The One Who Got Away is Back

Present 1 ♡ Cocktail of Emotions

Sunblock had become my closest friend since I moved down to Miami and bought a Jeep Wrangler with a soft top.

It was off as I drove it down to the Keys. The sun was bright and high up in the sky, but the breeze kept me from cooking myself. I bobbed my head to the music, a playlist that my roommate and I had been carefully curating ever since we established ourselves together in South Florida. It was mostly Latin music with the occasional pop bop, and it was the perfect soundtrack for the drive. The patch of road between the Keys was gorgeous, with the sea off to the side and palm trees next to the road.

Even better was my destination. Renting out a hotel with a private beach had been a stroke of genius, and the breathtaking views were only going to be enhanced by the decorations. And the alcohol. I knew for a fact that the weekend-long soiree was going to count on a customized menu of cocktails that I couldn't wait to sample. That was going to be the second order of events as soon as I arrived.

The first one consisted of making sure the wedding dress in my trunk fit. I'd labored for months to make sure that every detail was perfect and for the first time, I was absolutely satisfied with the result. The trim, the fabric, the stitches, the delicate pearls embroidered by hand... it was a confection out of my dreams. Vera Wang was going to have to step aside after this.

All that mattered though, was that it hugged the bride like a second skin.

I belted out into song, trying to copy the lyrics in one of my favorite raggaeton songs. A good portion of the past couple of years had gone by in attempts at learning Spanish, but so far this was the best I could do. And order tres leches cake, because yum.

Lucky for me the bride and groom had the same idea and one of the perks of this wedding was going to be an assortment of wedding cakes. That, plus cocktails, plus beach, plus the fact that it was one of my best friends in the world who was marrying, for whom I made the dress for the steep discount of zero dollars. I was happy with the arrangements.

The song cut off as a call came through. With the wind whipping in my ears it was going to be hard to talk using the car's speakers, so I plugged in my bluetooth to my ear and picked up.

"I'm so excited to see you," I heard Page say, and I laughed.

"The feeling is mutual, but I'm most excited to see you wearing your dress."

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie. I'm stoked for that," she said. "And also about the shrimp cocktail we'll be serving tonight."

"Preach!"

"Are you close?" she asked, and I glanced at my GPS.

"Roughly an hour away, but we should still be on schedule." I sensed some worry in her, so I assured her, "Don't worry. I brought half of my workshop with me, in case the dress needs some adjustments."

"Thanks, but-"

"It's going to be a magical weekend!"

Page had wanted me to be her maid of honor, being the oldest girl friend of the happy couple and all, but with the fact that I'd decided to make The Dress by hand I had no time or juice to be involved in any of the preparations. So the maid of honor ended up being a girl called Estelle, who was Page's BFF from college. Estelle was super cool and had been kind enough to let me in on the secret plans. That was how I knew about the cocktails and cake selection and also that the entire weekend was going to be one wild party.

Being the bride, Page had the right to become a bridezilla here or there, but there was no need for that when her maid of honor's intensity one upped her. This whole thing had brought out Estelle's true control freak nature and for months she'd made sure that every minutia was exactly the way she envisioned it. The bridal party suggested that she do this full time, because she kicked ass at it.