Finding Love Again

Sweat dripped down my back as I steadied my breathing after my long run on the beach. My dad had his arms above his head catching his breath right next to me. We glanced out at the ocean as the sky started getting lighter signaling the start of a new day. 

“What time is your flight?” My dad asked me before taking a sip of his water.

“Ten o'clock,” I answered between long breaths.

“You don’t seem excited about Alyssa's wedding,” he inferred.

I shrugged. I had planned to go to my best friend's wedding with my boyfriend, but he had broken up with me a year ago. It's a known fact that weddings are only fun with a date. Especially, when it's a weekend event, and it's your best friend who is getting married. 

I quickly showered when I got back to my small apartment. I threw on a pair of Nike shorts that were two sizes too big, and a long sleeve shirt that had white paint smeared on it. I grabbed my suitcase and walked out the door to start the loneliest weekend of my life. 

As I sat in the airport waiting for my flight to be called, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that my ex would have been sitting next to me right now. We would share earbuds on the plane while watching our favorite show and sharing our favorite snack. We would obsess over our hotel room, and he would help me zip up the long satin dress that all of the bridesmaids would be wearing. 

My flight was called, snapping me out of my self-pity. I quickly found my seat on the plane and looked at the empty spot next to me that should have been for my ex. As I sipped lightly on my expensive Coke I bought at the airport, a tall man squeezed into the seat next to me. I didn’t make eye contact. The plane was starting down the runway and I noticed Tall Boy smiling down at his phone. Good for him, he has some significant other telling him to have a safe flight. How cute. 

 I rolled my eyes and chugged the rest of my Coke, making my stomach immediately hurt.

After listening to my favorite upbeat playlist on Spotify, the sadness still wouldn’t go away. I decided that sleep was the only way to get out of my funk. I leaned against the back of the chair and let the turbulence of the plane rock me to sleep. 

I woke up suddenly to someone lightly poking my shoulder. I lifted my head, then to my horror realizing it was Tall Boy poking me, and my head was resting on his shoulder. I noticed a wet spot from my drool in a ring on his shirt collar. 

“I’m so sorry!” I said. 

He laughed and said it was fine. Then, my stomach felt queasy again. Oh no. Swallow it, Rhyan. I looked for something, anything to throw up in. I went to put my head in between my legs, but turbulence shook the plane making my head land in his lap. I immediately picked my head up which made me dizzy. I felt the puke rise in my throat and felt my mouth open, throwing up in his lap. 

Tall Boy jumped up out of his seat, hitting his head on the overhead compartments above us. 

“Sir, please take a seat,” a middle-aged flight attendant cooed.

“We need some napkins over here,” he said as he sat back in his seat that happened to be full of my breakfast.

 I could feel everyone on the plane look at us. I turned my head and saw a flight attendant covering her nose. Who knew an upchucked breakfast bar could smell so bad?

“I am so sorry!”I said as I found a single tissue in my shorts pocket. I unwrinkled it and handed it to him. 

As soon as the plane landed, I ran through the Detroit airport to find Alyssa. I was so embarrassed, and I needed to get far away from Tall Boy and that plane ride. I quickly threw some hand sanitizer on hoping it would drown the puke smell that was following me. 

 I found Alyssa in the throng of people at the Toledo airport. We both let out high pitched squeals as we hugged for the first time in six months, which was long for us. The car ride back to her house wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be since we haven’t seen each other since I moved to South Carolina. I told her about the plane ride and she and I laughed the whole way to her parent's house as if no time had passed between us. We got to her parent's house, and I hugged her dad first.

“Hey, Sunshine!” Mr. Dean said, reminding me of my childhood nickname he gave me. The house looked the same as it did in my high school years, which made memories come flooding back. I remember studying together in her room drinking hot chocolate, and trying to memorize chemical formulas. That seemed like yesterday, but now she was getting married, and I was in year four of becoming a nurse. Alyssa and I walked into her room, which was bare, with only a bed and an empty desk. She had recently moved out of her parent's house and bought an apartment which was too small to prepare for a wedding. 

Alyssa closed the door behind us and on the back of it revealed the wedding dress she had shown me on facetime. It was gorgeous. It was long, puffy, and totally her style. She then showed me my dress, which was a light teal, long and silky. 

We talked about the dress rehearsal and her bachelorette party. I missed both. She happily told me about her friends and how much fun they had at the bar. As happy as I was for her that she had a good time, I felt a pang of jealousy. I wish I got to experience her bachelorette party. I would have planned it and made it so special for her. 

