22 The Wedding Day 2

They had enjoyed peace and harmony as a family, and any wrong move could affect the children and grandchildren adversely. So, she never bothered giving him the honor of replying to his message, but she carefully organized the bride and her train to the registry.

At Arthur Bailey's Apartment.

“Father.”

“Yes, Julie.”

“Look at the time. We should be on our way.”

“Oh! Let's go.”

Arthur and his beautifully dressed daughter got into his car and he turned on his car ignition. Before they drove off, he looked at Nichole's apartment and discovered that she had gone, and he asked with a concealed disappointment, "so, your Mom had gone?”

Mom, is the way everyone addressed Nichole after she took up the task of mothering them after the death of their mother.

“Yes father. You don't expect that they should still be at home by now.”

“Yes, she is an excellent organizer.”

The handsomely dressed fifty-eight years old man was disappointed when he noticed that Nichole had left for the registry without responding to his message. He had hoped that they would go in convoy. While Julie would join the train, he would come behind the train with her, and they would begin to get familiar with each other. After his promise to his daughter, the previous night; 'I will give it a thought, if that will make you happy', his thought went to Nichole. She was the only woman close to him apart from his secretary, whom he inherited from his late brother, Mr. Williams Bailey. He had been very busy with work since he took over as the Chairman of the Bailey International Conglomerates seven years ago that he never gave his emotions a thought. Now, Julie's suggestion that he should give marriage a thought had given him some motivations to love again, and that woman must be Nichole.

Subsequently, he arrived at the registry with Julie to discover that everyone who needed to be present at the ceremony had arrived, especially some members of his staff whom he had invited. He felt odd because he was supposed to be the first to arrive as the father of the groom. He searched around for Nichole and found her seated at a seat designated for the parents of the groom. Furthermore, he cheerfully took his seat on the empty seat beside her as the father of the groom. Nichole joyously smiled and welcomed him, which gave the children joy without suspecting anything. Nevertheless, he also arrived thirty minutes before the appointed time. At that point, Mr. And Mrs. McGregor were seated happily. Soon the wedding commenced.

Louis got to the registry by 12:15 pm, as he anticipated, and walked in vivaciously with his white suit and mumbled happily, 'At last, I am here.'

However, to his dismay, the registrar joyously announced, “You may kiss the bride.”

'Wow! So soon?' He thought, and looked at his time. It was 12:16 pm. Therefore, he joined the witnesses in clapping as the couple engaged in a fervid kiss. He took advantage of the clapping session to look around to see the people present. He saw the faces he was familiar with and gave them a nod, especially Julie, who was a few seats away from him. Furthermore, he saw the couple he least expected to see, the couple he had been looking for in Cairo and beyond. Seated on the seat dedicated to the bride's parents was the couple who almost got him into trouble – Mr. and Mrs. McGregor. Now, he was aghast.

'What is happening? Why are they here?' He asked himself. At that moment, many questions clouded his mind at once, oblivious of how to get the answer. Now, the kissing session had ended, and the couple faced the audience while the Registrar announced facing the audience too.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the latest couple in town.”

The audience hysterically clapped. Now, Louis was able to see the bride. She was smiling heartily in her white apparel, just as he saw her in his dream. Louis could not say anything apart from, "Olivia?”

Then, he took a deep breath and blinked his eyes several times before he took another look at her. “This is Olivia, no doubt,” he concluded and quietly walked out of the registry. The first thing that came to his mind as he was walking, was to inform Dr. Kadon Quain, who was the only person who knew his plight.

'I need to let Dr. Quain know about this. At least, I owe him that,' he resolved. Although he was not aware whether it was the right thing to do, but in his befuddled state, that was the only thing that he could do. Then, he called his line, and it connected at once, and Dr. Quain greeted.

“Hello, Mr. Bailey. Good to hear from you.”

“Hello, Dr. Quain. I feel you should be aware of this. I have found the lady that I'm looking for.”

“Oh! That is …?”

“She got married today to my cousin brother, Denise. See you later.”

(Cut)

Louis conducted himself impeccably, which was strange to him, too. He could now make meaning out of the dream he had some nights ago.

“So, Denise was the man with the white apparel?” He muttered, got into Denise car, drove it back to his compound and parked. Then, he got into the house while Denise's staff cast him a questioning look and asked.

“Welcome back, Mr. Bailey. Is the ceremony over?”

He only smiled at them without a word and walked to the guest room. Then, he pulled off the white suit and hung it on the thick wooden hanger to let it get some fresh air. Afterward, he dressed up in his clothes, picked up his belongings and left while John and Caleb looked at him until he disappeared from their sight.

At The Registry.

When Dr. Quain's phone rang, he picked it. The sound was swallowed by the hysterical clapping from the audience, which did not cause him any embarrassment. When he picked, the people around him watched as he walked out of the door to speak with the caller. To their surprise, his phone fell off his hand. He picked it immediately and tried to call back, but he could not. Therefore, he had to switch off his phone and turn it on again. But before he could call again, Mr. Louis, who was not aware that he was at the registry, had left. Now, he was on his way back to the Heathrow Airport to catch up with the three O'Clock flight back to Cairo, and, he had switched off his phone.

Now, Dr. Quain was visibly restless. At that moment, the couple, and some witnesses were signing the register. At last, the Registrar handed over the certificate to them. Then, the doctor looked at the bride who was smiling happily again and asked himself, 'Is she not aware that she had killed someone? The man who loved her so much.'

Meanwhile, nothing made sense at the ceremony to the doctor anymore, and he decided to leave. He walked to Mr. Bailey, his boss who just got off from the signing of the register, and requested, “Excuse me, boss. I would love to be on my way, please.”

Now, Mr. Bailey, who noticed that he had been uneasy since his phone fell off from his hand, interrogated, “I hope there is no emergency doctor? I noticed when your phone fell off your hand."

Nevertheless, Dr. Quain gave a false smile and simply replied, “You are right, Mr. Bailey, but I have to leave.”.