New York -febraury,5:30pm
The air was thick with delicious food and songs, that kind of Saturday heat that made the lace if Daniel's neck feel like a punishment. But it wasn't the music,the crowd or even the heat that made his heart pause. It was her. She stepped into the hall like time hadn't moved since 2006. It was"velma". The girl who once sat cross-legged on hostel balconies with him at 2am talking about love, God, and how she wanted to disappear for a while and then -she did.
He hadn't seen her in four years. Today,she was draped in gold gown, eyes scanning through the crowd like she didn't know if her effect but he saw it. Everyone did especially him.
His drink tasted flat. He blinked twice, unsure if it was real. Maybe ut was the champagne,maybe his mind was playing games but when her gaze locked in his across the room,he knew. She recognized him too. She didn't smile,she didn't wave but her eyes widened a little. That was enough.
He wanted to move,but he couldn't. Years of memories came rushing back uninvited: he remembers the silence that swallowed everything they had,the unanswered texts on his 21st birthday. She walked past the crowd like a queen floating on fog, her heels clicking against the marble floor. And just before she passed him,she whispered "Hi, Daniel". Two words, nothing more. But they dropped into his chest like thunder on dry land. By the time he turned around to reply,she was already halfway across the room hugging someone and laughing like she hadn't just cracked his entire world open again.
In that moment,he knew that the wedding he had come to attend wasn't the beginning of a reunion,it was the beginning of a storm he wasn't truly ready for.