26
E lion drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he contemplated for the fourth time if he should be there.
He glanced at the flowers in his passenger seat and decided he’d stalled long enough.
He could have called, but he wanted to see Olani in person, which had him pulling up to her place of business.
Showing up at her house uninvited hadn’t seemed the best idea, and he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
He grabbed the flowers and exited his vehicle.
“Hello, can I help you?” the receptionist asked when he walked in.
“I’m here to see Olani.”
“Give me a moment.”
She picked up the phone and called into Olani’s office. When she hung up, she gave him the okay to see her. He thanked her and headed to the office. Her office door was closed, and he knocked. He only had to wait a few seconds before the door opened.
“Elion,” she stated in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you. Can I come in?” She stepped aside, gesturing for him to enter, and closed the door behind him. “I brought these for you,” he stated, holding out two dozen roses.
She hesitated momentarily before taking them from him with a soft, “Thank you.”
“I’d like to talk if you’re up for it.”
Olani walked around the desk, placing the flowers on top. “I tried to do that over the past week. You didn’t seem receptive to it if my ignored calls and texts are anything to go by.”
Okay, he deserved that. He could have responded to one of her texts to let her know he needed time, but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have said something else and started the conversation all over again.
“I needed time to think.”
“And now you’re done thinking,” she stated, taking a seat. “I guess that’s good for you.”
“Olani, you can’t blame me for how I responded, but I’d like to discuss it. I thought we could have dinner at Shaw’s vineyard tonight.”
“What time?” she asked after a beat of silence.
“Does eight work for you?”
“I’ll meet you there.”
Elion would have preferred to pick her up, but he wouldn’t push his luck. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He exited the office, saying goodbye to the receptionist as he passed her.
Once in his car, he headed towards his house.
He had six hours before he was to meet Olani that night.
He was mentally prepared to continue their previous conversation.
What he was still unsure of was if he was emotionally ready for it not to go in his favor.
E lion showed up at the vineyard half an hour early.
He wanted to ensure everything was set up and that the atmosphere wouldn’t seem stifling for their conversation, whichever way it went.
Since the vineyard would be open until ten, Shaw had a private table inside the vineyard to give them privacy away from everyone else.
The final vineyard tour was ending when he arrived, and he knew the string lights would be more than enough to illuminate the area.
He returned to the entrance to wait on Olani, one of the servers locked the vineyard entry behind him. He hadn’t been waiting long when he saw her car pull into the parking lot. He walked over, opening the door for her.
When she stepped out, he couldn’t help but take her in.
She was punishing him. It was the only thing he could think of.
Her dress wasn’t provocative, but it hugged her in all the right places, accentuating those curves he loved so much.
She always looked beautiful, and Elion realized he’d gone too long without seeing her.
It seemed he’d helped in punishing himself.
“You look enticingly beautiful,” he complimented.
“Thank you.”
He gestured for her to go first, and he refrained from placing his hand on the small of her back. It’d been a while since they were out with one another, and there’d been this much space between them or where he hadn’t been touching her in some capacity.
They were let into the vineyard, the gate closing behind them, and he took the lead.
Their table wasn’t too far in, but the distance would drown out the noise of those in attendance and give them the needed privacy.
Elion knew they could have had the conversation at either of their houses, but doing it initially in public seemed like a better idea.
It would be easier for either of them to leave if they didn’t like the direction of the conversation.
He pulled her chair out before taking his own.
He picked up the bottle of wine chilling in the bucket and poured each a glass as they waited for their food.
There was no need for menus since he’d asked Shaw to serve them the same meal they had the first time they’d visited.
He wasn’t sure if it was for nostalgia or if he wanted it in case he had to soften her up.
“You wanted to talk,” Olani stated after a few seconds of silence.
It seemed she didn’t want to waste time getting to the point. “I should start by apologizing for walking out the way I did. Had I stayed, maybe we would have been able to talk it out then and come to an understanding.”
“Or if you’d bothered to respond to my texts or answer my calls.”
Elion raised a brow at her as she took a drink of her wine.
He thought it was obvious why he hadn’t done those things.
“If I had, are you sure we would have had this conversation? Whichever call I answered, the text I responded to could have been the last time we spoke. I wasn’t at a place where I would have been able to keep my emotions out of it. ”
He could admit that much. Had he taken any of her calls, he likely would have said something he regretted because he would have been speaking from a place of hurt. He didn’t want that. So, he’d taken the time to think, weigh the scenario, and see how he’d feel if the shoe was on the other foot.
“What I did wasn’t any different from if we’d matched on a different dating site or hired a matchmaker. I understand you were upset about it, but were you really that mad?”
He shook his head. “You don’t get it. I was never mad, Olani.
I was hurt that you thought you needed to lie to me.
I could understand not telling me on our first date, but what reason did you have for not telling me after that?
” She was quiet momentarily as she thought, and Elion took the question in a different direction.
“Was I the only person you were dating?”
He could see the exact moment she took offense to his question. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m not trying to say anything; I’m proving a point. Was I?”
“Yes.”
“When you made that decision, you could have told me because you’d committed yourself to me in this process. You liked me enough to put all your eggs in my basket. You could have told me then.”
“I could have, but you said it yourself. I’d bet all my chips on you. What would I have gained from telling you and having you walk away?”
“I wouldn’t have walked away.”
