25
Outside, Jacqueline’s mom checks her watch and says, “Oh my god, it’s almost time for the ceremony.”
“But what about the family portraits?” Mr. Sutopo says.
“No time. We can do them after the ceremony, maybe?” Mrs. Sutopo gives me a questioning glance, and I nod.
“Yeah, definitely, we can squeeze them in then,” I say in the most reassuring tone of voice I can manage.
“I just got a storm warning headed our way,” Mr. Sutopo says, looking at his phone. “I hope it doesn’t hit us during the ceremony. That’ll be a bit of bad luck, eh?”
“It’ll be fine,” Nathan says, quickly. “We’ve got the ballroom set up in case it starts to rain.”
“Good. Okay, we need to go and touch up your makeup for the ceremony,” Jacqueline’s mom says. “Meddelin, can you call your auntie and ask her to meet us at the bridal suite?”
“Sure.” I take out my phone and dial Second Aunt’s number while everybody else rushes off to prep for the ceremony. Why’s she taking so long to pick up?
Noise floods through the receiver. “Hallo? Meddy?” Second Aunt’s practically shouting.
“Second Aunt? Where are you?”
“Aduh, Meddy. Got a bit problem.”
Oh no. My chest tightens, and my free hand clenches into a fist. No, whatever it is, please don’t let it be too, too bad. I’ve just handled one crisis, can’t I have a break? It’s a struggle to keep my voice level. “What is it?”
“Ummm. Well, you see. Well. Hard to explain whose fault, you know? Because nobody telling anybody what anybody do, so then everybody doing everything.”
“Second Aunt, you’re killing me. Please just tell me what’s happened.”
“Well, hmmm. Hard to explain.”
Could I be any more frustrated? Pretty sure I’m so freaking anxious and annoyed right now I could choke a horse. Though I wouldn’t. But I could. “Second Aunt!”
“Well, no matter, nothing can do. What you call me for?”
I shake my head a little, trying to clear it of the angry fog. Deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Focus on the wedding, on poor Jacqueline. And anyway, I can always ask Ma what the hell’s going on. Ma can never keep a secret from me. “The bride needs you to touch up her makeup before the ceremony.”
“Ah, okay! I go there now.”
As soon as she hangs up, I scroll through my contacts to dial Ma’s number, but someone clears his throat, interrupting me.
“Nathan!” Oh no, how long has he been there? What has he heard? What have I said?
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Ha, no, you didn’t.” He did. “Can you I help?”
“What?” He frowns.
I wince. This is what happens when I try to speak while frantically rifling through my conversation with Second Aunt for anything incriminating. “Sorry, I meant, did you need something?” Did that come out too brusque?
“Um. I wanted to apologize for—” Nathan gestures around him with a sigh. “You know. Everything that just happened. I tried to dissuade them from searching your room. I know that was a real intrusion.”
Everything inside me melts. “Thank you for saying that. I know you did everything you could. But it’s okay, I didn’t mind, and it all got sorted out in the end, so.” I love you. I’m still in love with you. FOCUS. Sweet as he’s being, I can’t let myself get too distracted right now. I need to call Ma and find out what’s going on. “Anyway—”
“Where’s your boyfriend right now?”
“My what now?”
Nathan takes a deep breath, obviously trying not to show that he’s feeling a bit hurt by whatever he’s about to say. “Your boyfriend? The guy who was in your room before.”
Everything that just melted inside me moments ago freezes into sharp points. Shit. Step. Carefully. “Oh, um, he went for a walk around the resort,” I say, weakly. Oh god, he must think I’m the biggest asshole ever, having kissed him twice and then telling him I have a boyfriend. Argh!
“Really. That’s . . . interesting.” His handsome face is unreadable. “Only I took a look at the yacht passenger list, and he’s not listed as a passenger when you came to the island.”
“That’s—yeah. Uh huh.” Think! Quickly! “That’s because he’s actually one of the staff members?” I blurt out. My mind struggles to keep up with my mouth, going over the words. That’s actually not a bad idea. “Yeah, he’s actually not my boyfriend, he’s sort of a one-night stand. Or a one-morning stand, if you will.” I give what sounds like the world’s fakest laugh.
