I asked Royalty, “You think he will attend? I texted him a week and a half ago inviting him to the exhibit but he never responded.”
“Why are we texting instead of calling?”
“I wanted to test the waters. Tre can be stubborn as hell, and I walked out on him. He may not be ready to forgive me yet.”
She snorted. “Stubborn? You’re like the pot calling the kettle black. Your stubborn ass is the reason on the most important night of your life, you’re wondering if your ex is going to attend. I feel like we’re in high school all over again at the winter formal, and I’m telling you to forget Tre LaSalle and enjoy the night. Look around you, this is all for you. Whether he comes or not, this is what you’ve always wanted.”
I inhaled and exhaled deeply and surveyed the beautiful gallery, with shiny cherrywood floors, white tea lights throughout, and spotlights on all the paintings and sculptures from other artists. My exhibit was the main attraction, and I had the biggest wall full of my work over the years, including three I’d done recently.
One I had on an easel that I kept covered to reveal toward the end of the night. Each of my paintings were appraised for at least five thousand or more. I’d sold two of my most expensive pieces—of the skyline of New Orleans and a portrait of artists selling their work at the French Market—to a corporate buyer out of Atlanta. I’d decided to wear my hair wild and free with large yellow hoops that coordinated with my multicolored pantsuit, which dipped low in the cleavage area.
Although I longed to wear my black Chucks, Royalty made sure to buy me a pair of Prada heels as a congratulatory gift and insisted I wear them tonight. My grandmother and my Aunt Shawnie were here for the weekend, staying at the Ritz Carlton—my treat—and had been circulating and imbibing on the delicious hors d’oeuvres and wine after raving about my display.
Several people walked in the front door, and I grinned and nudged Royalty who’d been looking the other way. “Guess who just walked in?”
She smiled expectantly. “Tre?”
“No, Devin.”
Royalty frowned immediately. “Then why are you grinning so hard?”
“Because he’s headed this way, eyes all on you.”
She gulped down her champagne and slammed the flute down on my table. “Well, that’s my cue to leave.”
“Royal, you can’t avoid him all night. You might as well speak to the man. He did help me with this.”
“I can try.” She hurried away to visit Pierre’s and Lila’s lively exhibit that she’d had written into my contract. My friends were selling quite a few paintings themselves.
Devin, handsome in his dark suit, stopped in front of my wall of art and shook his head as he watched my friend sprint away. “I don’t know what’s more beautiful. Your wall, or that friend of yours, who’s determined to make things hard for herself.”
“Thank you for everything, and I do mean that.” I moved closer to him. “Devin, I’m rooting for you, but if you hurt my best friend again, you have to deal with me. I was raised by Mr. Deaux.”
He put both his hands up. “Hey, hey, it’s all love. I don’t know what she or Tre told you about me, but I’m not that man anymore. If she gives me a chance again, I’ll do my best not to fuck it up. Good enough?” He held his fist out so I could bump it.
“Yeah, good enough.” I touched his fist.
He smiled, checking out my wall. “I’m glad you decided to do this.”
“Me, too. Thank you again.”
“Returning the favor.” Devin winked. “Now I need to go tame a certain stallion.”
“Good luck,” I called after him, and turned my attention to a couple of patrons who had questions about my paintings.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of excitement, and the first person I saw was Taz, Tre’s bodyguard. My heart pounded in anticipation of seeing Tre again. Wondering if he would give me a second chance after I didn’t trust in him, in us, enough that he would figure out how to protect his career and me as he promised. Because of his efforts, Beauchamp was headed for an indictment of fifteen counts of sexual assault, two against minors, and I’d never have to speak of what he tried to do to me that day, as my father asked of me.
My father’s shop would officially re-open in January as a training workforce center for juveniles. Tre had been seen favorably by the city for his efforts to eradicate crime by giving youth options to make money other than the streets. He had done it in a few weeks’ time, time I’d spent feeling sorry for myself and our doomed love. He’d been right. His mother had been right. I flaked on him, and I had been hiding out in my life.
Tre finally walked in the gallery, encased in a dark blue suit, followed by a couple of his staff, oh so gorgeous with his sun-kissed brown skin, trimmed beard and mustache, hair so soft I loved to play in it, and his beautiful tight body I loved to touch. I practically swooned like he was my celebrity crush. Cameras flashed as he smiled and took photos with the other artists, laughing and talking. Patrons approached me with questions and interest in my art, but I could barely drag my eyes from Tre, wondering at what point he would speak to me.
