Austin walked around his car to open the door for Monica.
She took his hand and allowed him to help her out. She looked beautiful, wearing a casual lavender dress with black heels.
She looked up at the house before them; a number of cars were parked along the curb. “Where are we?”
“I told you, it’s a surprise,” Austin said, closing the door and walking Monica up the path toward the house.
She stopped before they made it to the first stair.
“Okay, the intrigue was nice, but I’d really appreciate it if you told me where we are.”
“Monica …” Austin smiled.
“I need to know where you’re taking me. Please.”
“It’s a small family gathering,” Austin said. “My ex-wife—”
“Your ex-wife!”
“Yes, my ex-wife throws these impromptu dinners, invites the family and friends, and I wanted them to meet you.”
Monica looked back over her shoulder at the car as if she were considering breaking away and making a dash for it. “Couldn’t you have told me that before now?”
“We’ll have a couple of drinks, something to eat, and we’ll leave. What’s the big deal?”
“Who said I was ready to meet your family? Don’t you think you’re taking this a little fast?”
“Here we go with that again,” Austin said, digging his keys out of his pocket. He grabbed Monica’s hand and started back to the car. “You wanna just leave? Fine. I didn’t know you’d be so against this.”
“Stop it!” Monica said, yanking her hand away and halting in the middle of the sidewalk. “It’s not that I don’t want to meet them. You keep talking about a future, about a relationship together, but what kind of foundation are you building when you keep me in the dark about things like this?”
Austin thought a moment. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung this on you. What do you want to do?”
Monica took more time than Austin felt she needed. “I want to go in there and meet these people. But don’t do this to me again, Austin.”
“Okay,” Austin said, taking Monica’s hand, and walking her back in the direction of the house.
Fifteen minutes later, Austin stood in the dining room, very close to Monica, both of them holding drinks. He had already introduced her to his ex-wife, Trace, who had been very gracious.
“I just love your dress,” Trace said.
“Thank you. You have a beautiful home. I’ll have to get the number of your interior designer.”
Trace smiled. “I think you already have his number. He did all this,” she said, looking at Austin. “You two have a nice time.”
“She seems nice enough,” Monica said. “Why did you let her get away?”
“I guess I didn’t know a good thing when I had it. That’s not the case anymore,” Austin said.
Monica leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
This was what he had been missing, Austin told himself. The house was filled with neighbors and co-workers from both Trace’s job and John’s. The couples stood talking, drinking, and laughing, and during that time, Austin would sneak peeks at Monica, hoping she was enjoying herself, hoping that this would bring her one step closer to possibly wanting something with him.
After speaking to his old neighbor, Jim, from across the street, Austin walked over to Monica, who was having a conversation with a blonde Austin didn’t know. “Excuse me, ladies, but do either of you want anything from the kitchen? I’m going for a bottle of water.”
Both women declined, and Austin touched Monica on the arm before making his way through the thin crowd of people into the kitchen.
When he stepped in, Austin was surprised to see his brother Marcus there, holding a half glass of liquor.
“Wow,” Austin said. “Thought you said you weren’t coming. You know Reecie was invited.”
“I know. That’s why I changed my mind,” Marcus said. His speech was mildly slurred. “She can’t avoid me now.”
“I guess we’ll have to see about that. How long you been here?”
“About two and a half drinks long,” Marcus said, his eyelids hanging low.
“Sounds more like three drinks long,” Austin said, opening up the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
“Caleb coming?”
“Don’t think so,” Marcus said. “You know he doesn’t really go for stuff like this.”
Austin cracked his bottle, took a drink from it, and leaned against the kitchen counter. “So, what are you going to say when you see your wife?”
“I—” Marcus began.
Just then, the kitchen door swung open, and Reecie stepped in. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—” she said, turning, about to push her way back through the door.
“No, you don’t,” Austin said, hurrying over to grab her. “I think it’s time to stop acting like children and address this problem. I’ll be just outside in the dining room. If I hear any screaming or dishes being thrown, I’m coming back.”
Marcus watched his brother walk out, leaving him in the kitchen with his cheating wife. Even though he still loved her, he couldn’t stand the sight of her that moment.
“How have you been?” Reecie said, seeming almost ashamed to look directly at him.
“Why did you cheat on me?”
“It was dinner, Marcus.”
“Were you fucking him?” Marcus said, his speech slurring more.
“No. He was just a guy who had been asking me out for the last year, and I finally said yes.”
