Aubrey's mother stood to greet us. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders in loose curls. An ankle length white dress that fit her body well, covered her small frame and she wore a warm smile.
We exchanged endless compliments, earning an eye roll from Aubrey.
"You're glad I left the house eh?" She teased him, causing me to heat up with slight embarrassment. Did she know what we did? I hoped she didn't.
"No, Mai. Of course not," he smiled, a very sarcastic smile.
Mrs. Gra I mean, Sandi pinched her son's cheek. She adored him, I could tell from this small action. I found myself gushing over them.
I couldn't wait for when our childre.... What? Amber, you're 18, what kids? When? Not in this lifetime. I had never wanted kids before, why was my subconscious mind trying to make me believe that I wanted them, or even worse, why was I even imagining adoring the creatures?
Oh! The picture I saw of baby Aubrey and his dad. It moved me, and I couldn't handle the cuteness so my subconscious self was trying to trick me into thinking that I wanted babies with Aubrey, which meant that it was....
"Amber?" Aubrey's mother asked. I was mind rambling again.
"Excuse me. What was that?" I asked turning my attention to the blonde.
She smiled sweetly and I mentally slapped myself for getting distracted. She folded her legs in her seat and repeated her statement.
"I said that I'm happy he found you."
I looked over to Aubrey who was busy staring back at me, "I'm glad he found me too."
"I was beginning to think that he was getting cold hearted, like his dad." She commented, reminding me that he was supposed to be at the table with us.
The waiter introduced himself already but Aubrey's pops was nowhere to be found and miss Sandi continued to bash him.
Aubrey looked uneasy next to me and I placed my hand on his thigh to soothe him. He visibly relaxed but was still on edge. I leaned into him and spoke almost inaudibly, "she doesn't know does she?"
He shook his head no, and just then our hostess returned with a mustached man in a white tuxedo.
Dennis, he was a dark skinned man with a large black mustache that took up most of his face. He looked like one of the pimps from old films. I remember thinking that he was quite short, unlike his son who towered over me.
Mrs. Graham was staring up at Aubrey while the man approached us, and I shifted in my seat, my eyes locked on his.
Stephanie led him to his seat, "the final member of your party is here, I'll get the waiter to take your orders. Y'all must be starving."
"Final memb!?" Sandi's eyes widened when she saw Dennis.
She looked back at Aubrey. "I know you did not invite this hillbilly here, eh?"
"Who you calling a hillbilly?" Mr. Graham asked taking a seat, he looked at Aubrey, "really?"
Aubrey ignored them, standing up and smoothing down his tux. Then he stretched his hand to me and I took it, standing up next to him.
"Pops, this is Amber, my girlfriend." Then he turned to me. "Amber this is my father, Dennis."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you sir." I smiled, hoping to appeal to the father of the love of my life.
He returned the smile. "Call me Dennis, or pops" he requested.
I agreed to call him pops and sat down as the waiter returned to take our orders. I ordered the simplest thing on the menu which was 'Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo' and some wine. Aubrey ordered a lobster dish and requested a whole bottle of red wine. I wasn't paying attention by the third order and leaned up against Aubrey again. I could tell that my presence soothed him, and I would do anything at that point to make him feel better.
To avoid problems, I engaged in conversation with Dennis and Aubrey spoke to his mother.
"....Memphis is great, I'd only been there once at a horse ranch but I really want to go back there."
"You should convince Aubrey to take you, he knows the place like the back of his hand." Pops bragged.
I giggled, Dennis was awfully sweet. "I just might take you up on that offer, I want to meet more of your side of the family."
"But they're so country.wow." He mocked a northern accent.
A common misconception, was that Tennesseans and Texans are all "country" and are a bunch of cowboys running around, wrangling bulls and herding cattle. Even the large cities like Memphis and Houston were thought to be "country".
I laughed along with him. We were getting along well.
"Where did my son meet a fine young lady as yourself?" Dennis interrogated.
"He kind of found me, we met through Sandi's nephew." I recalled.
He nodded, acknowledging my answer.
"He's amazing. He cares so much for me, i sometimes think what did I do to deserve someone like him."
Dennis looked over at Sandi, who was receiving her food. I could see in his eyes that he still felt strongly for her.
"He gets that from his mother. I didn't deserve her, and I loved Aubrey more than anything."
"Then why did you leave?" It slipped, I had to ask. "I'm so sorry."
"No, no it's okay... I'm sure my son told you the story. Sandi and I, well....We couldn't agree on certain things and I wanted to get my music career started. Toronto wasn't where I wanted to be."
I could feel the weight of his words. I didn't know how to respond.
"I couldn't take Aubrey with me, so we settled on summer visits. It was one of the hardest things I had to do. Aubrey's been through a lot these past years, and I'm to blame for most of it, but I'm glad he learned to be a man without my help, he's more of a man than I could ever be." He ended his sentence with a sigh and I felt for him, he didn't want to have to leave his son but he thought it was best.
