Epilogue

-- AUGUST 2008, FREMONT --

It was a very pleasant August afternoon in the Bay Area. The temperature wasn't overly hot and the sky was clear with white, puffy clouds scattered around, only occasionally passing in front of the sun. The air was filled with the sounds of birds fluttering about the trees clustered around us, accompanied by the sounds of cool breezes rustling through the leaves.

With the ceremony itself over, about sixty people mingled around the outdoor patio of the local golf club, eating hors d'oeuvres and drinking mixed cocktails while waiting for the formal dinner reception to begin. I had not been among them. Instead, best man duties required I be in photos, keep the groom at ease with cheerful banter, and generally stay available for whatever the happy couple might need. But the post-ceremony photographs were now complete and the newly married Mr. Robert Kim and Mrs. Lynne Arian-Kim had retired to a private room to prep for their grand arrival at dinner. So the Maid of Honor and I had been granted permission to rejoin the others.

I actually had very little clue who was in attendance. Rather than stand stiffly in front of the wedding arch for however long it would take for the ceremony to begin, Bert had elected to remain inside the clubhouse until we'd been informed that Lynne was ready to go. So once the two of us walked out and took our places, I didn't have much time to scan the audience to look for familiar faces, instead doing my duty to keep the groom at ease with ... well ... cheerful banter. And when I did look out across the audience, for the most part I had been looking for Dawn and Adrienne.

But my friends noticed me as soon as I arrived on the patio, and Dawn even had a 7 and 7 in hand waiting for me. She gave me a quick peck on the lips as she handed over the drink, and I took a big swig gratefully. Adrienne and Sasha were next, although neither of them bothered to greet me. Instead, Adrienne led with, "How are they doing? Happy? Tired? Nervous?"

"Lynne's just happy and tired," I replied. "She said she didn't get much sleep the past few nights. Despite all her attempts to keep this a 'small, low-key wedding', it's been all she could think about for the last week."

"Understandable," Sasha said with a nod.

"As for 'nervous', that's all Bert." I grinned. "But I think he's more nervous about consummating the marriage tonight more than anything else."

Adrienne looked perplexed. "Nervous? It's not like they haven't been banging each other for years already."

"He's happy and tired, too. And it's the 'tired' part that's got him nervous."

Dawn smiled. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Ben! Hey ... Long time no see." Heather Wilkinson joined us, and she quickly stepped into me for a warm hug. Behind her, I noticed two other ex-cheerleaders from high school in Adrienne's orbit: Candy Carter and Mizuho Nishioka. And that didn't even count Kady Jacobsen, who had gone with Noelle over to the Maid of Honor, Lynne's college roommate Ivonne Corredero.

I greeted Heather, and both Candy and Mizuho came over for hugs as well. The group of us chatted for a little while, and after a bit, Mizuho turned to me and said, "So I heard just a couple days ago that Brooke's back in town."

I was mid-sip of my drink, so I swallowed it and nodded. "Working at the Back Bay Science Center, not too far from your dad's house."

"Back Bay?" Mizuho popped her eyebrows. "That's not too far from where Kenta works, either."

I arched an eyebrow. "Really? Brooke didn't mention that."

Mizuho shook her head. "I'm pretty sure Brooke doesn't know. One of those things where a friend of a friend recognized her having lunch at Fashion Island and the message eventually got to me. I didn't know where she worked, just that she was back in town. Is it only for the summer?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Permanent job, although she's taking a few courses toward her Master's at Cal State Long Beach, too."

"Interesting..." Mizuho stewed on that.

I nodded. "Yeah ... She moved down there with her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend ... Of course..." Mizuho grimaced a little.

I arched an eyebrow again. "So how IS Kenta?"

Mizuho smiled. "He's good. Single, but good. Still talks about Brooke being the one that got away. I haven't told him about her yet. Wanted to do some reconnaissance with you first."

I leaned forward and touched Mizuho's arm, giving her a serious look. "I know you're going to tell Kenta eventually that Brooke's back in town. But at the same time ... Brooke's happy. She's in love. I know she can take care of herself, but whatever feelings Kenta might have for her, just ... Well, keep that in mind, alright?"

Mizuho frowned. "He won't hurt her. But yeah, he'll probably try to contact her. Old friends, right?"

