[Aldo.]
“Well you know…” She begins.
“No. I don’t know. This is what you’ve been arguing about these last few weeks. You convinced me that everything would be alright. That we’d all be happier with the truth in the air. Now you’re backing out?”
“I’m not backing out, I’m just anxious.”
I take Dawn’s hands in mine, and we both take a large breath in and then exhale slowly.
“Everything will be fine, remember? We love each other. We’ve known each other forever. It only makes sense that we’d eventually see each other this way.
Like you said,” I cup Dawn’s jaw in my hand. “We need to look after our happiness too.”
Dawn grins. She looks unsure but ultimately agrees. She takes the keys and pops them in her purse. “I locked the car before getting out anyway.”
Sophie comes out then, holding a few drinks and passes them off to us. She encourages Dawn to drink quickly and then pulls her away to dance.
Dawn looks back at me one last time before disappearing into the throng of bodies. I stand there for a few moments, gathering my thoughts.
We are sure, aren’t we?
The night continues on. I go back in and find Andre. He’s drinking and dancing with a few of the people from work. But a few of the models from Piovere are also attending, so he’s working his moves on one girl in particular.
She’s playing like she doesn’t care, but I can already tell the two are going to end the evening together. We all meet up for a few songs and begin dancing. Our circle is happy, and joyous. There’s Andre, the model Andre is hitting on, me and Dawn, and Luca and Sophie.
We dance through a number of hits and are soon sweating. By the time the barbeque is announced and ready for serving, the break is much needed.
I think about gripping Dawn’s hand in front of Andre, thinking maybe that would be the best way to show him what we’ve become. But instead, we all line up and get our dinner for the evening. Everyone shuffles along, and soon we’re packed down near a corner, in a makeshift booth, and chomping away on pork ribs, shish kebabs, and fried potatoes.
Everyone is tipsy and happy, not bad for a forty-second birthday.
The party rolls out onto the patio, the music comes back, and soon there’s a little dance floor going. We don’t join it, but we all sit there chatting away. Everyone is in their own little world.
I’m ignoring the worms in my belly to try and break the news to Andre. Dawn looks like she’s never had any sun, and soon I can tell we’re going to psych ourselves out. It’s now or never.
“What?” Andre laughs.
The group turns.
“Oh, don’t be so silly,” the girl says. “Look at them. They have so much chemistry.”
The group now turns back to who the girl is gesturing at. It’s me and Dawn. Our eyes go wide, and the fork in my hand feels inadequate to defend myself.
“No way,” Andre says. Half joking, half watching us like a fucking hawk. “I don’t see it…”
“It’s cause you’re a man, honey,” she pats Andre’ leg. Then she taps Sophie. “They would be a cute couple, no? They just have something about them.”
Sophie smiles. “You know what, I can see it.”
“Oh no not you too,” Andre says, sipping from his drink and shaking his head. “You cupids are gonna ruin my night.”
“Honest. Look at them,” the girl insists.
Dawn has turned a shade of tomato, and I’m burning like a gas cooker. Andre thinks our embarrassment is at the attention.
“Honey,” the girl says leaning forward. “I will get around that man before I do.”
Dawn turns an even deeper shade of red and has lost all her confidence under the grinning eyes of everyone. Mouth is opening and closing like a fish.
“Uh uh uh?” Andre says, wagging a finger. “You said you would dance with me. There’s no jumping from the good ship Andre.”
“Well what’s on the table?”
Andre flinches like he’s been jabbed by a pin. “I get it. Okay, okay.” He flashes his eyebrows and Luca and Sophie grin like wildcats. “Okay, up then. We’ll dance and I’ll remind you how irresistible I am.”
They leave and the girl looks back at us, flashing a grin and making a heart with her hands.
None of us move or say anything. It stretches on until Luca and Sophie can barely contain themselves. “All you had to do was literally tell the truth,” Sophie moans.
She pulls at her hair and Luca laughs, finishing off his cocktail while shaking his head.
Dawn hides in her hands and groans. “Oh God, I just froze,” she says. “Why?”
“What a fantastic birthday,” Luca says, grinning between us. “Dinner and a show.”
I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet, but it also makes me realize how much we’re acting like kids. “We’re acting so stupid aren’t we?”
Sophie and Luca nod.
“I know, and it’s the worst,” Dawn says, the color having slowly drained from her face. She grunts and puts her food down. “That’s it. I’m gonna tell him.”
The group lunge for her.
“Not now,” Sophie says. “You’ve missed the opportunity.”
“He’s dancing with the girl. It’d be bad luck” Luca signals to the waiter for another drink. “Anyone else?”
“It’d be a perfect distraction though?” Dawn says.
But even I’m dubious and shake my head. “I think we just tell him as soon as we can.” I nod in agreement to Luca’s question for another drink.
The waiter comes over and takes the order from Luca but Dawn is still driven to leave. “But I need to redeem myself for freezing up,” she protests. “Please?” She takes my hand.
I almost give in.
But it’s Sophie and Luca who cut in. “Let him have a good night. Like you’ve said, he’s been stressed,” Sophie says.
Dawn deflates and finally sits back into the little booth seat. The waiter returns and we all accept the drinks gratefully.
“You were so red anyway,” Sophie says, a giggle following her remark. “I’m sure that put something in his head anyway.” Dawn smiles and rolls her eyes. “And you Aldo, you looked like your tongue had been burned.”
We all start laughing and as we finish the drinks and go for another round, we soon forget telling Andre. I glimpse him dancing away with the girl for the rest of the night.
Only when he signals to me that he’s leaving and not to come back to the apartment, do Dawn and I finally relax though. She leans into me and I put my arm around her.
It’s the first time we’ve been so open with our friends.
Soon Sophie has come around to our side and her and Dawn are chatting away while Luca and I talk. We soon float towards business and I learn that the next few weeks are going to be busy.
Dawn and I will barely have any time to sneak around.
If any.
And more than that, I’ll be working with Andre the whole time.
Imagine if we’d told him.