CH18: Réunion at a wedding

"Laughter is brightest in the place where the food is"

- Irish Proverb

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It was that season again. The season of weddings. One of the dreadful seasons for Delilah. Why? Because she has to dress up and attend a wedding, forcing a smile while feeling uncomfortable in her formal dress. Although, she can just not attend the wedding but it would be rude to her friends. Especially when they had spent time and the courtesy to invite her to their wedding, personally giving Delilah the invitation.

Hence, all Delilah could do was to endure a couple of hours to attend the wedding, make small talks with those sitting next to her, take pictures with the newlyweds or just show her face to them and waved. And after all that was done, she has to further endure a few minutes, stuck in a traffic jam, trying to exit the parking lot to go back home. Sounds fun, huh?

So, yes. That was what Delilah had been telling to herself. Endure, she said to herself, as she looked down at a pretty printed envelope in her hand. It looked like an invitation to a wedding. As Delilah opened the envelope, she was right. It was an invitation from her college friend, who was getting married in a couple of weeks.

And what made Delilah sighed more was what written in the envelope. There, it was written, 'To Delilah and plus one.'

Delilah scratched her head. "What plus one?" she mumbled to herself.

Firah, who was in the cubicle next to her, peered over and asked, "Who is getting married?"

Delilah turned to Firah. "An old friend from college."

Firah sighed. "The dreaded season is coming!" she said grumpily, as she scratched the back of her head. "Bet mom is going to drag me to every wedding she got invited to."

She then groaned as she slumped over her table. "I don't wanna go!"

Delilah rolled her eyes at Firah's antics. "Say that when you receive an invitation."

Firah frowned at Delilah. "I'm just getting ready."

Delilah just laugh, shaking her head in bemusement.

Seeing that Firah has gone back to working, Delilah grabbed her mobile phone and began to scroll down on her contacts.

She then began to text some of her friends from college, whom she was still in contact with.

Delilah: Hey, did you received an invitation to Fayfay's wedding??

Friend 1: Nope. Haha. She's getting married?

Friend 2: Uh, I don't think so.

Friend 3: Hmmm... Nope.

Friend 4: No.

Friend 5: Who is Fayfay again? Hahaha.

Delilah sighed in frustration. She replied back to Friend 5. 'Fayfay who was always with Kathy, sitting at the back. The quiet one.'

Friend 5: Oooohhh! That one! Nope. I don't think I received any since I'm not that close with her in college.

Delilah sighed again. She then texted Kathy, who was a close friend of Fayfay. 'Woiii bruh! Lets go with each other to the wedding! I have no plus one!'

Kathy replied back, 'Sure, sure! I have no plus one, either! You can be my plus one! Hahahahaha!'

Delilah texted her reply with a 'Hahaha. Text you again later!'

'Okie-dokie! I'll text the others and we can all go together!'

Once that was settled, Delilah went back to her work.

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Fayfay's wedding day.

It was half past five o'clock in the afternoon when Delilah was still getting ready for the wedding. She was already wearing her dress. It was a two-piece dress with soft pastel pink and blue flowers printed all over the silk. On her sleeves, there were beads and little diamonds embroidered on the cuff. There were more embroideries along the hem on her top.

She was leaning towards the mirror, about to apply her mascara, when her dad walked past her room, carrying a basket filled with dirty laundry. The door to her bedroom was opened and he peeked in. "Where are you going, looking all nice?"

Delilah stopped, a mascara brush in one hand an its small tube in another hand. "Ahhh! I'm going to a friend's wedding."

"Which friend?"

"Friend from college."

"What's her or his name?"

"Fayfay."

"Is that the daughter of the ex-principal of your sister's school?"

"Yup, yup. This is his third child."

"I see. Who are you going with?"

"I'm going to meet up with my friends at the wedding venue."

"Alright then. Drive safe and be careful. Recite a small prayer for safe journey, DeeDee," her dad said tenderly, using her nickname, 'DeeDee'.

Delilah nodded, smiling widely at her dad. "Okay, Papa!"

After her dad continued walking, Delilah continued applying makeup to her face. She was never good in wearing makeup so she only wore blusher, eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick.

She looked at herself in the mirror once she was done, checking whether her makeup was okay. Delilah sighed, feeling tired already. She never did liked wearing makeup. At the office, she only wore a lip balm and a blusher.

After all that, she quickly dumped whatever she can fit inside her small clutch such as keys, lipstick, small tissue pack, house keys and mobile phone.

Delilah then went out of her room and peeked in at the laundry room, where her dad was doing the laundry. "Papa! I'm going now!"

"Alright, DeeDee. Remember what I've said earlier."

"Okieeee~!"

Half an hour later, Delilah was standing in front of the wedding venue. Beautiful streaks of colours flew past her as men and women walked into the venue, in their vibrant formal clothes. Inside the venue, there were people standing in straight line as they welcomed wedding guests inside, smiling as they passed the door gifts.

Delilah was patiently waiting, while looking down on her phone, trying to not feel awkward when she was hugged from the side. She jumped, startled.

