Not Like The Movies

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. It was held in a little chapel, where a theme of baby blues and whites covered every part of it. Denise felt tears in her eyes when she saw how beautiful Melissa was in her strapless, ball gown styled dress. She looked like a Disney Princess—something that Denise had wished for herself all her life. She sat by her parents the whole time and as they all watched Melissa walk down the aisle, she saw David across the room sitting by a couple of Peter’s college buddies. She quickly looked away and continued to follow the gorgeous bride. She felt the urge to burst into tears once her brother and his new bride shared their first kiss as husband and wife. It was such a magical experience that she wished she could replay. She was thankful for video cameras that captured every bit of it.

After the ceremony, everyone headed back to the hotel for the reception. The grand hall was magnificent as well. They continued with the baby blue and white theme and had streamers going from left to right. They had a little platform where there was a long table for the newlywed and their parents to sit. Peter explained earlier that he wanted Denise to sit up them but felt that it would be unfair to Melissa’s siblings since she had four sisters. Denise understood and decided that it was better that she sat by her cousins so she could chat with them while they waited for the speeches and whatnot to start.

Denise and Mandy chatted the most. Denise’s eyes would wander around the room, looking for any signs of David being around. She wondered where he would sit. She saw the name cards on the table and didn’t see his name on the table she was sitting at. But sadly, luck was not her side as soon as she saw him approach. Mandy saw this and gave out an awkward laugh. David saw the look on Denise’s face and immediately explained, “Mark wanted to sit by Melissa’s sisters…” Mandy took this as an opportunity to stir the conversation away from trouble. She welcomed David to the table and included him in the conversation. Denise would laugh at whatever Mandy said because she was nervous. David did the same thing. The tension was thickening and Mandy could feel it since she was sitting in between them.

Peter finally stood up to start the speech. Most of the family spoke, including Denise, who congratulated the couple and said humorous things while their drunk uncle made some inappropriate comment about their honeymoon and what’s going to happen behind closed doors. Most laughed out loud while others gave him a disgusted look. That sure was the Fordham family. When it was time to eat, the conversations kept flowing and Denise started to loosen up a bit once the wine was served. After Peter and Melissa cut the cake and few performances were made, it was time for everyone to dance. Denise, being someone who was only used to dancing in the privacy of her own bedroom, insisted that Mandy and the rest of her cousins to dance while she stayed behind, leaving her with David. For a few minutes, Denise focused on the dancing bodies out on the dance floor and tapped her foot to the rhythm of the music. She was so focused that she didn’t notice that David had gotten up from his seat to sit down next to her. He had to speak up since the sound coming from the speakers were too loud.

“Hi,” she heard and she immediately felt her heart beat faster. She turned her head to look at him and gave him a small smile. “Hi.”

Both of them tapped their feet to the beat of the song, stealing glances every now and then. After three songs, David asked, “Wanna dance?”

“I’m not much of a dancer,” she replied without looking at him, continuing to tap her feet.

“Me too. Maybe we could both be terrible dancers out there together.” That got her attention so she turned her head and felt the corners of her mouth turned upward.

“You’re not gonna let this one go are you?” She laughed. He shook his head.

By the time they walked out on the dance floor, the song changed into a slow song.

Perfect, just perfect. Denise thought, sarcastically.

“I guess we better…” She started as she walked back to the table before David softly caught her by her wrist.

“Stay.”

She didn’t actually hear him say it but she saw his lips move under the red and yellow lights flashing from above them. Without thinking about it, she let him drag her by her wrist to the middle of the dance floor. He carefully wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her hand up his shoulder and let it rest there. He grabbed her other hand and held it in his. They swayed to the music, shifting from one foot to the other with a gap in between them. Instinctively, Denise rested her head on his shoulder. David looked down in surprise and smiled to himself as he held her tighter. It felt like they were dancing for eternity until the DJ announced that he was about to play another fast song. They pulled away slowly and Denise, once again, started to walk back to the table but David said, “I think maybe we should talk.” Not wanting to cause a scene, Denise agreed and let him lead the way out of the grand hall.

Once they were outside, Denise turned to him and said, “I don’t think this is the right time to talk about our…issues.”

David understood.

“But I know you’ll leave as soon as this is over and I’ll never get to explain myself to you. I know I’m the last person you want to talk to and I know that you and Jon are on speaking terms again and I just—“

“You’re rambling,” she joked which made David feel a little better.

“I just wanna say I’m sorry, Denise. I’m really fucking sorry. I’m an idiot. Everyone says so.”

She laughed.

“I just wanted everything to be okay between you and my brother. I figured that by pulling that stunt would be a good reason for our ‘break-up’ but I didn’t really think things through…” David explained. “I never wanted to hurt you or Jon. I just want us to be friends again.”

“I want us to be friends again too, David.” She said honestly. “I forgive you. I just want to forget all that stuff back at home. Let’s just start over.”

“I’d like that,” David said before he leaned down and kissed her. He quickly pulled away as soon as he realized what he had done. “Oh my God, I am so fucking sorry. I…I don’t know—“

“It’s okay…” Denise said in a whisper, touching her lips lightly.

“God, I’m so stupid.” David scolded himself.

“No, David, it’s okay, really. It’s not big deal.” She assured him.

He tugged on his hair out of frustration and said, “No it’s not. It’s not okay. I can’t stand the fact that once this is all over, you’ll go back to Chicago, back to Jonathan.”

“David…what are you saying? We were fine just a second ago. We we’re going to be friends again. I don’t understand.” Denise was confused and had to take a step back, unprepared for what he was about to say next.

