by Renee Porter
I struggled to sit up and place my thoughts. We had five hours before we needed to check out. We had all decided to take a plane back, since we were all out of the partying mood. Last night did it in for us. I watched as my friends received lap dances from gorgeous men, and yes, that included Taylor. Although, she laughed through hers, while my friends were clearly getting turned on.
I dressed quickly, used the restroom, and stepped out to grab a bagel and eggs at the continental breakfast. On my ride down the elevator I considered the next few days. The wedding was approaching quickly and I had a few more things I needed to do. I also needed to check my work email to make sure they didn’t need me to send anything.
I also needed to make my next move with Taylor.
I shook that last part out of my head. Just let it be, Jen. Whatever happens will happen. The universe will show you what’s right. I laughed at myself on that last part. I wasn’t really one to believe in fate.
And then, as I stepped into the dining hall, I reconsidered. Because Taylor was sitting there, eating a slice of toast and fruit, and reading the newspaper.
I bypassed the food and pulled out a chair at her table. She glanced up with a tense expression but then smiled when she realized I was friendly.
“You’re up early.” I smiled at her as a waiter came by. I ordered coffee and he nodded at me, looked at Taylor and smiled shyly. Now I know why she usually wears the wig. It wasn’t hard to see that the kid knew exactly who Taylor was.
“I am, yes.” Taylor followed the young waiter with her eyes and then relaxed when he moved out of sight. “How did you sleep?”
“Fine. Aside from the monster in my bed, it was a quiet, peaceful night.”
Taylor laughed with me as we discussed the plans for getting home. When we had decided that it would be best to get to the airport in the next three hours, Taylor’s lips fidgeted and I looked at her curiously.
“What is it,” I asked. Taylor seemed surprised by my observation and smiled down at her coffee mug.
“I just wanted to say that it’s been nice catching up with you.”
The words almost sounded with a sense of finality and my heart lurched.
“It has been,” and then, “have you decided where you’ll be after all of this?” I sipped my own coffee to try and act like it was just a normal question. Like I didn’t have any intention to finding out if Taylor and I would be living in the same state after she retired. Who knew? Maybe she would take up residence in one of her properties in Hawaii. Or Fiji. Or Alaska.
“I’m leaning towards Los Angeles but I haven’t decided. I guess it kind of depends.” Taylor twirled her spoon in her coffee mug not making eye contact with me.
“Depends on what?”
When I look back on the memory of what happened next, I could only describe it as something out of a documentary about interstellar travel. I waited as Taylor opened her mouth to respond to my question. My heart almost stopping with the sudden urge to stay or run. If I stayed it was possible that Taylor would say she was thinking of staying in Los Angeles for me. If not though, I would be crushed, again. So running also seemed like a plausible action.
And in my head her response took what felt like a millennium. It was as if I was looking at someone who was traveling at the speed of light. To me, Taylor looked like she was standing still, but I know that in reality, she was moving, breathing, thinking. The only problem with this is when you see someone moving at the speed of light, they simply just fade away, right there where you are watching them. Poof! Right before your eyes.
Again, running sounded like a plausible option.
But I didn’t run. I stayed. Because hearing what Taylor had to say was far much more impactful than not knowing, and maybe never knowing.
“Depends on…”
“I’m twenty-seven years old. I have concluded that alcohol and my body do not like each other anymore. It’s time for a divorce.”
The chair screeched at our table as I kept my eyes on Taylor’s lips. She was about to say something important, I could feel it deep within me. But Kristie had other plans for the morning which diverted any plans of Taylor and I talking. About us. In Los Angeles. Possibly together.
I loved Kristie, but right now I could murder her.
Taylor switched her attention from what we were speaking about to now an obviously hung over Kristie.
“I learned that mixing doesn’t help. And you should drink a bottle of water with every alcoholic drink you have,” she spouted. Taylor glanced over at me quickly and then her gaze shifted to behind my shoulder. A group of rowdy kids had just entered the lobby. I didn’t have to see them to know they were there. Their high-pitched laughter was enough of a tell.
Kristie winced as one of the girls in the group screeched and took my coffee out of my hands. I didn’t try to take it back. I was still trying to figure out how my life never seemed to unfold easily.
“Beer before liquor, get drunk quicker…” The mantra was something that Kristie had always said before a night of drinking.
“It seems like you had a lot of beer before liquor last night,” I finally said. Kristie ‘humphed’ and downed my coffee with one gulp.
“Why are you two up so early?” Then she turned to me. “Did you even sleep in the room? I don’t remember you even being there.”
I flushed a deep red even though there was no reasoning behind it. I did sleep in my assigned room, but the implications that Kristie was pointing to still made me embarrassed for myself. I cleared my throat as my eyes shifted to Taylor, who was sporting a wicked, teasing smile.
“Of course, I did, stupid. Who would I have snuck off with? One of the “Thunder from Down Under” guys?”
Kristie’s grin grew wider at my defensive stance on the subject. I hated being put on the spot. I hated that I had to be so awkward, even though I did absolutely nothing wrong. It wasn’t my fault that Kristie was too drunk to even notice me there in bed with her.
