I tried her phone again only to have it go to voicemail after a few rings just like before. I made it to the parking lot and, of course, my car was gone. She didn’t know her way around Boston any more than I did, so it shocked me that she’d actually left. Clearly she was more upset by all of this than I realized. And all for nothing, might I add.
The awkward exchange with Sam came back to mind and I dwelled on how wrong Kira was about all of this. There was nothing left between Sam and me to the point that we couldn’t even find conversation for one another. If she’d seen that, it definitely would’ve set her mind at ease.
Realizing that I was gonna just have to wait for Kira to return, I went back to our room and took a nap for the two hours that I had before having to be up and ready for the rehearsal. With only ten minutes before needing to head over to the church, I was just getting ready to call myself a cab when Kira traipsed back through the door. I stared at her for a second, but didn’t question her about where she’d been.
“Are you still coming?” I asked.
She finally made eye contact and shook her head. “I don’t think so. But you go ahead without me. I’m not really feeling up to it.”
Is she really going to hold on to this?
I didn’t say a word. If she wanted to be petty and childish about this, I’d let her do just that. Snatching my keys from where she’d set them on top of her purse, I left Kira behind.
Finding the church was pretty easy with the GPS. A quick fifteen minute drive and I was parked in the lot. Terrell instructed the guys to hang a left at the entrance and walk to the room at the end of the hall. When I got there, I found him sitting on a large sectional couch in some sort of a lounging area, talking to five or six other guys who I assumed were also in the wedding.
“Whassup, man?” Terrell greeted me.
I nodded. “Whassup.”
“Lemme introduce you to everybody.” Pointing to the large, bald guy to his left, he announced, “This is Ced, my cousin from St. Louis.”
I nodded politely to acknowledge him.
“This is Dominic, Al, and my boy Pete that I went to high school with,” he added.
Again I did the courtesy nod and kept listening.
“And these two over here, John and Floyd, are Maisha’s cousins. Everybody, this is my boy, AJ.”
Variations of greetings, head nods, and handshakes came my way, and then the men went back to their conversation. Terrell got up from the couch and came to where I stood by the door.
“You got Kira settled in the sanctuary before you came in here? There’re a few other spouses and whatnot that came with some of the other bridal party members. She’ll be cool in there with them.”
I shook my head. “Nah…she didn’t come.”
Terrell cocked his head to the side. “Everything alright?”
If it’d been anyone else, I would’ve lied and told him that nothing was the matter, but seeing as how Terrell and Karl were about the closest things I had to having actual brothers, I went ahead and told him.
“She freaked herself out meeting Sam, so she decided at the last minute not to come tonight.”
Terrell raised an eyebrow. “Oh, wow. But y’all didn’t even speak, did you? You and Sam, I mean.”
“Nope. Not a word.” I left out the part about the brief exchange in the elevator because that didn’t really count.
“I mean…did she just not wanna be around her?” Terrell asked. “She knew Sam would be here for the wedding and everything, right?”
I nodded. “She knew. I don’t know what her deal is.”
Terrell shook his head and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Well, we won’t be here too late. Maisha wants to start in a few minutes, and then you can head back and work things out with your girl.”
I only nodded in response.
A few more guys flooded the room and shortly after that, Terrell had us line up. I was standing nearest to the door, waiting for the wedding coordinator to signal us to start when my phone went off in my pocket – Kira.
It was a simple text that read, “I’m sorry and I love you. Make it up to you tonight…”
A smile crossed my face as I tucked my cell away in my pocket again.
“Ready?” The small woman in the hallway asked with a tight expression.