“You’re all I’ve been thinking about since I left, do you know that? I’ve been thinking about how much I fucked up and how much I wish I hadn’t. Those few days I was with you were possibly the best days I’ve had in Chicago than I ever had here.”

Denise was speechless.

“W-why can’t we just be friends? Things don’t have to be complicated.”

“Denise, can’t you see? I can’t just be friends with you!”

Denise couldn’t handle what was happening. It was her brother’s wedding day and here she was fighting with a guy she did not even know that well.

“You don’t even know me, David. The same way that I don’t know you. You can’t have feelings for someone you don’t know.”

“You have feelings for Jon, don’t you? He’s a nobody to you!” David countered angrily. “You don’t know the first thing about him! He fucks around like every other player who goes pro. Guys like him don’t settle down.”

“Then you obviously don’t know your own brother,” Denise argued back. “He wouldn’t do something like that. He was even honest with Lindsey.”

David laughed mockingly, “Ha! You probably think he’s in Calgary, sitting in his hotel room being a good boyfriend when in reality, he’s probably out with the guys trying to find the next chick he could bang.”

“Don’t talk about him like that! He’s your brother! He’s never said one bad thing about you!” Denise could feel the water works and she desperately hoped that this conversation would soon end.

“You know, I didn’t ask to feel this way about you. I just want you to realize the life you’re about to get shoved into by being with him. I care about you.” David calmed down and tried to offer Denise some comfort. She only took another step back away from him. “You don’t have to be cooped up in his condo while he’s out there living his life as a famous hockey player. You don’t have to pretend like the other wives and girlfriends. You can just be you when you’re with me.”

“You don’t know me and maybe I don’t know Jon either but at least we’re both trying to figure each other out. We’re taking our time instead of shoving our feelings down each other’s throat like what you’re doing right now.” She didn’t wait for his reply and just turned her heel to go back to the reception.

—

Jonathan woke up the next morning and the first thing he did was to check his phone to see if Denise had called him. He had stayed up the day after the FaceTimed each other, waiting for her to call after the wedding was over. He figured that she was tired after the whole day event and went straight to bed. She had only left a text message to let him know that she was on her flight back to Chicago. She said that she had taken an earliest flight and decided that she would just relax before she went back to work the following day. He replied back and wish her a safe flight. He added that he couldn’t wait to see her as soon as he was done with the orientation camp. After sending her the text, he got ready for his last day of camp before going back to Chicago.

He was excited to see Denise once again. He had already planned out what he was going to do once he finally saw her. He was going to ask her out on a proper date to a French restaurant called Les Nomades. It was a formal dining place where he could see himself sitting across Denise in a little black dress that she would only wear on special occasions. He smiled as he imagined helping Denise read the menu since he was fluent in the language. Even more now, he couldn’t wait until he could tell her about his plans. He could only hope that she would like it too.

After the camp was finally over, he headed back to his hotel room and packed his clothes into his luggage. He wanted to get up the next day and just go straight back home. He decided that Denise was finally back in Chicago so he called her. After three rings, she picked up, sounding very sleepy.

“Did I wake you up?” He hoped that he didn’t.

“Nope,” she said adding a yawn. “But I just about to pass out on my couch. Relaxing day isn’t going in the direction that I wanted it to go.”

“The partying exhaust you?” He joked.

“Ha ha, very funny. For your information, I only had a couple of glasses of wine and danced once on the dance floor. It wasn’t even a fast song so I don’t think it counts as dancing.”

Jonathan stopped on the other line. If it wasn’t a fast song that played, it could only mean that she danced to a slow song. He knew that no girl, especially who looked as gorgeous as Denise, would dance to a slow song alone. His heart started to race at the thought of another man stepping in his place and touched her and closely danced with her.

He coughed to cover up for the silence that just happened for a second.

“Who’d you dance with?”

Denise knew that he was going to ask when she mentioned the slow song. There was no point in lying so she said, “David. I danced with David. He sat at my table.”

Jonathan coughed again.

“Oh umm, how’d that go?”

Denise chuckled.

“Are you seriously asking me that? You wanna know how my dance with your brother went?”

“It wasn’t awkward was it?”

She shook her head.

“He’s a great dancer. He claimed that he wasn’t but what a total liar he is,” she joked. She wasn’t sure if she should bring up the turn of events that happened last night to Jonathan. She knew that he would get mad at David and she didn’t want to be the reason for another Toews fight again.

“Did you guys talk about what happened?” Denise hoped that he wouldn’t ask so she sighed in return.
“Yeah, we did.”

“What’d he say?” Jonathan pushed.

Denise quickly thought of something to change the subject. If he really wanted to know about what happened, it would be better if they talked about in person rather than over the phone.

“Let’s save that conversation for another day, yes? Let’s talk about your camp. How’d that go?”

Jonathan let it go but he knew that he would have to remember to ask her about what she and David talked about. They talked about camp and wedding ceremony for an hour before Denise started to yawn again.

“I think I’ll let you go now. Take a nap and call me whenever you wake up, alright?” Jonathan said. She smiled as she closed her eyes and laid on her nail polish stained couch. She mumbled a goodbye but didn’t bother to hang out. Jonathan laughed to himself as he heard silence for a few minutes followed by her soft snoring. He didn’t hang up the phone. Instead, he laid down on his bed, putting his phone next to his ear and closed his eyes. Soon enough, he drifted to sleep with the sound of Denise’s light breathing on the other line as if she was right next to him. There was nothing but good dreams of him and Denise that filled Jonathan’s mind that late afternoon. He wished that those dreams would soon turn into reality.