The bride ran down the aisle, or more accurately, hobbled. Mascara streamed down her face like raindrops on a window. One high heel was missing from her perfectly pedicured feet as she tripped down the aisle, icing in her hair.

Only about ten minutes earlier, this same woman stood with gleaming brown eyes smiling into those of her husband-to-be. A church organ hummed a solemn ceremonial tune as the priest, white chasuble and all, inquired in an aged voice,

“If anyone present objects to these two being joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Silence, thought not unpleasant, shrouded the room in an expectant stillness. A tall man dressed in a standard black suit and an expensive pork pie hat rose slowly from his seat.

“I object.”

Now there was true silence. Not a mouth moved nor a chair squeaked. The organist dared not press a single key.

The man trode sown the aisle, his strides wide and purposeful. As he moved he began to pull something from his waistband. Murmurs flowed through the crowd, reaching a crescendo as the man pressed the gun to the groom’s forehead and whispered,

“We had a deal.”

A crack split the room and screams exploded. Everyone rushed to the exit, a stampede in the making.

The bride collapsed to the floor, tears abusing her makeup as she clawed at her betrothed screaming,

“Gerald!”

A cold metal burrowed into her temples.

“I advise you leave quickly.”

She looked through misty eyes at the speaker’s face. She knew this face. She had known this face longer than she would have preferred.

She staggered up like a drunk, looking between her lover’s dead eyes and the man in the black suit. She tripped as she tried to run, one of her heels snagging the carpet and slipping off her foot. She stumbled onto bare tiles and her back smashd into the six tier cake, toppling it to the ground as her body followed suit. She picked herself up once more and hobbled through the exit, her breathing haphazard.

People were still screaming and running around outside, some trying to find their companions, others trying to call the police or alert pedestrians of the impending danger.

The gunman casually slipped into a black SUV parked infront of the hall. The bride stared at it as the passenger window rolled down to reveal her father. He said nothing to her but his eyes relayed a message:

“This is what happens when you break promises.”