Ato looked through the wedding pictures one more time as he prepared to hand them over to the couple, Evelyn and Samuel. Their wedding was one of the best organised weddings that Ato had photographed. It had taken place late in the afternoon on the serene lawns of Labadi beach hotel and ended with a beautiful party on the beach.
It had been a fun filled day for everyone including Ato who had been hired to photograph the ceremony.
Ato’s heart skipped a beat as he saw the first picture. It was the beautiful smile of the bride in her ‘before makeup’ shot. She looked beautiful and she glowed more beautifully in the ‘after makeup’ shot. Ato could still hear her excited chatter and laughter (in his head) as he remembered the scene. Brushes, combs, curlers, shades of lipstick, face power and more littered the room as the girls got themselves ready.
They ignored him completely and it gave him the chance to take perfect shots especially of the bride.
The picture of the bride walking down the aisle was also beautiful. He was seconds ahead of the bridal team and successfully captured Evelyn just before her father put her hand in that of Sam’s. As Ato’s mind went back to that moment, he regretted the thought that had crossed his mind then. He was hoping Evelyn would refuse to be given away and run off…but she didn’t. She willingly took Samuel’s hand and exchanged vows and rings with him. Ato was there to capture every detail.
He had nearly dropped the camera as he saw them kissing passionately through the lens. Surprisingly, the kiss lasted a few extra seconds which gave him the opportunity to focus and capture the scene. His tummy started to ache badly as he photographed the couple signing the marraige certificate; the piece of paper that would join them for life. He couldnt excuse himself as he had to take the pictures accordingly.
The reception was full of merry making and dancing. The couple couldn’t hide their joy as they celebrated their union with good music and food surrounded by family and friends.
In all Ato had done a good job. The pictures came out beautiful and he was sure Evelyn and Sam were going to like it but he felt sad. He packaged the pictures slowly feeling sad because after the wedding he was going to lose a friend, Evelyn.
Ato met her two months to the wedding when she booked him for the event. After securing Ato as the photographer, they continued to chat with each other mainly exchanging ideas about the wedding. Evelyn found him to be a good listener as her husband to be wasn’t so interested in the wedding details. Ato also found a wonderful person whose conversation and company he enjoyed a great deal. Within a few weeks they were chatting like old friends. They shared their personal stories, interests and dreams with each other . Their relationship was no more business but very personal as they got to know so much about each other within that short time.
For Ato, it was the best time of his life since he always looked forward to her crazy whatsapp messages and Facebook tags. Hearing her voice always made his day as her warm and pleasant personality came with it. He didn’t want the long phone calls to end, neither did he want his surprise visits to her office which always made her smile to end. But somehow it had to. As hard as he fought the feeling, he couldn’t deny that the wedding photographer was in love with the bride.
He wanted to tell her a few days to the wedding but he couldn’t . She seemed so happy with Sam he didn’t want to ruin her happiness. He didn’t want her confused and angry with him on her wedding day. It was the most important day of her life. Besides, what was it worth if she didn’t feel same? He was going to ruin the sweet friendship they had. This was the first time he felt this way about a girl and she happened to be someone’s bride…his client for that matter.
He sighed as he put the final seal on the package. He left home grudgingly to mail the pictures to the coupe who were on honeymoon in Dubai. He said a silent prayer as he wished the last ten minutes to be the last time he thought of Evelyn as his lover.
