Jennie
I clear my throat. After a pause, I add, "I don't mean to ruin the moment, but I have to ask..." I look back at him. "You and Irene. What's going on there?"
At Irene's name, Bambam looks almost guilty, and he shakes his head. "I should've never let her get involved in the wedding, if you want the truth. I just figured... we were way over this."
"Way over what?"
"We used to date. Irene and I. I loved that girl. I really did. But Irene is my past. Mina... she's my present and my future. As much as I might like that past and think fondly of that time... there's no way that I can go back there."
"Hear, hear." I say. I have nothing to drink, so I extend my fist. "To letting go of the past for shiny new futures."
Bambam laughs and fist-bumps me. "I'll honour that." With that, he squints at me. "You've got someone who will do anything for you?"
"Oh, no, I don't know..." But as soon as I start to talk, my tongue slows to a stop. In the back of my mind, I see Lisa. I see Lisa giving me her jacket when I'm cold, checking in on me, coming to my side to comfort me when I'm stressed. I see Lisa kissing me, I see her telling me that I'm beautiful, I see her confessing her dark secrets to me in the middle of the night. I see that look in her eyes every time she looks at me, the way she softens her hard edges when I'm around, the way she turns sweet and tender, just for me.
All the sudden, it hits me. Oh, crap.
Lisa loves me.
And I love her.
I can't say when it happened. I can't pinpoint it to one moment or one look. But somewhere along the way, I've gotten used to having her around. At some point, I've became addicted to her smile.
I love her.
I really love Lisa.
I laugh at the realisation because it seems so easy all the sudden and so obvious. "Yes." I tell Bambam. "I do have someone special."
Then I remember... Lisa. She called. I quickly reach into my pocket to pull my phone back out. "I'm so sorry... one second." I tell Bambam.
"Do what you've got to do." Bambam tells me.
I flip through to my missed calls. Lisa called. Over and over. Now I'm starting to get worried. What if she really is pissed about me stringing her up and leaving her on the bedpost?
Worse, what if my unhealthy obsession with the perfect wedding ruined yet another relationship?
I debate what to do when my phone lights up. Lisa is calling. Yet again. This time, I get to my feet and answer. "Lisa, I'm so sorry about this morning, it was a complete mistake..."
"Where are you?" There's a dangerous firmness to her voice that puts me on edge.
"Listen to me, I had to do what I thought was the right thing, but the truth is I've been thinking a lot about us and..."
"Jennie." she says abruptly, while cutting me off. "Is Mina there?"
I knit my eyebrows at that. "No... Bambam just told me that she was hungover and stayed home. Why? Is everything okay?"
"She's gone."
Panic starts to flutter in my chest. "Okay, what do you mean gone? Like, went out to get a bottle of wine and..."
"No, she's gone, gone. She left an apology note on the bed. She's running away from the wedding."
Oh no. I quickly walk away from Bambam, out of earshot. "Lisa..."
"I know." she says and finishes my thought. "We have to find her and bring her back. Tell me where you are and I'll come get you."
