“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Ari muttered, reading the message. “Hodaya wants us all to send pictures of our makeup to make sure we followed Lauren’s instructions.”
“Lauren sentinstructions?”
“Only gold eyeshadow allowed.” Arielle closed her lids to showcase her rule-following. She’d debated doing silver, just to cause a ruckus, but the gold had turned out to look great on her, so she’d let it go. “She wants us to look as coordinated as possible.”
“What happened to ‘beggars can’t be choosers’?”
Arielle snorted. “The Weilers do not associate themselves with beggars, I assure you.”
“They sound like a delightful family.”
Ari snapped a quick selfie and sent it on to the maid of honor,who was, unfortunately, a perfect personality match for Lauren. “This is probably the fanciest party I will ever attend in my entire life. At least if I’m a bridesmaid, I don’t have to struggle with finding something to wear.”
Your lipstick is too dark, buzzed Hodaya’s reply text.
Ari rolled her eyes and tossed the gold tube into the clutch she’d borrowed from Dana, a surprising favor probably only done because her boyfriend, Evan, was impressed (and clearly jealous) that Ari would be standing up at the Weiler wedding. As a senior research analyst still trying to claw his way up the food chain, Evan idolized Lauren’s notorious hedge fund manager father.It’ll fade by the time I get there, she wrote back.
“My lipstick is now Hodaya’s greatest source of stress today,” Ari informed Liana, slipping her feet into the comfortable flats she’d be wearing in the Uber and tossing her heels into her tote. “Truly, she should be grateful. Think of how many things can ruin a wedding! And yet I am singlehandedly doing it with two coats of Lady and the Vamp.”
She expected at least a tiny smile from Liana, but her roommate had distress written all over her face. “Lee. What’s going on here? Do you need me to promise I’ll wear the correct makeup shades to your wedding?”
“You joke,” Liana said somberly, “but you’re a great bridesmaid. You’re wearing the gold eyeshadow, you’re bringing the decorations, and while you may not be themostcomposed under the chuppah—”
“That was one time! Donotgo all Judah Klein-judgy on me.”
“Nobody danced harder for Bella than you, and I bet no one’s gonna dance harder for Lauren. Or Aleah. There’s a reason everyone wants you to stand up for them, even though you don’t like doing it.”
Finally, understanding dawned in Arielle’s brain. “Lee. You know that when I’m your bridesmaid, it’s going to mean somethingextremely different than this, right? Having the same job title at multiple weddings doesn’t mean I view them all the same.”
A flush colored Liana’s cheeks, and Ari knew she’d hit the nail on the head. “It’s stupid. I know. It’s cool that so many people are asking you to be their bridesmaids. I just don’t want you to get sick of it or forever associate it with being an annoying, stupid-ass job for girls you don’t actually care about that much.”
“Hey, I care about Bella! And I care about Aleah; she’s one of the only cousins I actuallylike.” She took Liana’s hand in hers, one she’d agreeably, if messily, polished with Essie’s Ballet Slippers per Lauren’s orders. “But Lord knows, at the rate my sisters are going, they’re as likely to walk down the aisle as I am, so truly, you have no competition in the quest for being ‘The Most Important Wedding at Which I Ever Bridesmaid,’ okay?”
Liana hmphed in response but rested her head on Ari’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Is this just about that? Or are we having another round of ‘Gideon’s never gonna propose, he doesn’t really want forever with me, I’m gonna die alone’?”
“Can’t it be both?”
Ari laughed and squeezed her best friend around her shoulders. “Gideon loves you. Disgusting amounts. I know you may not be moving at the same pace regarding marriage, but that absolutely does not mean anything about his feelings for you. Maybe he just knows you and I need to be roommates until our forties, at least.”
Liana laughed and squeezed back before standing up. “Okay, I need to go fixate my brain on something else, and you need to finish up and get out of here. Got your schtick stuff?”
“If by ‘schtick stuff’ you mean the mountains of crap Hodaya saddled me with and then a weird amount of West Hempstead Hebrew Academy gym clothes, then yes, I am fully ready to dance in front of Lauren and Harvey for my ten seconds of glory.”
Liana frowned. “I’m going to have better friends at my eventualwedding, right? Like, people will have fun stuff to dance with, and not just, like, alumni memorabilia?”
“Liana.”
“Yeah?”
“I love your insecure ass, but I’m gonna need you to shut up about your imaginary wedding now.”
Chapter Four
Judah hummed to himself while Dave Werblowsky, guitarist of the Simchatones, casually strummed a slowed-down “Hashem Malakh” as they warmed up in the party room. He’d always liked this part of performing at weddings: the relative calm before the storm when it was just the clinking of plates being set, the band running tests, and the photographers making sure everything was in order.
He took a sip of the hot water with lemon in his hand, then nearly choked on it as the door to the room flew open. It was as if just thinking about the quiet had shot everything to hell. Dave’s instrumental was immediately drowned out by loud chatter, the clattering footsteps of high heels, and above it all, a voice trying to bark them into submission. “Short bridesmaids in front!” yelled the one Judah knew to be the maid of honor only because she’d crashed one of the many, many video chats the bride and groom had requested.
