I was so nervous all morning as I searched through my closet for something to wear. This was only our second date after all and now I was going to meet his brother and his wife.
I chose a simple black dress with green accents on the collar and the quarter length sleeves paired with some strappy black flat sandals and a black hand purse.
Steve called at 5pm. “Hey you, are you almost ready?”
“No, not yet. You said 7.”
“Well, I’m here and you can come by to pick me up at anytime.”
I got dressed and drove over to the building where I picked him up the first time. He was standing there looking smart in a pair of pressed jeans and a crips white polo shirt.
“Do you want to drive?” I asked him.
“Sure, he said and hustled over to the drivers side, adjusting the mirrors and seat to fit his 6 foot frame.
“Tee,” he said as he looked over his shoulder into the backseat.
“Huh?”
“Never mind,” he said.
A few minutes later he pulled into a gas station and I glanced at him with a puzzled expression.
He didn’t say a word as he pulled up next to the gas pump, filled my tank with gas and then vacummed out my car, throwing away old water bottles and old napkins that were on the floor.
“Umm, thanks,” I said.
He patted my hand and grinned. “You DO need a maid!” he joked.
“Um, Where does your brother live?” I asked.
“He lives in Coral Gables.”
“Well, do you rent at the same hotel everytime you come? You stayed with him the first time I met you, but the second time you were at that building.”
“Oh, that’s my condo,” he informed me. “I usually rent it out but when we met it was being cleaned after my last tenants moved away. So now I stay there.”
“So you own it?”
“Uhh..yeah.”
“Do you own the brownstone in Brooklyn too?”
“Yeah. By the way, Rick moved out this weekend. You can come visit me anytime now.”
Wow.
“What is your brother’s wife like?” I ask him.
“Well, she’s a lot like my father’s ex-wife. The woman who raised us. She can be a bit cranky at times but she’s sweet once you get to know her.”
“What did you tell them about me?”
He looked over at me and laughed. “I told them that I met a woman that I like a lot and I wanted them to meet you.”
I didn’t know what to say so I changed the subject.
“What was it like being raised by someone other than your Mom? I know you and your Mom are still very close. Was there any tension between your Mom and StepMom?”
“Naw..Mom was cool about it. I mean, we were boys so she knew that it would be a good idea for us to be around our Dad. In case you’re wondering about your boys, don’t worry, they’ll never lose their love for you. We didn’t. We knew who our Mom was but Janice was nice too. We love them both.”
As we drove down I95 and off into South Miami we chatted about my classes and his latest adventures in New York.
“Oh, I have something for you,” he said and pulled a small satchel from the side door.
I hadn’t noticed it when I picked him up.
“What is it?”
“You have to guess.”
“Uhhh….”
He grabbed his cell phone from his waistband and dialed a number. The satchel vibrated.
What the?????
“Open it,” he told me.
“When I picked up the satchel and opened it, I laughed.
“You bought me a Blackberry?!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, can’t have you around here without a cell phone, can I?”
“Thank you Steve! But um…” I reached into my purse and produced my cell phone.
“I got paid for a story yesterday and I turned my phone back on,” I informed him.
He laughed. “Well, I guess you have two phones then. Don’t worry about the bill, it’s a company phone.”
We rounded a corner and I sat back, enjoying the beautiful scenery. Coral Gables looks nothing like North Miami. The houses here all look like mansions compared to where I grew up. Whenever I get the chance to drive down south I like to fantasize about one day living in such a beautiful place.
“We’re here,” Steve announced as we pulled into a powder blue two story home with a magnificent circular driveway.
“Hey, I need your help,” I told him as I stepped out of the car.
“What’s going on?”
“Um..well, I’m a little nervous and when I get nervous I sweat a lot..um..down there. I’m so self concious about it so just tell me if you smell anything.”
He laughed and laughed. “Oh yeah, I remember that story. You’re crazy. You’re fine. Don’t worry.”
