"No one died," Presley says between clenched teeth, her own eyes going big as she looks around the room to see if maybe she sees Joseph.
"God, can you imagine," Clarabella voices out loud, laughing, and the only sound I can make is a groan. "That might be even worse than being left at the altar." Her face goes into a grimace before Presley hits her, and she looks at me. "He's not dead." She tries to sound calm about it, but all she can do is laugh nervously. "We would have been contacted."
"Maybe you should stop talking," Presley urges between clenched teeth toward Clarabella.
"Okay, everyone needs to calm down a minute." I hold up my hands finally. "There has to be a reason he's late." I look at my wrist, but I took off my watch for this outfit. "What time is it?"
Ace picks up his arm and turns it, and I see his monogram on his sleeve with the cuff links I bought him when he became a partner at his firm. We've been friends since we took our first business class together in college. After a couple of study groups, we found we had lots in common and just started hanging out with each other more and more. When we both graduated, I moved back home, and it was just my luck that the company he would be working for was opening an office in town. It was at Ace's New Year's Eve party that I met Joseph. "It's five thirty."
"He's not late." I look at my sisters. "It starts at five thirty."
"It started at five," Presley says and then looks at Ace. "You're late. As the best man, you were supposed to be here at five."
"One." He holds up his finger. "I was here at four forty-five," he argues. "And two, I had a business call I had to take."
"Hey, sorry I'm late," my brother, Travis, says as he rushes to us. "We just . . ." He starts to say and then looks around, spotting his wife, Harlow, walking in with their baby in her arms. They were college sweethearts, and he broke up with her two weeks before they graduated, not wanting to change her plans. Four years later, she showed up at his wedding. Needless to say, he wasn't meant to marry Jennifer in the first place. "It's been a day," he admits and then looks at us. "What's going on?" His eyes go from me to my sisters and then back to me.
"Nothing is going on," I confirm while Presley blurts out, "Just a minor issue." She holds up her thumb and finger, showing a small space. "Joseph isn't here." I watch Travis's face and see that his eyes go big, but when he looks at me and sees I'm looking at him, he pretends it's okay.
"Well, we had traffic driving here," Travis informs us, and I can tell from his face he's lying right through his teeth, and if I wasn't nervous already, I would call him out on it.
"It's not a minor issue," Clarabella says, and I close my eyes.
"Can we not do this right now?" I look at them as they glare at each other. "There has to be a reason." I look around, smiling at people who are arriving and holding up my hand to say hello. "Give me a phone." I look at the three of them. "Someone, give me a phone." I run out of patience.
Clarabella hands me her phone, and I dial Joseph's number, putting the phone to my ear and trying not to freak out externally. Internally, however, I'm a fucking mess. How is this happening? Why isn't he here? Is he dead? I shake my head to get that thought out of my head. I wait for him to answer, counting to ten in my head. "Answer the phone," I mumble and turn around so no one can see the tears that are forming in my eyes. The phone picks up, and I feel better until I hear the automatic message.
"Hi, you reached Joseph," I hear his voice say, "I can't take your call right now." I look over my shoulder at the four of them, who just look at me.
"Hey, it's me. Can you call me back?" I hang up the phone and look back at them. "He didn't answer."
"Maybe he's busy," Clarabella offers. "But not dead."
"You are the worst." Presley turns to Clarabella, and I think she's going to hit her.
"He's not dead," Travis says. "Why would you even say that?" He shakes his head. "He's going to be here." He puts his hands in his pockets now. "And if he isn’t, I'll go out and find him myself."
I look down at the phone, blinking away the tears and trying to tell myself that it's going to be okay. My hands shake with the phone as I will it to ring when hands are on my arms. I look up and see Ace. "Hey," he says softly. "You know what he's probably doing?" I look into his blue eyes.