Page 4 of Harrison's Wedding

“No, Gabriel was at the meeting we had on Tuesday, and we all went to lunch afterward, but Ariana was at work, of course.”

“I think he’s making a huge mistake. There, I said it. Now you have to stop me from saying it to him tonight.” She grits her teeth as she says this.

I sigh, thinking about the way Gabriel’s been acting since he got back together with Ariana. The times I’ve seen or spoken to him, he’s just seemed so whole again. I don’t think I’d realized how much he seemed to be just existing before. The difference is stark.

“Heather, he’s happy. Isn’t that enough?” I ask her.

“Come on, Harrison, have you forgotten what it was like for him? For me?” She pauses for a second and takes a deep breath. “Because I haven’t. I’ve still got all the messages I sent to her in my phone. Message after message that she didn’t bother replying to. I saw where I stood with her two years ago and, fine, whatever, at least I know my place now.”

I put down the glass of whisky that I’ve been drinking and head over to her. I pull her into my arms and feel the tension leave her body as she relaxes against me.

I squeeze her quickly and say, “I haven’t forgotten what it was like, angel. I was sad too, and I hate to see you upset. I just think that Gabriel is a big boy, and he can make his own choices.”

Heather sighs and hugs me tightly before she smiles up at me and says, “Okay, I promise to play nicely.”

“That’s all I ask,” I tell her.

I get a notification that our car is here, so I quickly wash our glasses in the sink at the bar, then tell Heather I need to go to the bathroom before we go. I snatch the ring box out of its hiding place at the back of my bathroom drawer and hide it away quickly.

As I walk back out to Heather, I feel like it’s burning a hole in the pocket of my trousers. I’m terrified again that I’ll manage to lose it or that Heather will say no when I ask her the question I’m going to ask her tonight.

We head downstairs and get into the limousine waiting for us. Heather sits beside me, and I instinctively put my arm around her to pull her close. We drive in silence, and I work to keep myself calm as my nerves threaten to take over.

I might be thirty years old today, but it’s also hopefully going to be the first day of the rest of my life with her, as long as Heather says yes.

2

A Red Carpet Affair

We arrive at Club Delirium and our car joins the queue of limousines waiting to drop people off for the party. I reach my hand into my pocket and feel for the ring box, making sure it’s still there, safe and sound.

I watch with mild interest as a limousine pulls up to the red carpet and an actor I’ve met maybe once before gets out. Heather’s been apologizing repeatedly for letting this party get out of hand. She’s been busy with Serenity, so she let Cooper take over, and he’s basically turned it into a publicity event.

Leading up to the entrance of Club Delirium is a red carpet. It’s been roped off at the sides, and the media are waiting for pictures and videos of the celebrity guests who are ostensibly here to celebrate my birthday with me. My friends and I refer to this as running The Gauntlet.

I don’t mind. There’s only one thing I care about this evening, and that’s proposing to Heather.

The actor’s limousine pulls away and the next one in the queue takes its place. There’s still a limousine between us and the one that’s about to drop its occupants off, so I watch with mild curiosity as the door opens to see who it is.

Gabriel gets out of the car and I smile at the sight of my friend. He turns back to the open door and I see him say something before a slim, pale arm appears and grabs his hand. The arm is followed by Ariana herself, and my mouth drops open.

When he asked for her to come with him tonight, I never imagined that she would run The Gauntlet with him. A huge part of their relationship issues when they were together before was due to the fact that Ariana refused to be seen in public with Gabriel.

“Well, that’s something I wasn’t expecting,” Heather says, sounding stunned.

I watch as Gabriel slips his arm around Ariana’s waist while they pose for pictures and say, “I’ll be honest, me either.”

The paparazzi seem to be goingoff. There’s a constant flashing of cameras, and I can see them answering questions from multiple groups of people who are crowding around to talk to them.

When Ariana showed up at our concert, he was dating another woman, Elena. He’d only been seeing her for a few months, and he tried to make it work with her after he saw Ariana again, but I could tell it was just a matter of time before they split up.

Sure enough, two weeks ago, Elena was in all the tabloids because she was kissing some other guy in public. That was when Gabriel told us he was back with Ariana. Of course, this is the first time they’ve been out together. All of that adds up to…this.

I watch as Gabriel pulls Ariana a little closer to him while they answer questions. Ariana even answers a couple, and I smile because both of them are grinning madly. I’m happy for them, even if Heather and Sebastian aren’t.

We pull up to the red carpet and our driver opens the door for us. Heather gets out first and I follow, thanking our driver before I stand next to her and pull her against me. It’s soothing to have her here with me; I definitely prefer events when Heather gets to walk the red carpet.

We’ve barely moved forward a few feet before we’re stopped for some pictures and questions.

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