She didn't look sad.
She looked terrified.
Our eyes met.
Colleen froze.
I watched the color drain from her face.
Then she turned around and disappeared into one of the side halls.
“Colleen?”
She kept walking.
I followed her.
“Colleen!”
She stopped.
Slowly, she turned around.
Her expression was one of pure panic.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
I almost laughed because the question made no sense.
“What am I doing here? I'm working.”
She stared at me.
“Working?”
“Yes. I'm the florist.”
The moment I said it, her entire body seemed to stiffen.
Before she could respond, the wedding coordinator came rushing toward us.
“There you are!” she said to Colleen. “The groom has been asking for you.”
My stomach dropped.
“The groom?”
Colleen looked at me.
I looked at her.
Then I suddenly remembered.
Adrian had an older brother.
Julian.
Of course.
It had to be Julian's wedding.
For some reason, that thought still hurt.
I hadn't been invited.
Part of me wondered whether the family had deliberately excluded me because seeing me would have been too painful.
I tried to understand.
I tried to make excuses for them.
Then my eyes fell on Colleen's corsage.
I recognized it immediately.
It was one of the pieces I had made earlier that day for the mother of the groom.
I remember thinking that it was strange to see it on her.
But I didn't question it.
I went back to work.
I should have listened to the feeling in my stomach.
I should have followed the instinct screaming at me that something was wrong.
Instead, I kept arranging flowers.
The Door I Should Never Have Opened
A few minutes later, I saw Colleen again.
She was slipping quietly into a room near the back of the venue.