always the bridesmaid, part 2

by jennifer

bachelor #2: el abandonado

one of other bridesmaids, cristina, remarked to me that she felt bad for her date.

"i don't really know him that well," she said. "i just asked him to come at the last minute. i feel kind of bad because i'm the only person he knows at the wedding. and, because i'm in the wedding, i haven't been able to hang out with him!"

"he gets bonus points for being a good date," i told her.

alfonso, cristina's date, did have a hard time of it. first, he couldn't find his namecard, which would have told him where he was to be seated. because the bride didn't know his name, he was listed as "cristina _______ date" on the card.

when he clarified that with cristina, alfonso found his namecard and proceeded to his table only to find that someone else--someone who had not sent in an RSVP--had taken his seat. that someone else did not want to relinquish her place at the table, so alfonso approached cristina again to ask where he should sit.

cristina found an unoccupied seat for him without too much trouble, but it was nowhere near where the bridal party was seated.

throughout the evening, the bridal party remained fairly intact--through dinner, toasts, cake-cutting, etc.--so alfonso had to socialize with strangers. fortunately, he realized that he was from the same hometown as the groom's family and did, actually, know some of them (small world, small town!).

after the reception rituals, wine and alcohol from the cash bar was flowing, the music a soft thunder in the ballroom, and cristina was taking advantage of both. increasingly drunk, dancing, and taking pictures, she mostly ignored her very patient date.

i wondered why she had brought him at all. it occurred to me that her ex-boyfriend had sent in his RSVP plus one. i speculated that cristina did not want to face her ex without a plus one of her own.

at the end of the night, cristina and i were the only remaining bridesmaids along with the bride's parents and immediate family. and, of course, alfonso.

cristina had drunkenly disappeared somewhere downstairs and i noticed alfonso standing quietly, nursing a beer in the ballroom.

"hey," i said. "did you have a good time tonight?"

"yeah," he said, convincingly.

"i was a little worried about you tonight. first, because there was that mix up with your seating. and then because i heard that you didn't know the families here."

"no," he assured me. "it was great. the seating worked out, and it turned out that i knew a few people here. and i get along with most people."

"good," i told him. "i'm glad."

"thanks for asking, though. it's really nice of you to ask."

i shrugged my shoulders and continued to help the mother of the bride clear items from the ballroom.

a few minutes later, we were all downstairs waiting for the limo to arrive to take the bride and groom to their honeymoon suite.

the groom asked alfonso, "hey, i hear you're from watsonville?"

"yeah," alfonso replied. "i grew up there, lived in the bay area for six or seven years, then moved here."

"did you go to college in the bay area?" i asked.

"yeah."

"which school?"

"berkeley."

"berkeley!" it turns out that we are rivals, having graduated only a year apart. so i start to razz him about being a "weenie."

i tell him, "i can't believe we're just now talking. i would have been giving you a hard time all night!"

he laughs and asks what i majored in, seems interested in my chosen profession. i ask him about his job; he works in child protective services.

the limo arrives and we start to talk more quickly. then he asks, "can i have your email address?"

"sure."

"do you have a pen?"

i look down at my bridesmaid dress. "no."

"oh!" he declares. "it wasn't meant to be." pauses for a millisecond, then says, "no! we can find each other."

"tell me your first and last name," i tell him.

"alfonso _________."

all of a sudden, cristina appears, and we stop talking abruptly, look guiltily at her.

"hey cristina," i say. "it turns out that alfonso and i went to rival schools."

she looks at me blankly.

"well, i'd better get going," i say. "bye!" and leave them--the bridesmaid and el abadonado--to wind down the evening together.

always, always the bridesmaid.