“So one of my staff members left his post to have a—a thing with you, and then took a nap in your room? I’ve gotta tell you, as his employer, I’m not very pleased to hear that.”
Can this possibly get any worse? “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” I warble. “I just—he wasn’t asleep for very long, we’d just—you know.”
Nathan sighs, his broad shoulders sagging a tad. “I know. I’m probably just letting my jealousy get in the way. Honestly, it’s fine. You’re both consenting adults. It’s been a bit of a day, that’s all.”
“I’m so sorry.” And oh, how I mean every word of that. I can’t even describe just how sorry I am about everything.
A small smile flickers across his face, turning it into the Nathan I know and love. If I could just reach out and kiss him. “No, don’t apologize. It’s okay. The crisis is over. I should go. Make sure everything’s running smoothly for the ceremony.”
“Right, yeah. I’ll see you around.”
“See you, Meddy.”
Just the sound of my name coming out in that low, rich tone is enough to send a shiver down my spine. I watch him leave, and then I shake my head to clear it once more. I’ve been doing a lot of that today. It’s hard for my mind to keep up with all the crazy that’s going on today. I take out my phone once more and call Ma.
“Hallo, Meddy?” In the background, people are hooting and laughing loudly.
“Ma, what’s going on?”
“Got small problem. Very small.” Something crashes and breaks from her end. It sounds large.
“What’s happening?”
“Aduh, is your Fourth Aunt, lah, she never tell anyone, she just come here, she give them that drink, you know, abstinence?”
“Abstinence?” For a blissful second, I’m confused. Then the penny drops, and horror floods in. “Absinthe? She gave who absinthe?”
“All of—ah!”
“Ma?”
“Do not listen to your mom.”
“Is this—Fourth Aunt? Is that you?”
“Yes, of course, who else would it be?”
“Please tell me what’s going on. Who did you give absinthe to?”
“Okay, that’s not exactly true. I mean, yes, I did bring some absinthe, but your mother brought her usual Chinese medicine crap,” she hisses, her voice coming out triumphant. I can practically see her and Ma glaring each other to death. Something else crashes behind her and she yells, “Hey! Stop it! Animals.”
“Her Chinese medicine crap,” I echo. “I don’t understand—”
“Well, it’s not actually a bad thing, I guess. Look, don’t worry too much, it’s for the best.”
An alarm goes off, and it’s not just the ones going nuts in my head. I look at my phone. Shit. It’s the alert for me to be at the pool for the ceremony.
“I’ve got to go. Please—” Please what? “I’ve got to go.” I hang up and rush off to Jacqueline’s room.
As always, it’s in chaos, though now the burly guards have been replaced once again with the bridesmaids. Jacqueline’s makeup has been retouched and she looks flawless, no traces of the ugly incident with Maureen on her face except for the tiny tremor that flickers across her chin once in a while. When she sees me, she smiles. “Girls, can I have a minute with Meddy, please?”
Second Aunt, who’s fluttering around Jacqueline, adding little invisible finishing touches to her hairdo, glances at me and gives me a look. I have no idea what the look is supposed to convey. I’m dying to pull her aside and shake her until she tells me what’s going on, but instead, I watch her leave the bedroom with the bridesmaids.
Once they’re all gone, Jacqueline sighs. “Meddy, I’m so, so sorry.”
“What—why?”
“The whole thing about the tea ceremony gifts and searching your room! I feel awful about it.”
“Ah, right. Yeah, no, don’t worry about that, please. I’m just sorry that you had to go through all that stressful stuff.”
She clasps my hands. “I just—Maureen was so sure that you’d taken it. I still can’t believe she did that.” A choked sob escapes, and she looks up at the ceiling and blinks furiously to stop her tears from falling. I grab a piece of paper from the table and fan at her face. “She’s my best friend, has been for over ten years. I still can’t—” Her eyes glisten, the tears threatening to drop and ruin all of Second Aunt’s hard work.
“It’s okay,” I say, hurriedly. “Let’s not think about that right now. You’ll have all the time in the world after the wedding to go over everything.”
