Love Is Overdue (21 page)

Tony just rolled his eyes.
“Whatever...” He reached for his wallet. “Hey do you mind grabbing
me a refill?” He waved his empty coffee cup at me and his lit
cigarette, signalling that he wasn’t able to go in
himself.

I just rolled my eyes.
“Fine...” I got up and headed back inside the coffee
shop.

But as soon as I got back
out with his coffee I knew something was up because Tony was madly
texting away on what looked like...my phone!

I slammed his cup down on
the table. “You bitch!” I grabbed my phone away from him as fast as
I could. “What the hell did you do?”

I scrambled to check my sent
items.

“
Oh relax...”
Tony just shrugged me off. “I just did the same thing you would
have done eventually anyway...”

And
there it was. The last sent message straight to Ben’s
blackberry.
having a little get-together at my place Friday night and would
love it if you could come. Let me know :)>

“
I don’t fucking
believe you, Tony!” I was horrified. “What the hell was that? I
don’t even talk like that...you are so out of line, I can’t believe
you!”

“
Look, if you think he’s not gonna accept your friends or you
think he’s gonna judge you for the people in your life,
especially
me
, then isn’t it better to find out sooner rather
than later?” He sucked his teeth and took a sip of his coffee.
“God, you can be such a baby sometimes...”

I sat back down across from
him and ignored him for a good five minutes, staring out at the
street and down the block, where Ben’s restaurant was visible, and
the small outdoor patio full of people enjoying the
sunshine.

Then
my phone buzzed. Tony looked up at me and nodded at my phone,
giving me a look that seemed to say,
What the fuck are you waiting for?

I just groaned inwardly and
pulled up my in box. His reply couldn’t have been
simpler.

time?>

Ω

Tony and I
busied ourselves for the next two days trying to come up with a
menu plan, cleaning and organizing the kitchen, living room and
dining room for the big night. Our friend Michelle had worked as a
server at a ton of fine-dining restaurants across the city and had
her level one accreditation toward becoming a sommelier, so we
agreed to give her our menu plan as soon as possible so she could
work on the wine pairing.

I hauled my mother’s fine
china and silverware from the hutch and spent a good hour or so
polishing everything up until it shined like new. It had been her
one huge haul that she’d brought to Canada from Sao Paulo all those
years ago and had originally belonged to her mother. I couldn’t
help thinking about how nice it would be for when she came home, to
find the house so clean and organized and fresh. Like a new
beginning for us...

Tony brought over a
beautiful bouquet of daisies and arranged them in another treasure
I’d found collecting dust in the china hutch – a beautiful antique
crystal vase.

I took Friday afternoon off
work in order to get home and get busy cooking. And by three pm on
Friday, Ben’s curiosity finally got the better of him.

kinda party you throwin tnight anyway? Want me to bring
anything?>

I smiled at that. I was
actually pretty terrified cooking for a chef of Ben’s caliber, whom
I was also simultaneously tripping over trying to impress in every
other way possible, but I tried not letting myself get too
distracted.

Send.

My
phone buzzed again almost immediately.

Send.

baby. I guess that why you been avoiding me the last couple days.
Must be one hell of a meal.>

I
rolled my eyes. Ben never used any ton
e punctuation in his text messages but his teases and
underhanded jabs were never lost on me.

Send.

And I did laugh,
since it was the first time he’d ever used the term with
me.

Ω

Tony showed up
early as promised and helped me with all the last minute prep. He
kept an eye on all the food for me – my simmering butternut squash
soup, my roasting beef tenderloin and the garlic mashed potatoes.
My expertly golden-tipped lemon meringue pie was cooling on the
kitchen counter.

So I slipped away to get
dressed and focus on my hair and makeup. Tonight was going to go
down without a hitch; I knew it, until I heard Tony start blasting
Britney Spears on the stereo. I decided I’d fix that later and went
back to making myself beautiful.

Michelle showed up with a
case of wine – an assortment of four reds and two whites, and was
dressed to the nines. She was the tall, blonde bombshell that
turned heads everywhere she went – and classy as all hell – as long
as she wasn’t around a man she was fixing to sink her claws
into.

Tasha, however, was another
story. She was the female version of Tony – biologically anyway.
She drove me crazy all the time too, but I had less patience with
her attitude than I did Tony because we weren’t as tight. And
tonight was no exception – with her tiny black mini barely covering
her perky little ass.

Corinne was a whole other
story. She was another one of my girlfriends from high school who
truly embodied the definition of a creepy librarian, with her
conservative clothes and wire-rimmed glasses, but she was probably
the biggest whore of us all. Two glasses of wine in and she was
always going on and on about her rampant sexual exploits. Life of
the party.

Ben texted me after everyone
else had already arrived.

bother you, but am I sleeping over or what? Need to know if I
should bring my car or walk.>

I giggled. Walk? He was
already late...

Send.

“
Somebody change
this fucking music,” Corinne was complaining. “I don’t listen to
wife-beating maniacs...”

Tasha was blasting some
Chris Brown. “Oh chill out, girl...okay what you wanna listen to?”
She was going through the play list on my lap top that was hooked
up to a set of modest speakers.

“
My house. My
music,” I said simply, deciding on some Corinne Bailey Rae. “This
ain’t no ghetto back-yard cook-out...”

“
I’d be totally
down for that, though,” Tasha shot back easily, and we all
laughed.

By eight-thirty we all had a
good glass and a half of wine under our belts.

