May 18th, 2008

Hitches

It was me who was late to the meeting place, for myriad stupid reasons, none of them sufficient excuse. I ran up the stairs, and we three went briskly in search of the cab stand. But we ended up at the kiss’n’ride, and so we went to call the special number that would bring us a free taxi. They promised to come, but did not come.

We discussed, after a while, abandoning the free taxi and paying for one, or was it too late to get the bus, or was the whole operation doomed? A girl overheard, and pointed us in the direction of the actual cab stand. We started to make our delusatory way there, in painful shoes, lugging gifts. I became so distracted by my skirt blowing up above my waste that I walked in front of a moving car.

A voice called to us. Did we want a ride? The helpful girl of a moment before had kissed’n’rode with her mother, in a minivan. Strangers in cars are bad news, we knew, but really, what could be safer than mother and daughter in mini-van? They drove us exactly there, brushed off our thanks, turned out to have the same family name as one of my compatriots. We all work in the same industry. Thank you, kind strangers.

“We’re not *very* late,” we posited, running up the drive. It had rained in the morning, but by 4:08 the sun was bright, so we assumed the wedding would go as planned out of doors. We ran three-quarters of the way ’round the building before we realized it wouldn’t.

“Go all the way around!”

“Fence!”

“Go back!”

“Wait, gate. Gate!”

“Go forward.”

We spotted, then, a conservatory window filled with expectant, forward-facing faces. “Oh, *there’s* the wedding!”

“Get down, get down, they’ll see us.”

Creeping through the garden lugging gifts in uncomfortable shoes, we re-emerged at the front of the building and whirled open the front door, to come face-to-face with the bride, on her father’s arm.

Da-dum-dee-dum!

“What are you doing? You’re late!!”

“We’re sorry!”

“It’s all my—”

“Get in there!”

And, as she was walking down the aisle, “You’ll hear about this on Tuesday!”

And now J and K are married, and no two people could have had a more splendid, generous and fun day, despite such errant friends.

It caught on in a flash
RR