Now is my moment. “Can you excuse me for a moment?”
Her mouth drops open. I don’t blame her. She gave me an opening, and I’m leaving her alone at the table. It’s for a good reason, though.
I catch Daniela’s eye and she nods. Her blessing is the only thing I need right now. Rushing over to the DJ, I ask him to cut the music and hand me a microphone. It’s not time for toasts or anything yet. But I need the world to know how much I care about Jasmin.
The microphone has a bit of feedback when I tap it to make sure it’s on. I take a deep breath and lay it all out.
“Hi, everyone. I know it’s not time for speeches, but I have a few words I’d like to say.” Everyone goes silent as they are trying to figure out who the hell I am. “First off, congrats to Daniela and Jacob. I wish you many years of bliss.”
I grab a glass off a table and lift it in their direction. Daniela rolls her eyes and Jacob nods at me to keep going.
“Some of you may not know that I am here as Jasmine's date. Everyone, take a look at her. She's stunning.”
She buries her face in her hands and shakes her head. I know that has to be embarrassing, but everybody needs to know she looks absolutely phenomenal tonight.
“What you don't know is that we started as a fake relationship.” I hear gasps around the room. “Now, before y'all get pitchforks out, I want you to know it was my idea. She needed a plus one for the wedding, and I needed my family to take me seriously. Everything kind of went from there, until it stopped feeling fake.
“Every day, I wake up wanting her by my side. I look forward to talking to her. Any chance we get, which isn't always easy since I'm busy here and she has a job. So, we spend a lot of late nights on the phone.
“I never thought I would see the day I would find somebody who completes me in ways I didn't know I needed. She's the calm to my chaos. And doesn't chastise me when I'm being silly or laid back in situations that I should probably pay more attention to.”
I hear her mom whisper to her dad; “I knew it was too good to be true. I can't believe she would stoop so low” Abraham shushes his wife and tells her to listen.
“Anyway, all of this got screwed up last night when my brother was overheard at a restaurant. As much as I wanted to clear things up right then and there, I knew I needed to give both Daniela and Jasmin space to work through it themselves.
“But with Daniela and Jacob's blessing, the time has come for me to tell Jasmine exactly how I feel about her.”
This grabs her attention, and her eyes meet mine. I count to three. Take a breath, and speak from the heart.
“Jasmine, you mean more to me than anything. Even my siblings, though I'm sure they'll probably fight you on that. I can't imagine doing life without you. Or taking you on rides that you don't really want to be on, but you do it because, you know I have your back.
What started out as a simple friendship, grew into something so much more. And I can tell you the exact moment I fell in love with you. It was seeing Asheville from the sky. I knew then and there, I want to take you on all my ferris wheel rides. I love you, Jasmin, and I hope this doesn't scare you.
I hope you won't let your fear of letting anyone down keep you from taking this chance with me. And I hope you're as in love with me as I am with you. Friendships can blossom into something more. And I'll never regret the night I met you on Valentine's Day”
Before I realize what's happening, she's out of her chair, and running across the dance floor. Her heels clacking in the quiet moment. She throws her arms around my neck, and her lips meet mine. We melt into each other, not caring that there's an audience. In all honesty, I forget there are people all over the room.
When she finally pulls back, she whispers the four words I’ve longed to hear. “I love you, too.”
Moments later, Jacob and Daniela wrap their arms around us.
“You're forgiven.” Jacob says.
“But we won't make this easy.” Daniela adds. “Now, get off the dance floor and stop stealing our thunder.”
They push us back toward our table, and we happily hurry over there with applause. surrounding us. I don't miss the stink eye her mom gives me, but Abraham must sense that my words ring true, because he gives me a nod and a small smile. Honestly, that's all I can ask from him at this point.
Now that the attention's on the bride and groom, Jasmin pulls my chair closer to hers. “You know you could have said that to me without an audience, right?”
She buries her head in my shoulder.
“Yeah, I know, but this is the one time I needed everyone to see just how much I love you. I needed to squash any apprehension about that fact.”
“Well, I definitely think you succeeded, and my sister and Jacob will have a wedding nobody will soon forget.” She leans back and stares at me. “Just don't expect to do this at every wedding. You are not falling in love with any more maids of honor.”
I place a hand against her cheek and pull her close. “There's only one maid of honor I want.”
My lips meet hers, and the kiss is soft and sweet. I don't want to do anything to garner more attention than we already have.
