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Lydia looped her arm through his, and Luke felt some of the anxiousness inside him settle.
Kurt led them past security to the reception desk, where they all handed over their IDs. After paying, Ashley and Kurt got a numbered ticket. Kurt tapped the ticket against Ashley’s nose. “Guess this is really happening now.”
Lydia grabbed Ashley’s hand as they all sat down on the green couches, waiting for one of the flashing TVs above the numbered stations to read out their number. Several other groups were gathered in the room as well. It was all quiet, anxious, excited whispers.
When their number was called, they all walked up to the station, then handed over their IDs again. Ashley also handed over a marriage license. Then the clerk passed them a paper. Ashley and Kurt signed first. Then Lydia and Luke signed as the witnesses. It was all very efficient. Once they were done, it was back to the green couches.
“I didn’t know if I was supposed to change or if I should bring anything,” Lydia said to Ashley. “I kind of wish you’d given me more of a heads-up.”
“We barely gave ourselves a heads-up,” Ashley laughed. “We were playing around with the idea, more like a joke every time we sat down to try and plan things, and it just kept sounding better and better. Neither of us knew it was actually happening until we did the paperwork and got the marriage license. Then we booked an appointment and it was suddenly real. You were right, though. Why should our wedding day cater to everyone else’s happiness? Seems like a disappointing start to married life. This way we have all the control.”
“I’m happy for you,” Lydia said.
“Good. Because you’re telling Mom.”
Luke grinned at the momentary look of horror on Lydia’s face. “As your maid of honor, I will bear this burden. But if you don’t hear from me in four to six weeks it’s because she’s killed me.”
Their number was called again and all of their heads perked up.
The next station was a horseshoe-shaped atrium. Ashley handed the paperwork they’d all just signed to an employee, who told them to wait with the other couples in the room. There were doors on either side of the atrium, leading to rooms where the officiants were marrying other couples. Kurt pulled Ashley in for a hug, and Luke hovered close to Lydia, trying to give the couple privacy.
“How do you feel now?”
“So weird. My sister’s about to be married and that means she’s really gone and grown up. I wanted to be just like her, you know, when we were kids. Everything she did I had to do too. Even as we got older, that hasn’t really changed. Frankly, I’m a little surprised I didn’t follow her right to law school.” Lydia shrugged. “Ashley’s always seemed to be following this perfect, traditional life plan, and now that she’s deviating, I’m a little thrown, to be honest.”
“Sometimes life’s more fun when things are unexpected.”
“As long as it makes her happy, I suppose I can roll with the unexpected.”
“Are there going to be waterworks?” Luke whispered. “Should I stuff my pockets with tissues?”
“I’ll hold it together,” Lydia promised, straightening her shoulders. “Iamreally glad you’re here.”
Warmth surged through him at her words. “Putting moral support on my résumé.”
Lydia laughed.
When their group was called, she took his hand, guiding him through the doors to their right and into a tiny room with pale pink walls. The officiant welcomed them, standing behind a podium. Ashley and Kurt placed their rings and Lydia’s small bouquet of flowers on the podium, then, without any other pomp or circumstance, it began.
As Luke stood there, watching these almost strangers get married, he glanced over at Lydia, her hair a little windswept, her cheeks pink from smiling so much. Maybe it was all the lovey-dovey newlywed vibes ricocheting around the room, but he couldn’t help thinking about how his life had changed since meeting her. Before Lydia, he’d never given a passing glance to the architecture in the city. Now his camera roll was filled with old brickwork and rusty fire escapes because he knew Lydia loved those parts of the city. He noticed the shapes of windows and crumbling archways in gardens. He noticed the way one block differed from another. Sometimes, he even expected to walk around a corner and find Lydia standing there, a sketchbook in her hand.
Before Lydia he might have considered letting this first rejection for his business plan end his dream. Now all he could think about was what she’d said to him the other day about trying again.
The officiant stopped talking, and Kurt and Ashley kissed. Lydia clapped, bouncing up and down on her toes. When she turned to him, her eyes were glazed. “You said you’d hold it together,” he joked.
“Obviously I lied!”
Luke reached into his pocket and produced a tissue. “I figured.”
Lydia took the tissue from him, laughing, and Luke rubbed errantly at his chest, wondering if she realized just how tightly she was tugging on his heartstrings.
“Are you actually going to do some work today or are you just going to keep staring at your phone?” Dara asked. It was still early for a Saturday and Luke started, not quite awake as he leaned against the front desk, waiting for Lydia to arrive for their fifteen-mile run.
“Where have you been the last few days?” Jules asked from the other side of the desk, stapling a workout plan together. “I feel like I’ve barely seen you.”
Luke stuffed his phone back into his pocket. “I picked up a couple more clients.” He figured if the bank turned him down for his business loan a second time, he was going to need to start saving more money himself. Sure, it would mean his dream of owning a gym was years away, but he wasn’t giving it up that easily. “Also, I sort of ended up at a surprise wedding ceremony on Thursday, so I shifted my afternoon around.”
“For who?” Dara wondered, ignoring the phones.
