The wedding was flawless. He brought stood there at the altar, turned around almost theatrically, and saw his bride, that beautiful woman he had been with for four years, walking down in equally theatrical manner. Or maybe she was doing it for real, maybe she was really excited, really loving, really looking forward to this day, this moment.
He looked at her with his blissful eyes, but strangely, now that he thought about it, twelve hours later, he could almost not recognize himself. Was that really him there, standing there, extremely happy? Happy about what?
It was a flawless wedding. All his friends and family seemed genuinely happy about the event. Exactly as he had always imagined, they were standing outside the church main door, receiving congratulations, just like in the movies. And there were the photo shoots, just as he had always imagined. But strangely, now that it happened, it felt more like an anti-climax than the culmination of his life's desires. During that ten year hiatus, or more like reluctant exile, from dating life, he had imagined every detail of the wedding. And just about every detail had been realized that day, just 12 hours ago. Flawless not only in the organization, thanks to a well-paid wedding organizer, but also in how all the players worked in the scene that was the anti-climax of his life so far. He danced with the bride. Oh, before that, he cut the cake with the bride. They were smiling together. They fed each other a spoonful of the rather tasteless cake. His premonition of his own wedding forgot to include a good cake. It was a showy, elaborate cake, but still, it was nearly tasteless. Mostly whipped cream and some hint of substance.
There was a dance. Yes, he remembered, there was a dance. How he had longed for, imagined incessantly, about a dance during that exile, that hiatus. And here he was, in his expensive tux dancing with a woman of beauty no less than the one in his imagination, though somehow, his heart wasn't throbbing for her at the moment, but rather, throbbing for the realization that his hopes were being realized. He saw her then dancing with her father, the one who had "given" her away. So romantic, supposedly. But no. Something was wrong.
