Brief Encounters

The light sound of piano music filled the air as the married couple danced. A soft buzz of chatter could be heard sporadically around the reception room. And the smiles that were flaunting on all faces, completed the mood of happiness on this chilly night.

Experiencing a wedding ceremony up so close was grand. The humble face gestures that the bride and groom carried were admirable, and if I weren't given the privilege of sitting a couple of rows from them getting married, then I probably would have missed it. I felt the emotion of the two as the priest spoke, which consisted of nervousness and an extraordinary amount of love. There was nothing I could do but sit in awe as they said their vows and kissed as to declare the fidelity either of them would have towards one another forever. It was such a special moment that it brought tears to my eyes, and I had to use Eden's shoulder to cry into afterwards due to not having a pack of tissues with me in my clutch purse.

However, at the moment I was sitting at a table with four other people I did not know, and an empty seat next to me meant for Eden. After my tears had soaked through his dress-coat, he complained and went off to the bathroom in hope that the air-blower meant for drying hands would be redemption for his "trashed" outfit. I didn't mind his absence because that meant I could sneak a glass of wine without him possibly knowing. Unless I spilt some of the liquid on my white dress, then I wasn't planning on being caught.

Cheers were emitted from the guests, and on cue, I put down the wine glass and joined in clapping. Turning towards the married couple, I spotted a microphone in the groom's hand. His huge grin was an omen to me, as suddenly my mouth went dry and my hands clammy.

"Hello everyone!" He laughed. "My lovely wife and I thought- man, it sounds good to say that now- that in order for this party to get started, that we'd like to have everyone join together in a circle dance!"

The guests had mixed replies, but because they wanted to be respectful, they stood up and waited for further instruction. Not wanting to be the sore thumb out of everyone, I also stood. Deep inside, my stomach was churning all over again, and I just wanted Eden to come back.

The groom handed the microphone over to his wife, and she began telling us what to do. "To spark things up between people, we want it to be a 'boy-girl' pattern. So, start pairing with the opposite gender, people, and we'll get things started!"

Procrastinating at a slow pace towards the other guests, I spotted Eden out of the corner of my eye, coming back into the room and over to me. I immediately clung onto his hand and explained what was going on, hoping that the wavering octaves in my voice wouldn't give away how nervous I was. After all, he wouldn't understand that I was only flustered because somewhere closeby, my match was looking for another lady's hand to hold besides the same blonde he was with at the restaurant from a week earlier.

However, luck wasn't on my side because a moment later I felt skin connect with my free hand, and my eyes sprung up to meet my match's intrigued leer. All breath escaped me then, as my voice caught in my throat. If anything, I probably looked like a deer caught in a car's headlights.

His lips twitched into a small smile, before he looked away to stare at the bride and groom who were ready to give more instructions. I did the same, not knowing what else to do as I lost all sense of clarity in my brain.

"Okay, you guys did good! Now, we're going to start some music and you all are going to start moving to your left. Start it off slow, and then pick up the pace!" The wife giggled.

As soon as I felt the music travel through me, the bass thumping at my chest, and Eden pulling me in his direction, I had to quickly entwine my finger's with my match's so that I wouldn't lose him and ruin the circle. That's when I realized how firm his hand was. From just looking at him, it seemed like he'd almost as if have rough hands, but instead it was the perfect complexion of soft and hard... He must have been disgusted by my sweaty hand, then, if his was perfectly fine.

When the dance began going faster, I felt my head spinning. Dizziness being my forte in all special events, I had to keep swallowing so that I wouldn't purge. Just when I thought things were going good, and I was actually enjoying the wedding, things had to turn bad again and ruin my mood. I guess this is what happened when I was with my match for too long, even though this was only my second time seeing him after so many years. After all, I had recognized him at the restaurant last week, and he seemed to have shared that same feeling. However, I wasn't sure if he remembered me for the exact reason I did for him...

"The other way, now!"

The sudden transition of the guests moving right caught me off guard in my thoughts, that I happened to turn and step on my match's foot. He flinched in pain at the contact and muttered an obscenity, but carried on with the dance as I apologized in my most hitched voice. Feeling my face grow warm again, I looked to Eden, who in return only gave me an annoyed glance before smiling fakely to the older woman on the other side of him.

"I really didn't mean to step on your foot!" I squeaked. I hoped that if I were to say sorry again, then it'd ease my embarrassment, but in reality, it only prolonged it.

My match turned his head towards me, and once he made eye contact with my worried expression, he gave another small smile.

"It's all right. I know that it was an accident... Things like that can happen, especially with this dance."

At the sound of his voice, and the slight raspiness to it, I couldn't help but think of the last time I ever heard him talk. He sounded the same besides the fact that it was more masculine than inflicted with the means of puberty. Then when he laughed a little at the end, it sounded like the habitual giggle I used to hear coming from him on almost a daily basis. The act of him even talking to me brought back so many memories that it pushed my brain into a fog again. I went along with the dance to the end, as did everyone else, and didn't step on anyone else's feet. Then once it was done, the trance was broken and I stared to Eden, waiting for him to take charge like he usually did.