“Well, I know you wouldn’t have gone home with one of them…although you were looking good last night. I saw the “magic man” eyeing you all night. I bet he would have loved to pull a rabbit out of your…”
“Please stop,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. Taylor was chuckling and even though I attempted to give her a hard glare, my eyes softened when they met her smiling face.
“You did look beautiful nice last night. Who were you dressing up for, then?” Taylor asked. Again, it felt as though all of the blood in my body rushed to my face. I looked between my two friends as if watching a game of tennis. What was this? Gang up on Jen day?
“I just felt like looking nice. Is that wrong?” I dared Kristie or Taylor to comment. They both stayed silent; only for a moment.
“I know you, Jen. The only reason you get all dolled up is when you want to impress someone. Or if you’re into someone that you were going…out…with…” Kristie’s voice trailed off as the wheels started spinning in her head. Her eyebrows raised up suddenly and then the words started sputtering out of her mouth. She was rambling now, about something entirely different.
Ding, ding, ding! She finally got the connection. She finally realized that I was not entirely over Taylor and knew why I had dressed up last night.
I hadn’t made a conscious effort to get ‘dolled up’ like Kristie had said. In the back of my mind, I wanted Taylor to find me more attractive than the men that would be stripping their clothes for my friends.
Okay, that was a lie.
I knew exactly what I was doing. And when I realized that Taylor was by my side for most of the night, I figured that my choice had paid off.
By the time Kristie took a breath to end her discussion on the growing poverty of African nations, Taylor’s identity had been discovered. The group of loud kids had all joined our breakfast, asking Taylor for autographs and pictures. Taylor was gracious and didn’t turn them away, even though I could tell in her fake smile that she was upset about having her breakfast h
ighjacked. After the last kid took his photo, all three of us stood and made our way back up to the rooms.
We walked Taylor to her room and she disappeared behind the door, letting us know she’d be ready soon. I wanted to walk in with her, shut the door, and finish our discussion before Kristie’s infamous interruption. But that meant I would need an excuse to follow her in, and I couldn’t very well tell them anything.
“You’re such a little shit, you know that?” Kristie said as she opened our suite door. She closed it loudly and a groan from the other room sounded.
“Hey, don’t you all know that there is a drumline playing in my head right now.” Dana peered at us from one eye, as her hands steadied herself against her bedroom door.
“Sorry, Dana, but we have more pressing matters to attend to.” I rolled my eyes at Kristie, silent as she continued to speak to Dana. “Like how Jen spent the night in Taylor’s room.”
Dana and I both gasped at Kristie.
“I did not!”
“You did?”
I released a frustrated groan and shook my head. “I did not sleep with Taylor last night.” I held up my arms in surrender and let them drop heavily against my sides.
“Then why did you get defensive when I asked…”
“Kristie, you asked me an extremely embarrassing question in front of the woman I love. Of course I got defensive.”
I looked at Kristie and then to a still standing Dana and realized why they were looking at me as if I had just told them a person just landed on Mars.
“I mean…”
Dana held up a hand silencing me. Kristie still looked like she was catching flies.
“You love her?” Dana’s voice was soft and suddenly I felt like I couldn’t stand on my own two feet. I pulled out the small, kitchenette chair and sat down.
“I do,” I said just as softly. My head lulled back as I looked up at the ceiling.
“You love her? Or you’re in love with her?” While Dana’s tone seemed to be enchanted, Kristie’s was full of worry.
“Yes, Kristie. I’m in love with her. Okay?”
“But you’ve only been hanging out with her for the last few days. You can’t…”
“Kristie. Jen has been falling for Taylor for a while now. It’s not that strange.”
“Wow.” It was all Kristie could say at that moment.
“I know.” I placed my head in my hands as the realization flooded through me. I knew I had been falling for Taylor. I just didn’t know that it had turned into more until this moment.
“Does she love you?” Dana asked as she finally removed herself from her bedroom door. She looked back to a still passed out Tracey and closed the door quietly.
“I have no idea. I think she might still have feelings for me but…love? That’s a strong word. But maybe, she could? One day?”
“Oh, Jen.” Dana walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “She’s lucky to even have your love. And you’d be lucky to have hers.” Dana squeezed my shoulder, bend down at the waist and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for,” I asked. Dana smirked
“I’ve always been proud of you and what you’ve accomplished in life. But I was worried that you wouldn’t be able to share any of it with someone who completed you. You know you’ll always have us, but, it’s different when it’s someone you’re in love with.”
I sighed heavily. “Remember that list you made me write in high school?”
Dana nodded her head as Kristie asked, “what list?”
I had almost forgotten she was there.
I laughed and explained. “In high school, Dana asked me to write a list of people I could trust. At the time, I couldn’t even say that my name belonged on that list.” I paused and then continued. “But after a few years went by, the list began to grow. I added my mother and father’s names. I added my sister, then Dana and then you.”
