The Wedding Project 💍

'Perfect' (Part Two)

Smiling down from the sky, the sun set the palms in a radiant glow and cast shadows to the grass-covered ground. The air was fresh with the scent of some indigenous plants Anna couldn't identify, lighting her surroundings in an ethereal gleam. Perhaps that was a part of her imagination, but the feeling was real nonetheless.

She walked without walking and took a bouquet without moving. Nothing seemed to pull Anna from her head. She was simply in another world, a wonderland of sorts where the grass was green year-round, and her favorite colors were dappled on flower arrangements everywhere the eye could see. She was dreaming. None of this could be real.

But she remembered planning the scene, the flowers, the wooden arch, the platform she would stand on.

Donald leaned closer to Anna, whispering. "I'm so proud of you."

Anna blinked for what seemed like the first time in minutes.

She was here. The silver carpet was under her feet. Her feet were moving without her voluntary direction. Music sounded from somewhere, but Anna couldn't hear the melody.

She was here, treading down the aisle, a bridal bouquet of pastel yellow, orange, and pink in hand.

Callum was there, standing under the white arch, perfectly framing him. The arch made him seem more handsome than Anna remembered the night prior. Or perhaps the beauty came from the rectangular arch draped with lace fabrics and pastel flowers. Callum had his gaze set on the azure sea above, bathing his short, curly brown locks in the midday light.

Anna took a deep breath and stepped onto the platform with her father. She could only see what was in front of her. The rest of the world blurred into a void. Her father was clear and so was Callum, but the officiant who stood no more than a few feet away faded into the blue of the sky and green flora surrounding them.

Callum stepped forward to shake her father's hand. Callum's handshake was familiar to Anna. The gesture was something he always seemed to do in greeting. Though, Anna didn't see the purpose in it. But why? she had asked on multiple occasions. He had chuckled and shook his head, claiming he would explain why another time. He always did, though.

Footsteps receded. Anna knew that much and the fact that the sun was shining.

She knew nothing but Callum and his eyes of blue and flecks of green. If she looked closer, the shades of green became apparent and she could find at least a million different hues of blue. She loved the color on him. It matches your eyes! Anna remembered saying that on his last birthday when she gifted him a collared shirt from a name brand she couldn't recall anymore. Callum had smiled and moved on to a gift his mother had sent him in the mail that he seemed to grin at for eons. The adoration he had for his mother made Anna's smile widen. One of the many things they shared, and one of the very reasons she knew they were meant for each other.

"What we will be witnessing today is a promise." The voice beside Anna cut through her self-made silence, but she didn't stray her gaze from Callum. "A promise that none of the two will have to continue on their path through life alone. They were both raised by good parents—who are here with us today, along with some of the grandparents as well—and have friends who care about them."

Anna's grin broadened. She couldn't have thought it could grow any larger. Her roller coaster was climbing to the peak of the ride, slowly but surely, building anticipation by the second. True joy would ensue at the pinnacle. That's what always happened.

As the vicar continued his speech, admittedly too long for Anna's focused attention, she kept her eyes fixed upon Callum, his beautiful nose, eyes, lips...