Unexpected Harmony

"Thanks man, I can't wait to see you!" Bryce Grimes said as he hung up from the call. The call was from a former coworker of his that he had stayed close with even though they hadn't worked together for over a year and half. The coworker, Steve James, had gotten engaged 6 months prior and had recently made his groomsmen picks, and asked Bryce to be one. The call had been about the upcoming bridal shower and cookout, with the bridal party being from a three-state area, Steve and his fiancé Katherine had decided to throw a bridal shower then a cookout for everyone to get to know each other, scheduling it for two weeks later.

Bryce walked into the living room of his apartment, where his girlfriend Michelle was sitting, "Steve just called with some updates on the wedding and the bridal shower/cookout."

She replied without looking up from her phone, "What's going on?"

"I need to get fitted for my suit in the next month or so, just go to Men's Warehouse and they will send the measurements. The cookout and bridal shower is on for Saturday the 21st. Bridal shower is at 3, cookout will start after that's done around five or six."

"You're gonna have to go by yourself."

"What do you have going on?"

"I have a lunch date and spa day scheduled with Brena that day."

"Oh, okay. Can't reschedule it? We haven't seen them much lately."

"No, Brena needs girl time because of work and other stuff."

"Okay, I'll let Steve know to not include you in numbers. What do we want to get them or spend on them?"

"You're in the wedding, paying for your own suit, and hotel, do you still have to get them something?"

A little annoyed, he responded, "Yeah you do, they're my friends and it's the proper thing to do."

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever, pick whatever you want and let me know what I owe you."

Bryce nodded and shook his head as he walked out of the room. He couldn't put his finger on it, but over the last couple of months, Michelle had gotten nastier. He knew she was busy at work, but she just seemed cold to the entire human race, and everything was an inconvenience. He shook his head, questioning the ring that he had put a down payment on the month prior, something he had found himself doing a lot recently.

On top of that, over the previous two months, he was finding himself more annoyed with Michelle and found her becoming more distant and less willing to do things with his friends. At 34, he wasn't getting younger and knew he wanted to have kids before he turned 37, so they'd be out of the house by the time he turned 55. Plus, he knew he was a decent looking guy at 6'1 and strawberry blonde hair, so if it did fall apart, he could still find Mrs. Right, in theory.

***

"Thanks for checking in on me Kat. I'm getting along okay. The boys are doing okay, they see Brad every Wednesday and every other weekend."

"That's good, have they asked about why he isn't at home?" Katherine replied.

"Jack did, but I explained to him that Mommy and Daddy weren't going to live together anymore, but that we still loved them, and that seemed to placate him."

"Well that's good. Okay, onto happier things; are you good for the Saturday after next for the bridal shower and the cookout?"

Claire laughed, "Yeah, I will be there. The boys are with Brad that weekend so I'm going to drive over Saturday morning and get a hotel Saturday night."

"No you're not girl! You can stay with Steve and I."

"I don't want to impose."

"Shut up, you're not imposing. I'm not going to let you pay for a hotel after we've been drinking and gorging ourselves all day."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Alright, I'll stay. Who all is coming to the cookout?"

"Steve's mom and stepdad, my parents, other miscellaneous family and friends. The entire bridal party will be there except Sean, he and his wife are going to be at the beach."

"Is he the one I'm with?"

"No, you're paired with Steve's buddy from his old job, Bryce."

"What's he like?"

"Really nice guy, we just found out his girlfriend isn't coming, thank God. She's a bitch."

Claire laughed, "Oh okay, well I guess that'll work."

"Yes it will, you can forget about Brad for a little bit."

"Easier said than done." Hearing her youngest son Zachary cry out, "Okay, I've gotta run, Zachary is crying."

"Okay, give the boys a hug for me, and tell them Auntie Kat loves them."

"Will do, thanks again for being a great friend."

"Of course! Talk at you later."

Claire Miller hung up the phone and jogged into the nursery where she found her 6-month-old Zachary, crying in his crib. She picked him up, swaying back and forth as his cries slowed and softened. Never would she have thought that at 32 she would be divorced with two kids.

