After dithering way too long about what to wear, I put on a blue cap sleeved wrap dress that accentuated my waist, pairing it with low-heeled sandals that I could dance in. It was the kind of dress that could pass for the dressier side of casual and the more casual side of dressy, which is why I liked it.
Grace met me in the lobby of the restaurant. I’d never been inside AGM Tower before, and it was quite impressive. The restaurant was classy and understated, a place I could imagine taking clients for dinner or meeting someone for a first date.
Grace led me back to the private room where the group was meeting. There were about twelve people gathered around a long table. I recognized Ariel, Theo, and Maeve, but needed to be introduced to the others. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. I sat between Grace and Theo, who kept me laughing the entire dinner. He was the total opposite of his quiet and introverted husband.
The restaurant staff brought out platters of food to serve family style. We had chicken, both fried and grilled, with mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, salad, and biscuits, plus some kind of grilled tempeh dish for the vegetarians. For dessert they offered fruit salad served in hollowed out watermelon, with bowls of fresh whipped cream.
It was all delicious, and throughout the meal everyone talked and laughed, having a great time. Even though I didn’t know most of the people there, I felt welcomed and included.
“I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun,” I told Grace honestly as we walked out of the restaurant.
“You need to get out more then,” Theo joked from behind me.
He wasn’t wrong. Between my job and my social obligations with my parents, I rarely did anything that was just for me. Or fun. I couldn’t say why I continued to let my parents drag me to various dinners and events with them like I was still a teenager.
Our group headed to a VIP space in the nightclub on the second floor of AGM Tower. I’d had two glasses of wine with dinner,so I stuck with water as we watched people dance on the floor below. After a while a few of us headed downstairs, dancing in a big group, waving our arms and singing along with the music. It was freeing being out like this, not worrying about my parents or what they would say about my behavior.
From the time I was a little girl my parents had very strict rules for me. Who to be friends with. How to act in public. What to wear. What to eat. How to wear my hair. Dating women in college was my first act of rebellion. I was pretty sure my parents didn’t know I was gay – I mean, I’d never really come out and told them – and they kept trying to fix me up with men. They also felt free to comment on everything about my life even now that I was an adult. It was so annoying.
Then again, I hadn’t done as much as I could to cut the apron strings. Over time I’d learned that it was easier to go along with whatever my parents wanted. They’d wear me down eventually anyway.
But talking with Grace and her friends made me realize that I needed to stop acting like a kid. I was thirty-five years old, it was time for me to live my own life, no matter what my parents thought. I need to stand up for myself and speak my mind.
“Would you like to dance?”
I looked up to see Grace extending a hand in my direction. We’d danced as a group until we were all hot and sweaty, then Ariel and Sophie had gone home, along with a few others from the group. There were six of us left now drinking and watchingthe action on the dance floor: Theo and his husband, a friend of Maeve’s and their partner – neither of whose names I could remember right now – and me and Grace.
“Sure.”
I took her hand, and my eyes flew to Grace’s as I felt that same little jolt I felt every time we touched. She was staring at our hands like she felt it too.
“Uh oh, is this going to be a repeat of Sophie and Ariel?” Theo asked teasingly.
The man had put away an impressive amount of alcohol but still appeared to be sober as a judge.
“Shush,” Grace chided. “It’s only a dance.”
A slow song was playing, one I didn’t recognize, and as Grace put her hands on my waist and started swaying to the music, I had a bad feeling that accepting her invitation to dance had been a mistake. But then again, I was trying to put myself out there, so I put my arms around her neck and matched her movements, careful to keep a few inches of space between us.
Dancing was nice. Hypnotic. Gradually we moved a little closer, until Grace and I were pressed up against each other. I looked up into her eyes, wondering if she was feeling as drawn to me as I was to her. We moved a little closer, and for a minute, I thought she was going to kiss me.
I wanted her to.
“Ah!” I gasped in shock as someone spilled a drink down my back. “Damn it!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
The young woman behind me was obviously inebriated, her eyes unfocused and her words slurred.
“I don’t know what happened.”
Grace lifted her hand, waving to someone. In an instant, one of the security guards was next to us.
“Who are you here with?” Grace asked her.
The woman looked around in confusion. “I think they left?”
“Mark here is going to get you into a cab, okay? It’s on the house. You go right home, don’t stop anywhere and don’t talk to anyone. I think you had a little too much to drink.”
