Looking For Trouble

Chapter 6: Rosé to risqué

CHAPTER 6

Arya Crawford

Had he been a figment of my imagination?

Had I conjured him up in my mind's eye, swept under a tide of buried emotions? Had I seen his face on someone else's – mistaken someone else for him?

And if so, why?

All the guests had filed out of the chapel behind the married couple after the ceremony. And seeing as I had been positioned at the front during the ceremony, I was one of the last few to exit the chapel.

The happy couple had proceeded to the designated spot at the beach to commence the wedding photoshoot, while the rest of the guests were quick to start downing drinks for the cocktail hour before the reception.

I had been present for the photoshoot, given that I was family and a bridesmaid. The photographer was amazing and surprisingly funny, making for some very beautiful candid shots. But I had been distracted the entire time; all throughout the photoshoot and almost all the way through the reception.

My eyes searching for a glimpse of a familiar face, my ears straining to hear a whisper of his voice in the distance. But for all my searching, I found nothing.

I had danced with my father and my brother, and upon concluding my dance with Uncle Gordon, Aunt Alyssa replaced me on the dance floor. I maneuvered through the throng of people dancing towards the entrance of the reception hall. I reached for the guest list placed on the table at the entrance and scanned through the list, only to find that his name did not appear among the many others.

Was he really not here? Did I really imagine seeing him?

Disturbed by the fact that I had seen someone who wasn't really here so vividly, I walked back inside in a daze. Eva beckoned to me from a table close to the dance floor, towards the center of the hall, with a cake fork. I joined her at the table, grabbing a glass of sparkling Rosé from a tray the server had placed at the buffet table on my way.

I sat down dejectedly, still a little uneasy about my hallucination. Eva sat next to me, devouring a piece of cake and making the most awkward noises ever.

"Do you and the cake need a room?" I asked, rolling my eyes at the moans that escaped her lips every time she took a bite.

"Seeing as this cake is the only thing that's really made me moan in the past three months, yes I would like a room with this cake." She shot back with a naughty grin.

Her response had me snorting out Rosé bubbles from my nose. Not fun; would not recommend. But her dirty humour never failed to make me laugh, be it mid-sip. We joked and laughed for a while till Eva spotted Maddie passing close by.

Maddie was Charlie's cousin. They weren't particularly close. In fact, I doubt they even much liked each other, but Maddie's mom had insisted that Maddie also be named bridesmaid if I was. The explanation that Charlie and I were actually close which was why I was asked to be a bridesmaid was lost on Maddie's mother, Charlie's aunt. And Charlie thought having Maddie as a bridesmaid was a small price to pay to shut up a quarrelling aunt and side-stepping family politics.

I had met Maddie on several occasions in the past, and I had to say, the girl was hard to like. She was my age and went to university in Syracuse. You would think we'd get along, but we really didn't. Not to sound too judgmental, because I was not without flaws myself, but Maddie was a little self-absorbed and put her own self-interest above the needs of others. And she was really good at making you feel like shit about yourself. Thinking about it, Maddie would get along very well with Stephanie Fiske.