by Cee, DW
“What the hell, Bee? You’re running around in circles. I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about. I don’t want to get married, either right now or anytime in the near future. That’s all it is. There’s nothing more to read into that.” It was not a smart idea to yell, but I couldn’t help it.
Damn. She looked defeated, and I put that look on her face. That wasn’t what I wanted her to feel. “It dawned on me that maybe if you were with the right girl, you would want marriage and kids. I just thought perhaps I’m not that right girl for you.”
Did she want me, did she not? Why was it so hard to agree to just date? “So what is it that you want from me?” I didn’t yell too loudly this time.
“Let me tell you what I want for me, and not necessarily from you. I want to know that I am special to someone. I want to know that I am loved. And I want to know that a man is considering a future with me. Whether or not it will work out is up to us, but I want somebody to want to work toward a future with me. That’s what I want for me. Am I making any sense?” Nope! You are not making an iota of sense to me!
“And you think Michael is this guy for you? Is that why all of this has come up, because you had dinner with Michael the other night? Did he fill your head with all these thoughts of a future in a castle and a fancy happily ever after?”
“Michael has absolutely nothing to do with what’s in my head. He and I have struck up an unusual friendship where we have more things in common than we would like. There is nothing going on between us that I can point to, and he has been nothing but a gentleman. You know he’s still nursing a broken heart over your cousin.”
“I like what we have, Bee. I like dating you, I enjoy any time I spend with you, except for times like these, and you are as close to a girlfriend as I have ever wanted. If what you want is a name to what we are doing, fine let’s call each other boyfriend and girlfriend. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.” This was as close to begging as I was going to get.
“Calling me a girlfriend…does that change your views on marriage?”
“Bee, come on. You’re being unfair. The fact that I don’t want to get married has nothing to do with you, and it does not reflect upon who you are as a woman.”
“Unfortunately, it does to me. It makes me feel like I’m not good enough for you. My parents let me know I wasn’t first priority in their lives. I won’t let a man do the same.”
“Dammit, Bee! Stop being so fucking melodramatic. I am done talking about this shit. You decide what you want and fill me in when that decision has been made. You can’t tell me one day that you’re okay with just dating, then the next week come back at me and go schizo because I don’t want to get married. You don’t want to get married either.”
I could tell she was done with me. “Why don’t we take a breather? Why don’t we go back to being friends, distant family by marriage, acquaintances? I leave for New York and London again so this might be a good time for us to say goodbye for a while.”
“So that’s it? One week of being together, and you give up already because I don’t want to get married?”
“If that’s how you want to simplify it, I guess that’s it. I can only last one week with you.”
That was it! I left without a goodbye.
January 27, 2014 BEE: 1,000,000
“What do you mean you’re not sure when you are coming back? It’s your birthday in a couple of weeks. Donovan and I were going to take you and Nick somewhere fun to celebrate.”
I had Laney stop by after school so I could give her the maternity wear I had sewn. After my last conversation with Nick, I decided to forgo any thoughts of a relationship, and do what I did best—focus on my career. “I made you several dresses since those are what you prefer wearing, and this will have to last you, or better yet do me a favor and buy your maternity wear and stop bugging me.” I smiled to let her know I would always make my favorite niece whatever she desired.
“What did that stupid cousin of mine do now?” My niece was always a sharp one. She hit it on the nose.
“Nothing.” I played it off.
“It’s not nothing,” she exclaimed and started stripping. After getting married, this girl had no shame. She stripped down to her underwear and tried on each of the dresses. “Auntie, these are so beautiful!” She gushed every time she tried on a new dress. They looked very pretty on her. “I’ve outgrown all of my regular clothes already. This is a sad situation when I’m still in my first trimester.”
“What did you expect when you got knocked up? And not only did you get knocked up, you got knocked up with twins.”
Laney lamented, “I’m afraid I’m going to be a house by the time I’m in my second trimester. I need you home soon so you can let out my dresses or make me new ones.” Once she was done trying everything on, she kept the last one on, looked at me and said, “Explain, Auntie.”
I gave her the long, the short, and the ugly. “What I’ve always done best was design and make clothes. That is what I’m going to focus on solely.”
“Well my cousin is an absolute idiot! He’s always been carefree, but he was a little too carefree with his words. You want me to have Donovan talk to him? Or should I have a talk with him? Or maybe I’ll set Jake on him.” Laney was almost as upset for me as I was the night I spoke with Nick.
“It’s alright Laney. I needed to take this business trip anyhow. It’s perfect timing. I’m not running away; I’ll be back as soon as my business is done.”
