Imagining me with you

”There he is.”

“Who?”

“The groom you, numbskull,” my Dad pointed.

I surveyed around the reception room and squinted a bit. In the center of the room, the man of the hour sat on a chair, exhausted with a nagging mother-law. The bride was pacing around the room, while several family members were all over the reception.

“Not how I expected my first gig as a wedding photographer would go,” I scowled.

“ Well, you better suck it up Jaime, ‘cause another headache’s comin’ yer way,” Dad grinned.

Out of nowhere, the spawn of Satan, also known as a pain in my neck, waltzed into the shooting set. He also goes under the guise of my childhood friend, employer and secret crush, Kai. Well, at least that’s what I thought of him as.

”Hey short stack!” Kai called out.

“What are you doing here?” I grumbled.

“Just checking how my flat-chested, single since birth, good for nothing-- .”

I sucker-punched his arm before he could finish. Even though he is a bit of a jerk, I still like his company.

“Alright, jeez, calm down shortie.” Kai snickered.

”Sooooo anyway, how’s the first day going ?”

“ Terrible .”

I looked at the clients. The groom was now able to recover from the bride’s parents while the bride finally settled down. That was my cue to speak to the couple. Kai mouthed me “Good Luck” while I glared back. I took a deep breath, fixed my posture, and walked over to them.

“Hi, are you guys ready for the prenup shoot?”

“ Yes, we're good to go,” the groom replied.

I went and adjusted my tripod and made sure my camera was good to go while the immediate family was prepping themselves. Whilst doing so, each member went to their place beside the soon-to-be wedded pair. I readjusted each person’s poses and positions and finally aimed the camera.

Every time I clicked the camera, the couple smiled beautifully, with each shot I took showing the deep-rooted love, trust, support, and hardships that the pair had in their lives. As soon as the last shot was finished, I reviewed the photos and my mind soon wandered off.

“Could this have been me? ” I wondered as I admired the matte wedding gown of the bride.

I gazed at the pictures for a little while until a hand crept up to my back. I jolted and instinctively threw my fists at whoever was behind me.

“Dear God woman, calm down!” Kai yelled as he dodged my fists.

“Well, maybe next time DON’T creep up on me,” I snarled.

“Alright, my bad, anyway I just wanted to let you know that we got to get to move on quickly .”

“Ah, right, let’s do that.”

I pack up my stuff while Kai helps my Dad out with the equipment. We then went to prep up at the venue of the ceremony.

When we arrived, the guests were patiently waiting and some were excitedly looking forward to the big event. My dad went ahead and made sure everything is going to go smoothly and Kai went near the waters and dilly-dallied around while I decided to arrange my stuff.

The venue for the wedding was a white sand beach just nearby the reception and hotel. The scenery captures exactly the beauty and vivid imagery of a happy ending of any fairytale. Truly an excellent choice for a romantic oceanfront setting while the wind and waves sing their praises over your union.

I gaze at the scenery longingly until Kai called out to me. As I looked over . he was standing barefoot in the shallow parts of the waters, his pants rolled up above his knees. Small waves were crashing at the back of his calves while the sun perfectly highlighted his strong facial features. It was the perfect scene for a photoshoot.

“A photoshoot of him with me that is,” I thought while grinning like a gremlin.

I snapped out of my thoughts and continued to check my equipment and focus on getting things settled in a short amount of time. I fumbled through my things while my Dad and Kai went to double-check the location.

As we made sure everything was in order we simply went to our positions and roles. Of course, as the photographer I had to position myself first near the altar in order to capture the people walking down the aisle.

Just a few moments later the awaited couple had arrived. The groom stood in anticipation while I made sure to capture every moment as the flower girls, ring bearer, bible-bearer, groomsmen, and bridesmaids have walked down the aisle.

And after the rest have already done walking, it was finally time for the vivacious bride to walk down the aisle. Every step she made, and every shot I made brought me to a trance and caused my mind to slowly start to wander while my body was still doing its job like clockwork.

I had imagined myself wearing the same dress, under the same basking sun. I dreamt of smiling mirthfully as my to-be husband would fix his eyes with mine and gaze lovingly. I pictured that my husband-to-be was my childhood friend, Kai.

The moment I woke up from my trance was when I was capturing the moment when the bride and groom had exchanged their vows and were finally sealing their lives and commitment to one another with a kiss. And as that moment had ended I relapsed back to my daydreams.

“Pssst, hey! Jaime! Are you listening?” said Kai while waving his hand in front of my face.

When I’ve come back to my senses, we were sitting by the staircases near the entrance of a hotel.

“My bad, I ended up in a trance again, what’s up?” I asked while recollecting myself.

“ I asked what you were dreaming of. You had that blank stare since the ceremony started.”

“Just wondering what it would be like to stand where the bride stood on the altar.” I blurted. “Thought it would be nice for once to have a special moment of mine to be photographed.”

“Well, who do you plan on spending that special moment with?” asked Kai curiously.

“Well, I-- I-- wait a minute, I’m not going to answer that, you can just guess for yourself!”

“Alright then, keep your secrets.”

The abomination of human interaction decided to pop up around the corner: the awkward silence.

As the awkward silence filled the atmosphere, rain began to pour outside. The musty air arose all around us and after a while, I decided to break the silence.

“What about you?” I asked.

“What was that?”

“I asked if you have someone in mind.”

He raised his eyebrow in confusion. “What?”

“You know? Someone special, someone to spend the rest of your life with!” I yelled.

“Ah, well probably Barney,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Who?”

Kai grinned a little. “Barney the dinosaur” he replied.

“Shut up!” I giggled. ‘Come on! Answer seriously, do you really have someone in mind or not?”

“Why are you so curious about my love life now?” he asked mischievously.

“Well, you started asking first!” I snapped.

“Well,” he glanced at me sideways. “What do you want me to answer?”

I looked at him and noticed that he wasn’t playing around anymore. His typical bubbly smile was replaced with a blank smile, while his normally sparkling eyes turned cool and pensive.

I kept staring until my ears slowly started turning red. I looked away when I noticed I gawked for too long.

“Just answer already,” I muttered.

"When I imagine myself spending my life with someone special, I’d want you to be there capturing my special moments.”

“Oh,” I replied in disappointment.

“Of course, that special someone would be you.”

I looked at him with my mouth open.

He looked back and laughed.

“You never knew. I’ve always loved you ever since we were kids, why do you think I tagged along with you and your old man a lot? Hell, even your dad knew back then, he even gave me permission to date you!”

“I - you, um , wha?” I stuttered.

He sighed and threw his head back.

“I’ve always imagined myself with you, even back then. You were just too dense.” he shot a look, “too dense.”

“Well, you never gave me a hint.”

He laughed again and shook his head.

“But you won’t take that back right?” I asked.

“Of course not.”

I grabbed him by his arms and dragged him under the rain.

“What gives?” he gasped as the rain pours on his face.

“I may not be perfect, I may be moody from time to time, but I hope you’ll take care of me.”

I jumped on him and he caught me with his arms.

“So that means your mine now?”

I giggled a little.” I’m yours , forever .”