“You can breathe now,” Royalty whispered in my ear.
I glanced at her, surprised she’d made it back to my wall. “Where’s Devin?”
“He’s over there flirting with some wench trying to make me jealous.”
Keeping my eye on Tre as he worked the room, I commented, “If she’s a wench, then you’re jealous.”
“Well at least I’m not salivating over him. Can you stop staring at Tre like he’s a piece of celery stalk?”
I finally looked at Royalty, confused. “What?”
“I don’t know what the equivalent for a steak would be to a vegan.”
“You could still use meat to make a point.”
“Not if I’m trying to convey how much you want it. You don’t even care about a steak. No one told you to confuse us and give up most foods everyone loves, especially in an eating city like New Orleans.”
“Royalty, really? Accept my eating. I swear you run my nerves.”
“Royalty?” I heard his voice near my ear. Tre gently touched my waist and kissed my cheek as he held his hand out to my best friend. “Finally, I meet you. And I see why Raini kept us apart, I do remember you from high school because you dated one of my boys, who was crazy in love with you. Darryl, right?”
She blushed as she shook his hand. “Yes. That was him.” Royalty then explained to me. “I started dating Darryl after you moved to Baton Rouge.”
Though Tre’s hand scorched the curve of my hips and my nerves were a certifiable mess at his nearness, I teased, “Oh, another man I knew nothing about.”
She licked her tongue. “I guess we all keep secrets. Anyway, nice to meet you, Mr. LaSalle, and thank you for everything you’re doing for her father, who was like my dad, too.”
He looked at me while answering her. “I’ve been told to be creative with my power.”
My eyes teared up at the words I’d said to him while we laid in his bed, what seemed like forever ago.
Royalty said, “Tre, we practically family, right?”
Tre affirmed with a smile.
She raised one eyebrow and gave me the side eye before giving him a brief hug. “Well, brother, I better give you some space so she can tell you how miserable she’s been without you.” She winked at me. “Payback for you know who.”
I glared at my friend’s retreating back and Tre placed his arm around me like we’d never been apart. I then realized he was doing it for the media since he hadn’t announced that we were no longer together. I hoped that the happiness that seemed to radiate from him wasn’t all for the media.
He looked down at me. “She cool people. I remember that about her from high school. I know I have an ally in her when it comes to you.”
“She is forever Team Tre. And she’s right.”
“About what?”
I touched his cheek. “I’ve been miserable without you and hope you can forgive me for not trusting that you would somehow protect your career, and my father’s legacy. I don’t like to admit when I’m wrong, either.”
He smirked. “I know.”
I rolled my eyes. “You were right about me being scared to live my potential, and tonight has been nothing short of amazing. Even my grandmother is here, somewhere probably raising hell, but if you didn’t believe in me and challenge me, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’m asking for another chance with you, to really be your girlfriend and stand by you no matter what.” I pulled away the silver glittery cloth that covered the painting on the easel. “The day I took your order of coffee, I came home and painted this. I hid it from you at first because I didn’t want you to think I was a stalker, and then I wanted to save it for a special moment to show you how much I love you and have for as long as I can remember.”
Tre inhaled deeply as he crossed his arms, studying his portrait. I transposed my memory of him as a teen with the man he was today. I used hues of red, purple, green, yellow, orange, and blue to represent the bright colors that I envisioned whenever I have thought of him. Other people drew near, admiring my depiction of their mayor. Trying to gauge his reaction, I watched Tre,. His jaw tightened, he then bit his bottom lip, and he turned to stare unblinking at me, shaking his head in wonder.
At that moment, Taz walked up to Tre. Taz smiled in greeting, gave me a quick head nod, and said something in his ear.
“Raini, give me a second. I have to do a quick speech,” Tre said.
“Okay,” I said, my stomach in knots, wondering if displaying my love for him for the world to see was a mistake.
