the wedding

Oh Teddy. You darn poophead.

Okay, that's not what was really going through my head, not by a long shot. But bad words just always left a bad taste in my mouth, as appealing as eating cigarette butts out of a dirty ashtray. Cigarette butts with red lipstick on them. Double yuck.

I was huddled over my laptop in the Houston International airport, during a twenty minute layover, when I saw the email from my boyfriend.

Make that my EX boyfriend.

Oh, and I'm on my way to his sister's wedding.

Really, it would be difficult for life to get much better than this.

Overhead, the gate agent asked for first class passengers.

"Dear Michaela," it said. "I'm so sorry, but I don't think we can live together or se each other anymore. I put all of your stuf in storage, so it will be safe until you get back. Regards, Teddy. P.S. I've paid for a whole year, so you don't have to wory about anything. P.S.S. Don't tell Janie until she comes back from Mexico."

I was being kicked to the curb. By email. Wonderful.

My eyes started to water.

I met his sister in my abnormal psych class. We became an admiration society of two -- I was in awe of her ability to distill the most complex concepts and ideas into something I could understand, and she loved my ability to read something once and have near perfect recall of whatever I read. We became study partners, which eventually overflowed into the rest of our lives with poetry readings (her idea) and late night astronomy parties at the observatory (mine.)

Teddy had a lot of the same qualities that his sister did. He was smart and funny and open to just about anything. Before he knew it, we were dating and a year later we moved in together.

On the other hand, Janie moved across country with her new social work degree and got a job working with disabled kids. A few years later, she met Jason. Now I'm on my way to their wedding.

Or was I?

The gate agent asked the second group of passengers to board the plane to San Diego.

Teddy was going to be at the wedding. And their completely rancid troll of a mother, Sophie. I was not looking forward to seeing either one of them. And for some reason, I couldn't stop crying.

Did I have to get on the plane going to California? Couldn't I just stay here, at the Houston airport?

Last call. It was now or never.

I thought of Janie. She was going to be beautiful in her wedding dress, and as corny and stupid as it sounds, I wanted to be part of her special day. I wasn't sure if I could pretend to be with Teddy without having a dreadful mishap involving his testicles and a steak knife during the reception. But I could try for Janie's sake. No one would have to know but me and Teddy. I could pretend. If only I could stop crying.

The agent was about to close the gate when I flagged her down. She let me board without batting an eye. Apparently, complete mental breakdowns were not an uncommon occurance at the Houston International Airport.

The flight was only two hours, but I felt like I was on my way to get hanged. Teddy was supposed to pick me up from the airport. Great. Something to look forward to. If I were in a Drew Barrymore romcom, I'd be sitting next to Ryan Reynolds, who'd promptly fall in love with my sassiness and pluck, and agree to be my date for the wedding. Teddy, now properly in the role of villain, would spend the rest of the movie eating his heart out.

But the road warrior sitting next to me had other ideas. He pretended not to see me at all, which was a pretty good trick since I was working my way through the box of Kleenex given to me by the flight attendants, and was half buried in used tissues.

So much for my fantasies.

To my surprise and great relief, one of Jason's buddies was the one to pick me up from the airport. He was cute, but the ring on his left hand said that he was definitely off limits.

Then it was the wedding.

The ceremony took place at a pretty little chapel overlooking the beach. A woman played harp. Teddy did his best to avoid me, which wasn't difficult because he was also Jason's best man.

The music started.

Because her father had died ten years ago, Sophie walked her daughter down the aisle. As she passed me, she smirked. I knew that she knew. Hell, she probably wrote the email. She never did think I was good enough for her son. I only hoped that Jason was spared the full Sophie treatment.

Janie was beautiful. She combed her hair in soft waves that framed her angelic face. Though I hadn't cried since I got off the airplane, I felt the tears flow down my cheeks and down my chin. I loved her at that moment.

My eyes were still wet when I gave her my best wishes after the ceremony. I didn't trust myself to say anymore. But then she surprised me and gave me a quick hug, nestling my face in her long blonde hair.

"I know how difficult it was for you to come. Thanks for being here for me," she whispered in my ear.

And suddenly, it was like Teddy and Sophie and famines and wars fell off the world and disappeared forever.

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," I whispered back. And I meant every word.