A current of electricity flowed all over me when my hand slipped slowly over the bare skin of his arm. I latched on and goose bumps seemed to cover every inch of my body. I did my best to play it cool as I followed his lead and we made the short walk toward the front of the church. Terrell was smiling like his bride was coming down the aisle as he stood there proud of the fine execution of his plan. This was a setup.
From the corner of my eye, I watched AJ more than I watched where I was walking. It was so bizarre that he was beside me…touching me. Everything that I’d expected was void from his expression and body language now that our arms were locked. There was no anger, no bitterness, nothing but an intense charge that could’ve powered an entire city block. I tried to keep my expression blank so that Jason wouldn’t pick up on anything out of the ordinary.
At the end of the aisle, the coordinator called out for us to stop briefly because that’s where the photographer would be taking a few shots of A.J. and I during the ceremony the next day. When given our next cue, A.J. continued to walk me to where the rest of the girls stood. He held on to my hand for a second longer than was necessary and I glanced back. My heart fluttered in my chest when I found him smiling to himself as he walked away to rejoin the guys, unaware that I’d noticed. Terrell was almost laughing aloud when A.J. passed by him. His, and maybe Maisha’s, plan was messy, but all I could do at this point was try not to smile.
It wasn’t lost on me that the two of them felt torn when we broke up, feeling the sting of trying to compartmentalize their relationships with AJ and me for the sake of keeping the peace. For several months after I moved, Terrell made it his personal mission to mend the fence between AJ and me, hoping that one day we’d rekindle the white-hot flame that once burned between us back in the day. While I knew it wouldn’t get to that, maybe a friendship wasn’t as farfetched as I once thought. In the very least, his receptiveness made an apology on my part seem feasible.
Next my eyes went to Jason to see if he’d noticed anything, but his nose was buried in his phone, letting me know that I was in the clear. Still, remembering that he was in the room sobered me up a bit, made the butterflies in my stomach settle back into their rightful place.
I straightened my face and stared at the door as the flower girls entered the sanctuary. They smiled sweetly and pretended to drop petals onto the aisle, then came and stood in front of me just before the wedding march began. Per Maisha’s request, that part of the ceremony wouldn’t be rehearsed because she’d heard it was bad luck. So, with that, the coordinator instructed us on how we were to exit the sanctuary behind Terrell and Maisha the next day.
“Meet here,” she said, pointing down to the spot where she stood between the two front pews. “Link up with your partner, wait until the couple in front of you is at that bow there in the middle, and then proceed straight out through the sanctuary doors and stand to the left so that you’re not crowding the foyer as the guests make their exit.”
When she finished speaking, I glanced over at Terrell as he spoke, asking the woman for clarity on what his cue was to lead Maisha away from the altar at the end, but instead my eyes settled on AJ. He totally ignored the fact that anyone else was in the room as he stared in my direction. I wanted to look away, but couldn’t. Like, literally couldn’t! His eyes were so deep that I got lost in them just like I used to. Nervous, I chewed at my bottom lip, feeling a quivering breath leave my mouth when I did. We watched one another long enough that the coordinator snapped her fingers at us when it was time to exit. I was desperately trying to figure out what was going through AJ’s mind. This had to feel just as surreal to him as it did to me.
Out in the foyer, we gazed at one another often, but said nothing. It was a relief when the coordinator made it out to address us. Hopefully we’d be dismissed and I could get out of there and away from these confusing feelings.