“Her name is Jackie.”
“With this Jackie person? It is not going to happen because you are gay. If you had told me you met this guy and you were into him, I would be your biggest cheerleader, but I cannot do that for you Jeff. I have never heard of a person being cured of being gay unless you were not gay in the first place.”
“I don’t know what I am.” He told her miserably. “I told Jackie the same thing and she said we would figure it out together.”
“How sweet,” Athena sneered. “Does she know that your parents have money? Is that it?”
He stared at her in mute anger, taking a bite out of his burger.
“I am not going to apologize.” She told him firmly.
“I don’t expect you to because you are Athena and you think that everything you say is right.”
“No need to get nasty.”
“I am being honest Athena. Not everything is black and white.”
“It should be.”
“You are in a secret relationship and I am your best friend and we always tell each other everything. You are close to your mother and I bet she does not know that you are in one. Not everything is black and white.”
“It’s not the same.” She muttered.
“Isn’t it?” Jeff stared at her with lifted brows. “Tell me the name of the person you are involved with.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not….?”
“It’s so complicated.”
“How complicated can it be?” He demanded. “You said he is not married.”
“He is white.”
Jeff stared at her in surprise. “You have never dated a white guy before.”
“I guess we are even. You never had sex with a woman before!”
“My first experience in high school was a cheerleader.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “How very clichéd.”
Jeff grinned at that. “So let’s talk about this white guy. Is he ashamed of being with a black woman? Because if he is, he does not deserve you!”
“He loves me,” She told him with a whimsical smile. “And I love him more than my own life. No matter what happens, I could never leave him. I am stuck and in a very good way.”
“So what is the problem?”
“His parents!”
“His parents do not like you because you are black.”
“Something like that. I have never been introduced to them.”
“Then he is a spineless cowa-….”
“Don’t finish that sentence if you want us to continue being friends.” She warned him. “He is not a coward and I already told you it is complicated, and we are trying to sort things out.”
“In the meantime, you are prepared to sneak around and hide him from everyone.”
“In the meantime I am preserving my relationship the best way we know how.” She told him firmly. “And I make no reservations about doing so. Like I said before, I love him to pieces, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he loves me too. Everything else takes second place.”
He stared at her contemplatively as he sipped his water. “I envy you.”
“Why?”
“You always know what you want, and nothing gets in the way.”
She shrugged slender shoulders and picked up her burger. “I never counted on him happening. I met him and it was like being hit by a truck. I tried to deny what I was feeling because I had misgivings about the relationship, but it was no use. I could not stop thinking about him, wanting to be with him. It was scary as hell! I told him that I did not want to see him again, but I was fooling myself and he knew it. I love him. It is as simple as that. I don’t know what is going to happen or if his parents will ever accept me, but I cannot leave him.”
“And he feels the same way.”
“He does.” She said with conviction, a smile playing around her lips.
“That’s why you have not been in your apartment.”
She stared at him for a moment and then nodded. “I have not said anything to Mom.”
“Don’t you think you should?”
“You know mom. She is not going to stop until she gets it out of me, and I cannot afford that right now.”
“You are not going to give me a name?”
“Nope!” She leaned forward and took his hand in hers. “Look, Jeff I was pretty hard on you before and I have no right to be. It is your life and you deserve to live it the way you choose. Just make sure you are not doing it for the wrong reason.”
*****
“I was thinking we could get away for the Thanksgiving weekend,” he murmured as took off her towel. He had come home early enough to have dinner with her and while they were eating, she had told him about the conversation with Jeff.
Climbing onto the side of the bed, she sat and watched as he towel dried his hair and put the towel on the bedpost before joining her.
“Where?”
“There is this cabin in the middle of nowhere….”
“And no one knows where it is.” She surmised.
“It belongs to the family and has been renovated over the years. We have not been there in years, but someone is paid to do the upkeep. The pantry is all stocked and the shed out back is filled with wood chips and logs. There is a lake and miles of wooded area and the trees are always green no matter the weather. I just want to be alone with you.”
“You are always alone with me.” She pointed out.
“Not like this. Away from the city… Away from work.… Away from everything.”
“Including your parents….”
“Including my parents. They have this Thanksgiving Ball that they put on every year!”
“And you want to duck out of it.”
“I want to be with my wife. I don’t care about any damned ball.”
“You feel guilty about not being able to take me with you.”
“I do,” he turned to face her and took her hands in his. “But it is much more than that.” He added earnestly. “Being married to you have made me realized that there is nothing that is as important to me as you are.” He lifted her hands and kissed the back of them.