Story is in progress
Part 1:
...Colin had a cold wedding. Set in early December, all the guests shivering once they exited the church. It was only a few minutes past five o’clock and the sun was already setting, and it was already twilight.
Months earlier, Ed couldn’t comprehend that.
“Why not have a summer wedding? Nobody gets wed in the winter. Especially in December. That’s the darkest month.”
Colin just shrugged and the wedding was set on the chilly day, just outside Oxford. The bride’s dress flapped in the wind in the same pattern as the flag on one of the buildings. The white starched collars looked gray.
Nobody noticed this in the general buzz of congratulations and exchanged kisses. Thom’s arm was around Colin’s neck as they all descended down the stairs, chattering and getting into the cars to continue on with the day.
The tents set outside in the dark-green grass were shivering, their sides inflated, barely supported by the metal structure. The tablecloths were budging and threatening to fly off from underneath heavy silverware and plates.
“Thank God it’s not going to rain,” somebody whispered, gazing at the gloomy sky.
It didn’t matter. When the sun finally set and hid the hideous sky, everybody forgot about the cold and December.
Jonny spent the first couple of hours strolling this way and that, being stopped by people, patted on the back and kissed on the cheeks. He made a couple of vague lopsided rounds, ending up at the bar and staring dumbly at the drinks and glasses, his fingers drumming on the table’s edge.
“Anything you’d like?” the bartender asked after watching Jonny’s eyes dart from bottle to bottle for a couple of minutes.
“Ah,” Jonny blushed furiously, scratched his head, “Wine?”
“What kind?”
“White?”
The bartender opened his mouth to ask something, then closed it, lifted the bottle and filled the glass for Jonny.
“Thanks,” Jonny mumbled, accepting it and almost giggling at his inexperience, “Thanks.”
The first glass went down quickly, the second one the same, the third one lingered a bit on the tongue, and with the forth Jonny was patting people back.
Thom was near the DJ most of the time after he appeared with a toothy “Hello” and “Move a bit, mate,” lowering his backpack full of records and opening it. He scowled at the few guest who tried to approach him at the table, then finally closed his eyes and began to dance, abandoning his blazer. He stepped off only when Ed put a hand on his shoulder and told him that he wanted to play something for Colin, muttering a “Yeah, okay” and fingering the knot on his tie. He went to the nearest table and sat down on the chair, the chill drying his sweat.
Jonny spotted him there, looking through the crowd. He ran a hand through his hair and walked toward the table briskly, smiling to himself.
“Wow,” he said, plopping on the chair next to Thom, gazing at the dance floor.
“What?” Thom watched him with an amused smile.
“Colin’s…,” Jonny met his eyes, lost for a second, “Um...Colin’s married and all.”
“Well, he’s 30,” Thom took the almost-empty glass from Jonny’s hand, smelling it and grinning at his friend.
“And I’m 27.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Thom raked his fingers on the glass.
“I’ve had dozens of people telling me that I ought to be next,” Jonny confessed, smiling dumbly, “Some of them had their daughters next to them.”
“Don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“No?”
“I thought you had a girlfriend,” Thom frowned, crossing his arms on his chest, “I was sure.”
“No, Thom, it’s you who has a girlfriend.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
“Well if I did, she’d be here. I arrived alone. Took a train. No girl would take a train to a wedding. Want to see my ticket?..”
Thom started to reach into his back pocket, but Jonny stopped him, shaking his head.
“So you don’t want to be next,” Thom said, settling back and looking at Jonny, the pad of his finger traveling around the edge of the glass.
“I don’t know.”
“Want to take a walk?”
“Um,” Jonny looked at his empty glass, then at the bar, then at Thom.
“I’ve got it.”
“Cold, eh?”
“Cold.”
They sat on different sides of the huge tree, their backs against the trunk, not seeing each other.
“I wonder where Colin’s found this place. It’s gorgeous.”
“Pity it’s dark. It would be even more gorgeous during the summer.”
“Yeah,” Jonny reached for the bottle that was between them, his fingers going through the dead grass in the search, “Give the bottle back?”
“Sorry,” Thom put it in the searching hand and rested his head against the tree, “So this relationship thing…maybe you’ve never met a proper girl.”
“I just think it takes a while to find someone and get close enough to spend the whole life together. The ideal thing would be us meeting in the childhood and then carrying on through life.”
“Ah. Well, Jon, since most the people you knew in the childhood outside your family were male…”
“Shut up,” Jon turned his smiling head toward Thom’s face, seeing only a pair of legs stretched in the dark. Thom giggled.
“It could be just an experiment, y’know.”
“What exactly are you talking about?”
“Well, for starters, choose a bloke you know for a long time. Try to get closer.”
“Closer in what meaning?”
“Shall I draw a picture?”
Jonny laughed, running his hand through his hair, “Alright. I’m drunk enough to consider this,” he took a swig out of the bottle, “Who d’you think I should pick?”
“That redhead kid with freckles. You hung around each other a lot.”
“He’s married, I think. Kids. Besides, we haven’t spoken in years.”
“Well then…Phil?”
“Phil? Too awkward.”
“You’re right. Then there’s Ed.”
“Not my type.”
“You’ve got types in blokes?”
“I’m trying to make this work.”
“It doesn’t need to work, it’s something to laugh about tomorrow. Andy?”
“Andy? Your brother?”
“He’s single.”
“Now it’s just you trying to set up your brother.”
“I’m not trying to set anybody up. It’s just that the last choice is me.”
Jonny raked his fingers through the yellow grass, humming slightly in his throat. Thom closed his eyes, resting his head back.
“No bugs,” Jonny said, looking at the ground, playing with earth, “I see now why Colin chose a December wedding. Thom, why are you the last choice?”
“I’m the last person from your childhood whom you see every day.”
“Yeah, but why are you the last choice?”
“I don’t know.”
“So you are single.”
“Okay.”
“And I know you for the longest time.”
“Okay.”
“And it was your idea.”
___
TBC
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