Tall's reading a book in the armchair by the window when Amelie and I knock on the open door.

"Your weekly delivery is here." Amelie lifts the brown paper bag with the éclair.

Tall smiles at Amelie and raises his eyebrows at me.

"Ben? Didn't expect you today." Tall takes Amelie's offering, opens it up and sniffs it. "Mmm. It smells divine, as always. Thank you, my dear."

Amelie kisses the wrinkles on Tall's cheek and sits down on the chair next to him. "Had to fight Ben over it. I won but you'll have to go walk outside with us today. For thirty minutes."

She won the argument around the dessert but agreed to Tall's new exercise goals. This might be a big difference this time around. We argue. We didn't use to. Last time I gave into her requests, because I wanted her too much. One thing the people I dated over the years taught me is that compromise and not standing up for yourself are not the same thing. Compromise requires both parties to meet in the middle. Or middle-adjacent. If one gets the upper hand all the time—it's not.

"That's elder abuse." Tall's smile grows wider and I know he's joking. "Thirty-minute walks are not a requirement for my release from this institution."

"No one said it was. It's the payment for the dessert." She reaches and mimes taking the eclair back. "Give it back or be ready to walk."

"So you are here to monitor that I don't eat the sugar without exercising?" Tall looks at me and takes his first bite of the pastry.

"I gave Amelie a lift."

"Oh." He wipes a drop of cream off his face. "Something wrong with Mike's bike?" he asks Amelie.

She looks at me, at Tall and me again. Her forehead scrunches and she says nothing.

"Ben?" Tall furrows his brow. Both of them stare at me.

"We broke your bed after we moved it to Amelie's place." I don't add the exact circumstance that happened, but only because Amelie asked me to tell no one how the bed came to be in the state it is. "I offered her to stay at my place. We had breakfast at 'Maison Parisienne', got your eclair there, had an argument over it in my car. I'll drop her at her place after and I'll fix the bed. I have my tools in the trunk."

"This sounds like a lot of information and not enough." Tall tilts his head, puts the half-eaten eclair on the bag on his lap, and asks Amelie. "Are you going to tell me the actual news?"

Amelie covers her face with her hands and shakes her head.

"Now, I see. Someone didn't follow my advice." Tall's back looking at me.

"I did not," I say. "I'm not sorry though. It worked out. We are together and I'm glad I didn't wait." I watch Amelie, but it's even harder to guess at her feelings about my words, when she bends down and buries the already covered by her hands face in her lap. Her hands were quite a sufficient barrier for me and Tall to not be able to guess at her reaction.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, Amelie," says Tall. I examine Amelie again. Didn't know this is what embarrassed looks like. Seems like Tall could guess at her emotions even when she covered them up.

"We're all adults here. And I won't ask you about how exactly the bed was broken. I can use my imagination," says Tall.

"Oh, my, I can't," Amelie mumbles into her knees.

"Hey." Tall puts his hand on Amelie's back and pats her. "You're fine. I'm just teasing you. We all knew it's going to end up there. The timing might be not what I would've recommended, but it's the modern times. Everyone rushes into breaking beds. I was young once and I understand more than you can imagine."

Amelie sits up and wipes off tears. The top of her cheeks is pink and I can agree with Tall. She's embarrassed.

"I will fix the bed," I tell to both of them. "I'm not sure we should use it anymore, though, even after I fix it. It's not built for two."

"Please, don't say the word bed anymore, Ben." Amelie sounds serious in her request.

"OK." I've said everything there was to discuss on this topic.

"Are you taking Amelie to Mo's event then?"

I've instructed Tall not to bring this up. "I told you I'm not going," I say.

"What event?" asks Amelie.

"Mo's invited me to an event next week. It's a celebration of his plans to open a restaurant location in Chicago. Linda persuaded him to rent out the Winter Garden in Harold Washington Library Center."

"Linda will be there?"

