The Man Who Was My Right Ear Chapter 03

The Man Who Was My Right Ear Chapter 03

I turned around. “But she isn’t a bridesmaid.”

“We’re just adding one more at the last minute. What’s the problem?”

Maya Sutton stood beside him, twirling her hair.

“If Vivian doesn’t want me to, I don’t have to be one.”

Gavin Morgan looked at her. “Don’t always say that.”

Then back at me. “Vivian, it’s just one dress.”

Just one dress.

Just one vow.

Just one backdrop.

Just one umbrella.

It seemed like everything that was mine, if Maya Sutton wanted it, could be reduced to a “just”.

I opened my phone and sent him the bridesmaid shop’s contact info.

Gavin Morgan’s expression softened.

“See? That wasn’t so hard.”

I didn’t answer.

That afternoon, I went home to sort through the wedding supplies.

The living room was full of boxes.

Candy boxes, place cards, the guestbook, and a thick wedding album.

I’d made the album myself.

From elementary school to high school, then college.

I’d pasted every photo in order.

The first page was Gavin standing on my right, blocking the paper ball some boy had thrown at me.

On the back, I’d written: He was the first part of the world I ever heard.

Back then, I truly believed it.

The doorbell rang. I opened it.

Maya Sutton stood outside with two wedding assistants behind her.

She waved a bag.

“Vivian, I’m here to pick up my dress. And I figured I’d see if you needed help.”

I didn’t move. “No.”

Maya Sutton peeked inside. “Wow, you’ve got so much stuff.”

Before I could stop her, she squeezed past me into the apartment.

Maya Sutton had already spotted the album on the coffee table.

She opened the first page and laughed. “You two were cute as kids.”

I walked over and closed the album.

“Don’t touch it.”

“That protective, huh?”

Gavin’s voice came from the door.

“Maya, weren’t you just picking up the dress?”

He’d come too.

Maya Sutton immediately pulled her hand back.

“I just looked. Vivian seems upset.”

Gavin looked at me. “She was just curious.”

I held the album against my chest. “I said don’t touch it.”

Gavin’s face cooled.

“Vivian Rhodes, how long are you going to keep this up today? No one’s trying to take your stuff.”

Maya Sutton said quietly, “Gavin, don’t be hard on her. Maybe because she couldn’t hear well growing up, she’s just more protective of her things.”

Gavin didn’t argue. He even paused for two seconds.

I watched him.

Those two seconds were long enough.

Long enough for me to know that’s what he really thought too.

Maya Sutton pulled a boutonniere from her bag.

“Oh, Vivian, can I have this? It’s really pretty.”

It was the one for the bride.

A white camellia.

I’d loved them for years. Gavin knew that.

When I was little, I’d once misheard the word camellia.

After that, every birthday he’d given me a single white camellia and said the same thing over and over.

“I’ll always be here.”

Now Maya Sutton was holding it, asking if she could have it.

“No.” I answered without hesitation.

Gavin walked over.

“If she likes it, let her have it. We’ll make another one before the wedding.”

I looked up at him. “Gavin Morgan, you picked this one.”

He froze.

Maya Sutton looked between us.

“Oh, you picked it? Then I like it even more.”

She pinned it to her dress. “How does it look?”

Gavin didn’t answer. He didn’t tell her to take it off either.

Suddenly, the album in my hands felt heavy.

Heavy enough to make my wrists ache.

I bent down and put the album back in the box.

Then I picked up my phone and messaged the planner.

“If I cancel, I have until 5 PM today to confirm, right?”

She replied quickly: “Yes.”

Before I could type more, Gavin grabbed my phone.

“Who are you texting?”

The screen was still lit. He saw the message.

The living room went silent.

Gavin stared at me, his voice dropping.

“Vivian Rhodes, what are you trying to do?”