Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
When the ceremony ends, the bridal party stands and leads the guests to the front of the chapel, lining the steps outside while the photographer scrambles to get to the end of the line before Frannie and Theo emerge. It takes longer than it should, shuffling the guests into two neat lines and handing them each a gauze bag of dried flowers is like herding cats and, though instructed not to, when Frannie and Theo begin to move at least three people throw their confetti too quickly, and the photographer must start again. George rolls his eyes and quickly hands out new bags as the camera crew gets back into position and Frannie and Theo once again stand at the end of the two lines.
With a cry of laughter, Frannie and Theo start their run again, and the guests cheer and throw their flowers in the air, which catch in the breeze and whirl around the couple as they run through their loved ones, then turn and run again back up the steps and into the chapel, swiftly followed by the guests who walk through the pews and out the door on the other side. The guests begin to spread out in the garden which has now been lit with lights strung through the trees.
‘Where did Frannie go?’ George asks Theo as he emerges onto the grass, and I realise Nisha is missing too. The three of us walk around the garden handing out drinks and filling glasses of Prosecco and sparkling elderflower, finding chairs for older relatives and bringing them outside.
Twenty minutes later the guests around the garden start cheering and clapping and I look round to see Frannie, finally in her dress, with a beautiful floral arrangement in her hair. I join the clapping, oddly emotional, full of joy that after everything she got to wear the dress after all.
‘It was Hydie’s idea,’ she says walking down to Theo at the bottom of the steps who takes her in his arms.
‘You look perfect,’ he whispers. The photographer clears her throat.
‘Yes, yes! Let”s do photos,’ Frannie says, ‘we”ll need to leave before nine if we”re going to get everyone fed in town so let”s get on with this.’ She looks around and calls the bridal party to her.
‘Where is George?’ her mother says, and Nisha points
‘On his stupid phone again,’ she shouts. ‘George, what are you doing we need you?’
George hurries across the lawn, putting his phone back in his pocket.
‘Sorry,’ he says, ‘just organising something.’
‘Well get organised over here,’ she snaps back at him.
‘Shut up the pair of you,’ Frannie says, and they both quieten. She turns to the photographer. ‘Where do you want us?’
Frannie and Theo, Nisha and Lila, the two sets of parents, Theo’s best man, and myself and George are steered away to the back of the garden. We stand in various formations and groupings and smile for the cameras. George comes to stand beside me as they take a picture of Nisha and the best man, who met only once they were both at the chapel and stand uncomfortably side by side as though they’re sharing a taxi.
‘Shall we set them up?’ he mutters in my ear and I have to turn away to hide my smirk. Eventually, we are let go, and as we walk back to where the crowd is milling around on the lawn, we hear the sound of multiple cars parking up in front of the chapel.
‘What is this?’ Frannie’s father says. ”Those can”t be the cars, we can”t be leaving already. It”s not nine o”clock.”
‘It”s not the cars,’ George says as a handful of men and women emerge around the side of the chapel, each holding large flat boxes or Tupperware in bags. He beckons them over. ‘And we”re not leaving at nine. We”re staying until midnight.’
The priest and his attendant walk gingerly down the steps of the church, holding a long table between them. Theo and the best man rush over to help. Each of the people with packages comes over and places a box or bag onto the table, where George begins to organise everything, and I realise that they are all delivery drivers, and have each bought a large takeaway order from somewhere in town.
‘You’re kidding,’ Frannie says, seeing George laying out several large stone-baked pizzas and servings of tapas: croquettes, oysters, patatas bravas and Padron peppers. ‘You got us dinner?’
‘Now we don’t need to send anyone away,’ George says. ‘We can have the reception here.’
Frannie leaps into his arms and gives him the biggest hug I have ever seen her give him.
‘You’re the best,’ she says, ‘just the best brother in the whole world’
‘You all heard that right?’ George says as she lets go of him. ‘I now have that on record?’
The priest appears with handfuls of cutlery and the guests begin to gather by the table, drawn by the smell of the food.
The best man manages to get the chapel’s speaker system hooked up to his phone and gets Frannie to send him the playlist. Soft choral music begins to drift through, mingling with the chatter of the guests.
‘That’s our first dance song,’ Theo says, and someone shouts ‘First dance!’ and I move with the crowd to create a circle in the middle of the garden, coming to stand just behind the newlyweds as they begin to step into the middle of the group.
‘I’m sorry everything didn’t go as planned today,’ I hear Theo say as he takes his new wife’s hand in his and leads her to dance.
‘It’s not how I pictured it,’ Frannie says quietly, ‘but it’s still perfect.’
They walk to the centre and fall into a slow, sweet dance just as the lyrics begin. Lit from behind by the lights in the trees and the purpling sky they look as though they belong in a painting, and when other guests begin to join in I am left by myself watching on, as couples begin to swan gently around the lawn as though at a grand ball.
I disentangle myself from the crowd and walk away from the noise, past the food where others have camped, and towards the little bench looking out down the mountain. The moon is a gold coin in the sky and the lights from the town on the beach glitter on the sea that extends out forever into darkness. It is hard to believe I’m not looking out at the end of the world.
‘Can I take a seat?’ a familiar voice says from behind me. I nod and feel George move around to sit next to me on the bench, see the white of his shirt in my peripheral vision.
‘Good job saving the party,’ I say, ‘we’d all be home looking in the cupboards if you hadn’t sorted that.’