She turned around to see Kathy grinning at her. "Deeeeeeeeelilaaaaahhh!" she shrieked in happiness. Kathy was petite young lady with round cheeks. Her skin was a bit darker than Delilah's. She was wearing a light green dress with lace sleeves. There were small diamonds pasted along the hem of the dress, making it sparkle when Kathy moves. Her hair was styled in medium and lengthy curly hairstyle.

Delilah cringed at her shriek. "Ooof, Kat! Stop shrieking!"

Kathy giggled. "I was trying to scare you!"

Delilah rolled her eyes. "Good. Congratulations, you scare me," she said sarcastically.

Kathy pouted. She then pulled Delilah in. "Come on. Lets get some seats and booked for the others."

As they walked further inside the venue, they were greeted with beautiful decorations in the hall.

There was a red carpet with pillars by the side. The pillars were decorated with flowers and leafy vines. At the end of the red carpet, it leads to the stage where there was the bridal dais on a raised platform. This was known as 'pelamin' in Malay language. The concept of the raised platform was associated with 'royalty'. Meaning that the newly wedded couple were dubbed as the 'Royal for the day', hence raised platform, showing that their status on that day was higher than the 'subjects'. The bridal dais was adorned with more beautiful flowers around it. There were silk white curtains behind the seats which are made for two. More flowers on a tall vase were placed on the sides of the dais. It was truly a beautiful stage.

Once they were inside, a relative of the bride guided them to their seats, where there were still a few more empty seats. The chairs were arranged in a square-shaped arrangement, facing the round buffet table. In the middle of the buffet table, there was a small sign that reads, 'Friends'.

Kathy quickly used the door gifts that they had received earlier to placed them at some of the empty seats. She grabbed her purse and placed it on another empty seat. She then gestured at Delilah to do the same. This was to book some seats for their other friends, who haven't arrived yet.

A few minutes later, while Kathy and Delilah were talking, Delilah had looked up and saw some familiar faces heading their way. She quickly waved at them, trying to get their attention.

One of them who saw Delilah's wave, broke into a huge grin and pulled her friend, standing next to her. She dragged her over to Delilah and squealed. "Oh mi gosh! Hey, you guys! Long time no see!"

"Hey Lina! Mandy, Suzie and Qistina!" Delilah and Kathy greeted.

Lina, who squealed earlier, quickly sat next to Delilah. "Here, your stuff," she said, returning back Delilah's clutch and door gift, which were placed on the empty seats earlier. Lina was another one of Delilah's good friends in college. They had worked with each other many times in a school project. Lina was one of the bubbly girls that Delilah has known. Cute, friendly and loud were how Delilah would describe her.

All of them began to talk with each other, getting updates on how they have been doing.

Mandy, who was seating two seats away from Delilah, began to ask her how she has been doing.

Delilah smiled. "Nothing much has changed," she replied.

"When are you going to invite us to your wedding?" Mandy joked.

"On a Sunday."

All of her friends gasped. "Really?" they asked in surprised.

Delilah nodded. "On a Sunday. But I'm not sure about the date and year. Let me find the groom first."

They all burst into laughter.

"Haha! You got me, Dee!" Mandy laughed.

Delilah just shrugged and smiled.

While they were talking, Delilah managed to peek at the buffet table, to see the name of the catering.

Her smile widened at the familiar name. Nastain Restaurant and Catering. It was one of her favourite Indian restaurants. She remembers how much she loved to eat curry over there, especially fish curry.

An hour or so has passed. The recital of duas were done. The thank you greeting from both sides of the bride and groom was done. The 'ziarah' or passing the blessing to the parents of the bride was done.

Then it was finally time to eat.

Delilah quickly stood up and walked over to the buffet table. She tore open the plastic that was covering the plates and passed them to her friends.

She then went over to see what's the food. Her smile got even wider when she saw fish curry as one of the foods being served.

Delilah was so happy that she swiftly grabbed the serving spoon for the white rice and scooped a huge amount of it onto her plate. She then quickly went to the fish curry plate and began to spooned out the curry. She poured lots of the curry sauce all over her rice that it looked like orange porridge, rather than rice and sauce.

Delilah sat down on her seat and began to eat. She brought her spoon filled with rice and curry sauce into her mouth. A scrumptious and thick curry sauce hits her tastebuds. The curry tasted rich, nutritious and heavy with coconut milk. The creamy curry sauce saturated with the rice, making it more hearty and buttery. Especially with its magical aroma, which made it more delicious. It was like porridge with an exotic flavour and a spicy kick. And the fish itself was beautifully steamed. It tasted fresh where its meat was tender and juicy.

With thick skin, Delilah had another helping to the rice and fish curry, earning a laugh from her friends.

Delilah was still enjoying her food when Kathy, who was beside her, asked, "You really love fish curry, huh?"

Delilah nodded. "Especially from this restaurant," she answered.

Lina nodded as well in agreement. "True. Nastain has the best curry!"

After the delicious meal, all of them queued up for a photo with the newlyweds.

They had great fun, taking pictures with the newlyweds, making several poses. Delilah even managed to sneak-in a selfie with the newlyweds.

It was inDEEd a fun night to remember.