Well, here I was, at the Wedding Reception From Hell, if there was such a
thing. I don’t know what’s worse. Talking to reletives who think you’re six
years old or being at the wedding of someone you’ve never even met. My mom
and dad had abandoned me, going off to talk to an old guy who (I think) was
my third cousin once removed. And there I was, alone, in the corner, wishing
that the floor would open up and swallow me.
But than I saw him.........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, here I was, at the Wedding Reception From Hell, if there was such a
thing. I don’t know what’s worse. Standing in the corner feeling like a
retard cuz the only person I knew was the bride or.....actully, I don’t
think there was an or. Even though Sarah (the bride) and I’d been neighbors
for years, we’d never been that close. So I was suprised when she’d invited
me to her wedding, considering I’d barely spoken to her in seven years. Ever
since the Backstreet Boys took off, in fact. So there I was, alone, in the
corner, wishing that the floor would open up and swallow me.
But than I saw her.........
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I figured there was nothing to lose if I asked him to dance. Hell, maybe I
wouldn’t feel like such a loser. So I started to walk across the room,
hoping that I wouldn’t trip in these mother-fuckin’ four inch platforms.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I figured there was nothing to lose if I asked her to dance. Hell, maybe I
wouldn’t feel like such a loser. But than I saw her start walking. And what
a lovely sight that was. Casually letting my eyes roam over her body, I
hoped to God that she was coming to talk to me.
She was short, I could tell that much, and she was slightly limping.
Probably cuz of those shoes she was wearing. Her light blue dress fell to
her knees, and her curly, almost orange, hair fell to about her shoulders.
She wasn’t exactly thin, but she wasn’t fat either. And her piercing green
eyes matched the color of.....OK, she wasn’t wearing anything green. I
decided to beat her to the punch. Confidentally(I hoped) strolling onto the
dance floor, it’s too bad a bumping and grinding couple had to get in the
way....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I casually (I hoped) strolled towards him, I thought I felt his eyes on
me, but I wasn’t sure. But than he began to saunter towards.....ME! Too bad
the other couple got in the way.
As Mystery Guy crashed to the floor, followed by the other couple, I just
forgot trying to act cool and ran over to the mass of arms and legs.
Already, there was a crowd surrounding the three, but I somehow managed to
get through to the front. Reaching over and somehow helping him up, I asked,
“Are you OK?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the couple and I crashed to the floor, I found myself wishing that the
world would end, right than and now! To make it even worse, it seemed the
entire party stopped what they were doing to come over and look.
Sure that my face was three shades of crimson, you could never imagine the
relief I felt when I saw a hand being extended towards me. I gratefully
grasped it and I was pulled up into the arms of.....The Redhead.
“Are you OK?” she breathed. I nodded. We held each others gaze for a moment
before realizing the whole party was watching us. Smiling bashfully, we both
turned our attention to the couple still writhing on the floor. They
should’ve been up by now.....
“Ew! Mommy! They’re kissing!” came a little voice from somewhere in the
back. Everybody chuckled, the DJ re-started the music, and the party kicked
back into high gear.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As everybody went back to their own buisness, I became aware that Mystery
Guy and I were still in each others arms. Quickly breaking apart, I
introduced myself.
“Hi, I’m Julie Naydu.....”
“And I’m Brian-”
Suddenly he stopped. I gazed quizzedly at him for a second before he
finished lamely, “...Carter. I’m Brian Carter.” He repeated the last phrase
like it was an affirmation. I nodded slowly.
“So why are you here, Carter?”
He blushed slightly before replying, “I’m a friend of the bride. And you?”
“Second cousin of the groom.....I think.” He chuckled.
“You think?”
“Yeah.” We stood looking at each other before remembering that we were
standing in the middle of a packed dance floor. Brian must’ve noticed it
too, cuz he offered me his arm. Smiling, I took it, and we moved to the
middle of the floor.
As we began to dance to “Truely, Madly, Deeply”, I became aware of Brian’s
eyes on me. Looking up, I found I was right. I was sure my face matched my
hair as I asked him, “What’re you looking at me for?”
“I was just thinking about how I didn’t know that James had such beautiful
second cousins.”
“Really? I was thinking about how I didn’t know that Sarah had such hot
friends.”
He grinned at me, as I allowed myself to get lost in the music....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, this party’s turning out better than I thought. Except for that whole
feeling like a loser phase.....and tripping over that couple.....oh yeah,
and using Nick’s last name. I wonder if Julie even knows who I am?
But not that I was complaining. Here I was, slow-dancing with a beautiful
girl. Like I said, this party’s not that bad after all.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After “Truely, Madly, Deeply” finished, the DJ switched it to that one
Fatboy Slim song. Rockafella something. That really got the party going. As
crowd around us almost started a mosh pit, I tugged on Brian’s arm to get
his attention. He turned to me as I almost yelled into his ear, “Can we go
get a drink?” He nodded, and hand in hand we made our way to the bar.
After we’d bother ordered Sprites, we sat down at the nearest table. We
didn’t even bother to talk. Just sat there, sipping our drinks and enjoying
each others company.
But than Fatboy’s song ended and the DJ put on another slow one. A good one
for dancing, I thought.
From the first day
That I saw your smiling face
Honey I knew that we would be
Together forever.....
As I sat there listening to the music, I saw Brian’d gotten all
nervous-looking. Standing up quickly, he almost pulled me out the door into
the couryard behind the building where the reception was being held. Not
that I was complaining. It was a little garden, with a fountine, fish pond,
and swing for two. Brian led me over to the swing and sat down next to
me.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man, that was too close. When the DJ’d put “I’ll Never break Your Heart” on,
I’d thought was I was gonna have a heart attack. (No pun intended.) The only
thing I kept thinking was I’ve gotta get her out of here before I start
singing! I managed that, but now Julie probably thought I was a nut case.
“Why’d you bring me out here, Brian?” she asked suspicially.
“It was getting pretty hot in there,” I answered lamely while loosening my
tie for emphasis.
“It is nice out here though” she admitted while trailing her fingers
through the fish pond. I inched closer, and took her other hand in mine. She
didn’t move away.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We must’ve sat out there for hours. Neither one of us was wearing a watch,
so we didn’t know for sure. It wasn’t until this old woman I didn’t know
came out that we knew it was time to go.
“Why’re you two still out here! Everybody went home an hour ago! Julie, your
mother is worried sick! And I don’t blame her! And YOU! Mr. Littrell, I just
got a call from your manager wondering where the hell you were!” The woman
continued her rant, not letting either of us get a word in edgewise.
“It’s OK,” I finally inturrupted. “We didn’t have watches on, we didn’t know
what time it was, we’ll be in in a minute.” The woman looked dissapointed,
like she wanted us to get mad at her, but she turned and strutted back into
the reception hall.
“Do you know her?” Brian asked me.
“No. Do you?”
“No.” We were both silent for a minute before Brian spoke again.
“Hey, about that whole multiple last name thing-”
“Yeah. It’s OK. I understand.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.” We smiled at each other, before standing up and walking back
to the reception hall.
Together.