Laney proceeded to text somebody and before she got a response, she texted somebody else on her phone. She got two responses and the next thing I knew, she was pulling me out the door. “Get in.” She sat me in her passenger seat.
She then called her husband on the speakerphone.
“Hello, Beautiful!”
Laney broke into a dazzling smile. “Hello, Handsome! I’m calling to tell you that I will not be home for dinner tonight.”
“Why not? What will you be doing instead of having dinner with me?”
“I am trying to undo what my stupid cousin has done to our dear old aunt.” That earned her a slap on her arm. “Ow!” she pretend-cried.
“Bee,” my nephew warned, “don’t harm the mother of my children.”
“Damn!” I exclaimed. “I’m going to have to find me a protector somewhere.”
Donovan asked, “What happened to your protector?”
“Don’t ask, Honey. I’ll explain when I get home. I’ll see you in a few hours?”
“Why can’t I join you?” he whined.
“It’s a girls’ night out. You, Jake and Max can take Nick out, and beat the shit out of him tomorrow night for your boys’ night out. I love you. Bye.”
“I love you too, Princess. I’ll see you soon. Drive home safely.”
“Oh my God! You two are nauseating to be around.”
Laney giggled and pulled into a restaurant/karaoke bar. “There’s Jane. Oh and there’s Ruby! I haven’t seen her in weeks.” She ran out of the car and greeted Ruby.
“What are you doing here, Ruby?”
“What the hell kind of greeting is that Bee Taylor?”
“I’m just surprised to see you. I thought I’d see you in New York in a few days.”
“I got an audition for a great role in a movie, and of course the audition was here, so I came to try and win the part. If all goes well, we can head back to New York together.”
“Damn! It must be good to be you. It must be nice to have a rich grandfather.”
Ruby joked, “Don’t forget, I have rich parents and a rich brother too. A brother you can get to know a little better if you so desire.”
Jane’s eyes bugged out. “What? I thought you were seeing my brother. What’s going on?”
“Can we PULEEZ finish the Q&A inside? I need a big, juicy steak!”
“You’re going to pop out two calves at the end of nine months with the way you’re consuming steaks.”
>
“I know, Jane. There must be two strapping boys inside my tummy. I constantly need protein.”
“And you’re going to eat dinner here at a cheesy karaoke bar?”
“No, Auntie! The karaoke bar is next door. That’ll be entertainment after dinner.”
“Are you singing?” Ruby asked in horror.
“Oh, Rubes. We all are! We need to cheer up my auntie!”
We walked into an old-school steakhouse where the servers wore white collared shirts and bow ties and made their Caesar salad tableside. We had to order quickly because my niece was starving.
We three were amazed at how Laney single-handedly demolished a porterhouse for two, Caesar salad, and several side dishes. The way she devoured her food was so comical, Jane took a picture of Laney and sent it to Donovan.
Ruby asked, “Are you eating dessert, too?”
“Sadly no, Rubes. I need to save my calories or I really will be a house very soon.”
“Wow.” That’s all Jane could say watching Laney eat.
“So tell us what the deal is between my brother and Jane’s brother. Did Laney bring us out here together so we can fight for you? Is that what this is all about? Whoever picks up the dinner tab wins you as a girlfriend for our brother?”
“Ruby that’s got to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I assume the woman who ate the most will pick up the tab.”
Laney argued, “But, Auntie! I’m just a student. I don’t have a job anymore since my husband won’t let me work.”
I laughed. “Then you should’ve thought of that before ordering a $75 steak!”
Laney didn’t give a shit what I said. She went ahead and also ordered dessert, and during dessert and coffee, is when I had to tell Jane and Ruby what was going on between me and Nick. Jane, of course, tried to convince me that Nick’s words meant nothing. That was the story he always gave and for now, that was the story he was sticking with.
Ruby, on the other hand, had other ideas. “Nick is just a boy. You need to date a man, an English man, a man like my brother. He told me you were staying with him in his brand-new flat when you arrive in London. Is that true?”
“It’s true, but you know that means nothing. Michael and I are just friends. He was kind enough to let me stay with him and I accepted with no other thought but free lodging.”
“We’re getting nowhere with this talk. Forget Michael. Forget Nick. Let’s go sing, Auntie.”
Laney made us cringe with her rendition of Bruno Mars’ Just The Way You Are. While she was singing, Jane leaned over and confessed, “Nick has always been the baby in our family. As far as I know, he’s never had a serious relationship because he always believed he didn’t want a serious relationship. You’re the first girl he was bringing home to dinner. That is huge for Nick. Don’t take to heart what he said about the ten years.”
“It’s kind of hard not to.”
