The Wedding Guest

Goodnight

    "Okay as the only pregnant and sober one here I'm gonna have to throw in the towel and call it a night. I'm exhausted" Claire says with a yawn.

    "Yeah I think I should really get Judith to bed" Martin sniggers, nodding at his fiancé who's leaning against him, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Soon everyone is nodding and gathering their discarded possessions before heading to bed.

    "Aren't you heading up?" Glen asks looking between Ethan and myself.

    "I'm just gonna finish my drink first" I say, nodding to the half full pink glass on the table.

Glen looks to Ethan for his reason. "I'll wait and walk her up" He says openly.

And they say chivalry is dead.

    "Okay well I'll see yous in the morning" Glen says exhaustedly, "And if I don't see you, it was absolutely lovely meeting you and I'm glad that you were here to help my best friend out today" He says genuinely to me and leans in to hug me.

    "Me too" I reply coyly.

    "Goodnight" He and Rose chorus and saunters off hand in hand.

I watch as the couple disappear through the double doors and suddenly the room is in dead silence.

Just me and Ethan.

    "You don't have to wait for me you know?" I say, sipping my drink.

    "I know but I wanted to. It's the least I can do for all you've done for me today"

    "I did what I could to try make this day a little less horrible"

    "Well you succeeded" He smiles genuinely as he gazes into my eyes, "I wish there was something I could do to show my appreciation, take you to dinner or something"

    "You let me splurge on cake, that's thanks enough" I giggle, forcing my gaze from his, afraid that if I looked into his beautiful hazel eyes any longer I wouldn't be able to resist getting lost in them and possibly end up kissing him.

And had he not just been dumped at the alter and I wasn't setting off around the world, I certainly wouldn't be resisting. He's by far the most handsome, chivalrous, funny, down to earth guy I've ever met in my life. It's just typical of my bad luck for the timing to be off.

Taking my glass from the table, I knock back its contents in one and place it back down.

    "You ready??" I ask, tiredness suddenly kicking in like a tonne of bricks.

Ethan nods and stands, offering his arm for me to link.

We walk in a nice silence all the way to the lift and along the long corridor to our rooms. When we reach my room I release my arm from Ethan's and he digs his hand into his pocket removing the two identical key cards.

He holds them up and makes a face, causing me to giggle.

I choose one and try it on the door.

green ligh.

Success!

I push the door open and turn in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, facing Ethan. He looks exhausted, physically and I can only imagine emotionally too. It's been one hell of a long ass day.

    "She's a gobshite for leaving you, you know that, right?" I say blatantly and Ethan shrugs his shoulder, "When I was about eight or nine, I remember I was being moved for like the hundredth time, from one of the roughest homes I'd been in. I was sitting in the back of a Garda car waiting on my social worker and this guard, she came and sat with me. She never said anything she just sat in the back of the car with me for the longest time until I eventually asked her why my life sucked so much.." I recall gloomily, my gaze continuously flickering between the floor and Ethan, watching for his reactions, "and what she replied has stuck with me to this day, she said; 'better times are ahead. This is just a chapter, not the whole story'" I smile weakly, "she was right. Better days came as did many more bad but I like to think that no matter how many bad chapters I have in my life, my story will have a happy ending and I do believe when the time is right, you'll find someone better. This is just a chapter"

    "Ian was right, you really are one of a kind, aren't you?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I just am who I am"

    "Don't ever change" Ethan smiles at me.

    "You too. You're a good guy Ethan, remember that"

    "I really wish we met under different circumstances" He admits outright, stunning me.

    "Me too" I croak coyly.

I stand awkwardly, trying to avoid his eyes, afraid I won't be able to resist getting lost in them again.

    "Well goodnight Nikki" He says with a hint of sadness in his voice. I look up to see a weak smile on his face but still a beautiful smile none the less.

    "Goodnight Ethan" I say and slowly back into my room as he steps back towards his.

With the door securely closed, I cross the room and take my shoes in from the balcony I'd neglected them on earlier and shut the balcony door before, flopping onto the bed.

I stare up at the blank white ceiling taking in today's events and smile to myself. It's been one hell of a day but it's been the most memorable wedding I've ever attended and I met new people, most important being Ethan.

Damn it, why did I always have such bad timing!?