Miasha - Secret Society

“Michael, please don’t, I’m sorry, but…” I pleaded as I eased out of the bed.

Michael looked at me, baffled.

“Celess, what’s wrong with you? I’m not going to hurt you. I made you some breakfast,” he said as he sat the tray of food down on the nightstand. “Here, let me take that. I was chopping onions,” he said as he removed the knife from the tray.

I paused. I was really trippin’.

“Promise me you will not drink another flaming volcano ever in your life. You’re bugged out,” Michael said with a smile. “Get back in bed, eat some of this toast. It should help soak up some of that alcohol.”

I did as I was told. I couldn’t bear to stand up, anyway. Michael laughed at my paranoia and fed me the eggs and sausage he’d cooked.

“Tina, I was so embarrassed,” I explained over the phone.

“What kind of drink was that?” Tina asked.

“The damn thing had fire floating on top of it. I should have known better,” I said.

“Well, thank God he didn’t try anything. He probably would have killed your ass,” Tina said.

“No bullshit,” I agreed. “I still can’t figure out how I managed to put on those clothes. He said I went into the bathroom and everything.”

“Shit, ya ass wasn’t that drunk. You was sober enough to know you still had a dick,” Tina said, laughing.

“I guess I was.”

“So, is he your new dude?” Tina asked.

“He proved himself thus far. I just have to see what his bank account looks like,” I said.

“Well, make sure you take precautions,” Tina slid in.

“Please, Tina, not today. I don’t feel like the get-out-of-the-game speech,” I said.

“Just probe him a little. Shit, he might be gay his damn self. Then you would have a winner,” she said.

Truth be told, I’d only been talking to Michael for a week and I was starting to catch feelings for him. I even invited him to Albany for Tina’s wedding. We made plans to go to the King of Prussia Mall and buy something to wear together. This was the test, I figured. I was on my way to the mall to meet Michael with not a dime in my pocket. I would really be able to tell if he was right for me if he splurged on me even though we hadn’t had sex yet.

“Hey, baby,” I said as I kissed Michael on his cheek.

He was standing outside of Neiman Marcus as planned. He was dressed in a pair of jeans with the faded look and a black collar shirt. He had on some black Prada sneakers. He looked regular.

“Were you waiting long?” I asked as we entered the department store.

“About ten minutes,” he said.

“The traffic on 76 was jammed,” I offered as explanation.

“It’s cool,” he said as he kissed me on the top of my head.

We walked through Neiman’s trying to figure out what we wanted to wear to the wedding. We were trying to coordinate since he was going to be my date. Once we agreed on a color we went our separate ways. We decided to meet in the accessories area in an hour.

I tried on so many dresses and skirts and nothing appealed to me. Finally I found the perfect linen dress, a sexy number by Diesel. It was pastel blue and fit to my body just right. It tied behind my neck and flared from the waist down, reminding me of the famous white dress Marilyn Monroe was wearing in a popular photograph of her holding it down.

“Is that what you want?” Michael asked as we were approaching the cash register.

“Yes, it’s the only dress in here that fits me perfect,” I affirmed.

Michael pulled out his credit card. He didn’t have anything to buy for himself, so I could only assume he was planning on paying for my items. I watched him in silence. The cashier placed the dress in a garment bag and the silver Manolo Blahnik stilettos I’d also chosen in a shopping bag. When she gave him the total he handed the woman his platinum Visa. He’s the one, I thought to myself.

Michael didn’t find anything in the tons of stores we went in, so he wound up buying an off-white linen shirt and pants set from Vizuri on South Street.

We packed up our bags and were headed to New York on a Thursday evening. It was cloudy and drizzling when Michael picked me up from my house. We drove to Thirtieth Street train station to get the seven forty-five departure to Penn Station.

It was a comfortable train ride. I spent most of it cuddled up with Michael. We arrived in Manhattan at nine fifty-two. We were both starving, so immediately after checking into our hotel we ordered room service. Michael came out of his work clothes and lounged around in his boxers, a wife beater, and some sweat socks. I changed into some pajamas from the Victoria’s Secret sporty collection. We ate so much and were so tired that we went right to sleep without having sex. I knew that it would only be a matter of time before Michael would ask for some. I was just waiting for that time to come.

“Celess, I am so nervous. I don’t believe I’m about to give somebody the rest of my life,” Tina said in my cell phone.

Michael and I were on the road, driving to Albany. We had rented a car on Friday. Tina had called me and asked that I talk to her for the entire ride. She was in her own suite alone getting ready for her wedding ceremony.

“Celess, what if I trip down the aisle or what if the minister says my real name because I had to give up my real name for the paperwork, but I did tell him that I wanted to be called Tina, so…”

“Tina, Tina, Tina, calm down. You’re just excited. Everything is going to go just right.” I tried to settle her.

“How far away are yall?” she asked for the fiftieth time.

“We just passed a sign that said we are seven miles away,” I said.

“As soon as yall get here, come straight to my suite. I need you, girl,” Tina said.

Michael waited in the lobby while I went to Tina’s rescue. Tina was sitting in a chair looking out the window when I entered her suite.

“Celess!” she squealed, holding her arms out to hug me. Tina sounded like a little girl.

“Hey, girl,” I said, hugging her tight.

Tina stood up and walked over to the dresser. “I’m so glad you could be here for this, Celess,” she said, glancing up at me as she rummaged through the top drawer.

She retrieved a small box from the drawer and handed it to me. “Celess, I want you to have this. Even though you are not in the wedding, I want you to wear this today so we’ll both have one on.”

I took the diamond choker from the box. There was a big heart-shaped diamond dangling from it that had to be at least five carats alone. On the back of the heart it read, “Forever My Friend.” It was beautiful. I had never owned so many diamonds on one item before in my life.

“This is beautiful,” I gasped. Tears were forming in my eyes.

“Don’t start crying, ’cause you gonna make me cry and it took too long to put on this makeup,” Tina said.

It was five-thirty. The wedding was scheduled for six. I helped Tina get into her gown. She looked amazing. It was a straight, form-fitting gown that brushed her ankles. It was white, of course, with diamonds embroidered on and around the bustline and on the spaghetti straps. It was very simple but very pretty. She wore a simple slide with a diamond-covered strap across the toes and a small stiletto heel. She carried a single white rose. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and she wore a Chinese bang that was cut neatly and even just over her eyebrows. Her veil was lined with jewels that matched the ones in her dress and shoes. Everything was custom-made with real diamonds. I took plenty of pictures, touched her up, and left her alone so that I could be on my way to the ceremony.