“That’s why you put me out? So you could start dating that guy?”
“No,” Reecie said. “I put you out because you had been out of work for two years.”
“I told you, I couldn’t help that!”
“How do you know? You sure as hell didn’t try to help it. Yes, I made enough to support the three of us, but why would you make me? For two years, I came home from working all day, made dinner, played with Sophie, and had to hear you complain about the economy when you weren’t doing anything but sitting at home on your ass all day.”
“I was painting! And I was keeping an eye out for design jobs. It wasn’t my fault that there weren’t any out there.”
“Really, Marcus? And how did that help us?” Reecie said. “I was in it by myself. I begged and begged you to find work anywhere. It wouldn’t have mattered. McDonald’s would’ve been fine. At least I would’ve known that you were trying. But when you refused, it told me that you had given up on us. You were only thinking about yourself, and I couldn’t take it any longer. Your ass had to go, if only to teach you a lesson,” Reecie said, waving a hand. “You had to go.”
Marcus stood, leaning against the counter, holding his drink, his head slightly fuzzy from the alcohol, but he still felt the full impact of what his wife said. “And the guy?”
“It was a date with no intentions of anything more than dinner and a few laughs. I realized it was wrong after the fact, but when was the last time you took me out for dinner?”
“I didn’t have any money.”
“If you’d just suggested it, I would’ve paid.”
Marcus lowered his head. He felt his wife approach him. She took the drink out of his hand, set it down, and intertwined her fingers with his.
“I’m sorry about what happened in the restaurant. Like I said, I was wrong.”
“And I’m sorry for making you feel you needed to have done it,” Marcus said, meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry for being selfish, and for giving up. Can you forgive me?”
Reecie leaned in, kissed Marcus’s lips. “I can, if—”
“I got a job interview next week, if that’s what you’re about to say. It’s not as a graphic designer, but—”
“It’ll do just fine,” Reecie said, hugging Marcus. “Whatever it is.”
Half an hour later, Austin sat parked outside Monica’s house. The two were passionately kissing when Austin suddenly pulled away.
“What?” Monica said, looking flustered, breathing hard.
“What are we doing?”
“We’re making out. Why’d you stop?” Monica said, leaning in to continue. Austin pulled further away.
“We’re making out in my car, when you have a nice, comfortable bed in your house. And I’m sure you have some eggs and bacon in your fridge you can hook up in the morning.”
Monica smiled. “Oh, so you wanna go in my house and get in my bed.”
“Yup.”
“And in the morning, your audacious ass think I’m gonna be cooking you eggs and bacon.”
“I didn’t say that.” Austin smiled.
“Oh yes, you did.”
“Oh yeah, I guess I did. I’m just saying, if you wanna cook breakfast, I’ll definitely eat it.”
“You know this would be like three nights in a row we’ve spent together.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“But this would be the first time you’ve spent the night. That’s a big deal. That sounds like we’d be starting something that could lead to, dare I say, a relationship.”
“I can understand why you’d worry about that happening,” Austin joked. “You look at how handsome I am, how successful, oh yeah, and how great I am in the sack, and you worry that if you let me spend the night, it’s over for you. You won’t be able to resist me anymore. You’re scared, and it’s perfectly understandable.” Austin chuckled. “This is what I’ll do. You can invite me in, and we can see what happens, or you can jump out of the car right now, and not have to worry about us having the best sex of our lives, you falling deeply in love with me, and us wanting to spend the rest of our lives together. But you have to decide now. What will it be?”
“I have to decide now? Like right now? I can’t think about it?”
“Nope. Right now,” Austin said.
“Fine.” Monica gave Austin a peck on the lips and opened her door. She climbed out and started up the path to her house without looking back.
Austin waited a moment, a slowly fading smile on his face, thinking Monica would look back, but she didn’t. He was dumbfounded. What had he done or said wrong? It was a joke. Didn’t she know that? Should he get out of the car, chase after her, tell her he was sorry? No, he told himself, watching Monica as she climbed her stairs and unlocked her front door. He would only make a bigger fool of himself.
As Monica pushed open her door, Austin asked himself if this was it for the two of them. He realized it very well could’ve been and was surprised how saddened he was by that possibility.
Staring up at her, he realized he didn’t care about making a fool of himself. Austin grabbed his door handle, was about to pull it open, run after her, when he saw Monica turn, just inside her house, push her dress off her shoulders, then let it drop down to the floor. With a seductive smile and a curl of her finger, she invited Austin in.