She thought back to the day five months prior that she picked up her now ex-husbands phone to look at something, and found a text from him to a coworker, complaining about how she hadn't been able to have sex yet after having a tubal ligation. Due to complications surrounding Zachary's birth that would make another pregnancy dangerous, if not life threatening, she had made the decision to have the procedure done shortly after the doctor announced that a C-Section was going to be necessary.

As she tried to get over the shock of what he had typed, a reply came in that read, "Don't worry, during lunch tomorrow I'll stop in and take care of that problem." With the boys both down for a nap, she stormed into their den and confronted her husband. At first, he tried to deny it, but as she read the exact messages, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, a man has needs, and you're not meeting them."

She had kicked him out and called a divorce attorney the next morning. Luckily, due to the evidence of his infidelity and her attorney, the divorce went quickly and smoothly, she got to keep the house, her car, and he was paying not only child support, but also spousal support for the next 5 years or until she got remarried. She scoffed at that thought as Zachary began to drift back to sleep. She laid him back in his crib and grabbed the baby monitor. She headed to her bathroom to take a shower; after stripping down, she looked in the mirror and laughed; the divorce had just been finalized two months prior and she couldn't fathom dating again, let alone getting married.

When she looked in the mirror she shook her head, she had never been a stick, but after a four-year stint in the Army right out of high school, she had been in pretty good shape, but now at 32, her 5'4 frame didn't look as hot as it once had. She noticed the c-section scar that had finished healing, but was still a noticeable pink on her pale, freckled skin. There were slight stretch marks on her stomach after carrying both children, and after breastfeeding, her once perky breasts now had a noticeable sag to them. She felt and saw a tear slip down her cheek; she stood up straight and thought about what her therapist has told her, "Tell yourself you love yourself 12 times in the mirror each night, and when you're down, think of two things that you are proud of yourself for since the divorce."

She shook her head and laughed aloud at the absurdity of the exercise, but after repeating aloud, "I love you Claire." 12 times as instructed, she smiled and did the second half of the exercise; She thought to herself and then said, "I'm very proud of you for losing the baby weight and getting back into shape." During her pregnancy, she had understandably shot up to about 175, but had found herself down to a comfortable 145 since.

She had been 135 before getting pregnant but found 145 was now comfortable for her because of the second positive as she looked in the mirror; while yes, her breasts had sagged, they had grown from a B-cup to now a full C, meaning her bridesmaid dress was filled out nicely, and some of the new weight had found its way to her otherwise previous flat ass. Thinking of those two things, she smiled, but then after climbing into the shower, she felt a bit of sadness wash over her and thought to herself, "No guy in his right mind wants to date a 32-year-old, divorced mother of two." As she washed her hair, she shook her head and tried to be positive, "That's fine, I don't need a man, I've got my boys, they're all I need."

***

On the day of the shower and cookout, the plan was that during the shower, the guys would get to hang out, watch TV, and enjoy some beers until the women were done. After that, the guys would move gifts from the backyard to the house, then the cookout would start. Knowing all of this, Bryce made the hour drive, getting to Steve and Katherine's house around 2:30; he made his way up the walk and front steps, hearing the party in full swing in the backyard.

As he walked in, he was greeted by Steve, Katherine's father Daniel, Steve's stepfather Robert, and two of the other groomsmen, Dave and Justin. After introductions and greetings, the men all settled down on the couches to watch a football game. As the game went to commercial break, Dave was the first to speak, "So, what do we need to know about the girls we are with?"

Steve laughed, "Calm down there buddy, they are all spoken for except one."

Justin laughed, "You just crushed his soul."

Robert chimed in, knowing Dave the longest, "It'll be okay buddy, some dumb girl will marry you someday."

The whole room burst out laughing until Dave spoke, "No come on, is the single one the one with platinum blonde hair that was going out back as I was coming in?"

Steve shook his head, "No that's Lori, she's married with two kids."

Dave went to the kitchen, looked out the window at the bridal shower, and turned back, "Then which one is the single one?"

Steve shook his head and laughed, "See the brunette with the freckles in the blue and red dress?"

"Yeah."

"That's Claire, she's the single one." He frowned and then continued to everyone, "She and Kat have been friends since they were like 5. She just got divorced, her ex was having an affair, and it started right after her second son was born."

