If At First

Part 6 - Chapter 5

5

Morning dawned with a perfect, cloudless sky, and the female half of the wedding party spent the better part of it at a nearby spa beneath facials, manicures and pedicures. When we surfaced, we were shepherded to the salon for hair and makeup.

We looked pretty fantastic when all was complete. The bridesmaids gathered in my room to dress in our matching champagne-colored, tea-length dresses with black sashes. The photographer's assistants came in for our posed "relaxing" photos, and afterwards we met Danni in a room the size of a bowling alley that had been designated for her use as a dressing room. She was gorgeous. Her copper curls were straightened and made up around her headpiece so she looked like a princess. Her dress was timeless and flowed around her in a graceful river of white, with handmade lace sleeves and a delicately beaded bodice. I couldn't help envying her, no one could.

It was my turn to go down the aisle just before Danni and her father, and the second I stood behind all those faces, I was struck by the fact that there were tons of guests here, and all those eyes were about to be on me. The only relief I could evoke was the likelihood that they would try to see right past me to the main event. I walked slowly, forcing myself not to run, and glued my eyes to the massive garlands at the other end. Look only at the flowers, hear only the orchestra, keep the smile. Don't forget to smile.

I did my best to pretend there weren't over a thousand people watching. A thousand people who included my atrocious ex-boyfriend and his fiancé. What was his purpose last night in introducing me to Meegan? He seemed so eager to do it, too. Did he want to hurt me? What if those feelings did come back? That might have killed me. He didn't know what I was thinking or feeling. For all he knew, he could have been hurting me.

I distracted myself long enough to make it all the way to the altar without mishap, and looked across at David, realizing for the first time he was there. He looked...well, he looked nervous. Probably afraid Danni was going to run. But he was happy beneath the nerves, and almost handsome in a tuxedo. We exchanged smiles before our attention was drawn by the change in music.

The thankfully brief ceremony, which lasted an eighth of the time it took to rehearse, concluded and the reception area opened up inside the ballroom as the guests ambled through the receiving line. The space was made up of four connecting "small" ballrooms, and it was massive. The ceiling, draped in white fabric that gathered in the center around an immense chandelier, and the walls were all glass windows and doors that were covered in the same gauzy material blowing in the breeze. Spring was in full bloom, and the flowers that had been imported by the truckload only enhanced the effect, adorning more or less every conceivable surface and fixture.

Once the photographs, speeches and dinner were finally completed, I was able to sneak away for a few minutes. The celebration had barely begun and I was already sapped. I quickly grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and ducked out a back door to a miraculously vacant gazebo. Most of the crowd was centered on the bride and groom cutting cake and smashing it into one another's faces, so I felt relatively safe from discovery.

The small-ish gazebo had a perfectly recessed bench, and as I found a comfortable position there I couldn't help noticing the weather was cooperating beautifully. I was sure David's mother, or perhaps Veronica-the-Wedding-Nazi somehow arranged that as well. I wouldn't doubt their connections for a second. I glanced around one last time, confident I was alone, and taking a deep, relaxing breath, slipped off the shoes that were in no way meant for a foot with toes. I sipped my champagne and enjoyed the sound of the birds mingling with the music from inside that drifted through the air. I closed my eyes, resting my head back on the railing in the sunlight.