"Thank you for telling me this. I don't even know what to say."
"It's been something I wanted to get off my chest for a while, Aubrey won't hear me out and Sandi, has always been stubborn so I didn't get the chance to."
"That's okay, I'm really glad you told me, we both want the best for him, so I'm glad I can be of assistance."
"You are extremely easy to speak to, I'm happy my son found you. If it wasn't for you, I'm sure he would have never contacted me." He confessed.
"Dennis, what are you telling her over there?" Sandi spoke looking up from her food, only then did I noticed that both pops and I hadn't eaten a single bite. I was also tearing up. I dabbed my eyes with my napkin quickly and looked at Aubrey who was almost done with his food. He looked concerned.
"Nothing Sandra." Dennis retorted.
"You know I don't like being called that, don't do it." She warned, her warm features turning stone cold.
"Okay... Well Just mind your business, I'm.." Dennis shot back.
"I can do whatever I want." Sandi raised her voice.
"I'm not trying to argue with you Sandi, but you're too damn..."
"Why is he even here Aubrey?" Aubrey's mother turned her attention to him.
"He's my son too." Dennis claimed, looking over at Sandi with rage.
"Oh, so now he's your son? When he's all grown up and can fend for himself!?" Sandi asked, attracting attention from some of the diners.
"He's always been my son and I've always loved him, and you can't make me feel guilty about..."
Interrupting Dennis again Sandi yelled in French. " Aubrey est mon fils. Vous êtes un donneur de sperme." Did she just call Dennis a sperm donor?
"Enough!" Aubrey raised his voice. It was the first time I had ever heard him do that. He never raised his voice to that level. They immediately stopped, looking over to Aubrey like they had seen a ghost.
Aubrey's voice went calm again, "I've been through a lot this past month, You both know that. I'm trying to take the necessary steps to move forward from it. I have someone, who's there for me, who loves me, who made me realize that I need to forgive and makes me happy, and I want to share that with you two. I've finally found someone whom I want to spend the rest of my life with, who I can't see my life without, and you're showing me that you can't put your differences aside for one night to enjoy this with me? I've forgiven pops, Mai. I need for you to at least try to." Aubrey stood up after his little speech. I was no longer hungry. He briskly walked away and I followed him out of the restaurant into the men's bathroom, not caring about how it looked. He was upset.
Aubrey's POV
I locked myself in a bathroom stall, looking up at the ceiling. I was beyond fucking pissed with my parents behavior. Clicking of heels could be heard from outside the door.
"Aubrey, let me in." Amber spoke, her voice smooth and calming. I didn't want her to see me that upset.
"Go back Amber." I said, my tone clipped.
"I'm not going to leave. Open the door." She was so fucking stubborn.
"Just go." I said, trying to get her to leave me alone.
"Fine, I'll go........Catch an über back to my house." The sound of her heels clicking against the tile flooring was the indication of her hasty retreat.
"Wait no, don't go." I finally responded. I opened the door, allowing her entrance.
Amber entered the small stall and closed it behind her. I wondered what I looked like to her, my eyes red and wild, my bow tie loose, my tux disheveled.
She didn't comment on my appearance, instead she hugged me, her head on my shoulder, she wrapped her arms around my neck.
Her presence calmed me. Boy, were the roles reversed. I was the one shutting her out and she was the one providing comfort.
She was the fire and I was the ice, and she warmed me, melting me into a puddle at her feet.
"Don't shut me out Aubrey," she said.
"They're so selfish. I pictured this night going so much better than this." I complained as Amber swayed from side to side in my arms.
"They still have feelings for each other that haven't been resolved yet. Its natural that they fight Aubrey."
"They don't have to be so childish about it though. You didn't have to witness that."
"I don't love you any less Aubrey. In fact, I actually love you more for this."
She caught me off guard with that one. "Wh-why?"
"Because it shows that you care. You're trying to mend your relationship with your father and told your parents I'm 'someone you'd like to spend the rest of your life with'." I blushed.
"I did, didn't I?" I kissed her nose, something I liked to do. "You're my everything."
She smiled, "don't get all mushy on me tough guy." She teased, fixing my bow tie, and straightening my tux. "By the way, you've got a huge hickey"
It was from the previous night when we made love, but I didn't notice it.
"My my, who would do such a thing?" I asked sarcastically.
"I don't know, but I'll have to have a talk with your parents about the company you keep." She smiled, and I couldn't keep myself from kissing her. I'd probably gotten her lipstick all over my lips, but in that moment I didn't give a flying fuck.
"What was that for?" She asked as I released her lips.
"For being the corniest, sexiest, best person on the planet." I answered.
She smiled again as she unlocked the door, and led us from the stall. She earned wolf whistles from some of the men at the urinals and I growled at them. Literally fucking growl.
Yes niggahs, that woman in the red dress was my devil in disguise. She was my personal temptress.