There were mutters of, "Damn," and "Oh fuck." from around the room. Katherine's dad chimed in, "Yeah, she's a great girl, almost a second daughter to me and Sally, I wanted to kill him when Katherine told us what happened. Still do honestly."

There were nods around the room as Steve spoke again, "She's paired with Bryce." He looked at Bryce and grinned, "Think Michelle will be okay with that?"

Bryce smirked as he walked to the kitchen, grabbing another beer, and glancing out the window, seeing the girl they had been talking about; she was a pretty brunette, and he replied, "She's pretty and a female, you know the answer to that."

Steve laughed, "Yeah, but all of Kat's friends are pretty, you were fucked no matter what."

"Pretty much." The men all settled back in to watch the remainder of the game they had turned on. Right at 6:45, as the game ended, Katherine stuck her head in the back door, "Oh boys!!! We are ready for you."

Steve yelled out sarcastically, "Oh goodie!" as the men began to make their way out the back door to the party.

Once everyone was outside, the gifts had been moved back into the house, and the food set out, Katherine and Steve thanked everyone for being there, and Steve handled introductions while Katherine ran inside to change, "Sean is my best man and who isn't here and is paired with Kat's Matron of Honor Sara. Dave is my buddy from high school and is paired with Jane. Justin is my buddy from college, he is paired with Lori, and then Bryce, my closest friend from my first job, is paired with Claire."

The parents and other friends and family gave a soft clap. With introductions over, Katherine reappeared and told everyone to dig in. Bryce went through the line last and after filling his plate, found a chair across from Claire, and Katherine's parents, "Mind if I take this seat?"

Daniel smiled, "Of course not."

Bryce sat down, introducing himself to Katherine's mother Sally before turning his attention to Claire, he smiled, "Hi Claire, I'm Bryce, I guess we are stuck with each other."

She wiped her mouth and half smiled, "That's what Kat tells me."

There was a clear coolness in her voice; figuring that it was due to the recent divorce, Bryce kept smiling and light heartedly said, "Well, you're stuck with me, I think I lucked out."

Unsure of what to think of his comments, Claire continued to eat and simply nodded her head while trying to size him up. He was definitely taller than her, but most people were. When the guys had come out, she had noticed that he was the first one to jump in and carry stuff, was chasing Katherine's nephew around, along with showing him how to play the ax throwing game that had been set up. He was also rather loud, both in his general voice, but also in his laugh, which she heard frequently.

Over the next half hour, he tried to engage her in conversation, asking about her job, her kids, and other general things that are usually safe topics when you first meet someone. With each question though, she gave a simple answer that was usually elaborated on by Katherine's parents, and she never asked him anything about himself, even when he offered up bits and pieces about himself, simply nodding her head as he talked about his work, and what he did in his free time.

Once everyone was done eating, the entire party shifted to the fire pit in the backyard and drinks began to flow. Bryce noticed that Claire was on her 5th High Noon of the evening; hoping the alcohol had loosened her up a bit, he found a chair next to hers, and sat down saying, "So, what do you want to do for a walk in? We have to beat all of these other losers."

She looked at him with a sideways glance, "What are you talking about?"

"Ya know, when they introduce the bridal party, people dance or do other silly stuff. Steve said we can do whatever we want."

With the same coolness of earlier, she replied, "Why can't we just walk in?"

"I guess we could, I just thought we could do something funny since we are the first one's through the door. Set the tone for the evening."

"I don't think I want to do anything like that."

"Alrighty then." He smiled and stood, "It was nice meeting you Claire, I have to head home. Drive safe when you head home tomorrow."

"Thanks, nice to meet you."

Bryce walked away and found Steve and Katherine, "Alrighty guys, thanks for a great party, but I'm gonna head home."

Katherine hugged him, "Thank you for coming! Did you get a chance to talk to Claire much?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "We ate dinner together and I talked to her a little bit ago. She doesn't seem to like me or maybe just is in a bad mood tonight."

Katherine frowned slightly, "Steve told you she just got a divorce right?"

"Yeah, I steered clear of that, just talking about work and life in general. She didn't seem to want to share much."

"Well, the divorce was final a couple of months ago, so it's still fresh."

"Understandable, I'm sure she's awesome, she is your friend after all."

