Barbados, Part One

"You are cordially invited to a union of hearts. The parents of NJC request the honor of your presence at the wedding of their daughter to Mr. JLC at four o'clock in the afternoon of May 6, 2006 in Barbados."

And that is where the fun began.

My ex-boyfriend's sister is geting married to the love of her life, and in order to be a part of the festivities, I have to spend five days and four nights with the love of mine. One caveat: I am no longer the love of his. Bah. Did I mention that this lovely little union will be taking place in Barbados. Sun, ocean, drinks, steel drums (I think), general debauchery. But no sex, though. **sigh**

As a quick recap, I dated G for a little over a year, but we were best friends since college. When we finally got ourselves together to try and make a go at a relationship, I was in school in Virginia and he was finishing school in Maryland. It had been clear to everyone who knew us that we belonged together, but apparently we were the last to get the memo. So after about five years of heavy flirting and some wonderful benefits to the friendship, we agreed to commit to each other and see where it went from there. Two years later, I was still in Virginia and he had moved to California, when he decided that "it just wasn't working." Umm.... okay. G really was my soul mate; I had loved him like I had never loved anyone else, and I was firmly convinced that I would never love another. But he didn't want any parts of me, and the more I pushed, the more he pulled away. So back to the wedding.

I was so torn up over whether I should go. On the one hand, this was the trip that I always imagined G and I would take together. Holding hands on the beach at sunset, taking naps in the hammock on our balcony, dancing until the wee hours of the morning at the reception... when his sister got engaged, we were still together, so this was going to be our trip. But now "we" were just "him" and "me." I loved him so much that it made my heart hurt, and I wanted to go to Barbados more than anything. But the two of us hadn't talked in months, and I didn't want to be that one girl at the wedding who was always off by herself crying and looking miserable. But I deserved this trip, right? I paid for it, it was a week before my graduation, and what better way to celebrate my pending entry into a whole new (and hopefully better) life? So at the last available minute, I decided yes. I packed my best bathing suits and headed for the airport.