“I have a Prada clutch?” she said slowly.
“At the risk of sounding like a materialistic ass—”
“A Black Family party is for high society folk. Right.”
She shook her head looking somewhat dazed and amused.
“My sister, Bethan knows people. She can help, and at times she can even prove to be useful.” I laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood for the bomb I was just about to drop on her. “She just wants to meet you first,” I said, and waited for her reaction.
“Okay,” she replied, laying back down.
“Okay?” I blinked.
“Okay. I’m going to meet your family anyway. I’d rather not do it in my dress from Macy’s. Plus, if I meet them separately, it won’t feel overwhelming and I won’t panic.”
“There’s no need to panic. Bethan is loving the fact that we’re together. Her big brother is finally breaking his own rules on life.”
She didn’t look like she believed me.
“You’ll be fine,” I smiled.
THEA
“I am not fine,” I said to him as we drove to his sister’s condo.
We hadn’t been able to leave the cabin until the following afternoon. The pipes had frozen over, which left us with ice cold water to shower with. To top it all off, I didn’t have anything nice to wear. Just jeans, and a bright yellow sweater—which made me look like Big Bird. And to make matters even worse, we had been stuck in traffic for three hours, before we were finally able to get into the city, all because fallen trees had blocked the roadways at various points.
“I’m a mess. Please drop me off at my place so that I can change… please…” I pleaded.
“There’s no time,” he replied.
He didn’t seem to get it.
“The party isn’t for another five hours, there’s still plenty of time.”
He looked to me like he couldn’t believe I had said that.
“How long does it take you to pick out an outfit in the morning? You change at least three times. On top of that, you flatiron your hair, and always manage to do one side of your make ‘wrong’ so that you have to end up redoing it. Let’s not forget about your jewelry and accessories which is basically just you being frustrated with the fact that it doesn’t match your outfit—”
“Okay, I get it. Excuse me for wanting to look nice.”
“I’m not complaining, but my point is that we just don’t have time for you to go home to change, so that you can meet my sister only for you to pick out a new outfit and change again. The issue really is that we only have five hours. Besides,” I chuckled, “Bethan is the last person who will care. After all she wore black slacks and a cardigan to prom. Also, we’re already here.”
I looked up at the condo building, as he pulled up to the front doors and handed his keys to the valet.
All I could think about as he held open the door of the building for me was— Am I making a mistake? What was she going to think about me? Levi kept saying that there was no need to worry, but I couldn’t help it. What did we look like from the outside? After all, I had met her husband because I’d wanted to get drunk at a bar… her bar. And now, I was sleeping/dating a man, who happened to thirteen years older than me, oh, and I was also his student. I couldn’t even tell her that I had a job other than interning at Levi’s office.
After college I had gotten a job, teaching English in a middle school. I had wanted to help Selene pay for college when her time came, amongst other things. But after finding out about our father, I decided that I would use that money to pay for law school. And truthfully, that money wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere, it was the scholarship that had saved my life. Because of it, I didn’t need to continue working and I could just focus on school.
“She’s having a panic attack,” Levi said to the woman, as she opened the door.
“You should be, you guys are late!” She looked at me and frowned.
Her eyes were the same green as Levi’s and her hair was just as dark. The resemblance between them was almost uncanny.
“There was traffic Beth,” Levi said, as she made space to let us in.
“Beth-an. It’s just two extra letters, you don’t have to abbreviate it,” she snapped at him. “And, you haven’t been answering any of my calls.”