Steve pulled out his keys and opened the front door. Two little brown dogs jumped up and ran toward us, sniffing my feet and jumping up on Steve as we sat our packages down.
“What’s in the box?” Steve asked.
“Oh, it’s a chocolate cake.”
“Did you bake it?”
“No way. Publix did.”
“Ofcourse!”
Suddenly a dainty woman appeared. She looked about my age with a short black bob and a flower print dress with heels.
“Hello Steve,” she said and gave Steve a hug before turning to me. “And it’s nice to finally meet you Tee. I’m Brenda.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I managed to squeak out. This lady was FIRE! She looked like a million bucks. Her bob was flawless and pressed just right. Even the toe ring she wore was stunning.
We followed her to the living room, which was cozy, yet splendid. The color scheme was all white, except for a few yellow daisies set in colorless vases on the end tables. The sofa was plush and inviting. I followed Steve’s cue and sat down beside him.
“Chill out,” he whispered. “It’s just my brother and his wife.”
“Mark!” Steve called out. “We’re here!”
“What’s up?” Mark said, seeming to appear out of nowhere.
I tried to hide my suprise at how handsome he was. He and Steve could have been twins, except he was a much more muscular version. Just two years older than Steve, Mark has made his living in banking and was now a vice-president of a mid-sized bank downtown.
His wife was a manager of a boutique on South Beach and she definitely looked the part.
Mark sat down and pulled out a magazine. I smiled as he turned to page 33.
“So you’ve read one of my latest stories?” I asked him.
“I sure did. When Steve told me that you were a writer I was impressed. I do a little writing myself, mostly poetry though, but I’ve never been published.
“It’s not that tough,” I told him. “Just choose a magazine that you like to read and send a poem in. When I worked for a magazine in Atlanta, we’d get poetry all the time and I’d choose the best pieces and publish them. It all depends on the editor and the seasonal features being produced.”
“Well, maybe I will. Would you like to read some of my writing?”
I gasped. “I sure would! Do you perform your pieces?”
Mark chuckled. “Oh no! I rarely even share them. But I guess I could read some for you after dinner.”
“Yay!” I squealed and everyone laughed. “I’ll perform one of mine too. We can play some games!”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Steve stifle a laugh.
“What you laughing at?” I asked him and pinched his arm.
“You. You’re always ready to perform.”
“Are you an actress?” Brenda asked me.
“Something like that. I guess. I can act, but I’m not interested in a career like that. I’m in graduate school, trying to see if I can hang in the academic world.”
“That’s right, Steve mentioned you’re going to be a therapist,” Brenda said as she smiled a wide grin.
“Yes, a Couples therapist. But really I hope to do research about communication issues and write books about relationships and stuff like that. I’ve just written an article about Dealing With Regret.”
“What was your advice?” Mark asked.
“Um, well I reminded the readers that we all have choices to make in life and no choice is the wrong choice. If we learn to trust ourselves to make the right decisions, even if things don’t go the way we envisioned them we’ll feel better knowing that every decision leads to our ultimate destinies. No decision should ever be regretted. No regrets!”
“You’re right!” Brenda remarked and then shocked me by asking. “Do you regret leaving your sons?”
I gasped and looked at Steve. He shook his head.
“Um…No. I figured it was the best thing to do at the time. And I didn’t leave them, their father asked for them,” I replied curtly.
“Well, I don’t have children but I couldn’t imagine leaving them at such a young age. Don’t you feel bad about that at all? I mean, they are your children after all. Every child needs a mother.”
I gulped as my blood began to boil. “They have a mother. I’m a part of their lives. I see them every week and we spend time together.”
“But still..I can’t imagine doing that because….”
Steve cut her off. “Brenda. Tee says she has no regrets. Leave it at that. She is just fine with her arrangement.”
“I’m sure she is,” Mark interjected. “Um..everybody, let’s go have dinner.”