This morning was my friend Edgar’s birthday champagne brunch. I was looking forward to the event, as it would be a reunion of sorts with people I hadn’t seen for years — high school friends, college friends, friends of friends. I was also looking forward to seeing the birthday boy’s cousin, who attended UCLA with me back in the day, and whom I used to hang out with in the group here and there. She was the last to arrive, and got there a good hour late. We were all seated and eating already, when she came in and said hello to people at the long table (twenty guests), and went to give her cousin Edgar a hug hello. I waited for her to look up so I can greet her, but she was busy hopping from person to person and didn’t see me. Finally, after she got to the end of the table to her seat, I did get the opportunity to catch her gaze and I waved. Her eyes opened in surprise, and she smiled in recognition as she said, “Cindy! Hi! I totally didn’t even see you! You’re half your size!”
I responded jokingly, “Hey, that’s offensive. I wasn’t THAT big before!”
She didn’t reel from it at all, or bother to correct it. We exchanged a little small talk across the table; she asked whether I worked in the same place, I said I did. I asked whether’s she’s still with her first law firm. She said she was, going on 8 years, and that she’s up for partner next year. “Congratulations!” I said.
“Well…I’m UP for partner, I didn’t get it yet,” she said.
“You’ll get it. That law firm knew what they were doing when they hired you — they put you in the driver’s seat from day 1. You never did the typical first year stuff, no running around, no paralegal work.”
“No, I didn’t,” she agreed. I thought I was being damn supportive.
Then Edgar asked me about my ring. I told him that I’d been meaning to call him, but yes, Mr. W and I are engaged. There were a few “congratulations” said around the table. The same cousin I was talking to earlier said to another guest near her, “It doesn’t count unless she actually GETS married.” Mr. W was taken aback by her comment and said something discreetly to me about it, but I defended her statement with, “Well, at our age, a lot of people just get engaged in their relationship cuz it’s expected, but when you break up in the natural course, the engagement is called off, too.” But seriously, WTF? Just what is she implying here? She is NOT helping the lawyer cliche reputation. Or maybe it’s a female cattiness thing.