Four months later…
Ansley’s relationship with Davis was going well to the point they had become inseparable. Taking it slow and building their friendship had proven to be effective for them. Ansley could have never anticipated having this strong bond with him after everything they had gone through to get to this place in their relationship.
Ansley wanted to introduce him to Lanae and Jacob, so she decided to throw a dinner party at her house. Up until now, Lanae had only met him in passing but had not gotten the chance to talk with him in an intimate setting.
Her guests were due to arrive within the hour. She also invited Simeon, who much to her relief, was dating someone new.
As expected, their relationship was tested, strained, dead, and revived. Simeon seldom called or invited her out for drinks. And their interaction at Tin Lizzy’s resembled that of a revolving door. It continuously went around in circles, widening the gulf between them.
Deep down, Ansley knew that she was hanging onto this friendship out of guilt. She had chosen her heart over friendship. They went through a period where they didn’t talk, but they continued to work on their friendship, although it would never be the same.
“Davis, would you mind setting the table?” she asked while checking on the baked ziti.
“Of course, baby. Are you using the fine china or Chinette?”
“Ha, Ha. You’re funny,” she said, throwing an oven mitt at him. “Just put the plates on the table, silly.”
“Ansley, I’m glad you finally decided to officially introduce me to your friends—as your man,” he said. “It assures me that things are moving in the right direction.”
She walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “Everyone should be here shortly, so I’m going to finish getting ready,” she announced as she headed toward her bedroom.
She had requested that everyone dress up. Ansley wanted a reason to wear the navy polka dot dress from Anne Taylor that Davis purchased for her.
She turned from side to side to get a look at her physique from every angle.
Not bad. The boy’s got taste.
The dress accentuated her shape and hugged her in all the right areas. All of her fat rolls were behaving. No Spanx needed tonight. Thank God.
Davis walked in the room just as she was attempting to zip up her dress.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you,” she responded.
He walked up behind her to help her get dressed.
Davis deliberately took his time pulling the zipper up. Pressing his body into hers, his touch was gentle as his fingers gripped her waist as he leaned in closer, tracing circles on her neck with his tongue.
Ansley closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy their closeness.
He turned her around to face him and kissed her with great fervor.
Her arms fell limp at her side.
Before Davis could take things any further, there was a knock on the door.
Ansley pulled away from him. “Our guests have arrived. Why don’t you pour a couple of glasses of wine?”
“I have a few places that I would like to pour a bottle of wine, and it’s definitely not in those glasses,” he whispered before turning away.
“Boy, go get the door.” She laughed. “You’re a mess.”
He had gotten all gussied up for her friends and looked quite handsome. He chose a pair of tan trousers, a beige button down, with a preacher tie as Ansley liked to call paisley print ties, and a suit jacket.
She stole a quick glance at her reflection before heading to the front.
Ansley’s steps slowed, when she saw that Simeon was the first to arrive.
They greeted one another cordially, then she was introduced to Charles, Simeon’s date.
“Davis, you might know him since he’s the new Financial Analyst at Lowell Myer, LLC.” Simeon said with a devious smile. “Isn’t that where you said you worked?”
Ansley raised a brow. She wasn’t sure what that Simeon was up to—she knew exactly where Davis worked.
“Oh, do you work for Lowell?” Charles asked. “I haven’t met everyone yet. Maybe you can show me around next week. I’m still getting my feet wet.”
Davis shifted his weight from one side to the other. “Um…yeah sure,” he replied. “I’m not always in the office though. I’m a private contractor.”
There was another knock.
Ansley opened the door.
“Davis, this is Lanae and Jacob, as you may have guessed,” she said with a grin.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Lanae said.
“So as much as I love Ansley, I must ask you…why didn’t you run while you had the chance?” Jacob teased.
“I’ll save that conversation for dinner.” Davis laughed. “But in all honesty, something about her just took my breath away.”
“And on that note… dinner is ready,” Ansley said interrupting the embarrassing conversation.
“Good because I’m starving,” Jacob said. “This looks good, but I’ll wait until I take a few bites to tell you what I really think.”
Everyone laughed.
Minutes later, wine was flowing, and dinner was going better than Ansley could’ve hoped.
Ansley settled back, observing Davis as he interacted with her friends. Even Simeon was being pleasant to him. There were a few instances where she caught Simeon eyeing them, a scowl on her face, but Ansley wasn’t surprised. She simply chose to ignore those moments.
She got up from the table and grabbed her phone to take a few live action shots of everyone. As soon as she got one of Davis and Jacob talking, she saw his mood shift. She grinned and walked over to show him that the photo turned out great.
“Ansley, what are you doing?” He asked in a low voice. “You know I don’t like photos.”
Ansley pouted. “I know, I know, but we don’t have any together where you’re looking at the camera and look, you’re smiling and it’s natural. It’s a great photo.”
Her gaze pleaded for him to just relax and go with the flow. When she saw the corner of his mouth go up, she felt relieved that he wasn’t going to pitch a fit over it.
“Let’s go ahead and get this selfie while I’m in a smiling mood.”
Jacob walked over and offered to take the photo for them. “Nah, no selfies. Let me get that for you.”
Ansley was content with how it turned out. The photo made their relationship even more official.
Lanae broke into her thoughts with a story about an article she read.
“Ansley, you should interview that woman in Oregon for your next Health and Wellness feature. Did you hear about her lawsuit?” Lanae asked, looking around the table to see if anyone else had heard the story.
“No what happened? I haven’t looked at the news today,” Ansley said, in between bites.
“A jury awarded this woman $900,000 in damages after she sued the man who gave her herpes. She met him online and they went out a few times. Shortly after sleeping with him, she started to have outbreaks. You can find the story on OregonLive.com and several other news outlets.”
Davis cleared his throat and being coughing.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” Ansley inquired.
“I’m fine.”
She turned back to Lanae. “I hadn’t heard anything about it. Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to see if I can do a follow-up story.” Ansley shook her head. “That’s a shame. Some people have no respect for—”
“Dinner is delicious,” Davis interjected.
She blew a kiss at him. “Thanks, love.”
“The baked ziti is on point,” Simeon stated. “You’re going to have to give me the recipe.”
She laughed. “Since when are you interested in cooking?”
“Hey, I cook every now and then.” Simeon glanced at her date. “Don’t I, baby?”
Lanae and Ansley exchanged looks of surprise. Simeon was the queen of dining out and ordering in.
Everyone continued making small talk over dinner.
“So, is everyone ready for dessert?” Ansley questioned. “I have brownies and ice cream, or New York Cheesecake and you can add your own toppings.”
Taking her cue, everyone cleared their dinner plates to make room for dessert.
She laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Ansley glanced over at Davis and winked. As far as she could tell, he had made a good first impression on Lanae and Jacob.
At times, her relationship with Davis felt surreal, but he continued to keep his promise and she had no regrets about letting him get close to her. He was worth all the trouble that came with giving him her heart.