I shrugged and nodded, making a mental note to tell Brooke about this little conversation later. Mizuho looked at her empty glass, held it up, and told me she should go get a refill. I smiled at her as she left and then turned back to chat with Dawn, who had heard every word and of course wanted to know more about Brooke's history with Kenta.

Over the next fifteen minutes Dawn and I got refills of our own, along with more than a few of the hors d'oeuvres. I spent some time with the old Stanford crew like Kady, Noelle, Emily, Ricki, and Marcy. Paige was there with Everett and their kids. Paige and Kim had been swapping motherhood stories while BJ seemed to enjoy toddling after a giggling April wherever she went. But after all that, Dawn and I wound up sitting down at a table with Amber and David, who had flown out special just for this event.

The four of us relaxed together for another ten minutes, chatting about nothing in particular. Both David and Amber were great conversationalists, and the time passed quickly. Dawn's glass and mine were both empty, but we were in no hurry to get additional refills.

Amber and Dawn were laughing together about something, but I'd stopped paying attention for a moment. A shapely young woman with platinum blonde hair had caught my eye, her back to me as she sashayed across the patio from the open bar over to the cheerleaders' table. Her dress was sexy yet tasteful, perhaps showing a little more skin than others at the wedding but not so much as to be vulgar. The midnight blue material was obviously expensive and shimmered in the light, fitted perfectly to her hourglass figure. As she sat down I briefly got a profile angle on her, my eyes immediately noticing her impressive side-boob that seemed to defy gravity, as there were no obvious bra straps to provide evidence of support. But I never got a clear look at her face, and despite all the old friends I'd run into over the last half-hour or so, I wondered how I'd missed noticing this particular perfectly-built babe before.

"Bennn ... Earth to Bennn..."

Blinking twice, I came out of my trance and looked over at my best friend. Dawn grinned at me and leaned over from her seat to bump my shoulder with hers. "You okay? Where did you go?"

"He was staring off at Adrienne's table," Amber laughed. "It's full of hot chicks, and this is Ben we're talking about, so he was probably thinking about sex."

"He's always thinking about sex," Dawn replied dryly.

Ignoring their jibes, I bumped my shoulder back into Dawn's while continuing to stare at the girl and asked, "Who's the platinum-blonde? The one in the blue dress next to Candy?"

Dawn snorted. "You're asking me? Sorry, babe, but I don't know your high school friends any better than you do."

I glanced at my best friend and blushed. "Right. Nevermind."

Dawn leaned forward to stare with me. "Planning tonight's conquest? Or just curious?"

"Just curious, just curious." I chuckled and shook my head as I turned back to face my own table. "I thought I knew most everybody here, but maybe she's one of Lynne's friends I've never met before."

Dawn whistled. "Yeah, with a rack like that, I'm sure you'd remember her if you had."

"She's got a point," Amber chided.

I rolled my eyes and waved them off, intent on letting the matter drop. Dinner hadn't even started yet, and I was sure I'd get a good look at her face eventually.

"Oh, look. She's getting up," Dawn suddenly announced.

I glanced back, and sure enough, Adrienne had half-stood from her chair and was pointing straight at me. The platinum-blonde glanced over her shoulder at us for a split-second, not long enough for me to get a good look at her face from this distance. But she pushed back her chair and stepped out from it while turning around to face us, and only then did I finally recognize her.

"She's coming here," Amber noted.

"She's coming to see you," Dawn confirmed, tapping my forearm.

Sure enough, the beautiful blonde grinned broadly as she sashayed up to the table and came to a stop between my chair and David's, ignoring him completely as she looked straight down at me. "Ben! It's been forever."

Standing abruptly, I gave the blonde a warm hug. "Summer! It's great to see you. You look fabulous!"

"Thank you," she replied coquettishly as we separated, shifting her weight on her hips so that one ankle turned and batting her eyelashes at me. "You're looking pretty good yourself. I was looking around for you earlier but somehow we never crossed paths."

"Best man duties. Wedding photos and the like," I explained. "Wow, it's been what, seven years? Talk about 'long time no see'."

Summer beamed. "Well, I hope we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, at least once school starts. I was just telling the others: I got into Berkeley for my MBA."