“
So where is this
mystery man of yours, Gabby?” Michelle was twirling her glass of
Shiraz.

“
He’s on his way.
He works late at his restaurant so he’s never anywhere before nine
so...he’s making an exception,” I explained.

“
Shit, girl! Look
at you!” Tasha was eyeing me up, amused. “It’s so true, though,
once you had yourself some good black dick ain’t nothin’ gonna wipe
that smile off your face...”

Corinne rolled her eyes.
“Believe me...I have had my share of monster cocks and they were
all white guys – I even had a hung Asian man before...”

“
Can we please
keep the dick convo to a minimum tonight?” I pleaded. “I already
feel ridiculous having invited him here to hang out with a bunch of
women...”

“
Speaking of
women – where’s Tony?” Tasha was looking around the
room.

“
He’s outside
smoking. Or texting Matt.” Michelle peeked through the living room
curtains. “Okay, Gabby...either you’ve planned some exotic
entertainment for us tonight or you were not lying...that man is
gorgeous.”

“
What?” I was
confused.

She kept staring out the
window. “There is one sexy black man out there on your porch and
it’s not Tony.”

My eyes popped open.
“Really? Why isn’t he ringing the bell?”

She was still peering out.
“Hmmm...I don’t know...oh wait.” She let the curtains drop.
“Because he’s talking to Tony.”

My eyes flew open again.
“What?”

“
Okay, I need to
take a look at this...” Tasha was making her way over to the
curtains.

“
You guys can’t
keep staring out the window – he can see you!”

But it was no use. Corinne
was also curious enough to take a peak.

“
Ohhh...it’s
gonna be a fun night tonight, ladies...” Tasha was practically
purring. “Sorry, Gabby, I’ll try to be good.” She picked up her
glass of wine and marched over to the front door and swung it open.
“Hey!” I heard her calling out. “I see you met my twin...we’re
fraternal...I usually just throw that out there ‘cause people
sometimes wonder...”

I held my face in my hands,
mortified. However, I couldn’t help laughing right along with
Michelle and Corinne.

I couldn’t take it anymore.
I got up and headed to the open door. “Hi...” I started, but no one
noticed me.

Ben had his phone out and
was showing Tony something on the screen. “See, it doin’ it
again...”

“
Oh, that’s
nothing,” Tony started. “My blackberry used to freeze up all the
time – just gotta repower it – I got tired of that shit, though,
and I bought an iPhone...”

Ben looked up then. “Hey,
Gabby,” he said smoothly and came over and gave me a soft little
peck on the cheek.

Tony looked up and shot his
eyes out at me, mouthing “Oh my god” and pointing at Ben, who had
his back to him. Tasha had her eyes all over everything on Ben from
the neck down.

He turned back suddenly and
they both recovered themselves immediately. “Nice meeting you...”
And then to Tony, “I’ll give you my phone to look at
later.”

“
Sure!” he
chirped back at him.

“
So...” I
started, “I guess you met Tony and Tasha.”

“
Yup...I got it,”
he said simply. “What about the ones at the window – they in
there?” he nodded toward the living room.

I flushed, letting him
inside. “Yes...”

“
Smells good in
here,” he told me as I led him toward the living room and Michelle
and Corinne, who were still waiting patiently. “Am surprised you
finally let me inside ya house,” he teased me before turning to the
two girls.

They both had a bit of a
deer-in-the-headlights look going on.

“
So...” I decided
to make the introduction. “Ben, this is Michelle and
Corinne...”

Michelle stood up first,
sauntering her leggy self on over to him. “Nice to meet you.” She
smiled sweetly and extended her hand.

“
Likewise...” He
took her hand easily. Damn, he was smooth...

Corinne wasn’t the
handshaking type due to her germaphobia so instead she gave him a
little salute. “So we all here now? I’m starving...”

“
Damn...y’all was waitin’ on me?” Ben gave us a little
apologetic raise of the eyebrows. “Sorry bout that – I run on black
folks’ time.” He gave a little nod at the front door. “Surprised
those two out there beat me here...”

Ω

An hour or so
later the conversation was flowing freely, due to the wine, the
food and the effect it had on everyone. Ben and Michelle got into a
long conversation due to their respective jobs in the restaurant
industry and it felt good watching him seem so at ease and
comfortable. And he was eating up everything I put in front of him.
Michelle served a different wine with each course, and I could tell
Ben was impressed when anyone sung my praises on the food. He kept
looking over and giving me that little raise of his eyebrows and I
couldn’t help but smile.

By the time the main course
was cleared away, everyone was certifiably tipsy and inhibitions
were thrown out the door. Ben was suddenly under everyone’s
microscope.

“
So hold up a
minute...” Tasha started in on him first. “How you two meet again?
How’d that go down?” She phrased the question at Ben
though.

“
Who?” He turned
to her, a little distracted, as he had just finished handing Tony
his phone to examine.

“
You and Gabby,”
she said, downing the last of her glass and moving to refill it
just as quickly.

“
At my
restaurant,” he told her, leaning back and picking up his
glass.

“
Yeah,
but...how’d it go down really, ‘cause no offense Gabby, but you shy
as all hell, and there’s no way I can see you steppin’ up to
fine-ass looking brother like this without at least four or five
drinks under your belt...”

I glared back at her but Ben
kind of laughed. I knew he was used to this kind of directness –
after all Tasha and Tony were also of Caribbean descent.

“
Well, what make
you think she stepped up to me anyway? Maybe I like shy girls,” Ben
pointed out.