The Day I Didn't Get Married

A short story about a woman who decides to skip out on her own wedding day, choosing instead to spend the day in New York City and Coney Island and realizing some things along the way.

Evelyn Montanegro had not slept all night. She looked at her bedside alarm clock which told her it was five in the morning, still dark outside. She lied down, listening to her uncontrollable heartbeat and her sharp, short breaths in the dark. Today was not like any other day for Evelyn. It was her wedding day.

She was twenty-five years old, a sensible age to get married. Many of her friends were already married, and some even had children, one was already divorced. When she was younger, Evelyn used to say, jokingly, that if she was not married by twenty-five she would join a convent. Overall, things had played out almost perfectly, she had met a good man, James, who loved her and respected her, and she was content. When he had asked her to marry him a few months earlier, Evelyn had immediately said yes. It was all going according to the plan she had laid out for herself years earlier.

But this morning, for some reason, instead of being excited or anxious for her wedding, Evelyn couldn’t get rid of the empty pit that had formed in her stomach and had prevented her from getting even a wink of proper sleep. At 5:30 a.m. Evelyn got up, made herself a hot cup of brewed coffee, drank it black with a pinch of raw honey, and sat in her kitchen, the last time she would sit in it as a single woman.

Outside, the sun started to come up. At 6:30 the hair and make-up people would come and the preparations would begin. She walked past her dress, which was laid out in the living room in one of the couches, and sat opposite it, staring at it intently and pensive as she took gulps of her coffee which soothed her stomach but did not get rid of the inexplicable hollowness.

Once the coffee was finished down to the bottom of the cup, Evelyn walked back to the kitchen, rinsed the cup, then made her way back to her room and got dressed. She chose her favorite pair of jeans and a comfortable black tank top, then zipped some boots over the jeans. After brushing her teeth, combing her hair, and deciding not to wear any make-up, Evelyn hastily grabbed her car keys, wrote a quick note, and strode out the door of her small cottage-like house in the suburbs.

She got in the car and drove off, unsure of where she was going. She needed to go somewhere far from her reality, because for some reason she couldn’t face it at the moment, at least not today. She shut off her phone and tossed it in the back seat of the car without thinking about it twice. Before she realized it, she was at one of the subways stations that would take her to the city. She parked her car, got out, and carrying only her small purse which held some loose change and identification cards, she got into the subway and made it into New York City in twenty minutes’ time.

She loved Saturday mornings in New York City. It was still crowded, as usual, since it was appropriately called ‘the city that never slept.’ But it was a more subtle crowd, less business-like people, and more normal people walking their dogs, riding their bikes, tourists and artists alike grabbing their coffees from the corner Starbuck’s, and munching on their breakfast sandwiches. Even though she'd already had coffee, she made her routine Starbuck’s run, ordering a venti iced coffee with soy milk and a slice of pumpkin bread to go, and then walked towards Central Park. By now it was already 7:30 and the sun was fully out. She put on her sunglasses and sat in one of many big rocks inside the park. Thoughtfully, she chewed on her pumpkin bread, enjoying and savoring every bite. She knew she should be feeling guilty or at least slightly remorseful right about now, but for some reason, the only feeling that she could radiate was that of a strange peacefulness and calmness as she finished her breakfast while somewhere else in Jersey there was a man who would soon find out that he wasn’t getting married today.

In the short note she had left at her house she had simply said that she had changed her mind, that she was sorry but she did not want to get married, and she was going to take the day off by herself, doing whatever she pleased.

It was selfish, she knew, and immature, but the logical part of her brain was not functioning properly today, and she chose to put all the negative thoughts away for the time being.

After ingesting her breakfast, she walked for a little bit around the city, stopping at random shops that appealed to her, mostly used book shops. At 10 a.m. she decided on a whim to take the subway to Coney Island and spend the day at the fair. She was not intimidated by her own company; on the contrary, she enjoyed spending some quality time by herself and being able to just not talk unnecessarily all the time, instead letting her thoughts dictate her actions. She walked amid the massive crowds consisting mainly of children and their parents or nannies, with her Ipod plugged in and a bright pink cotton candy in another hand. 

She rode the spinning tea cups, which she immediately regretted, managed to get into one of the bumper cars, avoiding the strange looks that some of the children were giving her, and even managed to get into a bumper fight with a five-year-old girl. She nostalgically remembered how much she had loved bumper cars when she was little, riding them repeatedly with her younger brother and sister.

She sat by the dock eating her hot dog for lunch, feeling the adrenaline of the whole day. By now, she should have already been married. She should be at her own lunch reception, dancing with her newly pronounced husband and talking it up with her family and friends. Instead, she sat by herself on a bench by the dock in Coney Island, trying to avoid any thoughts on marriage or what the people back home must be thinking of her.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing fair games, wasting precious dollars until she won a big teddy bear that must have cost her at least $50 in change. Later, she sat in a small theater on the fair grounds, watching a performance and munching on caramelized nuts. By the time she was finished and her energy was drained it was 9 o’clock at night.