“I couldn’t even tell any of my friends because they’re all my bridesmaids and Tom said if any of them knew, we’d lose face, because it shows that I was stupid enough to get duped by my own maid of honor, so I’ve just been sitting here, dying to talk to someone about it, someone who understands—”
“I get it. But you’re not stupid.” Seriously, Tom? What the actual fuck. “You really aren’t. Nobody saw it coming.”
She sniffles. “Thank you.”
“You look so radiant. Your pictures are going to turn out beautifully.”
“Really?” She brightens a little.
“Yeah. Easily the most beautiful bride I’ve photographed. And definitely my favorite client. Well, top five anyway.”
She laughs. “Top five? Not even top three?”
I wrinkle my nose. “Maybe top ten.” We grin at each other, then I help her up, brushing lint off the front of her poufy dress. “You’re a vision.” I check my phone for the time. “I’ve gotta take position at the venue. I’ll see you there, Jacqueline. You’ll be amazing.” I give her hands another squeeze before leaving.
In the living room of the bridal suite, I look around for Second Aunt, but she’s nowhere to be found. Damn it. I rush down the hallway, into the open air, and revel in the fresh ocean breeze. The wedding ceremony has been arranged to take place on the water. Literally on the water; the resort is built in the shape of a semicircle, with the huge, sprawling building gently curving around a giant infinity pool. A stage has been built right on top of the pool, so it looks like it’s floating. Rows upon rows of flowers adorn the sides of the aisle, and bowls of flowers with lanterns in the middle float serenely on the pool’s surface. The whole setup is breathtaking.
There are two thousand seats set up around the infinity pool, and they’re all full. Ironically, two thousand is on the smaller side for a Chinese-Indonesian wedding. In Jakarta, the average middle-class wedding would have over three thousand attendees. The guests look happy, which is a relief; I suppose none of them knows of the mishaps that have happened behind the scenes. For all they know, this amazing wedding is going off without a hitch. I look around for Ma and my aunts, but they’re nowhere to be seen. Seb waves to me from a distance, and I give him a thumbs-up. He’ll be covering the whole ceremony from afar with his 18-200mm. Taking a deep breath, I attach my 35mm lens to my first camera and the 24-70mm lens to my second camera and get to work, capturing pictures of the entire scene as well as close-ups of as many details as I can get without being too obtrusive.
Then the music begins and the emcee’s voice booms out over the speakers.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please stand to greet the parents of the groom!”
Tiffany chairs scrape back as the guests get to their feet.
“Mr. and Mrs. Sutopo, everyone!” the MC says, as Tom’s parents walk down the aisle, smiling and waving to their family and friends. I nimbly step to one side of the aisle, making sure not to fall into the swimming pool, and take pictures of them.
“Behind them are the groomsmen. Let’s give them a round of—um.”
I’m adjusting my shutter speed when the MC’s faltering voice catches my attention, and I look up to see the first groomsman turn the corner and walk down the aisle. Or rather, lurch down the aisle. He’s visibly stumbling, his shirt half untucked. My insides cramp up sickeningly. The second groomsman isn’t faring any better, and neither is the third.
“A round of applause for the groomsmen, everyone!” the MC’s voice comes again, a tone of uneasiness in it.
Lukewarm clapping starts up, and then murmurs start as the fourth and fifth groomsmen stumble down the aisle drunkenly, laughing, their arms around each other. The MC keeps up a cheerful chatter, trying to drown out the murmur, and then the sixth, seventh, and eighth groomsmen come out, and it’s even worse because one of them is so drunk that he’s unable to stay on his feet; the other two guys are practically carrying him, the points of his shoes trailing across the carpet of fake petals. The rest of the groomsmen file in rowdily, hooting and swaying at the now silent crowd.
I have no idea what to do aside from continue taking pictures of them. I suppose, for once, this isn’t my problem to fix, which is a nice thought to—
Oh.
My.
God.
As the groomsmen take their place at the altar, I’m now close enough to see that the eighth groomsman, the one that I thought was too drunk to walk, the one who was being carried by the others . . .
The eighth groomsman is Ah Guan.