Revengeance

Sunday, August 4th, 5:45 pm

Uncle Theo refills everyone's glasses, "Shall we move this to the living room?" he says standing. I pull one of the platters ready to help Anna in the kitchen because now I'm just uncomfortable in my skin worried Uncle Theo has something up his sleeve with inquisitions for Andre. "Meredith," he holds his arm for me to follow. A smile reaches Andres eyes when I follow along with my uncle. I sit on the sofa, Andre taking the seat next to me forgetting there's another seat further from me. Uncle Theo takes the armchair facing us. Andre hands me the wine glass I had and must've forgotten off the table. I chug it. Andre chuckles next to me while my uncle lifts an eyebrow in question. I shoot daggers at him.

"Andre, I am a man of many talents. When you find the right person, you won't know how to not let them into your heart. Believe me." He takes a sip of his wine. I sit shocked that this conversation is even happening. It's the birds and bees all over again. I'm mortified and quickly getting irritated. "See, I've dated more women than I care to admit so I know what I'm talking about. What I'd like to know from you is what your intentions are with our Meredith. She's been through hell and I refuse to allow anyone to mess with her again." He takes a deep breath, raises both eyebrows anticipating Andre's response while I want to crawl under a rock.

"Uncle Theo! Stop. Don't you think that's very inappropriate? We aren't even da-"

Andre places a hand on my thigh. Again, tingles. "Sir, I just started dating your niece," he begins while I sit speechless. We're a couple? "I would never do anything to hurt her." He drops his gaze and shakes his head. "Regardless of having you and Anna to deal with, oh and the Stanley's too, I admire Meredith and am quite taken by her. I have no plans whatsoever to make her unhappy. She's beautiful and even more a beautiful mind. I crave to hear her thoughts or a reaction to something I say," he turns his head to me and must notice my tear-filled eyes, "I promise you and more importantly Meredith that I won't hurt her." He finishes reaching for my hand squeezing it. The air grows thick. I swallow the lump that formed.

"Want me to make coffee?" Anna interrupts thankfully!

"Yeah, I'll make it," I jump up and begin preparing the pot. When I reach for mugs in the cupboard Anna gives me an apologetic smile. I nod hope she understands I'll be okay. I mean honestly, I've dealt with worse when I turned my life around. I muster the courage and set the tray with creamer, sweeteners and mugs. The fresh daisies stand up in the vase I placed them in before dinner. I fidget moving the stems around for the perfect arrangement. On a spur I place them in the middle of the tray. Once I'm done I catch Anna studying me grasping a hand towel she used to dry the dishes while Jeremy stacks dishes to be dried on the counter Anna has no intention of drying.

"J, let's take care of this later." Anna turns off the water and wipes his hands dry with the towel she was holding. "Here," Anna reaches for the tray leaning down to my ear, "Take a breath. I'm here. You're okay," she finishes pulling the tray from me. I nod and follow her into the living room. "Gentlemen, I think it's time for WTF." My best friend is amazing at changing subjects.

"WTF?" Andre asks her. I relax next to him as she explains the game. Feeling confident he knows the rules, we all reach for our cell phones.

"Ready," Anna pauses for effect, "And go!"

I quickly google animals that start with the letter B and facts. "Got one!" Jeremy yells. "A group of butterflies is called a flutter," he says proudly.

"Very well," my uncle praises. Of anyone, he knows when there's a good answer since he started this silly game with me. "Speaking of butterflies, they can see the colors red, green and yellow," he finishes. Anna's eyes go to the top corner in thought. I almost want to laugh at her. She takes this way too seriously.