Katherine smiled and patted him on the shoulder then told him to be careful. She walked away leaving him and Steve, "You good to drive?"

"Yeah, I quit drinking about two hours ago."

"Alright, drive safe and I'll talk to you in the next couple of days."

"Sounds good, I'm getting fitted for my suit next week."

"You book the hotel yet?"

"Yeah, called yesterday actually, got a room for both Friday and Saturday night."

"Perfect, shoot me a text when you get home, it'll make Kat feel better."

He smirked, "Yes dad."

"I'm not that much older than you, get out of here!"

***

Later that evening, after everyone had left, Katherine and Claire were sitting around the fire while Steve cleaned up; talking about the divorce, all of the adjustments that she had made with childcare, work, and everything else that comes with a divorce. As Steve headed inside to shower, Katherine turned the conversation towards the wedding, talking about everything that was left to do, but how much she was looking towards the reception. She finally asked, "So what do you think you and Bryce will do for your entrance?"

Claire had been zoning out a bit and snapped her attention back to Katherine, "Huh?"

Katherine laughed, "At the reception, what are you two gonna do for your entrance?"

"Oh, I dunno, he mentioned it but didn't give any ideas."

"Did you give him any suggestions?"

"No, I asked him why we couldn't just walk in?"

"Ouch, way to shut him down girl."

"What are you talking about?"

"Before he left, he said you seemed nice, but didn't really talk to him much."

Claire sat quietly for a moment before saying, "Yeah, so what?"

Katherine laughed, "So what? You're going to be around him a lot for that weekend, you don't have to be an ice queen to him."

"I wasn't!"

Katherine raised her eyebrows and took another drink of her wine before replying, "True or false, you said less than 50 words to him all evening even though you talk all the time?"

Claire thought for a moment, then frowned, "True."

"Exactly, he's a really nice guy, the only flaw he's got is his girlfriend. God I wish he'd ditch her and find someone nicer."

"What do you mean?"

"She wasn't here today because one of her friends wanted to have lunch and get a massage for her latest "catastrophe.". Anytime we've hung out with them, she is very standoffish, and she gets SO jealous when he's around other women. He's always willing to drive up here and help Steve with stuff and just a nice guy, it's annoying that he is with someone like her."

"So you're telling me she is going to be psycho at the wedding."

Katherine scoffed, "Hmph, I dunno. Steve said that he's now having second thoughts about their future together. As much as I don't want to see him down, I wouldn't be sad if he ditched her ass."

Claire let out a slight giggle, then sat quietly for a minute, replaying her interactions with Bryce that evening over in her head, and then adding in what Katherine had said before saying, "Maybe I owe him an apology. God knows I know what it's like to be in a shitty relationship."

Katherine nodded and stood up, fiddling with her phone. Claire's phone dinged and Katherine said, "That's his contact if you want to text him. I'm going to shower then go to bed. What time you leaving in the morning?"

"I figure I'll get up, eat, and head out around 9; that'll put me home around noon and in time to do some stuff around the house before asshole drops the boys off at 4."

Katherine chuckled and hugged her friend, "Gotcha, I'll see you in the morning."

****

The next day, Bryce had returned from volunteering at the local First Tee clinic for little kids in the area; when he walked in the door, he found Michelle on the couch flipping through her iPad, he smiled, "Hey."

Without looking up she said, "Hi."

Trying to remain cheerful, even with her apparent apathy, "Whatcha looking at?"

"Katherine posted pictures from yesterday."

Sensing where this conversation could be headed, "Really, I didn't see many being taken."

"Yeah she posted about 25. Who is the girl in the blue dress?" She turned the iPad and showed him a picture that someone had snapped at dinner. In it, you could see Claire smiling at something Bryce had said, one of the few times that occurred.

"That's Katherines childhood friend Claire. She's the bridesmaid I'm paired with."

"Who is that beside her?"

"That's Katherine's mom and dad."

"Is she not married; I don't see a ring?"

"Actually just divorced, ex-husband apparently had an affair right after their second son was born."

"And you're paired with her? She seems awfully happy for just getting a divorce."

Getting annoyed, Bryce said, "Michelle just stop. There is no need for the Spanish Inquisition. She is Katherine's friend, and I am paired with her in the wedding."