Just One Night

A night without a date to one of the most romantic events in the world, a wedding. Champagne flowing, people dancing, families crying, with a pair of smiling individuals. Is it too much to want the one perfect night with the one ideal girl? "You're single, man, and you're at a wedding. It's an easy score if you play your cards right," Richard, the "ladies man" says, while he hits on a bridesmaid. He's right, crap. All I see is her, us, but that can never happen. I lost my perfect moment, and we don't want the same things. It was at that moment, I saw you. Then, moments later, you saw me. Maybe it was fate, maybe it wasn't. The moment I realize I'll never be with her, I see an amazing girl that just might like me.

I approach you with a smile, "Hi." Gesturing at the chair, I ask, "May I?" You nod and I sit, "I-"

"I should just tell you now that I don't sleep with anyone on wedding nights," you tell me. I nod, get up, and begin to walk away, just to fool around with you.

I shake my head, laughing, then sit back down, "Bold of you to assume that I came here to sleep with you." You laughed and it was at that moment that I could never forget you. "So tell me, what's an amazing girl like you doing alone at a place like this?"

"What a line," you laugh, "Does that actually work?"

"Not a line, just a question."

"Not a line, my ass. I just heard that guy over there use it on a bridesmaid," you look over in the direction of Richard, and I laugh.

"Okay, okay, you got me. So tell me," you stay silent when I pause for you to fill in your name. "Okay, I can work with that. So tell me Wichita?"

You laugh and nod, "Sure, let's go with that."

"Okay, Wichita, tell me, who inspired you to make this rule?"

"The morning after," you explain, "You have this one great night that leads to a messy morning. The spell we're all under just wears off, the wedding magic, gone."

I nod, "Maybe I should make that rule too. I always thought it was me who felt that way."

"Yeah and that's why you hit on me," you shake your head, smiling.

"Well that guy you were talking about earlier, told me that I should get my head out of my ass waiting for the perfect night with the perfect girl, then I saw you."

"How romantic," you mock, smiling. That's when I saw the spark in your eyes. "Crazy idea, we both want the perfect night without the mess, right?" I nod, "Well you seem like an amazing guy so what if we had the perfect night, but here's the thing, we don't know anything that could give away our identity and we're not sleeping with each other. How does that sound?"

"Crazy, let's do it," your smile shined when I agreed, "Wichita, I'm Hercules."

I held out my hand as you laughed, "Greek god, interesting. In that case, Hercules, I'm Aphrodite." Your hand takes mine, and that's when one of the best nights of my life began.

"I was going for Disney, but Greek god works too," you laugh.

"Let's hear some more of those lines," you say, crossing your legs, leaning back.

"I have a better idea," I grab a bottle of champagne with two glasses, just before I grab your hand in an attempt to bolt out of here.

We walk past the bouquet and you stop me, "Do you think we can grab the bouquet?"

"I'll make a distraction and you grab it and run," I clink one of the glasses with a knife standing by. "Kiss, kiss!" You grab the bouquet and run with me just behind you. We head into the event room next door.

----

You're just there, I'm just here, and we give each other that look. I lean in as you do, "We can't do this," you say, leaning back.

"Why not?"

"If we kiss, then it becomes real and the magic is gone... How's this, we kiss but we don't actually kiss," I gave you a stupid, confused look because I had no idea what you were talking about. "The best part of every kiss is the moment that leads up to it, that little spark, soooo what if we just had that little moment?"

"Okay," I say, nodding cautiously, "Let's try it."

"But we can't kiss," you reassure.

"We can't kiss." Once again, that look comes up in both of our eyes. We lean in and I can feel your breath getting closer to mine. Our lips touch slightly before we pull away.

"Perfect," we whispered in unison.

"What's next?" you stop to think. "Nope, no thinking. Let's do the first thing that pops into your head." You hand me your heels and cartwheel down the hall. "Okay, cheerleader," I shout, following you.

"Wait right here," you say, taking your shoes, "I have to use the bathroom." I nod and put my hands in my pocket as I wait. When you came back, we went back to the event space. "So Hercules, why choose a name that represents a hero and the god of strength?"

"Because my uncle tried to kill me when I was younger, but I never befriended a warthog and meerkat, so I didn't say Simba," you laughed at that earful. "Although," I start suggestively, "My friends are pretty close to Pumba and Timon," we laugh. "Seriously? It's not really about what he represents, but it's what he does. For most of his young life, he proves to his father that he's a hero so he can join his family in Mount Olympus. When he finally gets that opportunity, he decides to stay as a mortal to be with the one that he loves."

"Wow," you smile, "That's really sweet."

"What can I say, I'm a man full of love," we almost had "that moment" again, but I interrupted to ask, "Do you want to go back? I still owe you that dance."

"Sure," you say, nodding. We walk side-by-side into the room that's now being cleared out. "That sucks, we never got to dance."

I spot the radio and press play. A slow song comes on, "Shall we?" I ask, holding my hand out.

"We shall," your hand meets mine just before they intertwine and we dance.

"So Aphrodite, why choose the goddess of love if you're not giving us a shot?"

"Because, Herc, we are at a nice, romantic wedding."

"I can't argue with that."

"Are you gonna try?"

"No, I'm going to make sure this night is as perfect as it can be."

"As it can be?"

"Well, Aphrodite, there's a little flaw to your plan."

"Which is?"

"I'm going to have the best memories of this night, but I'm also going to have one terrible one, watching you leave."

You frown just before the smile returns with an idea. "Hey, Herc, close your eyes and count to five."

I close my eyes, "One... two... three... four... five..." Once they're open, you're gone. All I want to do is find you, kiss you, get to know you, but I didn't. How could I? It was all part of the deal. All I can do is remember. Remember who you are. Remember the night we had. Who knows? Maybe, one day, fate will bring us back together. I wish that I could see you again, just one last time, just to see what we could've been. I hope you remember me, the same way I remember you. The girl that gave me the time of my life and just happened to be alone.