Thirty-Eight

When we reached the table we were greeted with smiles and hellos. I went around the table and gave hugs and kisses to Alicia and Stephanie while Jameson went around doing some kind of funny handshake with his boys. Once everyone was done greeting one another I went to sit next to Alicia and Jameson pulled my chair out for me before he sat on the other side of me. I thanked him then I felt a tap on my shoulder and when I turned to Alicia, she leaned in and whispered that she knew why we were running late. I looked at her confused and she whispered for me to pull up the collar of my dress or go to the bathroom and apply some makeup to my neck. I took out my compact mirror and there it was red as day like a bullseye on my neck. I quickly put the mirror away and pulled my dress up as far as I could but it didn’t cover the entire hickey. Oh well, there was nothing else I could do other than pray that Ethan doesn’t notice it during dinner. I’m not ashamed of what we do behind closed doors but I don’t feel like being teased about it all night. I’m more interested in finding out why we’re here tonight and why it’s a secret.
The waiter comes to take our drink order and goes to get them while we look over the menu. I decide on baked alaskan with mashed cauliflower and broccoli and of course he orders a steak with loaded mashed potatoes and broccoli. I’ll let him have it for the night but we need to get back to eating healthier. He can work it off later. At the thought of that I get goosebumps and feel myself start to blush, and apparently I am so lost in thought that I don’t hear when he asks me a question. I feel his hand on my thigh and that makes me turn to look at him. He’s smiling and then he whispers in my ear.
“What is my Queen thinking about that has her blushing?” He smirks at me and I feel myself blush even more.
“Well, I was thinking about what we were doing earlier and trying to think of a way to not attract anymore attention to the hickey on my neck. Alicia already noticed it but we both know if Ethan sees it that’s it because the rest of the night he’ll make it about that and I want to know why we’re here.” He laughs which draws attention to us.
“Shhh baby. I said I don’t want to draw attention.” I shake my head and turn back towards everyone just in time to see the waiter show up with my glass of red wine and his glass of whiskey. He asks if we’re ready to order and we give him our orders then I ask him to bring the rest of the bottle and he says “yes ma’am” and bows a little before leaving the table. Everyone is looking at me including Jameson and I continue drinking my wine. Jameson leans in and asks me if anything is wrong and I tell him that nothing is wrong.
“Baby it is a party and I don’t have to drive so why not have drinks? It isn’t like I’m pregnant or anything.” I hear him suck in a breath and when I look at him I can see the hurt in his eyes. I have no idea why I said that so I apologize and kiss him gently then excuse myself and go to the restroom. Seconds later I hear the restroom door open and Alicia and Stephanie both walk inside.
“Don’t say anything. I know that I’m not acting like myself and honestly I’m ashamed of how I just acted. I shouldn’t have said that part about being pregnant.”
“Then why did you say it? You had to have known that it would hurt him.” says Alicia.
“I haven’t known him as long as everyone else but even I could see the hurt in his face. I’ve known you longer though and I’ve never seen or heard you say anything hurtful to anyone that didn’t deserve it.” says Stephanie.
“Before we came here tonight that girl showed up at our house. I called the cops because of the restraining order she isn’t supposed to be within a hundred feet of me. He came back from his run and the store about five minutes after she showed up and I went back outside to them arguing. I don’t know what he said other than to scream at her to go away because I was on the phone in the house when he arrived. She was crying and saying that she just needed to talk to him. When I went out there and told her to leave because the cops were on their way there, I grabbed his hand and told him we needed to go inside to relax before going out. While I’m leading us into the house, I feel a tug and when I turn around she had grabbed his other hand and was pulling him back towards her. He yelled at her and told her to never touch him again and we went inside. Then later when I was waiting for him to get out of the shower, I heard his phone go off so I went to check it and there was a message from an unknown number. I read it and it was her saying that she wished she could have been able to talk to him and would have done more than talk if I hadn’t been around. Then she asked him when he was going to get rid of me.” I don’t know when I started crying but it is a good thing that I don’t wear makeup because it would be running all over my face now.
“I’m so sorry Renee. What did he say when you asked him about the message?” said Alicia.
“He said that he needs to change his number and that she was just trying to get to me. Apparently he hasn’t changed his number in ten years and she did have it from the one date they went on years ago.”
“Well he isn’t lying about that. I honestly can’t believe some people. I mean didn’t she learn her lesson yet? He doesn’t want her and she needs to get over that and move the hell on with her pathetic life.” says Alicia.
“I hope that both of you are being careful because this could get serious, especially you Renee. If she ever gets it in her head that you’re a threat to her she may come after you. I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” says Stephanie and then she hands me some tissues and I wipe my face and blow my nose. Looking at myself in the mirror I can see that my nose and cheeks are all red and my eyes are a little puffy. Great! There is no way that he won’t know I was crying. I splash some water on my face then dry off with some paper towels and my face looks a bit better but he’ll still be able to tell. Alicia’s phone goes off and she quickly texts back while telling us that it’s the guys wondering how long we’re going to be in here. I guess they’re ready to get started.
“Do either of you girls know why we’re here tonight? I mean it isn’t unusual for us to get together but usually I’m the one cooking and you’re all at our house.” We all laugh a little at that before they both say that they have no idea what’s going on.
“Well then let’s not keep our men waiting.” says Stephanie and we all walk out of the restroom and back to the table. When I get there Jameson stands and pulls my chair out and I kiss him gently on the lips and tell him that I’m sorry again before sitting down. He pushes my chair under the table and then I lean over and tell him that we’ll talk about it later and he just nods in approval and gives me a cute smile.
We all start eating and talking about work and other things going on in our lives. Someone asked Ethan when he was going to get a woman and he practically spit out his drink before telling us that he was very happy being single. We all laughed and started talking about life and how happy we all were with ours and how things were progressing. I looked down at that part because I’d be a few months away from meeting our baby now if I hadn’t miscarried. I feel him squeeze my hand and when I look at him he simply says ‘I know baby’ and I smile at him.
Once we’re done eating and the table is cleared of everything but our drink glasses, Micah stands up and says that he has an announcement to make but first he has to do something else. He taps on his wine glass and suddenly music starts playing as he gets on one knee in front of Alicia.
“Alicia, we have known each other practically all of our lives. We went to high school, college, and even the Air Force together. You’re my best friend, lover, and most importantly my soulmate. You’ve had my back both in and out of combat. I’ve never been more attracted to a woman mentally and physically. You are beautiful both inside and out and there is nobody on this Earth that I would rather spend the rest of my life with, so I am asking you today in front of our family and friends if you would do me the greatest honor in the world and be my wife. Will you marry me?”