I caught the reflective vest and dropped it in the trash.
Brad's face changed.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Everyone stops working."
I turned to the thirty-eight relatives.
"Take the badges off."
Nobody moved first.
Nat's uncle asked,
"Is the wedding still on or not?"
My father grabbed my arm too.
"Nat, don't do anything rash."
"Give me a rest and I can still work."
I looked at his white lips.
"You came to your son's wedding."
"Not to park cars for her family."
My mother was still wearing the apron.
She said quietly,
"We've already done the work."
"Just bear with it two more hours. Don't let Tamara be laughed at."
Deborah heard her.
"Now that sounds like a human being talking."
"It's her family's event. Who are you to act like honored guests?"
She pointed at Nat's uncle and the others.
"A whole crowd of you, eating our food, drinking our drinks, and doing a little work makes you feel hard done by?"
"Back home in your little town, aren't you just hauling stuff and washing dishes anyway?"
"Put on a suit and you think you're somebody?"
Nat's uncle took off his badge.
"Not one bite of food."
"Half a day of work."
"And we're the ones taking advantage?"
Deborah put her hands on her hips.
"The reception's eight hundred eighty a table. You think you're worth eating that?"
"Letting you eat the staff meal is already doing you a favor!"
The color drained from every one of Nat's relatives' faces.
Nat's aunt set down the box of wedding favors.
"Whoever wants to hand these out can do it."
Nat's grandmother stopped filling candy boxes too.
She'd been counting all morning, her fingertips already rubbed red.
"I won't eat."
"And I won't work anymore either."
Brad blocked the doorway.
"Once a badge scans the code, you can't just leave your post."
"Whoever walks out pays for the wedding's losses!"
I picked up the badge the cousin had dropped.
On the back was a line of small print:
【Scanning the code shall be deemed acceptance of the wedding work assignments.】
I looked at Tamara.
"You had this ready ahead of time?"
She looked away from me.
"It's just for easier management."
"No pay, no seats, no hospital when someone gets hurt."
"That's what you call management?"
Her eyes went red.
"Nat, why does everything sound so ugly coming out of your mouth?"
"I just wanted a decent wedding."
"The budget wasn't enough. I had to find a way."
"Then where's the sixty-eight thousand in labor costs I paid?"
Brad cut in.
"Spent!"
"The stage, the flowers, the lighting all got upgraded."
"The money went into your wedding. What are you nitpicking about?"
I didn't keep asking.
The reason was clear enough.
They took the labor money I'd paid and used it to dress up the wedding, then dragged my family in to fill the gaps.
Her relatives sat and watched.
My relatives stood and worked.
And Tamara actually thought this was doing me a favor.
I walked to the big-screen control console.
Brad came after me.
"Don't touch the equipment!"
I shut off the shift schedule.
Thirty-eight relatives' names vanished.
Tamara grabbed my arm.
"We're about to exchange rings."
"If you send them off now, the favors, the drinks, the parking, no one's covering any of it."
"What happens to the wedding?"
I took off the groom's boutonniere and put it in her hand.
"Let your brother cover it."
She froze.
"The wedding's canceled."
"Nat!"
Her voice changed all at once.
"Over a few relatives doing a little work, you're calling off the engagement?"
"They're not a few relatives."
"They're my family."
I took the badges off my parents' chests.
My mother still reached for the apron.
I stopped her hand.
"Mom, we're going home."
Deborah rushed over.
"Nobody is going anywhere!"
"The hotel, the wedding company, the guests are all here, and you say it's off just like that?"
"Every cent of today's losses gets paid!"
"Your thirty-eight people walk out on strike, you still pay for it!"
Brad raised his phone and started a live stream.
"Everyone see this clearly."
"The groom's relatives took the badges, worked halfway, then walked off their posts all at once!"
"The groom is leading the charge to wreck the wedding!"
I picked up the stack of remaining badges.
Parking guidance.
Kitchen cleaning.
Drink hauling.
Serving dishes and clearing tables.
Bagging the wedding favors.
Thirty-eight badges, every one of them into the trash.
The relatives started heading out.
No one carried the drinks.
No one handed out the gift boxes.
No one met the cars in the lot.
No one brought the wedding props up to the stage.
The work system on the big screen kept sounding alarms.
【Staff on post: 29/38】
【Staff on post: 17/38】
【Staff on post: 6/38】
The last person took off a badge.
【Staff on post: 0/38】
Tamara chased to the door dragging her gown.
"Nat, get back here!"
"The staff are all gone. What happens to my wedding?"
I didn't stop.
She'd handed out badges to all thirty-eight people in my family.
And in the end, even the groom clocked out.
