by Dyble, S R
I introduced my grandma next and explained the reasoning for Kit being here, up until then I hadn’t really spoken to them about Kit coming. After a short while, I had to excuse myself so I could join the bridesmaids in the car and I gave Kit one last look before getting in and he smirked at me with his cocky face that shone in the sunlight.
* * *
The reception venue was beautiful, baby breath stems and lace decorated everything. Everyone found their seats and started drinking as the photographer took us outside into the huge garden for photos. The garden had blossoming plants and trees everywhere, it was beautiful and the perfect backdrop for photos. The photographer took photos of both my auntie and Ted. Although, he was now uncle Ted and I couldn’t help but stand and stare in awe at them both because they looked so good together.
I sipped on my orange juice and tried to avoid as many photos as I could.
“Shouldn’t you be in those photos?” I heard Kit ask.
“Not unless she wants to break her camera,” I snorted to myself.
I turned around to see a pint in one hand and his camera in the other.
“Can I borrow it?” I reached out for the camera without waiting for an answer and walked over to where my auntie and uncle were being directed to a flower bench. I captured them smiling and laughing as they walked together holding hands. In my auntie’s other hand, she held the fabric to her dress and as she turned and laughed, I took the photo. In the background, my uncle was watching her and I could tell, solely from the look on his face, that he adored her.
I shuffled through the last photos when I smelled Kit, it was as if he was standing right behind me.
“Where’s Nick?” I asked him, turning.
He was right behind me and he made no effort to move back as I turned to face him.
“Probably chatting up one of your cousins or something,” he smiled before taking a drink.
“Sorry to interrupt. Can I steal you?” the photographer asked.
I nodded and handed Kit his camera back, I was led over to a blossoming white bush and I smiled the best I could as she took photos. I was so paranoid knowing Kit was looking, but he even took some photos and I wanted to yell at him to stop. Eventually, the photographer stopped which meant Kit would, too, and I fluffed the bottom of my dress before my auntie called me.
The photographer started taking group photos and I was in every single one. By the time she finished, my cheeks were killing me from smiling so much. I didn’t realise that smiling so much required exercise, I clearly didn’t have enough to smile about.
Once she was done, I headed for a drink and I was thankful for the shade because my skin felt as if it was burning.
“This wedding is great,” Nick said as I stood at the bar waiting for my drink.
“There you are,” I smiled at him.
“I’ll get hers, too,” he said to the bartender.
“You don’t have to do-”
“I want to.” He handed me my drink and looked around.
“Is my brother being nice?” he asked.
I chuckled, “Define nice.”
He laughed and sipped at his drink. “He’s not that bad, honestly. Once you get to know him.”
“I doubt I’ll ever get to know him.”
“That’s what you think,” he winked and as I was about to question what he’d meant, we were asked to take our seats.
It was so awkward eating at the top table, it was like everyone was watching to see how I ate my potatoes... My thoughts were confirmed when I felt my phone vibrate and I discreetly read the message.
* * *
Don’t look so uncomfortable. You’re at the high table, like a princess.
* * *
I’d have rolled my eyes if I didn’t think people would see, that cocky shit. I looked over to where he was sitting, I’d avoided looking up until now. I was expecting to see that cocky face staring back at me but instead, I saw him talking to the girls next to him and Nick. The girls were giggling and I could see all the way down one of their cleavages from here...
I was fuming and ready to march over. Then I yanked my arse back down and realised I had no right to be mad. I questioned myself as to why I even was.
The rest of the meal I tried my hardest not to stare. I was so thirsty and the only drink I had in front of me was the champagne that had been given to everyone. I took one last look at Kit chatting up that girl and I downed it. I felt instantly stupid at the repulsive act but it was too late, I’d already downed it and wanted another.
“Woah, easy girl,” the best man chuckled We’d been seated together but he had been talking to the other bridesmaids most of the time.
Like a conveyor belt, a waiter was there to fill up my glass again and I was about to ask him for something different but he was already gone as soon as my glass had been filled. I stared at it before picking it up and I sipped at it and listened as the speeches started.
The best man went first which meant I had to sit very properly whilst staring up to him next to me. His speech was so long that my neck felt like it needed a brace by the time he was done.
My auntie took the second speech and it was her chance to tell Ted how much he meant to her. I placed my chin on my bent arm and took it all in, everyone awwed as she started crying and Ted stood up and scooped her into a bearlike cuddle.
Once the speeches were over, we were invited to step back outside whilst the room was being transformed for the evening guests. I found my auntie and gave her a hug. After the speeches, my auntie and Ted had handed out gifts and I now had a beautiful necklace with a swift bird on it.
“Since when do you drink?” she asked, pointing to my fourth glass of champagne.
“It’s a wedding,” I smiled.
I knew why she was so concerned.
After my family had died, I’d been a reckless teenager, I managed to get ahold of a load of Vodka and I drank myself into a hospital bed. After that I swore, I’d never drink again, my grandparents didn’t deserve that after everything they’d already been through.
