" She's not here," Stephanie howled from the bathroom.
She trudged towards the dressing mirror.
Khalid paced around the entire room and stomped his feet in every movement.
" Cassidy was right here when I left," she explained and pointed at the spot where she had left Cassidy.
Khalid's audible sigh sent unease down her spine.
This was spelling something else other than good.
She had searched the entire room and couldn't find Cassidy.
She even went to peer into the decorated wedding hall too but she wasn't there.
" I know what I'm saying," she continued firmly.
" What do we do now?" her father, Mr Theodore Jackson cut in.
" The people must be waiting," he added.
" Dismiss them...we have a problem here... tell them whatever you want," Khalid ordered amidst tears.
His best man, Jason, turned around to go to deliver the message to the people.
He coughed to regain composure when he entered into the hall.
" We have a slight issue..."
Murmuring arose from the crowd and Jason wasn't even sure what to say again.
" Regardless, we're trying to solve the problem... please feel comfortable to eat and drink...thank you," he concluded and quickly walked away after whispering to the priest.
Jason walked absentmindedly into the room and met Khalid who was looking beyond good or fine.
Khalid had already removed his tux and was sitted on the bed in a sorry state. His hands limped loosely beside his body and he glanced at Jason speechless with countless thoughts bouncing in his mind.
" Any luck yet?"
Jason's cold leo eyes told him everything.
A sense of apprehension grew inside him as he choked on his breath.
" J, what do you think about this?"
Jason didn't speak as his friend's cold eyes pierced his soul.
Those lovely eyes had become something else.
They had come a long way.
Khalid had learned to depend on Jason from childhood.
They had attended the same school and they were more like brothers than mere close friends.
He used to defend Khalid whenever classmates came to bully him as he had a better body build and was taller, athletic, smart and not a major slacker like Khalid.
He was everything Khalid ever wished to become.
They knew each other's likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, bad scars and secrets.
Despite knowing each other's dark secrets, their friendship moved from mere familiarity to intimacy.
That day, they had met at a supermarket and ran in for their usual hug that carried on far too long as they gushed about their lives with smiles lighting their faces.
Jason had jumped with a huge grin on his face when he was told that his friend was going to get married and would like him to be the best man for the wedding.
They had prepared endlessly and tirelessly for it till this day ( the wedding day.)
Jason's nose burned in the frigid air.
" ... just where did everything go wrong?" Khalid questioned and slammed the table close to the bed impatiently.
His tranquil pupils shook violently as his hands quivered.
Jason remained motionless despite a part of him wanting to rush to his friend.
His heart was beating loudly in his ribs.
Words failed him this time.
There wasn't anything else to say.
It was an understandable reaction.
Khalid felt his whole existence was denied.
He was denied his parents' true love and affection, and now this... his bride was gone.
This was somehow unfair.
He gazed at the portrait of her which hung on the wall.
There was his Cassidy looking younger and lovely.
He closed his eyes but nothing came to his mind as he pondered for a moment. She couldn't have run away.
He forced his heart to believe that she didn't run away.
They had agreed on this together... they had agreed to get married and spend the rest of their lives together in love.
" Just where could she be?" Stephanie mumbled indistinctly as she walked into the room with her father.
They stared at Khalid with an inexplicable expression.
They just couldn't place it. Stephanie knew Cassidy loved the idea of being married but her sudden disappearance without anyone having a clue of where she was seemed to say the opposite.
Her father, Mr Theodore Jackson, twisted his mouth in what seemed like fury.
His creased brows gave him an older look.
" Khalid, you need to calm down. We can't solve this problem if everyone is angry. I'm sure she's around somewhere...my instinct tells me that she didn't run away," Jason explained while he clasped his hands behind his body.
" If she didn't run away, then where is she? This was supposed to be our wedding!"
Khalid shook his fist.
His flushed face had his bare teeth and squinty eyes that looked up at his friend, Jason.
" Maybe you don't believe me, I know she didn't run away. Think about this bud, you two wanted this....why would she leave?" he reasoned.
" Look!" Stephanie yelled from the open window.
She gasped and pointed out of the open window when they trudged closer to the window.
" What's that?" Jason mumbled.
" ... can't you see it..."
The yellow sash extended from the window frame to the ground below the window.
It seemed like someone used it to get to the ground.
" That sash says a lot about the entire situation, Jason," Khalid said and walked back to the bed.
" I don't think my sister would do this. There's more to this, Khalid. We had a conversation before I left to check on you and she was happy about her wedding. She wouldn't just run away like that, unless..."
" Unless what?" Khalid cut in.
He shot her a hard glare.
His lips pursed by suppressed fury as the veins in his neck stood out in livid ridges.
" How can you think of your wife to be like that?" Stephanie spat aggressively.
Her voice rose hysterically and her mouth pinched shut as though holding back what she really wanted to say.