A lie in church. ON RADISH

2- the lie

We sat in silence for the remainder of the procession. The bride joined her groom at the altar. Her dad beamed at everyone, walking to the seat his beautiful wife had reserved for him.

The groom didn't even turn to look at the bride's face, not even a glance.

"That's cold," I whispered to Grey.

"What?" he asked, barely paying attention.

"The groom didn't spare his bride a look."

"He is going to be seeing more of her."

"Have you noticed how still he is?" I whispered, staring at the groom, who hadn't smiled since his bride had joined him.

"He is probably nervous. I would be, too, if it were me. He is tying his soul to one woman."

I tried not to be offended by his last comment. We'd only been together for five months, and I didn't know if I should be bothered by his words.

"Is anything wrong with that?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

"No, of course not." He sealed his words with a thin smile.

I studied his expression for a while before returning my gaze to the altar.

The ceremony started smoothly. Grey and I whispered to each other whenever we noticed anything interesting. Like the old man who almost hit his head on the seat while sleeping. And the lady who kept touching her makeup and blowing kisses to her mirror. Why was she even here?

It was time for the vows. Grey was already bored and kept himself busy with his phone. I found it disrespectful, but I guessed this wasn't his type of scene. I must have dragged him away from his annoying frat friends, but relationships involved sacrifices and compromise.

Sofia was pretty, her pale skin looking so smooth from here. Her stylist had done a good job with her dark hair. Her makeup was glamorous. I could see the different shades of eye shadow and glitter from here.

She said her vows with so much joy, but the groom kept staring at her with a blank expression. He looked like he wanted this to be over.

Is this an arranged marriage? I brushed my thought away and focused on the altar.

When it got to the groom's turn to say his vows, silence consumed him.

I nudged Grey and pointed at the altar with my chin. "He is tongue-tied," I whispered.

"Now, this is getting interesting." Grey sat up straight and put his phone away.

Sofia seemed scared; she called his name, but he looked void like nothing mattered to him. The priest repeated the vow, but the groom didn't answer.

I wondered how the groom's stoic expression managed to make him look like a model posing for a photo. I mentally slapped myself for the thought in my head.

Sofia smiled at the congregation, like she wanted to tell us everything was okay, no need to panic. She tried to suppress the fear surging through her as she stepped closer to her groom. Her hands shook, gripping one of his hand. She stared at his face. She appeared so tiny next to him. I watched with keen interest as she spoke to him softly but with clenched teeth.

A lady stood up and walked to the altar. I assumed it was the groom's mother from the resemblance. She whispered a few things to him and returned to her seat with a nervous grin.

The priest repeated the vow, but the groom was still mute. People began to murmur.

"Should I record this? It would hit a million views on YouTube," Grey asked, picking up his phone.