"There you go." Gabriela whispered, smiling when she was done with the injection. "It'll help you enjoy the next few hours a little more."
"Thank you." I replied, relieved to know that it was going to make the pain more bearable. We were in a small room next door as I didn't want my guests to worry about me. The bass of the music was surrounding me and I took a deep breath before walking back inside. The party had been fun and it had been amazing to see all of my old friends again, but I was also looking forward to being in bed with my wife. Until then I'd try to enjoy the presence of the guests.
"Ahhhh there she iiiiis!" I heard Sydney yell from the table she'd been sitting at, her cheeks rosy, her hair slightly tangled from dancing. Sydney got up, stumbling over to the DJ and whispered something into the tall man's ear. He nodded before handing her his microphone.
She cleared her throat, tapping her index finger on the mic several times. "Is it on? Hello?"
A loud beep was echoing through the speakers, resulting in a few guests groaning and putting their hands over their ears.
"Weeelll..." She started, smiling as she now tapped her glass with a fork, so hard that I was afraid she'd break it. Good that there was a doctor in the house, just in case.
"As the maid of honor, I think it's time for me to hold a speech."
"Just the moment we have all been waiting for." I heard my mother mumble as she was rolling her eyes.
"I'm sorry what was that?" Sydney spoke into the microphone, taking a step closer towards my mother. "You were saying something, Marlene?"
The woman just shook her head, taking a sip from her champagne. "Nothing."
"Nothing!" Sydney repeated, faking a shocked expression. "Would be the first time since you came here", she continued, her face serious before she finally lost control and started laughing, letting out a little snort. Followed by a hiccup.
"Oh I'm sorry it's just, it's just that you should know that Paige's mother has an opinion on everything. I won't blame her, it's her daughter's wedding after all... yeeaahh..."
Sydney stumbled, barely managing to hold her balance, before starting to laugh again.
"You sure you okay?" the DJ whispered as he came over, letting one hand rest on Sydney's back for support.
"I am FINE... F.I.N.E!" She yelled, pushing his hand away. "I am fine because my best friends are married now, and I wanna say a few words, so, let me."
I was looking over to Emily who seemed very amused by all this, giggling and staring at our friend, excitedly. Me, myself had a weird feeling. I had known Sydney long enough. Long enough to know that this could easily turn into a disaster.
"Paige and Emily!" She continued. "Emily and Paige. Paily." She cleared her throat and I was worried she was going to puke in front of all of our guests.
"Who would have thought that they'd get married? I mean, 10 years ago they were best friends in High School, and look at them. Seriously. They are both gorgeous. Goooorgeous girls... Naah, women. Let's face it. We're not getting younger, are we?"
She seemed to be staring aimlessly for a moment, lost in thought as she was smiling.
"We're not getting younger, but that's the point of getting married, right? We decide that we have found the right person to grow old with. We stop caring about age. Because no matter how old we are, we love this one person. Even if he or she has wrinkles or is getting bold. We know we want to wake up next to this person for the rest of our lives."
Her tone was becoming more serious and I glanced over to my wife again, the smile washed off of my face, replaced by... well... What was it? She didn't look sad. She was just staring at Sydney, her eyes glued to the other woman's lips.
"You know what the best case scenario is?" Sydney asked the audience, though she didn't seem to be waiting for an answer.
"The best case scenario is that your wife or husband is also your best friend."
Suddenly there were tears in her eyes.
"And this is what those two have. A friendship which has always been so close, untouchable even. Of course I've always been their friend as well, but what those two had? It was special. Still is."
She paused, swallowing hard.
"It's something everyone in this room can be jealous of."
I was looking around the room, some people nodding, most of them looking serious.
"It's this deep friendship that brought them back together. And fuck it will always unite them, okay? Have you seen their tattoos?"
Looking at her, I was close to walking over to her, telling her that it was okay and that she could stop talking now. But somehow I couldn't move. Somehow Sydney seemed to have everyone under her spell.
"Let me tell you something, if I'll ever be lucky enough to find love comparable to what Emily and Paige have, I will die happily because I think this is what we're here for on this miserable little place called earth..."
Sydney was slurring again, occasional sobs making it even harder to understand her.
"...we're here for love. To experience it, once, with our whole heart and soul."
She sat down, searching my eyes in the crowd.
"Paige...", She whispered, "Em."
I stepped closer to Emily, searching for her hand to hold it.
"I love you girls. So much. Okay?" Sydney said, brushing a tear away with her sleeve.
"And it's an honor to be your maid of honor..." She paused. "Wow. Suddenly the word makes sense."
I smiled, looking down as I was squeezing Emily's hand.
"And I haven't said it before but I will say it now, because I'm drunk as fuck, okay?"
Oh oh.
"I don't know what I'll do once I... I really don't know. I just..."
I swallowed and felt Emily tighten her grip on my hand.
"It just hurts to think. It... it hurts. I just want you to... I want to come over to your house when we're all, like, 95 or something. I want to see your children and spoil them with presents, be their favorite aunt. I want all that for you two. The whole thing. The real deal. I'm... oh god, I'm sorry."
I had never seen Sydney like this before. I knew that whatever else Sydney wanted to say, whatever else she felt it was too strong for words. Especially now.
"Excuse me, please."
Then the microphone dropped to the floor and Sydney was running out of the room, pushing some guests out of her way as she tried to get through to the door without meeting my eyes again.
