Page 20 of Waiting Game

Her expression softened again as she finally said, “I do.”

They embraced as the celebrant announced their union, introducing them now as Mr. and Mrs. Santino, and allowed Antoni to kiss his bride.

Antoni pulled her in close, kissing her deeply and I had to look away from the intimacy.

I locked eyes with Valerie, and it was the first time she held my gaze without immediately looking away. I wondered if she was thinking about the same thing I was.

She looked down at her shoes, and ignored me again, and I thought that maybe I was right.

* * *

Even though she was not a part of the bridal party, my sister Larissa managed to squeeze her way in next to Antoni whenever Rome left her seat. Larissa did not know Rome like we did, and I knew that if she didn’t watch herself, she would end up with her ass kicked.

“Riss, go back to your seat,” I whispered through gritted teeth, after I found her sitting in the bride’s seat for the third time that night, fawning over Antoni.

It had been a desperate fight for his attention ever since we were teenagers, and him getting married had still not put a damper on her confidence.

“It’s fine,” she insisted, but got up anyway when she noticed that Rome was returning.

She rolled her eyes at me and let her hand linger on Antoni’s shoulder a touch too long.

“I’ll talk to you later, Toni,” she smiled.

Antoni nodded once but didn’t look at her.

He didn’t have the heart to be brutal with her, out of fear of offending me or my family. But it was coming to the point that his gentle rejections would not cut it anymore. She returned to the dance floor, to hang off Sammy, Antoni’s younger brother who had always been her second option.

Everyone but him noticed that she treated him this way, as a last resort.

I shook my head and returned to my own seat as Rome sat back down.

Clearing my throat, I hit the side of my champagne glass with my spoon a few times, the clinking noise causing a silence to fall over the room. I picked up the microphone that had been provided for the speeches, and tapped on it a few times, the static feedback roaring through the speakers.

“Uh, hi everyone,” I started, “for those who don’t know me, I’m Lorenzo, and I’m Antoni’s best man.”

People turned in their seats towards the bridal table, and I instantly felt a little more nervous than I first was. Not because of all the eyes on me, but because of one particular set of eyes I could feel from the other end of the table.

“So, uh,” I tugged at the collar of my shirt, “I’ve known the groom for most of my life. I even stuck by him during the bed wetting phase.”

A few chuckles, and Antoni shook his head.

“Also that phase where he was convinced he was finally able to grow a beard, but just had that embarrassing fluff of pubes on his chin - remember that Vera?” I pointed to her, and she laughed, putting her head in her hands.

“But something that Vera doesn’t know, and something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, is when we first got our drivers licences. Toni, Val, and I used to sneak out on Thursday nights and go to this dodgy, abandoned field and hang out. I remember one night in particular, where Toni had just broken up with his first serious girlfriend, and was feeling sorry for himself. And I asked him, you know, what is the perfect girl in your opinion? And, do you think she even exists?”

I looked over at Valerie and she was toying with the silver cutlery on the table.

“He just laughed at me. Then, he said that he doubted that he would ever find a girl who could handle how we lived. And more importantly, a girl who could surprise him. Well, I was there the night that Antoni met Rome,” I smiled down at them, Rome had a smirk on her face and Antoni only watched her, “and I think it’s safe to say he was a little surprised.”

The few in the crowd who did know the story chuckled, reminiscing of the night where Rome showed up to his house, all guns blazing, ready to put a bullet in Antoni’s head.

I raised my glass, and so did the crowd.

“To the happy couple,” I said, “may you continue to surprise each other.”

The crowd clapped, and a few shouts of agreement rose from them.

“Maybe with a little less hard weaponry, okay Rome?”

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