Bridesmaid Dispatches - Part V

Congratulations Emilie & Carlos!!!Sunday…The Morning After

I sleep only about five hours and then lie in bed, listening to the Sunday morning traffic of a small town. Around seven, the Mission bells peal madly and loudly waking everyone within a five-block radius. I stay in bed a while longer, getting my first tastes of the post-wedding blues, as I also nurse the pangs of a wounded heart. Eventually, I get up to go running – it’s much hotter today than on the other mornings, either that or I’m feeling fatigue.

I am excited and nervous to go to brunch. I want to see the Gs again, but I’m not sure what the reception will be. I’m also sad that the whole thing is over – what will I do now? I don’t even know what to wear. I shower and shine and put together an outfit of jeans, pumps, and a crisp fitted black shirt, all belted with an Hermès scarf. At least I know I probably look more pulled together than most.

I zoom down Edna Road with my sunroof open, listening to The Killers. The words are close to home, but I need to rock and the poetry is somewhat comforting:

It started out with a kiss/How did it end up like this?/It was only a kiss/It was only a kiss...Jealousy - turning snakes into the sea...

I arrive at the bride’s parents’ home, and yet I’m the only member of the bridal party present. The patio and pool area is sweltering with the morning heat, and a mimosa is the furthest thing from my mind. The gals G1 & G3 chose are there though, alone, and twitching in the sunlight as though they rolled in from a bad night in Vegas. My small schadenfreude is enough to boost me forward with breakfast.

G3 eventually arrives with one of his Chilean friends whom I had talked to last night – this guy is tall, handsome, and actually lives in San Francisco. The three of us talk for a while and I’m relaxed, charming, funny, smiling, and happy to see them. My schadenfreude grows again when G3 barely says hello to the gal from the night before.

Apparently, G1 left for San Francisco earlier, while G3 and his friend are heading there shortly…and why don’t we meet up later in the city to party? Why don’t we? I let them know I’ll round up some girls so we can all go out.

On the long drive back up the 101, I text the girls and let them know hot Chileans are coming to town, and that I need backup. I also speak with my east-coast correspondent, MBD, asking his opinion on game-playing in general and wedding hookups in particular. He said he’d have to get back to me.

The girls show up at my place at 8, and the three guys arrive about a half an hour later. I’m so relieved the girls are present, and also happy that they too get to bask in the beauty of South American men in my apartment. G3 asks me if I’m still mad at him. I laugh and say that all is forgiven, but that he couldn’t begrudge me a little jealousy. (My thinking is that jealousy is one of those passionate emotions that someone from a Latin culture may understand.) He seems relieved to hear this. G1 talks with my friend about philosophy, while the rest of us discuss the weekend, travel, our jobs, languages, triathlons...what have you. I am posessed with the pride of one who satisfactorily mixes two groups of friends and finds the chemistry works.

The girls actually leave after a while and I’m alone with the guys – we decided to go out to a local bar, and since it’s Sunday, everything is on the quiet-side. It makes for good conversation though. G3 and I start to talk and there’s no pressure, no games, and (almost) no flirting. It’s just easy, and relaxed. He’s passionate, idealistic, and very wise for someone his age. I realize that he’s wonderful. At one point I can’t even hear what he’s saying I want to kiss him so much. This is the moment when I tell myself to take guard, this could get dangerous, but this advice from myself is hard to remember. I told him that I was sad he was leaving – I even went way out on a limb and told him I liked him. That was scary, but it just happened. I couldn’t help it.

Again, film dialogue comes to mind, this time from a different wedding romance in The Philadelphia Story:

Tracy: "Golly Moses! Mr. Conner, Mr. Conner..."
Mike: "Let me tell you something Tracy..."
Tracy:  "No no no don't, all of a sudden I've got the shakes!"
Mike: "It can't be anything like love can it?"
Tracy: "No, no, it musn't be, it can't!"
Mike: "Would it be inconvenient?"
Tracy: "Terribly! Anyway I know it isn't."

We agree to keep in touch, and as we’re finishing our second drinks he wraps his arms around me in a close embrace. We don’t kiss, and I don’t want to move. I realize that I’ve finally found someone I really want to go on a date with, and he’s leaving on a 9AM flight to a city that’s equi-distant south of the Equator as we are north. That’s a lot of miles in between.

When I get dropped off, he says “It was nice to meet you,” and smiles. I give him a quick kiss goodbye and that is that. I don’t even know when I’ll ever see him again.

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And that's the end of my best friend's wedding-flirtation-with-Chileans extravaganza. An adventure in romance and game-playing that hopefully I played well enough to actually keep my heart clear of the proceedings. The verdict is still out on this point though. While life begins for my friends, a magical weekend ends for me - but perhaps for me too it has been a beginning of sorts? Time and emails will tell...and all of this makes me ask: what other weddings do I have coming up soon?

THE END & MUCHO GUSTO!!!