The people you meet at a wedding

The people you meet at a wedding

The wind was blowing hard, so hard that the bride’s veil flew upwards like a gauzy sail before wrapping itself firmly around her face, just as an ocean wave broke at her feet, splashing the white satin dress and leaving wet marks on the bride’s flat stomach. From her spot on the outside of the semi circle of good friends, Kitty clamped a hand over her mouth so that she wouldn’t laugh out loud. Served Miss Perfect Matilda right that she couldn’t see, and had to bat at her hair without losing her updo and dropping her bouquet of white roses into the sand. Kitty could have told Matilda that this idea of getting married on the beach was a bad idea.

 Kitty wasn’t part of Matilda’s in crowd, the clump of friends from college days that were all so close they’d all slept with one  another at one time or another. Kitty didn’t work at the fancy law firm where Matilda terrorized corporations who polluted the earth, serving them with paperwork that ran up their legal bills, interviewing disgruntled former employees who harbored resentments that they were glad to unload. No, Kitty was no longer special to Matilda. She was a has-been, a friend from childhood days growing up on Birch Street. Kitty was the girl next door that Matilda had been relieved to escape from, except she hadn’t bothered to tell Kitty that she wanted nothing more to do with her. Kitty’s mother had told her about the party. She should have known that her mother was living in the past, unaware that Kitty and Matilda had barely seen each other these last several years.

And now, Matilda was struggling to free her face from the veil, to keep her composure as a gaggle of slim hipped, sun kissed, red lipped bridesmaids all rushed in around her, pulling at her with manicured nails and soaking the hems of their any-color-of-pink dresses in the rising tide. The water had crashed again, closer to shore, covering the bridesmaid’s new shoes with foam and bits of seaweed. The  groomsmen, awkward in their gray suits with pink bow ties ( all the same salmon pink) had stepped in, unsure of how to help, but making constant suggestions as only a group of men can do. Terrance the groom was the only one who had the good sense to step backwards away from the water. He stood on the beach, with a slight look of amusement on his face as if waiting for Matilda to come to him.  And then as if to top it all off, a German shepherd bounded into the water, leaping and wagging his tail. Clearly he thought there was a party going on.

“Ridiculous, isn’t it?” Kitty snapped her head around. Behind her ( yes, there was even a clump of people behind her), a young man was standing on his tip toes, trying to see over her. He raised his phone, angling it so that he could capture a video. He raised his eyebrows as he stepped into Kitty’s personal space. “Nice to meet you, I’m Michael.”  

“I guess anything can happen on your wedding day.” Kitty tried to sound breezy. She was taller than Michael and leaned slightly to the side so that he could get a better view and capture the spectacle that was unfolding. Now the German shepherd was running side to side and crouching as if protecting Matilda from an invisible enemy. He shook his brown furry body, throwing up water like a fountain. The owner was too far away to stop him, and didn’t seem to notice that he had inserted himself into the wedding party. Mathilda’s hands were over her mouth and she waded backwards toward the ocean. She was definitely not moving up the sand toward Terrance.

“Isn’t there a priest or something?” Michael asked.

Kitty was glad to be asked. Michael’s question reminded her that she was a friend of the bride after all. “They wrote their own vows. So no, they didn’t think they needed an officiant.”

“Is it going to be official then? Without an officiant, I mean?”

Kitty leaned close to Micheal, who smelled fresh, like mint.  She stage whispered. “Don’t tell anyone, but they got married at City Hall already. This was just for the pictures. She’s got a huge following on Instagram.”

Michael lowered his camera and turned to look at Kitty. He had lovely blue eyes rimmed with dark curled lashes. “I see their point. But this is a disaster.”

Kitty nodded.  She was taller than Michael, but so what? She wasn’t in the wedding party. They could just hang out and watch. Just then, the German shepherd leapt up and took the flowers out of Matilda’s hand. She screamed. That was when Terrance came running into the water. He scooped Matilda up in his arms and twirled her around as the wedding party began to clap. The front of her was sandy and she had lost a satin white shoe, but she fit neatly in Terrance’s arms. She threw her head back, letting the veil fly into the water, shaking her head side to side to loosen her hair. Her arms went overhead in a big V. Matilda knew what to do with a moment. The wedding party pulled out phones and captured her smiling like a beauty queen, leaning into Terrance as the sun hit the perfect angle in the sky, drenching them all in yellow gold light.

“They’re having too much fun.” Michael observed.

“She always was over dramatic. It’s actually kind of perfect.”

The wedding party was all in the water now, and everyone was swimming, diving under, melting their hairdos in the spray of sea water. The clump of college friends joined in, and then the lawyers. The owner of the German shepherd appeared, clapping his hands, dragging the dog out of the way.

“Sorry,’ he said.

Micheal turned to Kitty. “How do you know her?”

“Oh, just from the neighborhood.”

“Best friends, huh?”

“Not really. Not anymore anyway.”  

Micheal looked sympathetic. “That’s too bad. She seems like a fun person.”

Kitty smiled. “She is. Or she was, anyway.” Why had Kitty even come to this party? She supposed it was out of habit. For ten years, she and Matilda had played hopscotch and cards, had sleepovers and hung out in the big tree in Matilda’s backyard. They had stayed together just because they had always been friends. But now, looking at the faces of the college and work friends, Kitty realized that she and Matilda had gone their separate ways many years ago. She didn’t need to come to this wedding, or picture session, whatever it was. She could just go home.

“Wait, you aren’t leaving, are you?” Micheal looked alarmed.  

Kitty stopped. She brushed back her blond hair. It felt good when the wind came back around and lifted the tresses off her neck. She pulled a few hairs out of her mouth. “I was thinking of getting a Starbuck’s. I don’t think they will miss me. Want to come?”