After All by Lynn Emery

eyes told a very different
story.
     
    ***
     
    “ That shade of blue is
perfect on you.”Anthony gave her an admiring once over.
    Michelle blushed, and then felt like a
silly teenager for it. Her embarrassment was made even more acute
because of the two hours she had spent the night before deciding
what outfit to wear. After much agonizing between her dark red suit
and the royal blue dress, the dress won. It made her hips look
smaller she had decided after eyeing herself in the full length
mirror in her bedroom for the fifth time. She had agreed to meet
him, unsure that she was ready for him to pick her up. That was too
much like a date for her comfort.
    “ I'm really glad you said
yes, to lunch.”Anthony sat forward.” I've been wanting to tell you
how great I think it is to see you on television. I knew you'd make
it though.”
    “ What about you? Your own
business. From what I hear, you're building a reputation for some
of the best work around in the construction business. At least, to
hear Shantae bragging on Cedric.”
    “ We've done better than even
we expected. But it's been a lot of long hours and putting most of
the profits back into the business.”Anthony fidgeted with his
napkin.”I wanted to call you when I first got back, but I... wasn't
sure what to say.”
    “ We didn't part on very good
terms,” Michelle said awkwardly.
    Gazing at his face, Michelle did not
want to say the
    reason they had parted so bitterly.
Though she had been fighting all the old feelings, successfully as
long as they did not meet face to face, seeing him brought them
vividly alive. A fact that thrilled and frightened her. For weeks
now she had tried to revive the animosity that had filled her six
years ago in an effort quell her attraction to him. Yet she could
not deny being with Anthony again felt good, even though they were
surrounded by people.
    “ Michelle, I didn't do a
very good job back then of explaining myself or showing you how I
felt. I can only plead stupidity, and immaturity. It was a rough
time for you. I should have been more sensitive.”Anthony still did
not look up.
    “ For both of us, I suppose.
Your Uncle Ike and my dad, two men very important to us, clashed in
a big way. It was natural that we'd each defend family.”Michelle
lifted her shoulders slightly.
    “ I don't agree with
everything Uncle Ike does, but he saved my life. When my dad walked
out on mama and me, we both went through some bad changes. Mama
struggled to make a living. We had our electricity cut off more
than once.”
    “ Oh, Anthony, I never
realized it was that bad.”Michelle felt a small shock.
    Anthony's mama, Lizabeth, had always
seemed in good spirits. Sure their house did not look as well kept
as the others in their middle-class neighborhood, but it had never
occurred to her they had been on the edge of being destitute.
Michelle now thought of herself as a having been a self-involved,
insensitive teenager not to have understood what should have been
so plain if only she had been paying attention.
    “ And she had her hands full
trying to keep me in line. I was heading for trouble when Uncle Ike
stepped in. Some of the guys I used to run with are in prison now,
one on death row.”
    “ I know. It must be horrible
losing friends.”Michelle was moved he had shared something that was
obviously so painful.
    “ Hey, I'm not looking for
sympathy or making excuses for me or him. I only wanted to explain
why I acted the way I did.”Anthony looked up, his eyes intense.”I
feel about him the way you feel about your father.”
    “ You know, this is the first
time we've talked about this without yelling at each other, me
insulting your uncle, and you storming off. Maybe we've both grown
up,” Michelle said.
    “ Maybe so.”Anthony's face
relaxed as the troubled expression faded.
    Michelle forced her gaze away from
those eyes that held her.”Ummm... everything on the menu looks so
good it's hard to decide.
    To her relief, the waiter