The Reception

Henry

The flowers were beautiful, laid in artful arrangements on each of the small tables. The bride and groom were lucky there was no breeze, unless the flowers had been glued to the table. They surely had been, otherwise they had left a lot to chance. Henry reached over and tried to pick up the nearest flower to him. Yep, he thought, glued to the table. He didn't know what flowers they were, but he supposed they were pretty. The petals were white and yellow, with dark stripes in the middle, which for some reason reminded Henry of an old girlfriend, who'd had blonde hair but often had dark strips.

His current girlfriend Mary, was chatting to some of her friends at another table. Henry could see her out of the corner of his eye. He didn't really care what she was doing. He'd pretty much decided to break up with her. This wedding had been a last ditch attempt to make their relationship work, but he was having more fun contemplating the flower arrangements than he'd had talking to her all day.

He sat up and drained the last dregs of wine in his glass, then he loosened his tie. He was alone at the table. Stuart, Lila, Carol, James, Mary and him. All in their late twenties, all couples. They had been placed together. Henry had listened rather than talked during dinner. Stuart and Lila were about to have a baby. Lila was very big, and the two talked about literally nothing else but the pregnancy. Whenever James, an accountant, and possibly the most boring man Henry had ever met, tried to say something about his work, Lila talked over him talking about the price of having a child. Henry tuned out after a while.

After dinner, they had all left, leaving Henry to ponder if he was the boring one after all. Mary had kissed him and said she was going to chat with some friends. That was fine. Henry glanced up at the bride and groom. They both looked stunning and happy. He could barely remember their names, they were friends of Mary. He believed she was called Kelly and he was called Jesse, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure.

He glanced at his watch. How many more hours until he could leave?

Kayla

This must be what absolute bliss feels like, Kayla thought, staring into her new husband's eyes. She would keep his gaze for herself, forever. She held his hand, and he caressed hers. Nobody else existed in that moment and she wanted it to last for ever. The wedding had been beautiful. She knew it, and she could hardly wait to see the pictures. She knew she had looked stunning. She had paid to be the most beautiful bride ever after all. Everything had gone just as she had imagined. Jesse had wowed everyone after showing up on horseback on the most beautiful palomino, then she had arrived in her dad's old Rolls Royce, stepping out of the car aided by her adorable niece Jade. Kayla had felt every person gazing at her, and she could almost feel the jealousy emanating from them, as though it were a substance oozing from their every pore. Kayla smiled at the memory of it. She remembered Jesse's look. Nobody could look at you like that and not be completely in love. She knew then, in that moment, that they would be together for ever.

She replayed the rest of the wedding, on fast forward in her mind. Jesse saying "I do". Him kissing her so deeply and passionately, she thought she might faint. People clapping and cheering. Confetti raining down on them. It had all been perfect.

Well almost perfect, she thought, glancing at Mary, who was chatting with some of their friends.

Mary was here with her new boyfriend, Henry. Kayla looked around for him, and found him sitting alone at his table, playing with the flowers, an empty glass in his hand. He looked bored. He shouldn't have been here at all. Kayla adored Mary, they were good friends, but Kayla had not wanted her to come to the wedding. She and Jesse had a fling years ago, and they both insisted it was long forgotten, but Kayla didn't like the idea of Jesse seeing her looking so beautifully dressed up. She had only relented because Mary had asked if she could bring Henry. But every time she had checked on the couple during the day, she had thought that Henry looked removed from everything. As if he didn't want to be there.

He glanced up in her direction, and saw that Kayla was staring at him. She was about to lower her gaze, but he smiled at her and raised an empty glass in a toast. She smiled back briefly and did the same, then turned back to Jesse. She knew Mary was nothing to him. They were happy.

Mary

"So come on, tell us about Henry!" Natalie gushed. The others giggled and they all glanced over at the handsome man sitting alone.

"Girls! Be cool!" Mary answered, making calming gestures with her hands.

"What does he do?" Beth asked.

"Never mind that," Natalie said. "What's he like in bed?" Everyone laughed again.

"Nat! Seriously, do you think I would kiss and tell?" Mary asked in mock offense.

"Yes," they all said together. Mary was known for liking her men.

"He's a perfect gentleman," Mary said with a wink, but inside, she felt her stomach churn. Henry was great, he was warm and nice and funny, but there was also something distant about him. Mary had watched the newlyweds look at each other with such adoration, it had made her heart ache. No one had ever looked at her that way.

"Come on!" Natalie said. "Spill. Did you guys do it yet or not?"

"Of course," Mary lied. In truth, Henry had been too much of a perfect gentleman. They had been on a few dates, and he had yet to make his move. Of course they had kissed, and some pretty awesome kissing if she did say so herself, but nothing more. She was hoping tonight was the night. It had seemed premature to ask Henry to accompany her to the wedding, but she was hoping the romantic setting would set the mood. There was also the fact that Kayla was quite insecure about her and Jesse because of a fling that happened like five years ago, and Mary thought it prudent to bring a date. Henry had seemed surprised but pleased to be asked. She glanced in his direction as the girls asked very personal questions. He was looking at Kayla and Jesse. Mary saw them exchange an air toast.

