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“What?” Suddenly, he started to look nervous.
But it was too late. I gave a nod to Colby, who brought out a wheeled projector. Kenzie meanwhile got the large screen ready on the other side of the room. See, it paid to have a movie producer in this circle, not to mention access to the many embarrassing photos I’d gathered from family and friends.
I watched the lights go down and then the spotlight shine on me. Damn. No pressure. The sounds of clinking glasses silenced the room and the two hundred plus people who’d come for the reception party at the country club.
I glanced over toward the beautiful bride and groom. Emotions got stuck in my throat because of how happy they looked and also because of what they represented. True love.
“Hi, ya’ll. I’m Juliette. And I was asked to give a speech tonight about the happy couple. Although I give it five minutes before they may be regretting that request.”
A few chuckles from the crowd.
“Now then, in order to get the full picture of this love story, I think we need to go back to the beginning.”
Up flashed a picture of Brian at about two years old, naked as a jaybird.
“There once was a little boy who was cute as could be,
Who always had a smile on his face as we all can see.”
And so the rhyming story went on through four more awkward pictures of Brian before switching to Sasha growing up.
Then, finally, we arrived at a picture I’d snapped about eight years ago when we’d all started working together. It showed Sasha and Brian at a bar during a happy hour. She had a smile on her face and it was clear he’d put it there. The entire crowd did a collective “aww.” I could see by the stunned looks on the bride and groom’s faces that they’d never seen the photo before.
“When boy met girl, the question he asked was,
Find out her name and do it fast.
But I did one better, don’t you know,
I snapped this picture hoping someday I would show
The moment it became clear to me
That you two together was meant to be.”
The final photograph was of them at their engagement party smiling for the camera. There I finished my speech, trying to control the emotion welling up.
“So that’s the end of my rhyme as I’m almost out of time. But, uh…”
I glanced down at the notecard with the words in front of me, but I couldn’t focus on them. Instead, I chose to go from my heart.
“I couldn’t get this last part to rhyme, so I’m just going to say it—” I lifted my gaze to the crowd and saw Mark across the room with eyes on me.
Breathe, Juliette.
“It’s rare when you get to see two people more in sync and more in love than these two.”
And right there on that stage, it hit me. If anything were to happen to one of them, I couldn’t imagine the other one finding someone else. Ever. They were it for one another. What if Sarah had been it for Mark?
“I think the kind of love Sasha and Brian have for one another only comes around once in a lifetime.”
I had to fight back my tears and keep from making eye contact with Mark. Because I finally got it. It was sinking in why he couldn’t move on. Why he was unable to love me. Because the type of love he’d felt for Sarah wasn’t the kind you could ever recover from losing, let alone put a time limit on.
“I love them as my friends, adore them as my coworkers, and think of them as family. So let’s raise our glasses to Sasha and Brian and wish them all the happiness in the world.”
I held up my glass and watched while the lights came up and everyone toasted. The entire room was clapping. Soon I was engulfed in hugs by the happy couple.
As I turned to step off the stage and go back to my table, Mark immediately came up to me. “That was great. Especially the slideshow.”