That night, we talked about her fiance, Zach, which led to talking about my ex.

“I shouldn’t still miss him, but I do,” I said to her as we leaned against her bed while sitting on the floor.

“He wasn’t good for you, Rhy. Plus he didn’t have any goals for himself,” Alyssa said.

I nodded. But still, it hurt. He made me laugh, and things seemed easier then. I knew Alyssa was right. He didn’t have goals. He was still working at Kroger making minimum wage and had no plans to change that. 

We woke up early the next morning to get our hair and makeup done. We quickly got dressed and met the rest of the bridesmaids at the salon. Alyssa being herself, wanted all of us to have the same hair and makeup for her wedding. If you know my best friend, you don’t argue with her, especially on her wedding day.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn’t look like myself. I had dark eyeshadow on, and my lashes were curled with mascara. I looked at my light blonde hair that was usually tossed in a messy unbrushed ponytail, now down to my back, with two braids starting at the top and meeting in the center. Although all the bridesmaids had the same style, I felt like I stood out. And for once, I felt beautiful. 

After our hair and makeup, we had nail appointments. Trying to save money, I had bought glue on nails and pressed them on myself while everyone got their acrylics done for $40. I sat by Alyssa while she got her nails filed down. I looked around and noticed I had no idea who the rest of her bridesmaids were. None of them were familiar to me, except for her sister who had just graduated high school. 

“ Do I know your bridesmaids?” I asked Alyssa.

“Yes, look. The girl with dark hair is Marissa from high school. She was in your math class senior year,” she said pointing to a dark-skinned girl.  

“I remember her!” I said getting excited. 

‘“The other bridesmaid is Kacie, my roommate in college,” Alyssa said as she focused on her nails.

We all met at the hotel in Kacie's room to get our dresses on. We all nervously chatted with each other while touching up each other's makeup. Marissa and I instantly hit it off like we did in high school. We caught each other up about our lives while we waited for Alyssa to reveal her wedding dress. 

Alyssa stepped out of the bathroom as her mom held the train behind her. We all gasped. She looked beautiful. 

“Wedding time ladies!” Mrs. Dean yelled to us while snapping a picture of us.

We all piled into the limo, being careful not to step on anyone's dress. I nervously thought about walking down the aisle with a random stranger. 

“Hey, I haven’t met the guy I'm walking down the aisle with, does anyone know who it is?” I asked over the loud music.

“Lucas!” Marissa yelled back. 

We got to the church and piled out one by one. We all got quiet as we walked up to the church doors. The only sound I heard was the swish of our dresses, and our high heels hitting the pavement. We filed into a small room while we waited for the late guests to be seated. The groomsmen must have been in the room next to us because we could hear them hyping up Zach, Alyssa's fiance. There was a lot of shouting. 

“Are you ready to be a married woman?” I asked Alyssa as we posed together for another picture. 

“Yes!” She said excitedly as her mom handed her a big bouquet of baby's breath flowers. 

“Okay, it’s time, ladies. Walk to the sanctuary doors and link arms with your partner, and remember to walk slowly down the aisle,” Mrs. Dean said. 

She handed us our small bouquets, as we exited the small room. The smell of freshly watered baby's breath filled my nose. Marissa walked out first, and we all followed her in a line to the sanctuary doors. I peeked through the small windows, and the church was packed. 

I turned to find my partner. I found a tall man standing by himself behind Marissa and her partner. I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back, then did a double-take. I looked at him confused then realized that he was the man on the plane! It was too late to ask to switch partners with Marissa. She was already walking down the aisle, and I found myself linking arms with Lucas and walking down the aisle with him. 

I stared at the floor as we walked, feeling my face and ears burning a bright red. We got to the altar and I quickly walked away from him and stood behind Marissa. I couldn’t think about Lucas for too long, because finally, Alyssa was walking down the aisle with her dad, a huge smile on her face. A violin lightly played as she walked slowly. I looked to find her mom who was in the first row, already crying. 

The ceremony was beautiful. Zach and Alyssa had written their own vows, and I even teared up a little. Lucas and I had to link arms again as we exited the church. I made a daring move and looked at him while he stared at the floor. I was surprised to see that he was very handsome, and I hadn’t noticed on the plane. He had dark blonde hair and blue-green eyes. He was at least six feet tall and big enough to be a star football player. He looked at me and I looked away quickly. He dropped my arm as we got to the door. My mission for the rest of the night: avoid him. I looked around to find Marissa or Alyssa to tell them that the man I threw up all over on the plane was the man I would have to deal with for the rest of the night. 

