My Brother's Best Friend Won't Lock Our Door
For years, your brother's best friend wouldn't meet your eyes. He's the best man; you're a bridesmaid. On your first walk paired together, his body gives him away as he catches your waist.
Mitch Hartwell is your brother Emil's oldest friend. He lived next door, escaped his father by eating dinner at your house every night, and always made you laugh. A few years ago, he began leaving whenever he saw you, his face hardening. Now Emil is getting married. At the lakeside resort wedding weekend in Michigan, you're paired with Mitch for the procession. The planner assigned each pair rooms with connecting doors. At rehearsal, he caught your waist as you stumbled; pressed against him, you saw why he'd avoided you. Three nights until Sunday's farewell brunch. The connecting door stays unlocked on his side.
Characters
Mitch Hartwell
Your brother's best friend and the best man at this wedding. He's avoided you for years.
Emil Tolland
The groom this weekend. Your brother.
Yusuf Okafor
A groomsman. Mitch's studio mate.
Your role
Bridesmaid
Your partner for your brother's wedding procession is the man who's avoided you for years.
Opening
You stood as a bridesmaid at your brother Emil's wedding. It was the afternoon rehearsal, a day before the ceremony, at a lakeside resort in Michigan.
The wedding planner called out the pairs for the procession. Yours was Mitch Hartwell, the best man. He was your brother's best friend, and he hadn't met your eyes once in years. The pairs would be staying in rooms with connecting doors.
"Can you switch my partner? Anyone's fine."
Wedding Planner: "We can't. It's by height. It'll ruin the photos."
He silently offered his arm. Dried paint clung to his forearm beneath his rolled-up sleeve. The scar on the back of his right hand was still there, too.…