The wedding (part 2)

                                    

                                          
12th January 2023
                          
Tapping the face of his watch, Joe sighed in aggravation. It was 12:20 and people were becoming restless. 
                          
The subtle mix of Australian and English accents culminating into sentences all of which were along the dehumanising lines of 'Wasn't it meant to start at twelve?' and 'God look at him up there - she's twenty minutes late he must be shitting himself.'
                          
"Liam, she isn't here yet." Joe muttered softly as he walked up to his best mate who was chatting to Tracey as calmly as he could.
                          
Steeping aside from his conversation, Liam took a hold of Joe's shoulders, leading him back up to the end of the isle where he was meant to be standing and waiting for her. Looking into the distracted blue eyes of the groom, Liam snapped him out of the nervous trance he had put himself in.
                          
"She will be here Joe... Don't worry about it."
                          
"What do you mean don't worry? I've been standing up here for 20 minutes with peoples eyes on me - questioning to myself where the fuck she is... She's bailed I know It... She - she can't do this, neither can I... Maybe she's run off with Lily... Maybe I'm not going to see either of them ever again... Oh god, oh god - can we just go back to the hotel please."

                          
"JOE STOP!" Liam berated in a whispered shout. "If you start freaking out about where she may or may not be you're going to give every single person in this church a fucking heart attack okay. I mean it's bad enough having this many pensioners in this heat wearing suits as it is, and the last thing they need is to watch the groom have a breakdown."
                          
Taking short, sharp breaths, Joe felt his pulse rate increase exponentially. His hands began to shake and the skin underneath his suit was sweating far more than he ever wished to admit. "But she isn't here... Is she." 
                          
Liam looked as calmly as he could. Trying his absolute hardest not to show his best mate how worried he truly was for him. "Joe listen to me...Remember what we spoke about up in the hotel... Remember what we said about the way she-"
                          
"Yeah, but she could have changed her mind you don't know." The brunette interrupted, his eyes locked firmly over Liam's shoulder and onto the open door at the end of the old church.
                          
"Uh... Joe! Come on now... You and I both know that that girl is absolutely smitten with you. She would not miss this day for the life of her, and she definitely would not have taken your daughter away from you. She isn't like that and you know it."
                          
Joe closed his eyes, his gaze falling to the cobbled flooring of the building. His polished brown shoes tapping nervously onto the ground. "I just want her to get here." He mumbled softly, his voice barely a breath at this point as he held back the tears which he was certain were going to fall.
                          
"Suggy, lift your head up right now." Liam ordered, as he tightened his grips on the grooms shoulders. "If she walks in here right now and sees you moping around like this she won't want to marry you at all okay. So you need to be standing here, a smile on your face, shoulders up right, and your head held up high. Looking like you're excited for this day... For her. Every single person in this room is here today because they know that you love Dianne more than anything else in this world. And you need to show them that whether she's in the room or not... Okay?"
                          
Joe knew Liam was right. He knew that he was being ridiculous and that him freaking out wouldn't make her get here any quicker. So, with a large inhalation of the sea air, and a quick mop of his sweaty brow with the handkerchief in his breast pocket, Joe did as he was told. Holding his head up high - and throwing a smile on his face as he allowed the feeling of the vows in his inside pocket to rest onto his heart.