us. Easiest way to stop missing me. Expenses are on me this time. Your wedding gift", Alexis winked playfully avoiding the heavy atmosphere.
Rebecca shook her head a little. "You already did more than enough for me. Showing up today was the best gift I could ever receive."
Alexis held the bouquet of white roses gracefully and left the floor for the most gorgeous lady of the day. Rebecca stepped into the wedding aisle finally, taking the breath away from Joshua, her to-be-husband, who just stood there in awe looking extremely handsome with his tuxedo on. They were truly the perfect match, Alexis thought.
She took the nearest seat from the stage as her mind drifted staring at the perfect ironed tuxedo of Joshua. Soon her vision became blurry and she started to see completely different scene in front of her. Or it was just her mind playing the usual game again.
She really hated weddings. Because every time she is invited to one, she would always end up having these weird hallucinations.
Alexis shook her head vigorously to disrupt her memory trail and soon she was returned to the present. There they were, Joshua and Rebecca, smiling lovingly at each other and spelling their vows.
No, it was not her in that beautiful white wedding gown. It was not her bashful face shyly spelling 'I do'. And it was not the man she imagined standing beside her. In fact, that man in the imagination wasn't that far away. He was just two seats beside her, sitting patiently and enjoying the wedding.
Alexis's subconscious mind led her to glance at that man to find him glancing back at her directly, with their piercing blue eyes. She had to turn away instantly. Having an eye-contact was what she did not want to experience at this moment at all.
"I need a drink," she murmured to herself.
Alexis found an empty seat on the bar and ordered a quick drink. Only booze can help her get over the heavy feeling on her chest. Today was a happy day. And she didn't want to ruin it with some unnecessary thoughts.
As she chugged down her drink, Alexis found her eyes caught a ray of black. The man sitting beside her was wearing a full black suit with a white shirt on, a bit contrast of the wedding theme. But it didn't look like he cared that much. More like he didn't need to, as he looked unnecessarily handsome with that simple suit on, displaying fashion in simplicity.
Alexis did love to see anything that was pleasing to eyes. Because her career as a professional photographer has made her admire anything pleasant with both her eyes and lenses of her camera. Somehow that habit was never left covered, as she displayed her eyes sparkling with compliments in a rather casual manner.
The man beside her finally noticed her stare and looked towards her, his pupils dancing a little bit and then there was just this stillness. Was she always this good at observing every little thing?
"Do I know you?" she blurred out the thought that bubbled inside her brain as soon as she looked at the man directly.
He didn't say anything, just stared back in response. Or was it just him not being interested enough to respond?
And then some memory flickered in her mind.
"Oh my God…you're….you're that guy right?" Alexis's eyes widened as if she remembered something really funny. She chuckled softly, drawing a few curious eyes towards her from the wedding.
The man in question raised his left eyebrows a little, maybe waiting for her to finish whatever she meant to say.
"It's so funny, lol. Did we just meet in another wedding?" Alexis continued, not caring about the curious glances and one hard stare boring at her bare shoulders. She didn't even realise people starting to pay attention to her instead of the wedding, carrying out her own banter.
"Look at this, even our hand is on the same drink we had back then, although we look a lot better than before, don't we?"
"You think so?" The man in black finally opened his mouth, speaking in a slow and casual manner, his voice dripping coolly on Alexis's eardrums.
"Well, I'm not crying today," Alexis tilted her head in a playful manner, while swinging her drink glass.
"You never did."
A chill ran through her skin. She knew what he meant. Yes, she didn't cry back then. But it felt like he was calling her out on an obvious truth. She didn't like crying at all. It made her feel pathetic and a little too vulnerable for her own good.
Alexis closed her eyes and her eyes replayed all the things she could remember which occurred during the first time they met each other.