thanking her driver, eva gets out of the car and steps onto the sidewalk with the help of the doorman. she adjusts her dress and thanks the man before entering the restaurant.
it's dimly lit and quiet—he probably rented it out, she thinks, walking up to the hosts podium. the lack of customers in the building and questions about who eva is here to meet, from the host confirms her earlier thoughts.
she's led towards the back of the restaurant by a young man who walks too quickly ahead of her and constantly looks over his shoulder to check to make sure she's still following him. eva manages to keep up in her stilettos easily.
"here you are," the host says, stopping in the middle of the entrance to the section where she's supposed to be.
"thank you," eva says politely before passing him and walking into the dinner. familiar and unfamiliar faces crowd her line of sight, but she's only looking for one that belongs to her soon to be sister in law.
eva spots her current target talking amongst a small group of women and men at one end of the long table that seats thirty. anne sits with her back towards the door which allows eva to quietly tip toe up behind her and scare her by dropping her hands onto her exposed shoulders. anne jumps and whips around, terror on her face, but it quickly dissolves when she sees who it is. "oh my God, you scared me!" anne says, hand over her heart.
eva gives her a playful smile and anne stands up and engulfs her in a hug. "sorry, babe. it was a perfect opportunity," she says, laughing.
"whatever. i'm just glad you're here—joe has no idea," she says in her brazilian accent. eva nods and steps back to examine the set up. there's fancy fairy lights strung around the rented space to further illuminate the dark space. golden balloons of different designs float in the air. a giant '21' balloon—for his number— sits directly by the entrance that she didn't catch until now.
"everything looks great. thanks for helping me," eva says, smiling at anne. anne waves her off in a no big deal fashion and pulls out a chair for the woman standing in front of her.
"of course. he's gonna be so excited that you're here," eva smiles to herself as she takes her seat. the dinner was for her cousin, joel embiid, of the sixers. she hasn't been able to see him in two years because of their schedules, and last year he won so many basketball accolades and she felt guilty for being unable to celebrate with him. she planned this surprise dinner with the help of his fiancé, anne, in hopes that they could celebrate again, but together.
eva involves herself in the conversations around her, introducing herself to the unknown faces and catching up with everyone she knows. a majority of his teammates are here, but she barely even knows them—just recognizes them from the TV and instagram.
"there he is—finally," joel's teammate, matisse, says. the whole table turns around, expecting it to be the man of the hour, but instead they're met with a tall, lightskin man who looks around sheepishly.
"am i late?" he asks no one in particular. he walks over to anne in a few quick strides, and eva gets a better look at him. his hair is mid length in a cut similar to an afro but not quite, and his beard is well kept and lined up nicely. his eyes are soft and angular, and eva decides that he's cute. she also recognizes him to be ben simmons.
"no, not at all. joel isn't even here," anne says, standing to greet him. they share a quick side hug, and eva can't keep her eyes off of him. his tall figure towers over anne and makes everything in the room look twice as big.
"oh. well thanks for having me," he says politely, his eyes shifting to the left and meeting eyes curious stare. she quickly looks away and makes herself extremely interested in her water.
