A Face Palm of a Day: Part 3

"Yo, we're 10 minutes away." Kate's uber driver said. Kate groggily opened her eyes and sat up. "Thank you, I'm sorry I'm such a hot mess," Kate said smoothing back her hair and wiping the sleep out of her eyes. "Oh this is nothing, I've had much worse. Do you want another water?" He handed back a water bottle and Kate enthusiastically reached for it. "Yes! Oh my gosh, you're the best." Kate chugged the water and took a deep breath. She felt surprisingly refreshed.

She'd be a little late to the wedding but thankfully the buzz she still had going was giving her a very laid-back attitude. Honestly, if it was my wedding I'd probably wouldn't who was and wasn't there anyway. Kate thought to herself. "Is this it?" Kate's driver said pulling up at the church. "Yupp!" Kate said "Thank you so much, I'll obviously give you 5 stars you were the best. "Have fun," he said. Kate shut the door and hustled up the steps.

Kate carefully opened the doors to the church which thankfully didn't open directly into the sanctuary. Kate walked down the hall and again, breathed a sigh of relief to see the sanctuary doors propped open. She quietly slipped in the back, walking on her tiptoes so her heels didn't make a sound on the hardwood floor. Kate relaxed and leaned back against the pew. Kate's phone buzzed and Sydney's name popped up on the screen.

Are you here?!

Yes! Just got here, sitting in the back lol

Nice! Let's meet after!

Okay!

The ceremony went off without a hitch. After the wedding party walked down the aisle Kate arched her neck scanning the crowd for Sydney. Finding her, Kate raised her hand and waved. Sydney and her husband, Tim made their way toward her. Laughing and giving her a hug Sydney said "Oh hey there, brunch queen!" Kate laughed and said, "Oh my gosh I'm such a mess, but I made it!"

They walked up to the receiving line to congratulate Kara and her husband, Bradley. "Ahhhhh! Kara congratulations! You look gorgeous!" Kate squealed as she reached out to hug her. Kara gave her a stiff hug and said, "I saw your Snapchat, looks like someone got a little toasty before the wedding." Shit. Kate thought. Definitely didn't mean to send that to her but who the hell is checking Snapchat less than an hour before their wedding? Kate laughed it off and said "Oh yeah, one too many mimosas. But so so happy for you, Kara!" Kara gave Kate a tight smile while Kate moved to give Bradley a congratulatory hug.

Kate, Sydney, and Tim headed back to Sydney and Tim's hotel room before the reception. Kate ran through her eventful morning, ate some goldfish, and finally put on some makeup. By this point, she was feeling mostly sober and ready to party.

When they arrived at the reception they were greeted by a huge champaign tower. "Oh, hell yes!" Kate said while reaching for a glass and handing one to Sydney and Tim. They filled their plates with apps and found their other friends at their table. They chatted, drank, danced, and drank some more.

"Hey, I just heard there's an after-party at the hotel bar. We should text Paul, Dan, and Amanda and tell them to come!" Said Sydney. Her wine sloshed in her glass nearly toppling over onto the floor. "Ooh yes! Good idea! I'll make a group text!" Kate yelled. She fumbled with her phone and sent the address to her friends telling them to uber to the hotel.

About an hour and a $100 dollar uber ride later, Dan texted the group thread to say they were at the hotel. Kate said they would get the next shuttle and be there in 30 minutes. 10 minutes later, Dan called Sydney saying "Soooo, yeah. Amanda broke her face."

What?! Sydney yelled.

What?? Kate asked.

Amanda broke her face.

What?

"Dan said Amanda tripped and face-planted on the sidewalk. Like, of course, she did." Sydney said with an eye roll. Amanda somehow managed to get in these situations a lot.

"Oh my gosh, does that mean they have to go to the hospital?"

Sydney held up a finger to Kate signaling her to wait. She smiled as she hung up and said "Nope! They're just getting her some ice. They'll meet us at the bar!" Kate and Sydney burst out laughing as they found Tim and made their way to the shuttle.

When they arrived at the bar they found their crew at a high table. Amanda had a swollen bloody lip and was holding ice to her face. Sydney and Tim rushed up to Dan and Paul giving them hugs. Everyone briefly asked how Amanda was doing, but tonight was about fun and no one wanted to dwell on poor Amanda's swollen lip.

They ordered drinks at the bar and chatted as the rest of their friends trickled in. Kate looked up and saw Kara glaring at their table. "Oh shit, Kara looks pissed," said Kate. "Go up to her and give her a hug and tell her she looks pretty, and buy her a drink!" Kate instructed Dan and Paul who immediately jumped to their feet and ran over to Kara who seemed to gush at the attention. Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

The night continued, more drinks were had, and at the end of the night, Kate, Dan, Paul, and Amanda crawled into an uber to head back to the city. Kate smiled as she leaned her head against Dan's shoulder. What a day, she thought.

The next morning, Kate woke up in Paul's apartment. The four of them crammed into the little space instead of going their separate ways. Kate clicked on her phone and saw a text from Kara.

I just wanted to let you know that you ruined my wedding. First, by showing up quote on quote "drunk" and then inviting your friends to my after-party. You treated my wedding like your personal reunion and you couldn't have hurt me more.

Kate felt a mix of emotions between surprise, confusion, and annoyance. After staring at her phone for a little longer she clicked off the screen. Kara was always pulling shit like this and Kate was over it. She put her phone and said in a sing-song voice to her sleeping friends, "Who's down for brunch?!

The Kate and Kara saga sadly goes on long after the wedding but that's a facepalm story for another day.

Thank you for reading Kate's three-part story series. Hopefully, you palmed your face at least once.