"She's the event coordinator for the library as well as in charge of their fundraising. She'll be running it."

"Oh. So you don't want to go because of her?" Amelie crosses her feet in front of her.

"I'm not going because I don't like crowded places with new people I don't know. I avoid them if I can."

"Isn't this a great way to meet the Chicago restaurant crowd?" Tall puts the last bite of the eclair into his mouth.

"Mo thinks so. He wants to introduce me to his people. He did not specify what that means."

"You should go then." Amelie switches her attention to Tall. "And you should go outside for that walk now. You promised."

"How about you accompany Ben to Mo's party? That might be the way to keep him grounded. I'm sure Linda can get you another invitation." Tall braces himself on the arms of his chair, and lifts up. He grabs the handles of his walker, shuffles a couple of steps to me and bends down to my ear. "Take her out. Dating from the beginning. The bed stuff happened, but it doesn't mean you don't need to court her. This event might be a good move to include her in your life again," Tall whispers.

He huffs past me to the door. Amelie gets up off the windowsill and walks over. She pauses by me and I take her hand. Holding hands is the first lesson she taught me. Holding hand with her remains one of my favorite displays of affection to do with her in public. "Would you like to go to Mo's event with me?" I run my thumb over her wrist. I can do it now and everyone can see it and know we are together. I'll be able to do it at the event as well. "If you join me, I'll go. The invitation includes a plus one."

"I'd love to be your plus one." Amelie swings our hands and moves after Tall. We don't need much time to catch up to him. "When is it?"

"Next Friday. Mo's flying in for that one evening. I'll text you the details."

***

The dress she's wearing is floor length. Her face looks airbrushed. Maybe makeup isn't such a horrible thing on Amelie's face. It's different, but it brings out the intensity of her brown eyes. The waves of her hair cover her shoulders. I touch the strands and they aren't the soft, smooth texture ran my fingers through over the weekend. "Why is your hair so hard?"

"It's the hairspray. Trying to keep the mane in check. I have an appointment to do the treatment in a week, so It'll be smooth again." She grabs a jacket and a tiny bag and points to a small duffel on the floor. "Could you please grab that one. We're staying at your place tonight, right?"

"Right." I love her waves. I prefer the waves to the sleek, straight version. But I got used to the straight version. It's her hair and whatever she decides works for me.

I lead the way and Leslie exists his room in front of me.

"Ben?" He looks behind me and sees Amelie. "Wow. You look great. That dress is ..." He raises his eyebrows and moves his head up and down. "Yeah...going to a party?"

"Yes. I look OK?" Amelie asks behind me.

"Most definitely. I approve." Leslie winks at her and steps back into his room to let us through. His eyes are all over her and I want to shield her from him. Hide her out of his view. Even if I can do it here, at the party, nothing of the sort will be possible.

Amelie comes closer, and I put my arm around her. "You look beautiful." I deliver my compliment into her hair. I am objective in my assessment.

She tucks herself under my arm. "Thanks." She put her arm around my waist. "You look"—she slides her hand in the back pocket of my pants—"good enough to eat." Her voice rings up and down the hallway.

We walk side by side and I bump into a bicycle on the wall, not hard enough for it to fall down or for it to do any damage to my shoulder.

"Happens to me all the time," says Amelie. She steadies the bike back on the hanger and rubs the speck of dirt off me. Her kiss surprises me. I don't mind another fruity gloss she leaves on my lips.

In my car she is quiet. The car creeps along the highway, but the rush hour was part of my calculations on what time to pick her up. "Mo said the drinks start at six and dinner will begin at seven. We have plenty of time."

"OK."

"Would you like to turn some music?"

"No. Thanks. I'm enjoying the quiet before the party. The last time I was at one was the New Year's party the CHÂTEAU DE BOURRON last year. I didn't care about the event, but the opportunity to go into some private rooms and ballrooms that no tour has access to was great. We had a lot of fun sneaking around."

