We keep walking through the crowd, chatting Irish songs that most people don’t even know the words to or what the words mean. No one cares though, not today. I keep my eye on everyone, making sure to stay sober just in case. As much as I’d love to sit down in the bar, order some corn beef and cabbage and drink my worries away, today is for Stewart and I’m determined to be the best damn best man possible.
Stewart finds a spot for us to stand to watch the parade. Wasn’t part of my plan, but I get it. If we’re here, might as well watch. The community really goes all out between their costumes and music. I’m not sure how long we stand there for before I check my cell phone. I have a couple missed text messages from Hannah, Hallie’s sister. Hannah is the maid of honor and in charge of corralling her sister, who from what Hannah said, was very eager for her bachelorette party.
Hannah Walsh: where are you guys?
I rise onto my toes and look for the cross street. I’m a fairly tall guy, but with all the top hats, my view is blocked. I text back.
Me: 5th and 51st
Hannah Walsh: Head to St. Pat’s. We’ll meet you there.
Me: Stewart wants to watch the parade.
Hannah Walsh: Ugh, same with Hallie. No wonder they’re so compatible. Get him moving.
I pocket my phone and tell Stewart we should keep walking. It’s almost ten minutes before I have all the guys rounded up. Our large group isn’t ideal for the tightly compacted sidewalks, but we manage. As long as I don’t lose Stewart, I’ll be good.
Almost an hour passes before we reach the steps of the church. They’re pretty crowded but it’s easy to spot the bridal party. You know because the bride is the one wearing a giant green and gold tiara, a green sash that screams bride, all to complement her green tutu and shamrock tights.
The loud screech is what alerts Stewart to the fact his bride is a few feet away from him. She comes rushing toward him, a green ball of fury, and flings herself into his arms. “Stewie!”
The guys and I chuckle. I know he loves her, and she him, but seeing them together can be nauseating. They finish each other’s sentences, think it’s cute to wearing matching clothes, and share their food when we go out to eat. They’re the one couple I know who will make it to the end, come hell or high water.
“Thank God,” Hannah says when she comes over to me. She’s sober too and probably wishing she wasn’t. “She’s been Stu this, Stewie that, blah, blah, blah non-stop since we got into the limo. I gave her a bunch of shots, thinking she’d talk about something else, but nope, the booze only intensified her obsession.”
“It’s almost over,” I remind her.
“The weekend can’t come fast enough.” She groans and walks back to the other bridesmaids. I watch until my eyes land on the one person I never thought I’d see again. Hope Dunn, Hannah and Hallie’s cousin, who is a spitting image of Hallie, stands there, swaying back and forth to whatever song the current band marching down the street is playing. Freaking Hope Dunn, in the flesh, dressed like the cutest damn shamrock I have ever seen. While Stewart dated her cousin, I pined away for Hope in the shadows. She always seemed to be too good for me because she came from money and my family is working class. Hope had the best of everything handed to her on a silver platter. She wasn’t a snob though, just out of my league.
We’re adults now. Maybe things are different.
I approach her slowly and pull the fake beard down and give her my most dazzling smile. She smiles back and then she’s out of my sight. Another mob of party goer’s bump into me, causing me to stumble down a couple of steps, falling into another Leprechaun. “Sorry,” I mumble and hold my hands up.
When I look at Hope again, she’s engaged in a conversation with Hannah and no longer looking at me. Our moment, gone. Not that we had a true, defining moment, but my courage to approach her is. Standing here and looking at her is all I’ll ever do because she is out of my league. It doesn’t matter what I do, her family will never consider me to be on their level.
Oddly, I’m okay with it. I’ve always been the misfit in Stewart’s life. I love his family and they love me, but until I graduated college it was always clear that I was beneath them. Now, I’m an equal and would love for Hope to see me as one. The question is, what do I have to do to get her to notice me?