A second later I was being drawn away by Eden, and my other hand peeled away from my match's at the same time. We walked to our table and that is when the wine glass came into sight. I'd forgotten to put it somewhere else...

"What's this, Lottie?" Eden asked as he gestured to the drink.

Mine. "I think that's someone else's wine. I wouldn't go against your word, especially on a night so special to you as this one."

His analytical eyes looked over my face for any sense of me lying, then he stiffly nodded before taking a seat and pulling me down on his lap. "That's my girl."



The night went on, and as people shifted in-and-out of the room, I grew tired from watching them. My eyes felt heavy and my breath shallow, ready for sleep to take me into its arms. I felt as insipid as the cold coffee I was drinking from letting it sit too long beforehand. I was bland to the party.

When Eden walked over with a sheen gloss to his forehead from sweating, it made me feel even more guilty for not doing anything but taking up more space. He was participating in the wedding, and I wasn't.

"God, Lottie, you look dead."

Thanks, I feel like it. "I'm just tired. Do you think we could head on home? We have about an hour to drive..."

While giving him the smile he supposedly fell in love with, I reached out to hold his hand. Once his larger hand was in mine, he squeezed.

"We could always just stay here." He sat down. "It could be like a mini-vacation, you know?"

My smile faltered a little.

"Yeah, but you know that I get really homesick. I can't stay here."

Eden stared out at everyone in the room as his jaw clenched. Then with a sigh a moment later, he looked at me again.

"All right, fine. I'll go start the car."

He left instantly after, and I was alone again. Feeling satisfied at winning him over, I smiled out to the crowd of guests still dancing, but my eyes landed on my match who was already staring back at me. The shock made my smile fall and my face grow red again for what could have been the millionth time that night. I watched as he said something to his date, making her head in the same direction Eden did, and then begin making his way over to me. I averted my gaze, hoping that if I didn't look it wouldn't be true, but it was. As I heard the clearing of his throat, and the sight of his black shoes invade my sight, I knew this would be our big confrontation.

"Lottie?"

"Hey there, Sidney." I shakily stood up, and wrung my hands together.

A moment of silence came between us as we took in each other's appearance. To either of us we must have been surprised at how similar we looked from the last time we ever spoke years ago. I still had my curly brown hair, and he still had his short dark hair. Our faces only looked more mature, defining our facial structure rather than being round from how young we once were. Like always, I was still shorter than him, and he was still taller than me. Nothing much has changed besides which way our lives went, but we didn't bring that up.

"It's been quite a while. How've you been?" He eventually spoke up.

"Good." I smiled. I was going to stop there, but then I thought a one-word answer would be kind of rude, so I continued on, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, especially at a restaurant and now a wedding. It's a bit strange."

He scratched the back of his neck, and grinned back. "Yeah, I know. I was thinking the same thing, actually. How do you know the married couple, if I may ask?"

"The groom is the cousin of my boyfriend."

It felt uncomfortable mentioning Eden into our conversation already. After all, this was apart of the life I had that he, as well as many others, missed out on. And likewise, I had missed out on his. We had a lot to catch up on, but no time to do so.

"Oh," he croaked. "That's pretty interesting. Um, I work with the groom actually. We're co-workers."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's a great guy. I'm sure your boyfriend has told you that already, though."

He has. More than once.

Speaking of Eden, he came back into the room and meandered his way through the crowd to where Sidney and I were. He looked confused, my match looked nervous, and I must have looked scared. It was a good combination of getting nowhere.

"Hey, honey, who's this?" Eden wrapped his arm around my waist. He liked to protect what was his.

I cleared my throat. "This is Sidney. I used to go to school with him back when I lived in Canada."

The two men stared each other down, as I stood awkwardly to the side. Eden probably didn't hear me because all that rang wild in his head was that I was talking to another man. This usually didn't happen, so it must have set him off. I, on the other hand, didn't want to fall into the same state as him. Therefore, I looped my arm under his and nudged his side.

"Is the car heated up?" I intervened.

"Yeah... it is." Eden slightly shook his head, and then put his hand out for Sidney to shake. "I'm Eden: Lottie's boyfriend. It's nice to meet you. I'd like to stay and talk, but I know Lottie, here, is really tired and we have a long ride back home."

Sidney shook Eden's hand, saying, "It's nice to meet you, too. And yeah, you're right, she does look pretty worn out. I'm exhausted myself, so I'm going to be leaving, as well. I hope you two have a good evening. Hopefully we'll get to chat soon... Maybe if the groom throws a meet-up some time."

"Yeah, that'd be cool." Eden nodded, meaning the conversation was over. He slowly began pulling me away, so I was able to say something of departure.

I smiled slightly, "It was nice to see you again after such a long time, but um, have a good night."

Sidney's eyes flashed to mine, and they immediately brightened.

"I'll see you soon."

We walked in opposite directions once we all reached the parking lot. When I entered the car, my head fell against the window and my eyes closed. Sleep knocked me out.



By the time I groggily woke up the next morning, I was in bed next to Eden as if nothing had ever happened.

It was all back to normal.