Luckily Jane had the foresight to ask Asher and me to forgo our maid of honor and best man speech duties because she knew her dad would ramble on for the total allotted speaking time. It wasn’t a huge deal to me either way whether I did or not. Whatever made Jane happy that night was fine with me. Bored to tears, my thoughts drifted to Nolan, replaying the day’s events. Maybe after the wedding, he and I could sit down and talk about where things stood between us.
I had just ordered a lychee martini at the open bar when the DJ squawked on the microphone, “Laaaaaaadies and gentlemen! It’s time for the best man and the maid of honor to help get this party started!” With Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” playing in the background, he whooped, “Melody Joo! Asher Jennings! Come onnnnn down!”
I searched the crowd for Asher but couldn’t find him. The DJ continued yammering into the microphone. “It’s a wedding tradition! Melody and Asher, it’s tiiiiiime for you to dance! Don’t be shy!” Everyone turned around in their seats, looking for me. A handful of people pointed to the bar. “Oh, we found her! Everyone please give Melody a warm round of applause for being an amazing maid of honor today, and to encourage her to come up here and dance, dance, dance!” He clapped along to those last three words.
“Dance, dance, dance,” the crowd chanted.
With a plastered smile hiding my distress beneath the surface, I waved to the crowd and made my way to the front. The wedding-goers blocking my way to the dance floor moved their legs so a clear path opened up magically, like Moses parting the Red Sea.
Wearing my dreadful toga dress, I looked at the hundreds of wedding guests, who were waiting for me to dance, dance, dance to Miley’s anthem.
Asher still wasn’t there. I stood all by my lonesome in front of two hundred people. Just Miley Cyrus and me.
“Paging Asher Jennings! Report to dance floor, stat,” the DJ joked.
Asher, where the fuck are you?
The DJ, hired to make the night go smoothly, filled the airtime. “While we wait for Asher, everyone, this is Melody Joo, friends with Jane since graduating from college. And, gentlemen, there’s no riiiiing on that left haaaaaand!”
I wanted to flee but my knees locked and froze in place. I could usually muster a quip to say in awkward moments like these, but this time no words came out. God, please, don’t let me cry up here.
I searched the audience for Asher and found Candace, her mouth agape, with a look of pity and horror on her face. She, too, had no words.
My chest tightened and blood rushed to my face. Hotness swept across my body.
I blinked back tears.
I had about ten seconds before the waterworks show would begin. My thoughts muddled and I didn’t know what to do. My choices appeared limited: I could run out the door and ruin Jane’s wedding plans, or stay here and cry in front of everyone.
Jane shot a panicked look at Candace and me. She would have to change plans. And for control-freak Jane, that was just too much to handle on what was supposed to be the best day of her life.
The doors near the DJ booth flung open and Wil charged in, wearing disheveled athletic wear head to toe. He nudged the DJ aside. “Sorry, everyone, a slight change in the itinerary. Asher wasn’t feeling well, but lucky for us, we have a suitable replacement.”
Wil looked at me and grinned. “Nolan MacKenzie, would you please do the honor of joining Melody on the dance floor?”
A spotlight moved to the doorway and a freshly showered Nolan walked in, waving and smiling sheepishly at the wedding guests, like he was in a parade. The crowd erupted in applause as he joined me on the center of the dance floor.
He took my hands and said, “I’m wearing Wil’s tux. It feels weird. Does it fit?”
The pants were too short and his jacket was too big. His silver bow tie sat askew. He looked perfect.
I nodded.
He exhaled and said softly, “Asher’s passed out on a couch in the lobby.” We swayed to the music as applause swelled around us. “Does this count as our first date? We look really fancy and we’re dancing and there’s an open bar.”
Did he say . . . first date?
I nodded again.
The tears finally came. Joyful tears, mixed with a smattering of thank the