She walked by the dock once again, found the familiar bench, sat in the corner, and settled her ridiculous bear next to her, crossing her arms, and staring off into the ocean deep in thought. The lights of the city were clearly visible across the ocean. She thought of all the life that was present, of all the people that surrounded her, and yet none of them knew that she had, without rhyme or reason, skipped out on the most important day of her life.

Suddenly, she felt the presence of someone else sitting next to the bear on the opposite side of the bench. It was a young man, no older than thirty. She recognized him as one of the guys in charge of the game booths. Earlier, he had convinced her to repeatedly play in his booth, and she had wasted a lot of money attempting to throw a plastic ring into some glass bottles that never quite seemed to make it in. The fact that the man was attractive had not escaped her notice. He had dark hair and warm golden brown eyes. He was wearing a blue hoodie to protect him from the subtle chill of the night, and she realized she was shivering and had not brought any outer protection for this situation.

“You know,” he said, looking at her across the white fluff of the teddy bear, “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to come to the fair by myself, kind of like when you see people going to the movies by themselves, you’ve got to wonder, it must be nice, just…sitting, observing. Not having anyone else’s words interrupting your thoughts.”

She looked at him suspiciously, but relaxed when she saw that his eyes were kind, teasing. She sighed.

“Yeah, it is nice, until some random guy comes and disrupts your peace and quiet on a bench that is clearly occupied.” She smiled to let him know she wasn’t serious.

“You cold?” He noticed she was shivering, so he took off his sweater and handed it to her. “I’m Will, by the way.”

“I know,” Evelyn replied, wrapping herself in the soft material, “I saw your name tag earlier when you kept persisting I spend all of my change on that pointless game you have going on back there. I’m Evelyn. Do you like your job?” she asked spontaneously, although she sincerely wanted to know.

He seemed to think that question through, staring into the ocean as if the answer lay somewhere in its depth. 

“I’m not a big fan of it, no, but it gets me by. I only work on the weekends. I’m a freelance writer every other day of the week. Do you come to fairs by yourself often?” It was his turn to ask a personal question.

Now she took her time to respond.

“Actually, I was supposed to get married today,” she blurted out suddenly, as if confessing some malicious sin, “But I came here instead.”

            Will raised his eyebrows and stared at her again, curiously, as if trying to figure out whether she was crazy or not. He let out a deep whistle into the night.

“So, clearly, you didn’t want to get married,” he stated, as a matter of fact rather than opinion.

“I guess not. The truth is, I’m not sure anymore if I didn’t want to or if I just got cold feet about the whole thing. I just…drove off today, without a clear destination in mind, and somehow, I ended here.”

They looked at each other from across either ends of the bench, and for the first time in the course of the day, she felt the hole in her stomach begin to diminish, filling up with what a feeling she couldn’t quite recognize or place.

"I don't think there's such a thing as doing something for no reason," Will shared, "People do things with a purpose in mind, even if that purpose isn't clear to them the moment they do it."

They continued to stare at each other.

“Do you want to take the subway back to the city with me?” she asked him. “I would really appreciate some company after the day I’ve had.”

He gladly agreed and they both rode into the city, talking the whole way back. After an entire day of not sharing her thoughts to anybody but herself, Evelyn felt an unexpected sense of relief as they just talked and laughed about nothing in particular. Will didn’t bring up her missed wedding, understanding that whatever she was going through, she needed to figure out on her own. When they got to the city, they grabbed some coffee and sat outside, talking some more, mainly conversations about Will’s crazy, adventurous life as a freelance writer, and Evelyn’s trips around the world as a photographer for a traveling magazine.

It was midnight by the time that Evelyn said she should start heading home. They said their goodbyes on the corner of Broadway and 72^nd after having exchanged phone numbers. As Evelyn walked away, she heard Will calling after her.

            “I forgot to tell you that I think everything’s going to be OK. I have a feeling you have it all figured out, you just have to find a way to communicate exactly what it is you feel.”

He kissed her on the cheek and walked away again, leaving her staring after him with the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. Will had been right; she had already figured it out, the moment she had walked out of the door that morning she had made her decision.

She was certain that although she loved James, marrying him was not in the cards for her. There was another plan for her, one that she had yet to explore. It could potentially involve Will, she didn’t know for sure, and it was too early to tell. Right now she had to focus on herself and on making the right decision. For starters, she had to go back and make things right, with everyone. Her mistake had been in running away from her problems instead of talking them out with the people she cared about. What this day had provided her, though, was a renewed sense of understanding of her own feelings and the acceptance of a different path than the one she had originally planned for herself. 

            Evelyn walked off into the night towards the train station, thinking about the day she didn’t get married but ended up finding herself. 

Author's Note

I'm new to writing short stories, so bear with me. I look forward to writing more stories and growing as a writer.

Reviews

[Christina May Shanaberg]

Everyone needs time to themselves; you can think your own thoughts and find yourself. If more people took a moment to themselves, before getting married, there would be much less divorces. I believe that, even, married couples can benefit from separate vacations, now and again. You can't let yourself get sucked into the path that your family and friends have taken; you must beat your own drum. In hindsight, I never would have married. I like living with myself and dating, occasionally. I really liked your story!

[Elaenor Aisling]

I really like this a lot. It brings up the point that it's best to find one's self before trying to join with another person, which has always been my personal philosophy. Great work.