The small audience clapped when Tre walked onto the small elevated stage. “Thank you for coming out and showing support for local artists, in particular Raini Blue, who is debuting her exhibit tonight. I’ve never been one to shy away from the truth, and you know that she’s been my woman over the past few months.” He pointed to the audience, to the cameras. “She got scared because of you. Scared that I wouldn’t love her anymore if her father’s youthful indiscretions somehow impacted my political career and my family. She thought the best thing to do was to leave me because she loved me that much.”
His eyes locked on me. “On August 25th, 2001, I met a beautiful girl whose books had been knocked out of her hand by some high school boys. She looked lost and sad and I wanted to defend and protect her before I knew what it meant for a man to do so. Instead of going after the boys, I helped her pick up the books and get to her first class because it seemed like the better choice.
When we arrived at her class, she smiled her gratitude, and I became lost to her forever. I watched her from afar, too nervous that she wouldn’t like me or that I couldn’t be the boy she deserved. I could tell she was special and not like any girl I’d ever known.
“I didn’t know what to do with my feelings, so I dated other girls, hoping somehow I would stop being so damn smitten since I wasn’t worthy of her anyway. And two years later I proved myself right.” Tre took a step off the stage and the crowd cleared a path as he walked toward me. “The night of the winter formal, I’d hoped you would come. When I saw how beautiful you looked that night, you took my breath away. I watched from a distance, hoping to steal a moment with you. Royalty was right, I did rush out of the dance to catch you. I didn’t need to go to the car, I only said that when you were ready to go back inside, because I couldn’t go another moment without telling you how I felt.
“We ended up sharing a kiss at the winter formal that sealed my fate forever. We made promises to reconnect at school on that Monday, but the next time I saw you at school, I ignored you like you didn’t matter. I’d gotten scared of what it meant to date a girl who didn’t grow up like me, scared of what it meant to be in love and what if you didn’t love me back. Although my heart broke from your crumpled face at my callousness, I pretended you didn’t exist the rest of the week. By that next Monday, my heart defeated any fears and I had to have you.
“I drove like a mad man to get to school to apologize and ask to start over. I waited by your locker to grovel if I needed to, but I never saw you again until the day I walked into the bookstore, and I saw the first girl I’d ever loved standing behind the coffeehouse counter. Seventeen years later and I still acted an ass, though for a different reason. I never told you that I remembered who you were, that you were my first love. If you knew that I’d loved you before I even really knew you, maybe you would’ve believed me when I said that I could handle whatever came my way. That though I love my career, it doesn’t have the same shine since you’re not in my life anymore.”
Tre smiled at the people now surrounding the both of us. Sniffles could be heard. “Raini asked me recently why I didn’t tell her that I remembered her. All I can say is that I did it for romance. From the moment I saw her again behind that counter, I knew she would be my wife. Once I realized that she wasn’t going to say she already knew me, I decided that on the day I proposed to her, I would tell this story. How I never forgot her and the special kiss we shared, and how I prayed to find her again.
Tre picked up my left hand, and I used the sleeve on my other arm to wipe the blinding tears so I could see his every movement. The room gasped along with me when he lowered himself to one knee. Tre placed a large solitaire diamond on my ring finger. “I know you’re not traditional, but I am, and I’d always pictured bending on one knee as I promised you a life of love, respect, and the utmost admiration. I know you don’t need anyone to take care of you, but I want to…help you fulfill whatever dreams you have. I also need you to take care of me and my daughter, too.” He laughed. “Tracie doesn’t even want to visit without you being there. Please, Lorraine Blue Thibodeaux, my very own sunshine and Rain. I mean, you didn’t vote for me, the least you can do is be my wife.”
“There you go again, making it impossible for me to say ‘no.’” I grinned so hard my cheeks hurt. “You are the most demanding and bossy man I’ve ever met. Are you going to give me that all-encompassing love that I can touch it’s so vibrant?”
He promised huskily, “Woman, I’ll give you anything you want.”
“Then you’ve earned my vote and I would so love to call you my husband.” Tre quickly got up and grabbed my face in his hands and we kissed like our lives depended on it. All too soon, hands reached out everywhere, patting our backs, heads, and arms, congratulating us.
Tre finally stopped kissing me to accept regards from my family and friends and the people of New Orleans, his grasp firm on my lower back as we stood side by side. And looking up into his handsome face, glowing with love—a face I’d first seen when he was a teenaged boy—I decided to be the woman he deserved, ready for whatever challenge life brought us, and vowed I would never leave him again.