I keep my voice low and the mic a little too far. When I bring it a little bit closer, it echoes again, overwhelming me. “I really appreciate seeing you all and the effort that you put into coming here to celebrate us.”

I realize that I'm repeating myself, but I need to gather the strength. My eyes focus on Liam again and suddenly I start to feel better.

He gives me a nod of support and I let out a sigh of relief. It washes over me like a wave, wrapping me in a cocoon of comfort.

“The thing is that despite how much I wish I could be a part of your family and that we could join our families together, I can’t do that at this point. Alex did something terrible. I just found out earlier today and the wedding is off. We're not engaged and we are not getting married. Please enjoy the party and the cake. My mom and sister have worked really hard to organize everything.”

15

Liam

I watch her walk over to the mic with Alex holding her hand, waiting to see what’s going to happen. The girl that I met out back was broken and disappointed.

That’s exactly the woman who I see before me in the front of the room. You don't have to be a psychologist to figure out that she's not very comfortable with getting praise or having nice things said about her.

She stands with her shoulders slumped down cowering behind the man who I'd heard hurt her to her very core.

After Alex’s father speaks, telling stories about a child who doesn’t seem at all like the kid that I remember, Alex takes the mic. I expect him to say something as flat and insincere as his father, but he doesn't. He uses the time to give her a failed apology.

Perhaps she had made it clear to him that they will not be getting married and he's just trying to do one last thing to convince her to stay.

I wonder if it will work.

Suddenly, the mousy, timid woman who was standing next to her fiancé comes alive. She takes the microphone, clears her throat into it, and tells him to fuck himself.

Everyone else in the room is shocked, but I tilt my head back and laugh with my whole body.

Then I clap.

Finally, Emma has done what is right by her.

Alex is an asshole. We all know that. The only way he and men like him will start acting the right way is if the women in their lives demand it.

Instead of covering up for him and being embarrassed over her supposed humiliation, Emma takes the microphone and tells everyone in the room that the wedding is off.

A few minutes later, I find her at the bar.

Everyone else is avoiding her, trying to pretend that she’s invisible. The couple next to Emma even have their backs turned, probably hoping that she doesn’t talk to them. It’s not like they’re not curious. But they’d rather just gossip among themselves.

I don’t have the same problem.

“To think,” I say, walking up to Emma. “To think that I was going to miss this engagement party. I would have never forgiven myself.”

I extend my hand and she shakes it, looking at the bottom of her cocktail.

“You were… Marvelous.” I look down and realize that we are still shaking hands. She pulls hers away and laughs uncomfortably.

“Listen, I know that was hard but that was the right thing to do.”

“Yeah,” Emma says, looking around the room. “It certainly doesn’t feel like it. You're the only one here congratulating me.”

“Doesn't matter,” I say, shaking my head. “They can all go fuck themselves.”

An older woman standing next to me glares at us and I shrug my shoulders, refusing to apologize.

“What Alex did was terrible and he deserved to be called out,” I say. “They forced you to have this engagement party.”

I glance over at her and see her staring at her sisters and her mom near the kitchen.

“Yeah, it was the right thing to do, but then why do I feel like such an asshole?”

“Maybe that's how you know it's the right thing to do,” I say.

We stand here for a few moments and when I get up to walk away, she stops me.

“Don't leave,” Emma whispers. “I have a feeling that no one's going to talk to me if you do.”

“Do you want them to?” I ask.

“No, I don't, but the fact that they don't want to makes it that much more awkward.”

I give her nod a and stand by her side for a few moments.

“Hey, smooth move.” A woman who looks a lot like Emma walks up to us. Emma introduces her as her younger sister Brooke and she gives me a cute smile.

“Want me to simply say that? I thought you were just going to play along.”

“I get tired of playing along. I didn't want to be like Mom. I don’t want to be covering for my husband in front of my grown children years from now. To not do that, I figured I might as well come out here and tell everyone the whole ugly truth.”

“Well, I'm really proud of how brave you are,” Brooke says after a pause. “Wasn't she brave?”

“I've never seen anyone be braver,” I agree.

Brooke and I exchange looks and then look back at Emma who suddenly seems as lost as ever.

In movies, the camera never follows you to what happens after the main character makes a big speech on stage. There are all these moments of levity and exhilaration, but right after that they are quickly followed by deep valleys of despair.

That’s exactly what Emma is going through now. I wish I knew her better to put my arm around her and for it to not be weird.

I'm glad that Brooke does it for me.

We stand together for a few minutes until Emma sees her dad who waves her over. She glances over at Brooke and begs her to come, but Brooke just shrugs her shoulders and tells her to go talk to him.

“What do you think your dad is going to say?” I ask.

“I have no idea. Probably nothing good,” Brooke responds.

“He would want her to marry him anyway?”

“No. I meant he won’t say anything good about Alex. I don't think he really wanted her to marry Alex in the first place. Alex has a certain reputation, in case you didn’t know.”

“I’ve heard a thing or two. I thought that he got over it and maybe found the one who would keep him from straying, but I guess not.”

“I don't think there is one,” Brooke says, shaking her head. “I think that certain people either cheat or they don't cheat. It has nothing to do with the person they’re with. If Alex were someone with integrity, then he wouldn’t cheat on anyone, regardless of what he thought about her. He would break up with her first if he were interested in someone else.”

I look at her and her words take me back a little bit. She looks young, a little bit younger than Emma, but she is clearly wise beyond her years.

Brooke’s also beautiful. Some guys would probably not be able to look past her weight, but it looks to me like it's nothing but an asset to her.

Brooke carries it well. Standing next to me, her shoulders are spread wide and her bosom is elevated. There's a confidence to her that's quite disarming and attractive.

I can't help but wonder what she's like on a date.

“I'm sorry that he hurt your sister,” I say after a long pause. “She deserves a lot better and I told her that.”