“I’m glad you’re here, Eves.” My auntie kissed my cheek and held me at arms distance.
“Where’s your hot date?” she said, looking around.
I shrugged my shoulders. “He’s not my date, but since you asked, he’s probably making out with one of your guests by now.”
My uncle walked over which meant my auntie quickly changed the subject to avoid my embarrassment.
“I guess this means you’re my uncle now.” I raised my glass to him.
“I suppose it does,” he grinned.
He reached over and gave me a brief hug as I congratulated him.
I liked Ted, he was chilled out and actually really good looking for his age, which wasn’t actually that old considering my auntie was more like a sister than an auntie figure. He adored her and seeing that much love in a man’s eyes for another woman automatically made them attractive. I gave them both another brief hug before they headed back inside to see the changes to the room.
I stood alone for a while and took in some of the cooler air, the blazing heat had now been replaced with a summer breeze which started to lift my hair. I walked over to a huge willow tree that I’d been dying to check out since I got here. Underneath the branches, the sun beamed through the holes between the leaves and it looked great, like a fantasy garden. I smiled up at the branches of the tree and closed my eyes briefly to take in the summer breeze. Without a camera at hand, I took out my phone and took a photo with it.
“Ain't you dancing?”
I looked around at Kit who stood at the edge of the tree, he had his camera in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other, so I took it from him and sipped it.
“I thought you didn’t drink?” he asked.
“Who told you that?” I’d never told him that.
He didn’t answer me and I realised that the drink I’d taken, can’t have been for me then.
“Shit, sorry, have I just taken
someone else’s drink?”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. What are you doing out here?”
“Nothing. I just like this tree,” I told him.
He grinned again, “How much have you had to drink?”
It was getting later in the day now, the reception guests would have already arrived and I should have been inside.
“I’m gonna go back inside, your date will be missing you. Plus, you owe her a drink,” I said whilst pointing to his hand.
I walked through the draping branches of the willow tree and back across the green to the reception before Kit could give me a smart reply.
Back inside I took a seat beside my grandma and grandad, I hadn’t had much chance to speak with them all day, every time I had planned to, I’d been pulled away. The dance floor had been moved in now and a DJ was revving up for a party. Shortly after, it was time for my auntie and uncle to cut the cake, then have their first dance. I stood back and watched as Ted mouthed the words to Bruno Mars’ Just the way you are, to my auntie. It was the most loving thing I’d ever seen and I could feel his every word directed at her as if he was telling their full story. It made me wonder if they had a larger story to tell or if it was a simple case of ‘boy meets girl’. Me and my auntie had never had that conversation, but the way her eyes welled up and the way she only had eyes for Ted at that moment, spoke so much about their love that it was hard for anyone to deny that love exists. It was the most awkward but romantic moment. Beautiful to watch because their dance was filled with so much emotion but awkward because somehow, I felt as if I was intruding on their moment. I couldn’t help but smile and just watch in awe. The last time I saw so much love was between my parents. My grandparents loved each other, I didn’t doubt it. Their love was old-fashioned and kept between them. My parents hadn’t been over the top with it but the way my father had looked at my mother, had spoken a thousand words. The thought of them in this environment, had me ready to cry, but I held it at bay and sipped at my drink in my hand as I glanced up and saw Kit sat now far away, watching me.
When people started moving in for a dance, I edged away because I was no dancing queen. As I made my way back to my seat, I was stopped and I looked up from the floor to see Kit standing in front of me and I frowned at him.
“Ain't you gonna dance?” he asked.
“No. Besides, this is a couple’s song.”
Just as I answered my grandparents walked by hand in hand.
“You gonna ask her to dance or what, son?” my grandad asked. I was shot with embarrassment but I couldn’t help but smile as I looked back to the floor. I swept my side-fringe out of my face and looked back up at Kit.
“I was just about to ask,” he said, taking my drink from my hand and placing it behind me on the table. I gulped as Kit returned rather close to me.
“Dance with me.”
There was something so tempting about his accent.
Something so perfectly manly and tempting that I had to pinch myself.
“I can’t dance,” I said simply before I moved past him. He was only asking me because he felt he had to, anyway. There was another girl here he would have probably liked to dance with more. One who would be more than happy to be his little something tonight.
I felt his hand take mine as I started to walk away and as corny as it sounded, an electric bolt collided with my skin as his hand embraced mine.
He started taking me with him to the dance floor despite my refusal and I was too stunned to protest. Instead, I stood in front of him as he took both of my arms and placed them around his neck.
“I told you, I can’t dance,” I said as he placed his hands around me and pulled me close.
My breath hitched in my throat as my chest met his and I stared up at him.
“I wasn’t asking. I want to dance with you,” he said.
I was surprised I could hear him over the music, the room was dark now and a couple of mood lights along with the disco lights lit the room.
Kit led me, thank God, because I was useless at dancing.
“You had a good day?” he asked.
What, now we were gonna make small talk?