‘Good job finding Lila,’ he says back, and I look up, surprised by the seriousness of his voice.
‘I’m glad she’s okay.’
‘I was really worried, I can’t even tell you every horrible thought that went through my head.’ He stares out at the sea, his head shaking slightly back and forth, as though trying to keep those thoughts at bay, ‘But you found her and she’s safe.’
‘Not when Nisha finally gets over the high of finding her.’
He smiles. ‘Hopefully we’ll both be safely out of the country before we have to witness that.’ We sit in silence for a few minutes, the noise of the party behind us swelling. I decide I’m tired of avoiding things.
‘I was really nervous about seeing you again,’ I say, ‘After Frannie’s birthday party. I didn’t know how to face you. So I just didn’t. I avoided you because I was scared. And in the end, I made things worse.’
‘You know what?’ he replies, ‘I was scared too.’
I turn to face him, startled. ‘Really?’
‘Why wouldn’t I have been? It had been ten years, and I know I really hurt you. I didn’t know how you would feel about me, you might still be upset, or you might not even remember. When you appeared in the coffee shop that morning, I thought we might have a chance to clear the air, but then we started talking. And it was so nice that I didn’t want to spoil it. So I just didn’t And in the end, I made things worse too. I”m so sorry. I”m sorry I upset you. I”m sorry I left you in my living room. I”m sorry I never talked about it with you.’
‘If you’d brought it up then I don’t think I’d have known what to do. And anyway, don’t be sorry, I’m an adult, I could have said something. It shouldn’t have fallen to you to take that step. It’s not your job to help everyone.’
‘That might be true, but just think, maybe if I’d brought it up then the time between then and now could have been different.’
‘How so?’
George shifts slightly beside me, and then his fingers slide across to rest on mine.
‘We could have moved from an awkward reunion to us actually going on normal dates and connecting in a normal way. Not having sex in my parent’s house and eating pepper soup at an ungodly hour in the morning.’
‘The soup was good though.’
‘Oh it was. So was the sex.’
‘Maybe we can go again sometime?’ I can’t believe I’m saying it as I hear myself. So bold, more forward than I could ever imagine myself being. George looks at me.
‘I would love that. And this time you close your eyes and I’ll move the menu to stitch you up.’
‘I didn’t mean the soup. Though we can do that again too if you like.’
He smiles. His hand doesn’t leave mine. I think about my hand in his all those years ago, how small it had felt, and in the present, I turn my palm upwards to meet his, and we interlace our fingers, a perfect fit.
‘I’m sorry I avoided you all this time,’ I say, ‘I was embarrassed, I didn”t think we could ever move on from it. I wanted to avoid the pain of having to see you again, but all that did was take away parts of my life that I cared about. I was a stupid little girl.’
‘You were never a stupid little girl,” George says fiercely, ‘you were always smart and funny and kind, and a good friend. But you weren’t an adult.’
‘True,’ I nod, ‘but I am now. So maybe we can have a fresh start.’ I gently pull my hand away and turn to him, sticking my hand out to shake his.
‘Hi, I’m Hydie.’
He bursts into laughter and I do the same. His hands cup my jaw and his lips touch mine. I put my arms around him, deepening the kiss, stars bursting against my closed eyes.
We linger for a few minutes more before we part. Over the chatter of the guests, I hear the beginning of a familiar song.
‘You’re kidding,’ George says, his lips still inches from my own.
‘I can’t believe it,’ I say breathlessly, unable to stop myself grinning.
It’s Meet Me at Midnight. The Star Girlz song that had played at Frannie’s party. Once again the two moments collapse in on one another, but this time instead of pain there is happiness. A cosmic moment in which a mistake made a decade ago is repaired.
‘Right,’ George’s cheeks are slightly flushed, his hair more windswept than usual. He stands and reaches his hand down to me, ‘Dance with me?’
I grin, don’t give myself time to think, take his hand and jump up, allowing him to lead me back through the garden. Hand in hand we emerge back into the wedding party and, buoyed by the feeling of the song rising into the chorus, I begin to rush forward, pulling George by the hand.
‘There you are!’ Frannie shouts, ‘We wondered if this would bring you back! Come dance with me Hydie.’
‘Not for this one,’ George says from beside me, ‘I’ve got this dance.’
Frannie scans us, takes in our flushed faces, our hands clasped together, and her jaw drops.
‘No way,’ she shouts, her eyes sparkling, ‘no way!’
To my delight, George gives me a soft kiss on the temple, in front of everyone, before he leads me to the dancefloor, where Frannie has pulled Nisha out of nowhere and is spinning her around as the chorus swells.
‘Why don’t you meet me at midnight baby!’ The song crashes into its delicious, gluttonous chorus. ‘Why can’t you see how much I-I-I want you to see me!’ George takes me by the waist and pulls me close. His mother and father dance together at our right. Theo is spinning with Lila to our left, the little girl shrieking with delight. Frannie and Nisha turn in to meet us as they pass.
‘About time,’ Nisha calls over the music, ‘I’ve been expecting this for the last ten weeks.’
Frannie throws her head back and laughs.
‘Please,’ she says, ‘I’ve been expecting this for the last ten years.’
George rolls his eyes at me. I shrug my shoulders and smile, and he pulls me in for another kiss. Somebody whistles. We lace our fingers and dance again, the couples all around us turning like planets, the lights in the trees a spray of stars. In this little universe, we spin.