The Wedding Reunion
A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
At a mutual friend's wedding, Hannah unexpectedly reunites with a childhood friend she hasn't seen in ten years, and neither wants the conversation to end there again.
Hannah almost doesn't recognize him at first, standing near the dessert table in a gray suit. It looks nothing like the school uniform she remembers. It's been nearly ten years since she last saw Emeka, back when they were fourteen and inseparable. His family moved across the country for his father's job.
They both happen to be at the same wedding. They are distant friends of the bride, from two completely different parts of her life. Neither of them expected to see a familiar face across the reception hall.
"I almost didn't say anything," Emeka admits, once they've found a quiet corner away from the dance floor. "I wasn't completely sure it was you until you laughed. You still laugh exactly the same way."
Hannah, a little embarrassed, asks about everything she's missed. Where did he study? What does he do now? Does he still play the guitar he used to bring to school every single day? He answers each question easily, clearly relieved someone remembers the small, specific details.
They talk through most of the reception, ignoring the dance floor entirely. They catch up on a decade in careful, overlapping pieces. Emeka mentions he moved back to the area just last month for a new job. Neither of them had any way of knowing that when they arrived tonight.
As the wedding winds down and guests start collecting coats, Hannah realizes something. She doesn't want the conversation to simply end here. It ended that way once already, a decade ago, without either of them choosing it.
"We should get coffee sometime," she says, "not just because we happened to be at the same wedding." Emeka smiles, already reaching for his phone. "I was hoping you'd say that before I had to."