"Did your Mom take you there?"

"Mom. No. Not her."

"One your friends?"

"An ex. He invited me. He's on the board of the organization that fundraises for the conservation efforts."

She had a boyfriend in France. I let the thought think in. I've thought about it before. Tall and Angie took it upon themselves to inform me of Amelie's life. They mentioned things in passing, pretending their conversations were not for my sake. I'd never ask them about her. Some days I was grateful for their gossip, while other day, those when I was certain I'd never see her again, the mention of her name turned my mood sour. The news didn't matter. Amelie is skiing in the Alps with her family. Amelie won a research award and a special stipend. Amelie finished her research. None of them mentioned her dating. They must've known and chose not to bring it up. Mike was the only one who would've said anything if he knew. I'll ask him.

"Ben?" Her voice is even, and I don't expect any trouble. "Nicolás. My ex. He's in Chicago now. He's a visiting professor this semester. We had lunch on Monday."

Amelie had exes before we met. Xavier was one of them. It didn't bother me then. This Nicolás was a thing of the past. They can still be friends. Linda and I are still friends. I don't expect Amelie to have anything against that.

"OK." I am OK with them being friends. "Thank you for telling me."

"You don't mind me seeing him?"

"Are you going to see him romantically? Are you getting back together with him?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's not romantic, not from my side. He's still a colleague. I wasn't sure if I should even bring it up."

"You can always bring things up with me. I told you that before. That hasn't changed. I'd much rather you are honest with me and tell me stuff even if it isn't pleasant."

"This isn't pleasant?"

I examine my feelings and where that phrase came from. Logical thinking tells me I have no objections, but there is a spot inside my gut that shows up when I'm in public, when I have to do something that I am not interested in, the one that tells me I'm not enjoying something. "Amelie, when we broke up, I wanted you to go live your best life. It was not pleasant and I didn't enjoy it, but I didn't expect you to live in a monastery."

"You didn't."

"I have seen other people too."

"I know."

"You do? Not just Linda."

"I know. I mean, I don't know all the details, but I've heard enough from Tall and Angie to put together a picture of your conquests."

"You mean failures."

"Didn't seem like that from their words."

"They are not me. And I'm not telling them everything. Most of it was more bad than good. I did learn a lot."

"Another successful experiment, then?"

"You tell me."

"What do you mean?"

"Have I improved?"

"I thought you were great."

"You see, so I got better."

"No, Ben. I didn't think you needed improvement the first time around. It was the best relationship I've ever had. And no one else has ever talked about improving themselves as a partner."

"That wasn't the overall opinion. Most, no, all the people I dated would disagree with you. Except for Linda, but her and I were not dating, and that's exactly why. The sex part got less intimidating. The dating part didn't. Even when I liked them as people, I didn't enjoy the dates. It was more of a chore, like when Mom made me do homework for a subject I didn't like, or ..."

"Cleaning your room so you could go to the movies?"

"That doesn't work for me. I loved cleaning my room, and I hated, still do, going to the movies. It would probably be the reverse, I'd go to the movies if you let me clean my room. Not so great for taking people on dates. Most dates include taking people outside."

"Like today."

"I wouldn't have gone. And you know this was not my idea."

"Tall's."

"He didn't even hide it this time. I'm thinking about this not as a date but as a work event. Tricking my mind. This is a thing I have to attend." With Amelie by my side, I should be able to get through it.

"Oh."

"Thank you for coming with me. It might be not so awful after all. And I'm already looking forward to leaving and taking you home. That's a much more appealing thought."

2.28.21

Last day of  February! Spring is coming :)

Not sure this chapter is making sense, but that's the downside of publishing my first draft out here. Please point out anything you'd change or any quesitons you have around what's going on in this chapter. 

As always, thank you for reading and for sticking with me. Looking forward to your comments. I will need them on this one. And I will make it better on edit.