Maia:
At this specific moment, I felt like I was about to spontaneously combust. Stress and I did not work well together, yet it happened to be my most prominent company.
"Devin likes lilies! I specifically asked you to get lilies, Lilith." I explained to Lana, the wedding florist. "Roses were never on the list."
"Roses would look the best in this lighting." Lilith argued further, giving me unnecessary advice with a glare, as I ran my hands through my hair and walked through the hall. "I didn't have any lilies in stock, Maia. It's impossible to get them during this wedding season."
Zaara ran around the tables towards me with a palm over her cellphone, "I've got another florist on the line, he may not be as good as Lilith, but at least he says he has lilies." I nodded, evaluating my options.
Devin, one of my best-friends, was getting married the day after tomorrow, and fortunately and unfortunately, I was one of the bridesmaids along with my two other best-friends, Zaara and Ronnie. We were a pretty dysfunctional trio to say the least, and even though we had gotten everything sorted, something always seems to go wrong last minute and the flowers were our biggest problem at the moment. Everything was supposed to be done before the get-together with family and friends tomorrow afternoon, the latest being the rehearsal dinner in the evening.
"Shouldn't we ask Devin once, just to see what she thinks about this?" Zaara asked, knowing Devin didn't like to complicate things. I knew it was only a matter of flowers, but I just wanted everything to go well for her, and that means she deserved the flowers she liked, to begin with. Nevertheless, I agreed. "Also we're going out for dinner and drinks in an hour, and the guys are joining us." Zaara elaborated in excitement, and I made a face at the declaration.
"Oh come on, we're in Paris, for god's sakes! It's a destination wedding, don't you want to have fun?" She gave me a look, and then started pleading, talking a thousand please's per minute.
"Going out isn't the problem, I just wanted it to be us." I answered, rolling my eyes, not interested in making forced conversation with the groomsmen, and then watching them wander off. "We literally arrived yesterday and I haven't even had a chance to talk to Cameron's friends."
"Oh god, you've known them since forever!" Zaara let out a groan, "You'll be fine you socially-anxious idiot. Stop worrying." She grabbed my arm, and started pulling me out of the hall, rubbing it for comfort. "Who knows? You might even have some fun." I slightly laughed at her attempt to persuade me.
...
I chose a simple, black off-shoulder, cocktail dress, which felt a little short to wear on the breezy streets of Paris. My legs were freezing.
We were standing in-front of the restaurant that Devin asked to wait near. The most beautiful tune was spilling out of a singer in a nearby cafè, and at that moment I looked to the sights around me. The Eiffel Tower was literally towering over all the other buildings, making it a very strategic area to place fancy restaurants such as these, considering the view. The buildings looked so architecturally beautiful and rustic, making my inner history and art buff almost squeal at the views. I wanted to know everything about every brick laid here, every story behind the walls. I longed for the tales and conversations that bustled through each corner.
"Maia, you okay? You look a bit dazed." Zaara asked, checking in as I nodded with a laugh.
"Just a bit awestruck." I explained, "Don't get too much excitement back home, especially things that interest me. This feels like a dream."
"It's weird to see you like this." Zaara admitted, "It's a nice change though, reminds me of the 'old' you." She smiled and I nodded, feeling my smile slightly waver. I brushed it off as soon as Ronnie stepped in front of me, practically jumping into a hug.
"Finally!" I exclaimed, "Where were you?"
"Don't ask, Devin was having a little crisis." Ronnie laughed, "It's all good, and we picked up the guys too so we wouldn't have to wait." She said, as the groomsmen and Cameron started to pull eachother out of the car. That looks really cramped and I have no idea how they fit everyone in there.
Cameron immediately pulled Devin out of the car and pecked a little kiss on her lips. Devin's twin brother, Dylan stared at them in disgust.
"We're literally getting married, Dylan. Calm down." Cameron protested as everyone including me started giggling at the reaction.
"Still doesn't make it any less weirder. I'm three minutes older you know," Dylan pointed out, "I'm watching you both," He said pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at the couple. "Don't do anything you'll regret, Cam."
"Shut up, Dylan. Three minutes does not give you the right to play overprotective brother, especially when your sister is literally kissing her fiancée." Devin glared, jokingly and then using the same energy as Dylan's gesture, she flipped him off. I snorted, and then pulled her into a hug. As soon as Devin went on to hug the others, I patted Dylan's shoulder as a gesture of both "At least you gave it a shot," and "Stop trying, it's a bit late now."
"Ladies," Cameron started introducing the groomsmen to Zaara and I, "If you've somehow gotten amnesia over the years and forgotten how everyone looks, this one is Luca." He mentioned, pointing to Luca,—whom we'd all known since high school—a handsome dark-haired and dusky-skinned man, who gave Cameron a confused look for introducing him. All of us all met during our high school years, going in and out of each other's houses and all.
"We all remember each other, Cam. It hasn't been that long." Dylan notified.
"And obviously, you know Dylan." Cameron zoomed across quickly, as Dylan gave a confused look to Cameron for introducing him so badly.
"Where's Tristan?" Cameron looked disappointed, as my expression suddenly perked up into confusion. Tristan? Of all the guys in the world, Tristan was one of the groomsmen? I thought to myself. "He said he'd be here. He's the Best Man after all."
