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Personally, I was responsible for the table settings. I’d already called the venue to confirm we had tablecloths we could use, as well as table runners, plates, and everything else we’d need. With the florist in charge of the flowers and centerpieces, all the décor had been taken care of. Despite Caleb’s worry that three hours wouldn’t be enough time, I was sure that we would have plenty of time so long as everyone worked diligently. Altogether, we’d have at least sixty hours between everyone in the wedding party – Caleb and Stacey included – because we were all working for the three hours.
By the time eleven-thirty came around, I was ready to head out to Wahooz. In my truck, I took Elliott, Jason, and Richard. Jacob would drive the rest of the groomsmen while Maria was catching a ride from one of the bridesmaids – or possibly Stacey. All I knew was that we were going to be able to get there all about the same time.
The drive itself was only about thirty minutes from our Airbnb. We all arrived shortly after noon because of traffic, but that was all right. Upon entering the building, I could see why Maria had described it as an indoor theme park. The first thing that greeted us was a theme park ride that would spin us around and around and around, and we could control how fast our own pod of four people was spinning.
There was also a ropes course, a bowling alley, and bumper cars immediately visible. This place certainly had a lot to do. We got our wristbands at one of the many counters, and Stacey and Caleb immediately disappeared to go to the arcade.
“Hey, Maverick, bet you can’t lap me in the go-karts,” Maria teased.
“Go-karts?”
This place was very much not my scene, but since everyone else was participating, I’d do my best to find the fun. And there were at least ten other families here, all with kids. So it was high noise level – high energy - all around.
“Come on. Are you chicken?”
“I’m not chicken!” I replied, shaking my head.
With that, I had backed myself into a corner. Maria, Elliott, and I joined the rest of the group heading outside for the go-karts. Then, I realized that there was mini-golf here too. Maybe, after an hour or so of having fun with the rest of the group, I could convince someone to come play a round of mini-golf with me. At least it would keep us away from the noisy rides.
When we all got to the front of the line for the go-karts, we ended up filling every go-kart on the track. I was partially impressed. We had enough people for that? Even without Stacey and Caleb?
I glanced over at Maria as I got myself buckled in.
“You’re going down!”
She was grinning widely.
I gripped the wheel of the go-kart and listened as the employee went over the safety rules. The main thing to know was that there was no bumping, and we were allowed to go around as often as we could until they called us back to the pit. Standard enough.
They started the countdown, and then we were off onto the track. I pressed down on the gas pedal, but Maria was in the other lane of cars. She had already taken off and was zooming around the track.
Driving a go-kart wasn’t as difficult as actually driving since all I had to do was focus on not bumping into the edge of the track or the other go-karts. But I soon realized the fun was in trying to go fast, which resulted in a lot of fishtailing or peelouts. Once I got the feel of this little vehicle, I was actually having a good time. That is, except for when Maria would pass me and let out a loud whoop.
By the time the end of our ride came, I was glad to be pulling off the track. I’d had enough of feeling like a big kid.
“Woo! Wasn’t that fun, Maverick?” Maria asked as we started walking back inside.
“It was ok.”
Maria raised an eyebrow but immediately dragged me over to the large spinning ride that we had seen upon walking in – the Thunder-Whirl. I gulped hard. We were the only two to get on this time around and ended up sitting in the same set of four. She gripped the turnstile hard, and I let her go to town as we spun around and around.
I wasn’t very impressed, but I was glad to see that she was having fun. The smile that graced her face was perhaps the widest I’d seen all week, and it was clear that this was something she found fun.
“That was an experience, but I think I’m going to go play some of the arcade games for a bit,” I said after we got off. “I’m not really into some of these rides with motion like that…”
“I’m sorry,” Maria said. Do you want some company while you’re in the arcade?”
This surprised me a little. The group had kind of split up in all different directions, and we were supposed to meet at the bowling alley at two to play a round together and get some food. She could have gone and done anything, but she wanted to stay with me.
“If you want to, you’re more than welcome to come with me to the arcade,” I finally said.
We walked to the arcade and ended up playing some air hockey together. That was a lot of fun, and I started to find that perhaps I just hadn’t come in with the right expectations. I even let Maria drag me out to the go-karts again, if only to see the wide grin and hear her hollering at me every time she lapped me. There was something exciting about this woman.
By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. We had eaten a bit of a later lunch, so no one was immediately hungry by the time we got back to the Airbnb. After a quick poll of everyone, I decided to order a delivery of hamburgers for everyone.
Then, Maria’s phone dinged.
“That’s Stacey. I gotta go,” she shared.
