She caught him, and there was no way to get around it. Elisa stood across the room with tears in her eyes. The dirty pink panties were clenched in her right fist as she crossed her arms.
They started at one another, her looking for an explanation and Zach lost as to how she found them. He was always careful. Then again, he was not as careful when booze was involved.
“I’m sorry,” was all that Zach could say.
“You think saying sorry is going to change any of this?” she said. She threw the lingerie at him.
“Please, we have to work through this,” Zach said.
“Well I can’t. I’m done,” she said. The mascara from her eyes dripped down onto her wedding gown as she made her way for the vestibule door. She opened it only a crack and viewed the hundreds of people sitting in the pews, waiting for her to walk down the aisle. The embarrassment of being cheated on right before their wedding was too much. But to have to reveal it to the world right in this moment was more than she could bear.
She turned back to Zach, whose face was now sunken in.
“We don’t have a choice,” he said. She knew he was right.
They stood at the altar. The priest shifted his eyes back and forth from both of them, trying to figure out why neither of them was smiling. The crowd held its breath in confusion after both declined to say their vows.
Elisa refused Zach’s hand and put the ring on herself. The priest held up his bible and turned to Zach.
“Do you take this woman to be your wife?” he asked.
Zach swallowed.
“I do,” he said.
“Do you take this man to be your husband?” said the priest to Elisa.
“Fuck you,” she said.
Everyone gasped. Elisa burst into tears. She tore off the ring and threw it at Zach, then stammered down the aisle, her wedding gown flowing behind her and dragging across the ground.
The back doors closed with a looming clunk that filled the silent church. All eyes were on Zach, searching for an explanation just as Elisa had done earlier.
All Zach could think to do was frown in his brother’s direction.
And his brother smiled.
