The grand ballroom at the Riverside Country Club sparkled with thousands of tiny lights. My sister Melissa’s wedding was exactly the kind of affair our parents had always dreamed of. Three hundred guests, a live orchestra, flowers imported from Holland, and a cake that cost more than most people’s monthly rent.
Everything was perfect, orchestrated down to the last detail. I sat at table 14, not at the family table, not even close to it. Table 14 was near the kitchen doors, filled with distant cousins and plus-ones who didn’t really know anyone.
My place card had been written in a slightly different font than the others, as if it had been added as an afterthought, which knowing my mother, it probably had been. From my seat, I could see the head table clearly. Melissa looked radiant in her Vera Wong gown, her new husband Kevin beaming beside her.
My parents flanked them. Mom in an elegant champagne dress. Dad in his custom tuxedo.
My brother Marcus sat with his wife and kids. All of them perfectly positioned for the family photos that had been taken before dinner. Photos I hadn’t been invited to join.
“Are you okay?” asked the woman next to me, someone’s aunt from Kevin’s side. “You’ve been staring at that glass of water for five minutes.”
“Just thinking,” I said, giving her a polite smile. What I was actually doing was checking my phone under the table.
The text had come through ten minutes ago. We’re here waiting in the parking lot as planned. Ready when you are.
I replied, “Give me 20 minutes.”
Right after the toasts, the dinner service was wrapping up. Servers cleared plates with practiced efficiency while the wedding coordinator prepared for the speeches. I could see her signaling the best man, then the maid of honor, organizing them in the proper order.
My father stood first, tapping his champagne glass with a spoon. The room quieted immediately. He had that effect, the commanding presence of someone used to being heard in a boardroom.
“I want to thank you all for being here,” he began, his voice warm with emotion. “Today we’re celebrating the union of two wonderful people and more importantly, the joining of two families. Kevin, we couldn’t be happier to welcome you into the Morrison family.”
He paused for the polite applause.
