Prairie City Social Club

The Wedding

Liv rolled enthusiastically out of bed to start her big day. It was early. She uncaged the cork from the now chilled bottle of Prosecco and slowly released it. The muted "pop" had been missed. Bubbles promptly carried aromas of fruit to Liv's anxious nose.

Liv had decided to make the most of her day. She was attending a wedding later that evening and was planning to have both an a.m. and p.m. session. Liv grabbed the lone flute from her cabinet and carried it along with her bottle to the living room. She sat and drained this first bottle while doom scrolling on her phone.

Frank soon texted, "Happy Cheat Day! How's it going?"

Liv replied with 4 champagne-toast emojis.

"Have fun and keep me posted."

She replied with a simple checkmark.

Liv fell asleep a few hours later while enjoying a gin-tonic and reading on her patio. The mid-morning sun scattered through her empty glass and across the pages that were now resting just below her nose. Perfect. Upon waking from this brief nap, she texted Frank, "Zzzzz."

"See you at 5," Frank replied.

Liv went back inside, curled up on her sofa under a blanket and slept until early afternoon.

Frank chuckled as he pulled in front of the cafe at 4:45. When the two had made their "date," Liv was forced to inform Frank that her apartment was one of the two above Prairie City and, more hilariously, two floors above their initial meeting place. When she told him, Frank had laughed and promptly responded, "Where you gonna retire, on the roof?" Frank ran into the cafe, ordered a coffee and waited with it at the window for Liv to come down.

"Wow, Liv. You...look at you. You look great. You must REALLY hate this cousin," Frank managed to get out uncomfortably.

"You always know what to say, Frank. If only you could figure out how to say it. Also, the suit's nice. Does it have a hood?" They both laughed as they walked to his car. Frank opened the door ahead of Liv, walked around and found that she had reached across to unlatch his door as well. "Touche," Frank replied as he started the car.

Upon arrival at the wedding, Liv was mostly sober as she had resisted the urge to drink while getting ready. She reasoned that she could have a better showing at the wedding, on their dime, this way. This was her Everest and, provided she survived, she wouldn't get another go until next year. The ceremony was the standard Catholic ordeal followed by cocktail hour and then the requisite salmon or steak and dancing. The actual ceremony was a little weird as Liv & Frank began to wonder what everyone thought of them together. Like, maybe they'll get married one day themselves. To each other. They couldn't exactly just tell the truth. "Hey, Aunt Clara, this is Frank. We have a booze pact together. He's here so I don't drink "too much" too much and choke to death on my own vomit at 10 p.m." Liv wanted to burn it down but she didn't want to burn it ALL down. Anyhow, the fact that BOTH of them were sober for the romantic bits certainly didn't help.

Cocktail hour helped. Liv had two Martinis first, as she had missed them like a "dear friend." This was known to Frank as Liv had spent the first half hour explaining it to him. For the other half, she told Frank about the merits of a good Martini, how vodka Martinis aren't Martinis, how the glass should barely be coated in vermouth and then shaken out as if being exorcised prior to adding the chilled and strained gin. It was around that time that Frank said something to the effect of, "What are we telling people? We're dating but not too serious? We're friends? Do I need to cling by your side for appearances? Or supervision? Or are you good to go? If you're good, I can move about, give you some space and just check in periodically."

"We're good, Frank. Let's keep it to the friend thing. They'll have a lot of questions but this wedding isn't when they'll ask them." Liv grabbed one more Martini to hold her until the bar reopened after dinner.

Dinner was pleasant enough. Liv & Frank were set with cousins and college friends, of the bride, that were mostly around Liv's age. Liv didn't waste much time introducing her "friend Frank" as she delicately held his forearm. Frank was left feeling simultaneously cared for and put aside. Liv flirted with the lone single man at the table and Frank managed to have a surprisingly enjoyable conversation with the fiance of Liv's cousin Eric. Eric didn't seem to be thrilled about it but his fiance was a graduate student at a nearby university and was the most interesting person at the table apart from, perhaps, Liv & Frank themselves.

Frank's big save of the evening occurred after dinner. He had gotten up to use the restroom just before the toasts began. He returned as Liv was planning to stand up for an impromptu toast of her own. Frank convinced her to stay in her seat with a simple pour of the table wine and a look that said something like, "You are not doing this right now."

Frank wasn't much of a dancer since he'd given up drinking but Liv had a way of dragging her friend along for the ride. A dance floor, during the fast songs, ranked high on the large list of places that lay beyond Frank's, quite cozy, comfort zone. He could manage his way through the slow dances but they had always felt pretty intimate to him and Liv's breath was something to behold by this point. "Are you having fun, Liv?"

"LOTS," she whispered.

"I'm gonna take a break outside after this one. You good for a bit?" Frank asked.

"No, I'm not good...I'm GREAT," Liv whispered again as she simultaneously twirled and bounced across the dance floor. "I'm going to go dance with that guy a little," Liv gestured boldly. "Just stick with the plan, yeah?"

"I promise," Frank replied assuringly.

When Frank returned, Liv was dancing happily. On the bar. The bride and groom were at the head table, instead of on the dance floor, and didn't look to be having a very good time. Frank raised a hand to Liv, helped her down from the table and gestured, "One." He had probably been a little late on the call but Eric's fiance had been outside and Eric was not. Liv sat alone at the bar, to enjoy her last, prior to dancing until both Frank and the DJ were too tired for more.

Per their agreement, Liv & Frank met at Prairie City for brunch the following morning. They hadn't added this rule because it was fun. The rule served a dual purpose, both as a health check and to remind the offender that the next day would always be hell. It's child's play to lay in bed at home until the dark veil of your hangover lifts. Getting out in the sun, sitting in a lively cafe, smelling bacon and drinking coffee. That hurts. Forever gluttons for punishment, they felt compelled to have punishment built in alongside the pleasure.

"Well, how was it, Livvy?" asked Frank a little more loudly than the situation required.

A simple, "Shhhhh." This followed by a minute, maybe two, of silence which was only broken by the productive clinking of flatware on plates. "I saw your note. She really asked you that?" Liv said pathetically.

"Yep," Frank replied.

"Jesus, Mom. Why does everything have to be about you? She's THE worst. Wait, did I...nevermind," trailed Liv.

"What?"

"Please. Let it go," she pleaded.

"Gone."

Frank was good like that.