A Simple Man - Patrick's Story

Wedding Jitters

As Patrick drove over the bridge for the second time that day, he had to admit that it had been a totally fucking stupid idea to borrow Dom's car to drive to his sister's wedding. What the fuck had he been thinking? He had been unable to get drunk on the one day that he really really wished he could have, because being drunk would have made this day a little more bearable.

But then that decision had been just one in a list of very questionable choices he had made leading up to this moment.

Obviously, he should definitely have booked a car service. Not having to navigate traffic and not getting a parking ticket and not having to concentrate on driving while also trying to finish getting dressed and being able to fucking drink might have helped reduce his already sky-rocketing stress levels. Secondly, he should have learnt to tie a bow tie before the day of the wedding. Thirdly, he probably should have asked to proof-read his father's speech so he could be have been prepared for the humiliation he would face in being the butt of his jokes. Fourthly, he should have thought through a little more exactly what he was trying to achieve by confronting his mother at such a public event, because really, wasn't it time to stop behaving like a petulant teenager around her? Lastly he should never have gone to the bathroom...nope. Not going there. That was NOT his fault. He hadn't done anything wrong in that situation. People did stupid things at weddings, but this one was not on him. He was not going to think about what happened with...

Back to the important things. He had fucked up royally with Richie, and he was going to have to do some pretty hard groveling to dig his way out of this one. Jesus, when he thought about the way he felt when he'd opened the door to Richie this morning and seem him standing there, clean shaven, in a tight suit...his heart had soared momentarily at what seemed like a possible good outcome to the day. But that happy, excited feeling at seeing Richie look so totally presentable had quickly dissipated as the reality of the coming event reared it's ugly head in his face.

Richie needed a new shirt because he had spilt coffee on his. They were running late and he needed to stop off at his mother's hotel to pick up the phone she had accidentally left there. He wasn't fully dressed himself yet, and was expected to be there early to take photos with the wedding party, and he was having no luck tying his bow tie. His mother had made assumptions about Richie already, elevating him to a Richard Donado even though Patrick had never implied that he was anything but Richie.

And as a backdrop to all this, Agustin's comments from the night before, lashing out as usual at Patrick and Dom when pushed into corner about his own work, reminded Patrick that his best friend, who knew Dana Murray from meeting her several times during the college years, had doubts about how this momentous meeting would go. It was all very well for Dom to blithely suggest Patrick stop worrying about her opinion, but he'd never met her and Agustin had, and Agustin never for one minute implied Patrick was unreasonable to be worried.

Patrick's mother was judgmental and cold. She had always been withholding, easy to show anger and disappointment but not affection or pride. The most sentimental she would get would be to give a brief kiss on a cheek, a slight smile and crinkling of the eyes, a gentle pat on an arm...

But whatever his mother was like, however much he dreaded the coming meeting, it was ultimately not her fault how the morning had unravelled. Patrick had basically sabotaged the whole thing from the beginning. At first he thought he could handle things such as the spilt coffee and had even impressed himself with how rationally he had dealt with that. Richie had obviously felt bad...constantly apologizing for his clumsiness. And it was certainly not Richie's fault that the hotel employees wouldn't believe that a young Mexican man had been sent to pick up the Murray cell phone. Richie had kept it together then even though it must have been humiliating. Patrick had been impatient, worried about being late, and had started losing it.