Something different
Stephen sat at his place at the front of the giant hall, at the long table that was there just for the happy couple and their wedding party. He looked out from his vantage point of honor at the sea of happy people, mixing and mingling in front of him like some medieval court. Most had found their seats at the round tables to which they had been assigned and the food was coming out on carts, beneath silver domes.
The quiet murmur of many hushed conversations was a lulling sound, and he could imagine what they were all saying. He agreed with them, it had been a special day. The service had been extraordinary and beautiful, and the kiss that sealed the holy union had all but radiated with the love it was meant to signify. Yes, it had been a picture perfect wedding; the beginning to what seemed likely to be a fairytale life together.
He looked to his left and there she was, looking as beautiful as she had when he met her. Megan no longer wore the veil that she had donned for the wedding, and her auburn hair hung in loose curls to the middle of her shoulders, and framed her heart shaped face making her look angelic. This view was further enhanced by the dress she wore, purest white and designed in silk and lace to accentuate her beauty without ever once slipping into the risqué.
The susurrous drone caused his mind to slip back to the day he had met her. It had been a very different situation and a very different scene. He had been dragged to a party by his friend Brad who wanted to try his luck with one of the girls that would be at this party. Stephen had only gone after hours of constant harassment by his friend, and no few pointed comments about his sexuality if he did not go. So he resigned himself to go, be bored for a time and then make his departure once he could.
The party was everything he had feared it would be. It was mostly just others of the same age, their early twenties, who were more interested in drinking and perhaps the chance at some casual sexual encounter than they were with anything else in the world. He hated it there, for long ago he had made a promise to himself that he intended to keep: he would not just settle for what was in front of him, he wanted it all or he wanted nothing. It did lead to times when he would be alone, and even feel lonely while his friends found themselves in countless relationships, generally each ended worse than the last.
He had tried to find himself an out of the way place where no one would bother him of course in the smallish confines of the room where the majority of the party was taking place that was not possible. From time to time someone he knew would come up, stumble up usually, and try to strike up a conversation. In normal circumstances some of them may have even been those he would enjoy speaking with, but he found that he had a hard time carrying on pleasant conversations with those who had reached such levels of inebriation when he was stone sober.
Worse was when women, some he knew but others he did not, would lurch their way over to his corner and try to make small talk. It was worse because this would not last long, for in their drunken state it seemed that all of these women had lost any sense of inhibition, or modicum of decorum for that matter. They would either hint that he should take them to another room and sleep with them, in very unsubtle terms, or they would just come out and say it bluntly.
Finally, making the excuse that he needed some refreshment he made his way from the crowded living room and into the kitchen. There were people here but not nearly so many, and even then some of them were just there to get another drink before going to mingle in the other room again. It was in the kitchen, under an unflattering fluorescent light that he had first seen Megan. Her hair was up in a bun, and she wore black horned rim glasses and even the harsh unnatural light could not diminish her beauty. Even more amazingly she seemed all but oblivious to those around her as she read a book at the kitchen table.
He was torn by twin desires, he had wanted to introduce himself but at the same time he did not want to disturb her. She was an island of calm and serenity in the sea of frenetic chaos around her and he was intrigued by her presence there, it seemed so out of place. When the woman sitting in the chair opposite this enigma had gotten up and left the room he took her place in the vacant seat.
The woman across from him had looked up slightly from the page she was on and offered a small but sincere smile before casting her eyes back to the page. He was once again caught on the horns of a dilemma, she had given him no opening and the book she engrossed herself within seemed like a barrier designed to keep anyone with a sense of decency out. Still he had wanted to introduce himself, he felt a palpable need to at least know this mystery’s name and to hear her voice.
In the end he chose to say nothing and simply sat there. In time the kitchen had cleared out and it was only the two of them, still he said nothing. He even tried not looking at her, for fear he would stare and make her feel uncomfortable. He was looking out the kitchen door at the throng in the other room and thus shocked when he heard a soft voice say to him, “Hello, my name is Megan, thanks for not interrupting me I really wanted to read and you have no idea how many times I had been stopped by someone trying to talk.”