“Yes. Have you?”
He nodded “Yes, I got some really good shots."
“How about Nick?”
He grinned “He’s got a really good shot with a girl...”
He wasn’t the only one, by the looks of it. I glanced around the dance floor and smiled when I saw my grandparents dancing.
“They’re cooler than us,” Kit commented and I looked back at him and laughed.
“You’ve got a really great laugh, you know that?” he said after a second of just looking at me.
I had no idea what to say to him, I just stared up at him like a fool.
I noticed someone behind him and I quickly came down from the cloud he had me caught in. I stopped and Kit looked around to where I was looking.
“Do you mind if I cut in?” the girl giggled. It was the same girl from his table earlier and I wondered what was so funny that required a giggle. She was that desperate for Kit that she had to cut in? I looked at Kit, like, really looked at him. I suppose I could understand. Kit was gorgeous, but he was arrogant and rude. I nodded and stepped away quickly. I closed my eyes briefly whilst walking away and I felt myself again. I had felt like someone else dancing with Kit. I caught sight of the white dress which was my auntie’s. She was at the bar with the other bridesmaids and called me over.
“Come do a shot with me!” she grinned.
“You’re doing shots at your wedding?”
“Pah! Shots are just lifters. I’m not gonna get pissed. Here!” She handed me a small glass filled with green liquid and I tried to mentally count how many drinks I’d already had today as I brought it to my lips. I’d already downed it before I could come up with a figure and as soon as the tang left my tongue my auntie was handing me another.
“I don’t think I should."
She’d already downed her second and I did the same before deciding that it was the last of alcohol I was drinking today. The shots were sour but they left a yummy apple taste in my mouth. My auntie then pulled me to the dance floor despite my refusal and I just stood shifting for a while whilst everyone rose their hands and got into it around me. We were dancing to ‘Heartbeat song’ by Kelly Clarkson. The bridesmaids even grabbed my hands and made me dance with them and I smiled and did my best to move with them. As I moved, I felt a wave of numbness override me and I eased up a little, I shifted my hips a little more and danced beside my auntie.
“I thought you said you couldn’t dance?” she shouted in my ear.
“I can’t!” But who cared? I was dancing with a carefree flow, there were many people on the dancefloor and I was just one amongst them.
I looked around the dancefloor for Kit and the girl who took him earlier but I couldn’t see them. They had probably gone off to a room alone and with that thought in mind, I lifted my arms and let my hips move as the chorus of the song came on loud. I closed my eyes and swayed, even my hair moved with me and for a second, I felt sexy and confident. I smiled and opened my eyes.
Looking around the room I quickly realised I was looking for someone, for a second my mind had travelled back in time and I expected to see my parents close by, dancing as well. Because I’d felt like my old self, I imagined them being there with me and I stopped dead as it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Placing my hand to my forehead, I was really starting to regret those shots. I had to get off the dancefloor. An all too familiar anxiety was settling in and I needed air. Alcohol mixed with my own thoughts was a dangerous combination.
“Are you okay?” I saw my auntie’s face in front of mine and I nodded.
“I’m really warm, I’m gonna go get some fresh air.”
I waited for her to give me the thumbs up before moving fast through the dancing bodies in the hopes that my anxiety didn’t consume me then and there. I fucking hated alcohol, why did people
pay for this head fuck? Was it only me that felt their past haunting them when they had too much to drink?
As soon as I got outside, fresh air hit me like a blanket to to the face and I regretted my actions even more. The alcohol hit me even harder and I sat down on a wall in an attempt to stop my head from spinning. As I sat, I thought more about how much I missed my family, no matter how hard I tried not to think about them I just couldn't stop. Earlier Kit had asked me if I was having a good time... I lied because it was what people expected to hear. I sniffled as tears started involuntarily falling down my face. Hearing a giggle behind me I tried to wipe them away and a set of clonking heels hitting the pavement followed. I heard Kit speak and I made sure not to look around.
“Come on,” the girl said with that same annoying giggle.
They were leaving and I didn’t dare look at them, I just raised my head and looked elsewhere.
“Wait,” Kit told her, then he was suddenly there right in front of me.
I didn’t look at him so he gently moved my face with his hand under my chin so I would.
“Are you okay?” He looked into my eyes and I was unable to look away, he still had my face in his hand and he stroked a section of my hair out of my eyes.
I nodded quickly as I wiped away my tears and heard more voices, a voice I knew to be Nick’s along with his achievement for the night.
“Just go without me, man. I’m staying,” Kit said. I glanced back up at him in question, his eyes hadn’t left my face.
The girl giggled, “But what about me?”
“My brother will take you home,” he answered her without looking her way.
“What are you doing? I’m fine. Go,” I told him.
“I’m staying,” he said firmly.
As I stood up I lost my footing and cursed my feet for being such twats.
“She’s drunk,” the girl said in disgust.
“I’m not!” I threw back, but my words came out more garbled then I had planned and Nick chuckled as I frowned.
