Y'know, it's funny . . . after the wedding rehearsal on Thursday, I had it pegged that I had absolutely nothing to do, and that I had the easiest job in the world as the second groomsman. Stephen's brother, the best man, basically did all the tricky stuff while I just got to chill and just laugh and smile and stuff.
Well, yesterday at the wedding I pulled my weight.
After we had stopped by the bride's house (while she was out getting done up) for dropping off the flowers and decorating the wedding SUV with plastic pom-poms and whatnot, we were back at Stephen's house for a quick lunch and stuff before heading off to the church. Stupid Ed got a ride over and he stuck with us the whole time which was cool too - it's just nice to have all of us old friends together, y'know?
So Stephen, his brother and Stupid Ed and I all drove out to the church first to prepare the decorations, get prepped and whatnot. This was about 1pm; it was an hour before the ceremony.
People from Superstore slowly made their way to the church, looked very happy for Stephen and Maria (both of whom work at Superstore, mind you), and Stephen was just doing what he could to relax before everything went down . . .
. . . at about 1:30, some more people arrived, including the ring bearer . . .
Well, the second Steve saw little Austin, he got really active, pulling me over.
"I gotta go back to the house for a second . . ." he kept saying to me quietly as he walked towards the door. I was a little confused, naturally.
"Is your car here?" I asked, fully knowing that I drove him to the church.
"No," he said, "you need to drive me."
"Okay," I said back. Once we were out the door and briskly walking to the car (out of earshot), Stephen finished off the issue.
"I don't need to tell you what I forgot . . ." he said.
"Oh no . . . you mean . . ."
"Yeah, I forgot the rings . . . . ."
". . . okay, let's go."
Well, I hauled ass back to his place (a 10-15 minute drive away). Bon Jovi's "Last Man Standing" was playing in the CD player, giving us a good "rushing" song. And I gotta say, the traffic light gods were with us all the way - good break!
"Hey, does Justin have a key to your house?" I asked him, referring to his next-door neighbour who was also coming to the wedding. Steve thought about it for a second and called him. Ten seconds later he hung up.
"Yeah, they're at the church," he said.
"Okay," I replied as I put pedal to metal.
Now and then Steve got phone calls from parents or other people. Usually it was just little stuff like who needs what and stuff . . . but at the end of each call he'd also say in Chinese, "I'm in the bathroom."
The drive back was mostly just me laughing; really, what else could I do.
"Y'know, this is gonna be a freakin' funny story at some point. I mean, not right now of course . . ." I said.
"Yeah, not right now," Stephen repeated with a smile. He then told me how glad he was that I was there for him.
Once we were weaving/flying down the highway at 140 km/h, the CD had gone on to Bon Jovi's "Bells of Freedom". I could only laugh now and then as certain lines came along . . .
"...I was lost on my knees,
on the eve of defeat,
as I choked back the tears,
there's a silent scream
no one could hear..."
"...So far away,
from everything,
you know it's true..."
"...Ring them bells, ring them loud,
let them ring, here and now,
just reach out, and ring the bells of freedom.
When your world's crashing down,
like you've lost every round,
stand your ground, and rings the bells of freedom..."
"...up the steps of the church,
through the fields in the dirt..."
Just as the song finished, we got to his house and he rushed in to grab the rings. While I waited for him to get back, I set the CD back to "Last Man Standing" so we'd have our good rushing music again before the inspirational song. Also, since I knew the drive covered exactly those two songs, it gave us something to measure against. In any case, we had 20 minutes before the wedding . . .
Back on the highway, as "Bells of Freedom" came back on and after he quickly called Maria to see where she was, I could only laugh again.
"Y'know what, dude?" I told him.
"What's that?" he asked.
"For the rest of your life . . . when you hear these songs . . . . . you're gonna think about this."
"Yeah, I know . . ."
Got back to the church at 1:50pm, saw the wedding SUV parked in front with Maria presumably inside it still. Well, I started hand-signing to that car's driver as we passed by in front of the church. Y'know, pointed at Stephen, pointed at him, made hand motions of "cover up!" or "keep down!". Well, he got the message and immediately stuck his head backwards to (what I would later confirm) tell Maria to keep her head down so they don't see each other.
Just as "Wildflower" started (the next song on the album after "Bells of Freedom"), I was in the parking spot telling Stephen to get the hell out and haul ass. He thanked me one more time while I fixed the car in the parking spot.
As the day went on, I slowly told more and more people about "Stephen's 20 minute long bathroom break".
Bwahaha . . .
Anyway, wedding ceremony went about as well as you can hope for, pictures also went well . . . wedding reception/dinner was also excellent. For me, mostly, I was just always laughing, cheering, trying to get people excited and stuff. I was always joshing around with Stephen's brother (who was really nervous about giving a speech and stuff). He did well, though.
And yeah. Old high school people were there, co-workers were there . . . everyone had a really good time. Heh . . . afterwards, as people were leaving, now and then people would tell me I was a good dancer, or thank me for entertaining them on the floor.
So yeah. I think I did alright as the second groomsman. And yes, we have a most epic story to tell for the rest of time: the time that Stephen forgot the rings and his good friend was there to help right the wrongs. Gotta say, it makes you feel pretty good to pull that kind of stuff off.
. . . I wonder who's gonna get married next . . .
I'll do fan words and tell you more about my moving out tomorrow. I'm tired and drank a lot of cognac. Peace!