She gave the girls a few bits of made up gossip and decided to cut the conversation short, preferring to go back to Henry. But as she turned away from her friends, she saw that he had got up from the table and was heading to the far side of the reception.

He probably needs the bathroom, she thought. And, feeling slightly annoyed that he hadn't come looking for her, turned back to Natalie and the others.

Jesse

Jesse needed to pee badly, but he was having trouble moving away from Kayla. She was gripping him so tightly, it almost hurt. He knew it was their wedding day and everything, but he felt slightly trapped by her clinginess. He wanted to go and grab a beer with his buddies. He and Kayla had not left each other's side since the ceremony. That had been hours ago. But he couldn't tell her that, not now. She was looking at him with an almost sickly smile, and he imagined a puppy licking its owner after coming home. He loved Kayla, more than anything, but he needed to breathe. His full bladder was his chance. He whispered to Kayla his needs, and she let him go if he promised to come back soon. He kissed her affectionately and moved away.

His stomach aching now, he made his way to the public bathroom and relieved himself. He heard someone enter behind him.

"Henry?" It was Mary. "Oh hey Jesse. Have you seen Henry?" she asked.

"Mary? What the hell? I'm mid pee!"

"Oh calm down, it's nothing I haven't seen before!" Mary giggled, pushing him in the back. Jesse lost his balance slightly and almost missed the target.

"What are you doing in here?" Jesse and Mary whirled around, Jesse hadn't zipped up. Kayla stood in the entrance to the bathroom, staring hard at them.

"Hi Kayla, I was just looking for Henry," Mary said.

"Inside my husband's pants?" Each word felt like a slap to Mary.

"What? No Kayla, I really was looking for —"

"I knew I shouldn't have invited you! I can't believe you would do this on my wedding day! Leave my husband alone!" Kayla was ranting now, spitting out words in her anguish. "Although, I supposed I shouldn't be surprised that you would do this kind of thing!"

Mary stopped, and her heart sank. She wished Jesse would put his dick away.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means!" Kayla snarled. "Who did you steal Henry away from? Like Luke, or Adrian? You're a homewrecker!"

"That's not fair," Mary sobbed, tears falling down her face. "I would never do anything to hurt you."

"THEN WHY ARE YOU STANDING IN A BATHROOM WITH MY HUSBAND!"

Kayla did not wait for an answer but stormed out. Jesse attempted to close his flies and run after her, but he slid on some water on the floor, and grabbed hold of Mary to steady himself, but they ended up both crashing to the floor. He scrambled back up again and ran outside. He looked around, but Kayla was nowhere to be seen.

Henry

Henry had got himself a beer and was sitting behind a bush, away from the noise of the reception. Nobody could see him, and he had a pretty nice view of the surrounding area. There was a large lake surrounded by some trees, and the sun was setting over the water.

He pulled out a pack of smokes he had bought for the occasion. He didn't usually smoke, but enjoyed it occasionally. He took a few drags and let the smoke fill his lungs, before blowing smoke rings into the sky, thinking. He thought he should tell Mary that he didn't want to take things further before they went to the hotel. He would finish his cigarette, go back to the reception and tell her he wanted to end their relationship. It was kinder this way. He knew she was expecting sex tonight, and he felt it would be unfair not to tell her how he was feeling first.

As he pondered this, a noise came from behind the bush and someone dressed in white flashed past him, sobbing. The person stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Kelly?" Henry asked, recognising the bride. She jumped and stopped sobbing. She turned to look at him.

"What did you call me?" Kayla asked.

"Sorry," Henry said. "I'm not good with names." He came closer. "Are you alright?"

"The guy I don't know who is at my wedding, who doesn't even know my name, whose girlfriend is a whore, is the one asking me if I'm alright. You don't even know what you're getting into, buddy!"

"What's happened?" Henry asked, feeling surprisingly stung at the word 'whore'.

"I just caught your girlfriend with her hand on my husband, while he had his pants round his ankles!"

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" The news stung a little. Henry had genuinely thought Mary was into him. "Are you sure?"

"I had my suspicions," Kayla said, sobbing, and then she collapsed into Henry's arms.

Henry said nothing, but held her. For how long he wasn't sure. The light was fading fast. The sun had dipped below the horizon and it brought a red glow to the surroundings. After a while, Kayla pulled away. Henry looked at her, amazed that even though her cheeks were wet with tears, she still looked beautiful.

"I'm sorry I haven't got a tissue or anything," he said. She hiccupped a small laugh. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "What about you?"

"I was going to break up with her anyway. I wasn't feeling it."

"You know she only brought you along so I wouldn't feel threatened at my own wedding, right?" Kayla said. "She was only using you."

"Well then she's a jerk."

"How are you so calm?"

"We'd only been dating a couple of weeks. We haven't even slept together."

"That's not what she's saying."

"Well then she's lying."

Kayla laughed, and gave Henry another hug.

"Thank you," she said, and turned away, leaving Henry wondering what on Earth he was doing here.