All of the guests filed out of the church and waited for Zach and Alyssa to come out as a newlywed couple, so we could throw rice at them. I was handed a tub filled with bags of rice, and was told to wait by the door, and hand them out. I walked over to the big brown double doors, and guests swarmed me. 

“Need any help?” A voice said next to me. It was Lucas.

Even though I was overwhelmed with the number of people crowding me for their rice, I didn’t want him near me after what I did to him.

“No, I’m fine,” I said without making eye contact. 

After throwing rice at Zach and Alyssa as they jumped into a limo, it was time to get wedding court pictures done. 

I waited with Marissa and Emily for Alyssa to come back from taking pictures with Zach. The wedding party all sat together in the back room we all got ready in. I kicked my heels off, and checked my phone. 

“Picture time!” Alyssa yelled, barging into the small room after thirty minutes. We all got up and followed her outside. 

“First, I want the bridesmaids on Alyssa's side, and groomsmen on Zach’s side,” the photographer instructed. 

We had to pose and smile so much that my cheeks started to hurt. 

“Now I want pictures of the bridesmaids with the groomsmen they walked down the aisle with. Oh heck no.

I snuck off inside the church to avoid that picture. I walked into the pink bathroom and sat on a little couch leaning against the wall. Why was I even avoiding Lucas? He wasn’t making this a big deal like I was. Maybe I should just apologize, and we can laugh about it. No. I can't do that. I had completely embarrassed myself on the plane.

The door to the bathroom swung open, and Alyssa walked in with her big poofy dress like a cloud around her. 

“Ready to party?” She asked, referring to the reception. 

We fixed her makeup with an emergency eye shadow palette I bought at Ulta and never used before. 

“Also, the guy from the plane ride just happens to be the man I threw up on the plane,” I said casually as I blended her eyeshadow. Alyssa jumps back from me. 

“What! No way!” 

“I swear,” I said. 

We both looked at each other, then collapsed into a fit of giggles. 

We went to the hotel, and everyone was in the party room with a big dance floor in the center of it. Rectangular tables were set up in perfect rows. Guests chatted among themselves at their tables as the wedding party walked in. We were supposed to do a silly dance as they introduced us. Once my name was called, I walked in and did a twirl in the middle of the dance floor, making my dress spin with me. I took my spot at the table where my name was written on a card, signaling my assigned seat for the night. 

There were toasts and lots of dancing. Alyssa and I danced together to “Gas Pedal.” That was “our” song in high school that we actually made choreography for. Everyone laughed at us as we danced, but we didn’t care. 

“May I have all the couples out on the dance floor?” The DJ yelled into his microphone. Old and young couples got up from their seats taking each other hand in hand to the dance floor. A sweet love song played as they all swayed together with nothing but love in their eyes. Alyssa and Zach looked perfect together. They were smiling at each other as they danced. As happy as I was for them, I was jealous. 

I turned around and walked out of the doors to catch some air. Behind the hotel, there was a beautiful lake. I walked down to the wooden dock and heard footsteps behind me. 

“Hey,” a deep voice said. 

It was Lucas. 

“Hi,” I said, not looking at him. 

I kicked my heels off and sat down on the dock, letting my bare feet touch the cool water. Lucas walked towards me, the dock creaking under his feet. 

“You know, I’m not mad at you,” he said, as he sat down next to me. 

“Really?” I asked, now making eye contact. 

We sat side by side staying quiet. It wasn’t an awkward silence, though. 

After sitting for a few minutes, we talked on the dock while the sun started to set along the lake. He was very charming and had a sense of humor. 

“Hey, can I get your number?” He asked confidently after we laughed about the plane ride. 

“Yes,” I said.

He entered his phone number into my phone, then got up. Lucas stretched his arm out for me to take, as the music from the reception echoed over the lake. 

“Dance with me,” he said with that gorgeous smile on his face. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck, as he put his around my waist. We swayed to the music on the dock and kept talking. 

“Do you want anything to drink?” He asked after the third song ended. I nodded. 

“Coke, please,” I said.

“Yeah, that’s not a good idea,” he said with laughter in his eyes.

He went back into the reception, and I sat on the dock again. I turned back towards the lake, and the moon reflected beautifully off the water. Everything seemed okay again.