He turned to look at her and found himself ensnared by her hazel eyes. She was looking at him then and the intensity of her interest had his head spin as shocking as it was. He remembered suddenly that she had introduced herself so he replied to her, “My name is Stephen, and it was my pleasure Megan. Sometimes a person just needs to be alone or lost in a good book.”
She closed the book and smiled a soft smile at him. To him it seemed as if that smile was just for him. “And sometimes a person wants some company.”
Those words had set his imagination aflame and he turned to face her. That was how it had begun they spent hours that seemed like minutes talking in the harshly lit kitchen. People came and went, but neither of them noticed enough to care. They spoke about anything and everything, it was as if they had known each other forever, or perhaps that they were the only two people on a deserted island with only each other for company.
As the night progressed and people began to stumble out the door heading to their homes, or to each others he and she had made their way into the darker living room. They found a place to sit on the couch, close together their bodies touching as they continued to talk. They both had a drink, a beer for him and a wine cooler for her and it seemed natural to sit and drink and talk.
Perhaps the remaining partiers had sensed they were not wanted and had not tried to interrupt Megan and him. More likely he had to admit was that others had stumbled into their personal space but he did not remember them, because she had been the sole focus of his entire being. They had forged a strong connection in that kitchen, and he had felt as if he had found something that had always been missing from his life.
As the sun had begun to rise they had both felt lethargy creeping in. It had seemed only natural to curl up with each other and let sleep carry them both away. That is how their night had ended, and when they woke together neither felt awkward to be tangled in each others arms. What a beginning it had been.
A slight change in the noises around him made Stephen come back from his reverie. With a sudden lurch in his chest, he realized it was time and he wondered if he could do it. He knew he had no choice as he pushed himself to his feet. He glanced once more at Megan and she smiled at him, the same secret smile that had always seemed to be for just the two of them.
He picked up his crystal champagne flute and the silver knife and wrapped the dull edge of the knife against the glass. The lone tone sounded with such perfection that all in the hall grew quiet. Stephen began to speak, “I will always remember the day that I introduced Megan to my friend Alex…”
He looked then at the happy couple, and though there was joy that that the two had found each other he still ached for the connection of that long ago night. He continued his speech but part of him wondered if he would ever feel that with another human being ever again.
The quiet murmur of many hushed conversations was a lulling sound, and he could imagine what they were all saying. He agreed with them, it had been a special day. The service had been extraordinary and beautiful, and the kiss that sealed the holy union had all but radiated with the love it was meant to signify. Yes, it had been a picture perfect wedding; the beginning to what seemed likely to be a fairytale life together.
He looked to his left and there she was, looking as beautiful as she had when he met her. Megan no longer wore the veil that she had donned for the wedding, and her auburn hair hung in loose curls to the middle of her shoulders, and framed her heart shaped face making her look angelic. This view was further enhanced by the dress she wore, purest white and designed in silk and lace to accentuate her beauty without ever once slipping into the risqué.
The susurrous drone caused his mind to slip back to the day he had met her. It had been a very different situation and a very different scene. He had been dragged to a party by his friend Brad who wanted to try his luck with one of the girls that would be at this party. Stephen had only gone after hours of constant harassment by his friend, and no few pointed comments about his sexuality if he did not go. So he resigned himself to go, be bored for a time and then make his departure once he could.
The party was everything he had feared it would be. It was mostly just others of the same age, their early twenties, who were more interested in drinking and perhaps the chance at some casual sexual encounter than they were with anything else in the world. He hated it there, for long ago he had made a promise to himself that he intended to keep: he would not just settle for what was in front of him, he wanted it all or he wanted nothing. It did lead to times when he would be alone, and even feel lonely while his friends found themselves in countless relationships, generally each ended worse than the last.
He had tried to find himself an out of the way place where no one would bother him of course in the smallish confines of the room where the majority of the party was taking place that was not possible. From time to time someone he knew would come up, stumble up usually, and try to strike up a conversation. In normal circumstances some of them may have even been those he would enjoy speaking with, but he found that he had a hard time carrying on pleasant conversations with those who had reached such levels of inebriation when he was stone sober.
