RAVEN
Eleven weddings!
Eleven...!
What was it about summertime and summertime weddings?
But really? Eleven?!
Which one was this one again?
Jason slouched down further in his chair and fiddled with his phone some more. He had taken a lot of pictures lately. He wondered if his phone had the memory to hold them all. Maybe he should move some into his computer and store them there for a while.
He looked up.
In the crowded hall, a hundred other people were laughing, singing along with the music, screaming against it to talk to one another. Some of them were tipsy and swaying like a boat on water and not to the music. The dancing had started. The older folks had just left. The last of the desserts had been served and they had finished them, these friends of the parents of the bride and groom and so they had taken their leave and shuffled out, leaving the younger ones to dim the lights down and start having their rowdy, ridiculous, raucous fun.
Jason was sitting alone at his table. Everyone else had gotten up to dance. They had arranged the tables for the dinner earlier in a circle, leaving empty the middle of the room to form a dance floor and now everyone had jostled over to it and were dancing and pumping their arms in the air and jumping. The music was loud and everywhere. His shoes were buzzing.
Jason cast his gaze out over the entirety of the hall and...there she was.
Maggie.
Oh...Maggie!
He felt his heart miss a beat.
He reached up and placed his hand over his chest. He pressed down. He gave it a squeeze.
What if he died, right now? What if he had a heart attack?
What if he disappeared somehow, right now and vanished or slipped into some other dimension and no one was to ever see him again, not like...ever?
Would anyone care? Would anyone notice?
Oh...Maggie!
Jason felt dizzy. His hands were not steady. He breathed out once, twice.
Stretching out his arm, he placed the object that he had been clutching within his fingers onto the table. He checked to make sure it was safe for the moment. He took a sip of water. He felt better. He dipped his head down and went back to flipping through the photos on his phone.
Which wedding was this one again? He furrowed his brow at his pictures.
"Hey!" A young man tore across the room and slid in beside Jason like he was stealing third base. He leaned in close for the loud music. "Aren't you going to dance?"
Jason didn't bother to look up. "Go away, Curtis."
Curtis threw a glance over his shoulder. He knew the girl Jason was spying out and not spying out at the same time. He turned back to Jason. "You gotta forget her." He yanked on his arm. "Come on! Come dance!"
Jason shook him off. His eyes were on his phone and he was just flipping, flipping...
Curtis checked out the dance floor and noticed someone else. "Come on, Jace. You know the best way to forget someone is to find someone new." He pointed toward the dance floor. "And you know Janice wants you. She does. Just look at her..." He flicked his chin out at her. "...look at that dress...!"
