Chapter 28 A rehearsal, rain & red flags
“This is one of the worst hurricanes in the history of New York!” A weatherman said the evening news while Leah was getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. “Global climate change is changing the weather patterns around the globe and it’s possible these types of hurricanes may become more common in the northeast.”
Climate change or interfaith marriages, Leah thought quietly to herself, even though she knew it was silly to think that she might be causing this hurricane. She was insignificant in the scheme of things, like a butterfly flapping its wings, there was no way that could cause a tsunami on the other side of the globe, just like Leah’s marriage couldn’t cause a hurricane.
Leah was in her hotel room at the W Hotel in Union Square, where her parents had booked two rooms for two nights. The first night Leah was staying with Shira and the second night she and Gabe would have the room and Shira would room next door with their parents. She put on her rehearsal dinner dress while eyeing her wedding dress, which was hung up in a white canvas bag in front of the closet. It fit her perfectly at her last fitting after she returned to the boutique from the library.
“Can we watch something more festive?” Shira asked grabbing the TV remote. “No need to listen to this downer talk about the apocalypse. Let’s watch something funny! Or listen to music!”
Leah agreed and Shira switched the TV to Youtube to play some upbeat popular songs. Rainstorms happen, everyone assured Leah. That’s why there are always backup plans, according to the company that was producing her outdoor wedding in Central Park. This wasn’t the first time a wedding got rained on in New York, they told her. That’s why tents were invented. They would set up a giant one surrounded by clear plastic that wouldn’t let even one drop of rain enter. It would be like having an outdoor wedding indoors.
Thankfully, the rehearsal dinner had already been scheduled inside the W Hotel restaurant. It wouldn’t be a big dinner, just close friends, the wedding party, and out-of-town guests, which there weren’t very many of since Leah’s and Gabe’s families were both centered around New York City.
They were going to do the actual rehearsal in the park beforehand, but with the rain, the hotel staff agreed to let them use one of the ballrooms for their practice run. It wouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes, the wedding company promised.
Shira sang along with the music as she stood in front of the mirror putting on her makeup. When there was a break in the song, they could hear Evelyn crying from next door with their parents.
“Mom doesn’t remember how to hold a baby!” Shira complained. “I’ll be right back.” She stepped out of the room to settle her daughter.
Leah finished getting ready alone. She styled her hair, applied her makeup, and put on the dress she had bought for the last night before her wedding. It was an elegant satin white wrap dress with short sleeves and a v-neck. She swayed in front of the hotel mirror, happy with the way it hugged her body perfectly.
With just a few minutes until the planned meeting time with the wedding party, she stepped out of the room and went downstairs to the restaurant, where guests were already standing around and drinking wine and champagne.
Her parents were there greeting guests, and Shira was also there holding Evelyn on her hip and trying to drink a glass of wine while Evelyn tried to grab the glass. Leah said hi to a few guests and then saw Gabe walk through the door. He looked stunning in his navy-blue button-down shirt and black sports jacket. She went straight to him and let him engulf her in an embrace.
“You are gorgeous,” he whispered in her ear after kissing her. “I can’t wait to marry you tomorrow!” They hadn’t seen each other all day as he had been with his friends picking up his suit and extending the festivities of his bachelor party and she had been with her parents, talking to all the wedding vendors to ensure that the rain wasn’t going to be a problem for anyone.
She quickly snapped a picture of the two of them to put on her Instagram story and together they grabbed champagne and started greeting their guests. She said hi to her soon-to-be sister-in-law Cindy, who was drinking champagne while her kids ran circles around her legs; and greeted her new in-laws, who both wore black and looked like they had dressed for a funeral rather than a rehearsal dinner.
Soon they were beckoned to the ballroom for a short run through of how the ceremony would play out the next day. The parents, bridesmaids, groomsmen, the flower girl who was the daughter of Leah’s cousin Rebecca who had gotten married a few years ago, and the bride and groom stood together in the large ballroom.
“We only have a few minutes,” said the representative from the wedding company as she looked at her watch. “We’re just going to walk through quickly so you’ll know what to do tomorrow. Obviously tomorrow we’ll be in a different place, but it will be the same walk and formation. And honestly, if you’ve seen a wedding before, it’s pretty self-explanatory! We start with the flower girl.”
The woman lined everyone up, first the flower girl, then the bridesmaids and groomsmen coupled up together. Shira and Kyle, the maid of honor and best man came last and the two of them refused to look at each other, even as the woman guiding them beckoned them to hook their arms together. “It’s fine that you’ve never met! Just pretend to be friends for the ceremony! It looks better that way!” the woman told them. They hooked arms, awkwardly, like they were afraid to touch each other. Next was Gabe and his parents who would walk him down the aisle and then sit in the first row. And last was Leah and her parents, who would walk her down together and then sit on the opposite side of their new in-laws.
The woman guided them on how to walk. “Slow down!” she shouted over and over. “This isn’t a colonoscopy! We’re not trying to finish as fast as possible! Go slow! Smile! Enjoy the ceremony!” They practiced walking a few times.
Leah watched Gabe in front of her the whole time. He held his parents’ hands as they walked, but before and after each practice run, he’d pull his hands away and scratch his forearms. He also kept looking back and smiling at Leah.
She didn’t think anything of his scratching until the fifth or sixth time he did it. Was he developing some new nervous tick? Was he getting cold feet? Once they finished rehearsing, the woman released them to have dinner and promised to see them all tomorrow in the plastic tent.
Leah grabbed Gabe’s hand so they could walk to the restaurant together. “Ready?” she asked, a little worried about what he might say. She glanced at his hand and noticed small red bumps peeking out from the cuff of his shirt. With his hand still in hers, she used her other arm to pull up his sleeve, revealing more red bumps that covered his entire forearm.
“Oh my god! What happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It wasn’t like that when I got dressed. I just started itching now.” He pulled his hand away from Leah’s and rolled up his other sleeve, revealing more red bumps.
“Are you allergic to something?” she asked, wondering how that never came up before. He shook his head and pulled his sleeves down.
“Weird,” he said. “I’ll ask someone to go grab an antihistamine from Duane Reade.” He motioned to Kyle, who seemed happy to be given a task.
“What did you eat today?” Leah asked and Gabe shrugged.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said, but Leah didn’t know how he could be so sure. The dress, the hurricane, and now this, was she ignoring too many signs?
For the rest of the evening, she smiled and acted happy around all her guests, but inside she was exploding. Her heart was pounding, her blood pulsing, her limbs shaking. Was this wedding a big mistake? Was the universe trying to tell her something? Trying to stop her from marrying Gabe? Should she listen to the red flags?
Leah was relieved when the evening ended, the guests left, and Gabe kissed her goodbye. “Can’t wait to see you tomorrow,” he said, still itching his forearms.
Leah and Shira then went up to their hotel room and that was when Leah let everything loose.