The Best Man? Are you kidding me? I really thought Cameron and Tristan might have fallen apart after high-school, and for him to be the Best Man, or even deeply involved in the wedding, was an utter surprise.
Tristan.
Where would I even begin to explain the epically disastrous phenomena that is Tristan?
Tristan was the most irresponsible and insufferable person I knew.
Tristan had somehow managed to absolutely destroy his first impression towards me when he came off as the paragon of the type of guys I hated. Too flirtatious, too reckless, too untrustworthy.
Tristan and I had a complicated relationship, to say the least, meaning he never hesitated to make my life a living hell and I always hesitated to be the bigger person, and fall into his snares of irritation and arguments.
I never understood why he acted that way and why I acted that way, but for all of the two years I had known him back in high school, that's exactly how it was. Of course, that was in high-school, so all my hopes were centered around him getting smacked in the head with some sense of maturity, in contrast to then.
"He says he's running a bit late." Luca said, "Aw come on Cam, don't be disappointed. That's just how Tristan is, you know him." Oh and boy did I know him. It's like he never has a plan. It's like life follows whatever Tristan ends up doing at the moment, and then adjusts itself to fit into accordance with the rest of us.
I elbowed Ronnie slightly to get her attention, "Are they...?" I asked to clarify, knowing that she would easily pick up on what I was about to say.
"—talking about your Tristan?" She smiled mischievously, and I elbowed her a little harder this time. "Oh yeah." I mentally cursed her for not telling me earlier, but then accepted it. What's the worst that could happen? "I can tell by your eyes, you're a little more excited." Ronnie pointed out.
"Try extremely bothered." I retorted.
...
"I mean I'm only in my second-year of college," I answered, taking a sip of my wine. "I can pick my major next year, I'm feeling a bit undecided, if you know what I mean. I barely have my life together."
"Cheers to that!" Ronnie exclaimed and we clink our glasses together, laughing. It was true, I couldn't even imagine that Devin and Cameron were getting married, it felt too surreal. As if some of us were actually starting to grow up. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were all teenagers, stressed about classes and homework but still laughing and hanging out together, just like this.
If I was already getting this emotional over a simple dinner with my friends, I can't even imagine how I'm going to act when we're all giving speeches at the wedding itself. God, I need to pull myself together.
"See the thing is, Cameron and I both have to start Med School in a few years, and by that point it's just so hard to keep up with everything going on in your life. We're always going to be so busy." Devin started saying, "I know we're still pretty young, but I think this is the best decision for us moving forward." She smiled, looking at Cameron with a love-struck face, that he couldn't help but kiss. They definitely had their lives together.
"Cheers to that!" Ronnie yelled again, louder this time.
Zaara took the glass from Ronnie's hand, "Okay, someone's had one too many drinks for tonight." She noticed as everyone started laughing, and Ronnie gave her a glare. "We haven't even gotten to the bar, yet."
I felt a bit tired after everything that happened today, and that feeling started glossing over me more prominently, right after I had finished my dessert. Even though I felt that I would miss out on partying with my friends tonight, they were always going to be there for me. We were here in Paris for a week, so even after the wedding, I knew we were scheduled for way more coming forward. On top of that, I'd rather not be feeling as drained as I am now, especially for the entire day tomorrow. I had a lot of things to do and manage, and I wanted to give it my best shot, in my best dress, in my best look. Puffy eyes and morning irritation were not going to help me in the slightest.
So after telling the whole group I was going to retire for the night, and hearing way too many protests that crammed my ears and ate them up from the inside, I had finally managed to get the majority in agreement of my departure.
I picked up my white stole from the back of my chair and draped it over my shoulders, grabbing my purse and was ready to leave. Walking through the beautiful restaurant, glimmering with ambient lighting and well-dressed individuals, I started making my way towards the door. In the midst of my stride, I felt my earring unlatch from my ear, and I touched the corner of my ear to make sure. I didn't feel a thing there. My pearl-drop earring was missing from my ear.
I was near an empty table, so I assumed it had fallen somewhere near or under it, so I ducked down as far as I could and tried to position myself under the table to look for it. I suddenly got self-conscious about myself, leaning over like this in such a fancy restaurant, feeling a slight heat rush up to my cheeks at the thought of being found like this. By anyone.
I tried to frantically search for it, until I felt something at my ankle and heard a loud thump on the floor right beside me. My hand immediately went to my mouth in surprise as I tried to move myself out from underneath the table, and felt a giant bump on the top of my skull. I had accidentally hit my head on the surface of the table, in the process of getting out.
I groaned in pain and massaged my head, and couldn't even imagine what the person who had fallen because of me, was going through.
"You know, the food is usually found on the table, Lizzy." I heard a slightly deep voice rumble next to me.
Lizzy.
It felt like years since I had heard that name, and I didn't even have to turn my head to know who it was. Four years, I had gone without having that name in my presence and now, the universe had basically dropped it right beside me. Literally.
To this day, I had no idea why he called me that, even though I had asked many times and gotten the most vague response. It's as if he wanted me to figure it out by myself, and I had no idea how to. Four years had passed since I had faced 'The Mystery Of Lizzy,' (cue the dramatic music crescendo), and here it was sprawled right next to me.