Worse was when women, some he knew but others he did not, would lurch their way over to his corner and try to make small talk. It was worse because this would not last long, for in their drunken state it seemed that all of these women had lost any sense of inhibition, or modicum of decorum for that matter. They would either hint that he should take them to another room and sleep with them, in very unsubtle terms, or they would just come out and say it bluntly.
Finally, making the excuse that he needed some refreshment he made his way from the crowded living room and into the kitchen. There were people here but not nearly so many, and even then some of them were just there to get another drink before going to mingle in the other room again. It was in the kitchen, under an unflattering fluorescent light that he had first seen Megan. Her hair was up in a bun, and she wore black horned rim glasses and even the harsh unnatural light could not diminish her beauty. Even more amazingly she seemed all but oblivious to those around her as she read a book at the kitchen table.
He was torn by twin desires, he had wanted to introduce himself but at the same time he did not want to disturb her. She was an island of calm and serenity in the sea of frenetic chaos around her and he was intrigued by her presence there, it seemed so out of place. When the woman sitting in the chair opposite this enigma had gotten up and left the room he took her place in the vacant seat.
The woman across from him had looked up slightly from the page she was on and offered a small but sincere smile before casting her eyes back to the page. He was once again caught on the horns of a dilemma, she had given him no opening and the book she engrossed herself within seemed like a barrier designed to keep anyone with a sense of decency out. Still he had wanted to introduce himself, he felt a palpable need to at least know this mystery’s name and to hear her voice.
In the end he chose to say nothing and simply sat there. In time the kitchen had cleared out and it was only the two of them, still he said nothing. He even tried not looking at her, for fear he would stare and make her feel uncomfortable. He was looking out the kitchen door at the throng in the other room and thus shocked when he heard a soft voice say to him, “Hello, my name is Megan, thanks for not interrupting me I really wanted to read and you have no idea how many times I had been stopped by someone trying to talk.”
He turned to look at her and found himself ensnared by her hazel eyes. She was looking at him then and the intensity of her interest had his head spin as shocking as it was. He remembered suddenly that she had introduced herself so he replied to her, “My name is Stephen, and it was my pleasure Megan. Sometimes a person just needs to be alone or lost in a good book.”
She closed the book and smiled a soft smile at him. To him it seemed as if that smile was just for him. “And sometimes a person wants some company.”
Those words had set his imagination aflame and he turned to face her. That was how it had begun they spent hours that seemed like minutes talking in the harshly lit kitchen. People came and went, but neither of them noticed enough to care. They spoke about anything and everything, it was as if they had known each other forever, or perhaps that they were the only two people on a deserted island with only each other for company.
As the night progressed and people began to stumble out the door heading to their homes, or to each others he and she had made their way into the darker living room. They found a place to sit on the couch, close together their bodies touching as they continued to talk. They both had a drink, a beer for him and a wine cooler for her and it seemed natural to sit and drink and talk.
Perhaps the remaining partiers had sensed they were not wanted and had not tried to interrupt Megan and him. More likely he had to admit was that others had stumbled into their personal space but he did not remember them, because she had been the sole focus of his entire being. They had forged a strong connection in that kitchen, and he had felt as if he had found something that had always been missing from his life.
As the sun had begun to rise they had both felt lethargy creeping in. It had seemed only natural to curl up with each other and let sleep carry them both away. That is how their night had ended, and when they woke together neither felt awkward to be tangled in each others arms. What a beginning it had been.
A slight change in the noises around him made Stephen come back from his reverie. With a sudden lurch in his chest, he realized it was time and he wondered if he could do it. He knew he had no choice as he pushed himself to his feet. He glanced once more at Megan and she smiled at him, the same secret smile that had always seemed to be for just the two of them.
He picked up his crystal champagne flute and the silver knife and wrapped the dull edge of the knife against the glass. The lone tone sounded with such perfection that all in the hall grew quiet. Stephen began to speak, “I will always remember the day that I introduced Megan to my friend Alex…”
He looked then at the happy couple, and though there was joy that that the two had found each other he still ached for the connection of that long ago night. He continued his speech but part of him wondered if he would ever feel that with another human being ever again.