The Divorce

56

I don't know how Gabriel was able to get me a straight supply of gin and tonics but I wasn't going to complain. It was like a secret mission, he would disappear from my side every now and then and return with a glass. At one point he had two, pretending one was for him and holding onto it until I needed it. 

He steered me from chatting to people when he could see I was at the end of my conversation train, and sometimes he picked it up better than me. It was like he knew I was sick of talking to someone, with a smart little excuse we were off until someone else caught up to us. 

And when my curious family asked him what it was, he said it was lemonade.

I was on my third gin and tonic too many when he returned, this time with a darker looking liquid. The lights were dim, but even I could tell that was not gin and tonic in the barely lit room.

"What is it?"

I leaned in, placing a hand on his outstretched arm to hear his response. The music had increased and people were dancing, a little too crazy for me but everyone else was loving it.

"Coke."

"Coke???" I asked, frowning, "I wanted another gin and tonic, if I have to survive here."

"I'll get you one later, I thought maybe you wanted to not drink as much as you have a big day tomorrow. Didn't you say you had to be awake early again?"

I grabbed the glass from him "You're right."

He did have a point, I had to be on my best and alert behaviour tomorrow, even if everyone around me wasn't. I can just tell some people were going to be so hungover for the wedding. Perhaps that's why the actual ceremony was in the afternoon, but the make up and getting ready pictures were all in the morning. Katie herself would not be fun to deal with when she has a hangover. 

I felt an arm shove into my lower back by someone passing by making me wince and take a step closer to Gabriel, who already had an arm wrapped around me from any other pointy elbows. Did people not care when they danced? Are they that self unaware? Thank god Gabriel was vigilant otherwise I would end up with bruises all over my body.

"I always am."

This time I scoffed, taking a sip of the coke. The liquid was cold, bubbly and refreshing as it slid down my throat. I tried not to think about how close I was to Gabriel now, his chest so close to my face that I could just lean into it and take a quick nap. Now that the sun had set, and the wind had picked up, he was a nice level of warmth. 

But at some point of people pushing and shoving to get to the champagne tower before it started, I somehow found myself with a hand on his chest and him with arms around my waist. Not fully wrapped, but resting lightly on each hip. Like he was too scared for his entire palm to wrap around it. 

This time I could feel more of his body pressed against mine as he almost wrapped me in his arms. And it was just silence between us, as the chatter around us continued. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was comforting that I didn't need to speak to think, even if it was for just a few brief moments. 

"Do you want another?"

"Huh?" I looked up.

"Another coke?"

If I wasn't this close to him, perhaps I would have missed what he said due to the high sound of the music and the noise levels around us of screaming drunk fun loving people. 

Perhaps the mistake was looking into his eyes, when I looked up  they were already focused on me, with an expression I hadn't seen before.

He wasn't angry at me for not taking notes, and he wasn't looking at me in disappointment because of all the typos.