“I know that sometimes I keep things from you both but it’s only until I’m able to come to terms with them myself. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that I couldn’t trust you both with my life.”
I watched as Dana wiped a tear away and to my surprise, Kristie did too. I smiled softly, “and now I have another name on that list. I trust Taylor with all of me, and even if she ends up not wanting anything more than friendship, I think I’d be okay with that.”
“You’ve come a long way, Jen. You know that?” I nodded as Dana gave me another hug and then I felt Kristie join in. And then, the bedroom door squeaked open and I eyed a confused Tracey. She smiled, padded over and joined in as well.
“Why are we hugging Jen,” Tracey finally asked.
Dana chuckled as they all pulled away.
“Because I’m finally happy.”
Chapter 32
“And do you, Douglas Bax, take Dana Williams, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
I heard Kristie sigh as Doug said “I do” and I smiled at the tears shining in his eyes. I wondered if Dana was crying yet too, but I figured she was too nervous to flub her lines to allow a single tear to fall.
Finally, the Captain announced Doug and Dana as man and wife, and the crowed jeered at their first, married, kiss.
Dana leaned over toward me as I passed her bouquet back over. She danced with her new husband down the aisle and I took Jim’s arm, Doug’s best man, and followed the newly married pair back into the small ship’s reception area.
I could hear the laughter and applause finally fade away as the reception doors closed and the groomsmen and bridal party were left alone for a few minutes of respite. I watched lovingly as Dana grabbed Doug around the neck and pull him down for a kiss.
“That’s beautiful, don’t you think?” I grinned at Taylor’s words but kept my eyes on my best friend.
“It is.” Dana pulled her eyes away from her husband and then turned toward us. She smiled and finally, her face broke and she started to cry. I couldn’t contain the laughter bubbling up inside of me as she gripped me around the shoulders and held onto me for dear life.
“I’m married! Can you believe it?” Dana pulled away from me and my eyes started to glisten with happiness.
“I can. You deserve this. You deserve it all.” I hugged her again and finally let go so she could say her thanks to the rest of the bridal party.
I congratulated Doug, and while no one was listening gave him my best friend speech which went along the lines of, ‘if you break her heart I’ll make sure you’re on the next shuttle to the moon,’ or something like that.
I think he was more amused than scared.
Dana and Doug had decided to have their wedding during a sunset cruise. The weather had cooperated and the floor to ceiling windows in the reception hall allowed for a picturesque back drop. In the distance, you could see the glimmering lights of the shore line, and one by one, each street light started to twinkle to life, as the sun started to set against the western horizon.
Doug and Dana couldn’t leave each other’s sides. It was as if there was a magnetic force keeping them glued together, and I couldn’t think of anything more poetic in that moment. My best friend had fallen in love and pledged that love for everyone to hear. No longer would she be alone in life. She would have him next to her until her last breath.
I released my own breath as we sat at the head of the small room, the long table reserved for the bride and groom, their mother’s and father’s and the rest of the bridal party. Kristie had been assigned to sit to my right, but sneakily had changed her name card with Taylor’s. It wasn’t lost on me that my friend was doing everything in her power to get us both together. And I loved her for that.
Champagne was poured. The wedding guests all sat and I knew it was almost time to give my Maid of Honor speech. As I looked over to the emcee, he gave me a thumbs up and I clinked my glass with the small fork to get everyone’s attention.
Standing, the emcee brought over a wirele
ss mic and I tapped on it to make sure it was on. When everyone’s eyes were on mine, I started.
“Hello, everyone. Some of you may not know me. I’m Jennifer Hunter and I am Dana’s best friend.” I squeezed Dana’s shoulder and smiled down at her. A little way in the distance I heard a familiar voice say “that’s my sister!” and laughter filled the air. “When Dana asked me to be her Maid of Honor the only thing I could think of was…’duh’.” I waited for the chuckling to die down. “Dana and I have been friends since we were in diapers. Mr. and Mrs. Williams were like my second parents. I would always be at Dana’s house or she would always be at mine. We are family, and we always will be.” I forced the tears back as the weight of everything started to settle in. Taking a deep breath, I continued. “Dana called me one night to tell me she had found him. I had asked who she was talking about, and she finally said, ‘I found the man I am going to marry’. Now, I was completely taken aback. From what I knew, Dana hadn’t been dating anyone at the time and in one day, she had found the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.” I smiled, “I was never one to believe in love at first sight. I always thought it was something made for the movies or fairy tales.” I gripped the microphone tighter, “But after meeting Doug and seeing them both together, I knew that she had fallen in love with him the first night they met.”
The crowed ‘awwed’ and I wiped an errant tear from my eye. “It’s an amazing thing to witness; the love between you two, and I know that you both will only grow more in love as the years pass. So, my wish to you both is that you dream big, worry small, and love with everything you have. Because in the end, life with love is far better than any life without.” I picked up my flute and lifted it in the air, “To Dana and Doug!” The wedding guests mimicked my cheers and the sound of clanking could be heard across the small reception room. I sat, hugged Dana and Doug and took a small sip of my champagne.