“Nick is not Jake. If you’re looking for my older brother, you should quit now. I don’t know that there are any more Jake Reids left in this world.”
“I’m not trying to compare Nick to anybody else. I know he is his own person. I just don’t want to be a second-class citizen to anyone—Nick or any other man. Is that so wrong?”
“You have an absolute right to ask to be number one in your man’s life. Let me leave you with this thought. When Nick got back from New York, he was unusually happy. I asked him what was with the million-dollar smile. And you know what he said to me?”
“No clue, Jane.”
“He said, ‘I have a million-dollar smile because I feel like I just won the lotto.’ Nothing in his life is different except you. You’re the one who put that smile on his face, and you’re the one who makes him feel as if he’d just won the lotto. Reconcile that with the ten years. I’ll take a million over the number ten any day.”
“It’s your turn, Bee. What song do you want to sing?” Laney was bursting with energy after her meal for two and crap for singing.
“How about I Wanna Be a Millionaire by Bruno Mars?”
“You mean Billionaire?”
“No...a million is plenty.” Jane gave me an encouraging pat on the back, and I was off for my three minutes of fame.
January 30, 2014 NICK: 1,000!
“Where’s our future sister-in-law?”
“Who’s your future sister-in-law? Emily?” I grinned at Max and played the smartass.
Jane gave me a funny look. “Wasn’t this meal all about getting to know Bee? Why didn’t you bring her?”
“Don’t ask.” I put up my hand and stopped my sister from butting into my life.
Dinner was enormously painful when the guest of honor decided to un-guest herself. Dinner not only included the immediate family, but Mom thought it would be a good idea to include Donovan and his wife, who shot daggers my way throughout dinner.
“Hey.” Max called all the married men. “Why don’t we take Nick out and teach him the ropes of corralling a woman? Where shall we take him?”
“Why don’t you take him outside and give him a sound beating.” That damn cousin of mine—who the hell asked for her opinion?
“Why don’t we take Nick and Doug and play poker at the club?”
“No way, Donovan. I’m not even seeing anybody. I don’t have to listen to your spiel about happiness.” My cousin was trying his damnedest to bail on me. Traitor! “I don’t need to be there for this talk. I’ll wait for my turn in like ten years.”
“Come, oh brother of mine.” Donovan ordered in his commanding way. “I hope you have a lot of cash, and I hope your sister taught you how to play poker.” He let out an evil laugh. What the hell were Doug and I getting ourselves into?
I had no say in this matter. Jake, Donovan, and Max were saying good-bye to their respective women, and I was told to change out of my jeans and T-shirt and dress appropriately for poker at the club.
Fortunately, the three “married” men left us “single” men alone during the car ride. Though we breathed a sigh of relief, I knew it was going to get ugly soon.
Once we arrived at the club, we all settled into a game table, ordered our drinks, and Donovan cut the deck.
“The first time I ever played poker with my wife, I thought it would be like stealing candy from a baby. But shit, she wiped me clean and I even lost the money I borrowed from her.”
“Well my sister can do no wrong in your eyes.” Doug was sarcastic and bitter that he had to be a part of this conversation.
“She sure can’t!” The newlywed exclaimed with a chuckle.
“So what’s the problem?” My brother started in on his family counseling.
At first, I tried denial. “Nothing is the problem. Bee and I decided to take some time off and explore life without each other. That’s all.”
Everyone, including my traitor cousin, scoffed at me.
Max was the next counselor. “Considering you and Bee just got together, it’s a little bizarre you would take some time to re-evaluate yourselves. What is it that you did wrong?”
Next, I spoke with vehemence. “What makes you think I did anything wrong?”
“We men always do something wrong. If you will admit and accept that half-truth in front of your woman, it’ll make your life a whole lot easier.” Donovan finished shuffling the deck. “It took me a very long time to understand this, and look at what I had to go through. I moved my life to a different continent, only to have it moved back here because your cousin got pissed with me and left me again. After months of struggling to sell your grandfather’s company, appease a pissed-off woman, and plan a wedding, I come home to find out that my wife is pregnant with twins.” Donovan, Jake, and Max howled together. “Life never works out the way you think it might work out.”
Last, I had to try honesty. “Okay look. Here’s the deal, Bee and I originally started as friends with benefits. When she told me that wasn’t working out, I decided to give in to her desire and da
te exclusively. Then the other day, she asked me to tell her something about myself, and I inadvertently revealed that I didn’t want to get married for ten years.”
“Wrong move!” I didn’t know whether Max was saying that to me or to Jake, who decided not to fold, but to start the pot at one hundred dollars. Doug and I folded immediately.