“But you did,” Olani protested.
“Did I? Because I’m sitting right here.” Yes, he’d left, but he told her he needed to think.
“ Was I the only person you were dating? Sounds like past tense to me.”
Elion refrained from answering as he saw their server approaching over her shoulder. They placed the food on the table before them and removed the covers before leaving them again. Silence sat between them, and he had a thought, a different way he wanted to approach this.
“We should eat, then I want to take you somewhere else to finish this conversation.”
He wasn’t sure she’d agree, but he’d do what was necessary to get her to.
W hy had she agreed to go somewhere else to continue their conversation?
Better yet, why had she not turned around when she realized where he was leading her?
Since they’d both driven to Shaw’s vineyard, she’d followed him to their next destination.
She’d only been there once, but she’d known he was leading her to his house the moment they’d turned onto the street.
“This man has some nerve,” she mumbled to herself as she watched him get out of his vehicle.
Olani was still contemplating whether she wanted to back out of the driveway and go home when he walked to her door. She paused briefly before letting the window down.
“What am I doing here?”
“I want to show you something.”
“I’ve seen your bedroom. I don’t plan on seeing it again,” she responded, glaring.
“Then it’s a good thing that isn’t what I’m trying to show you,” Elion countered. “Ten minutes. That's all I’m asking for.”
She rolled her window up, turned the car off, and stepped out. “Ten minutes.”
Olani followed him to the front door and then inside.
He turned on the light in the living room, put his keys on the hook by the door, and continued deeper into the house.
She followed him, and they stopped in front of a set of double doors.
He flipped the switch outside the doors before opening them.
She looked around as she stepped inside his studio.
Sculptures lined the room. Larger ones standing against the walls, smaller ones on the abundance of shelves housed in the large room.
There was a drawing table and a large covered piece in what she assumed was his designated work space.
On the far wall sat nine more covered pieces that were smaller, around three feet tall, she would guess.
Olani approached the shelves closest to her and took in the sculptures that occupied them.
She was at a loss for words; she’d only ever seen sculptures that unique and beautiful in a modern art museum.
She’d assumed from the way he spoke about his craft, the amount of work he put into it, that he was good, but she hadn’t known to what extent. His pieces were museum-worthy.
He allowed her to look around the room uninterrupted, but she was aware of his eyes on her the entire time. She moved from one shelf to another, taking in all the unique pieces.
“Are those your exhibit pieces?” she asked him, nodding to the covered ones.
“They are,” he responded, moving from where he’d been stationed, watching her. “No one’s seen them yet,” he added as he walked over to the first one and removed the covering.
It didn’t take Olani but a second, and her eyes widened. “Is that…” she trailed off.
“A pottery table with an owl mug, yes,” he finished for her before uncovering the other five.
Olani wasn’t sure of what to say as she took in the beautiful pieces.
From an outside perspective, one would ask how the sculptures in front of her went together and why he’d put them in one collection, but to her, it was apparent.
The pottery table with an owl mug on top, the zip lining couple, the wine bottle with a vineyard on the label, the drone, the dancing couple, the lovebirds, the panther, the castle, and the boat. They were all dates they’d gone on.
She hadn’t realized he’d uncovered the largest one until he placed his hand on her waist and turned her to look at it.
“Those are for the exhibit, but this one is mine. I started it before we left. I finished it a few days ago.”
Whatever deity that had been on her side, helping her keep her emotions in check, left her, and Olani found herself crying.
He’d sculpted her as a ballerina. The skirt flared as if she was mid-twirl in a pirouette position. The natural hair framed a face that looked exactly like hers. She opened her mouth but couldn’t form words. She swallowed and tried again.
“How did you…” She didn’t have to finish for him to understand what she was asking.
Elion stepped in front of her, taking her face in his hands.
He wiped her tears away with his thumbs.
“I’ve memorized every dip, curve, and groove.
Every beautiful line that forms you, everything that you are.
I could sculpt you with my eyes closed and find you in a crowd of people while wearing a blindfold by breathing your air. ”
She had to fight back the tears that wanted to spill again from his words, and while hers seemed to fail her, he continued.
“There isn’t another person on this planet that I can do that with, that I want to do that with.
I asked if I was the only person you were dating then because I know I’m the only one you’re dating now and will be the only one for the rest of our lives.
” He took a step back and held a box up between them.
“This isn’t what you wanted, but it is a promise that it’s where I want us to go. ”
He opened the box, and her fighting her tears a moment ago was rendered useless. Inside sat a ring with a platinum band, an infinity diamond design across the top, and a larger diamond sitting in the middle.
“What I want is you,” Olani replied, and the reason they hadn’t been speaking was inconsequential.
“You’ve got me,” he assured, slipping the ring on her finger and placing the box aside. He took her face in his hands again. “Ask me to tell you something you don’t know about me.”
She furrowed her brow. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
“I am,” he started, kissing the tears on her left cheek away, “unconditionally, unapologetically,” he paused to kiss the tears on her right cheek. “In love with you.”
His lips covered hers, and she forgot how to breathe as her heartbeat kicked into overdrive. He kissed her slowly as if he needed to show her with actions what he’d just told her with words, and Olani melted into it.
“I love you too,” she breathed softly against his lips as he pulled away. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and his hands dropped to her waist. “And I lied before. I want to see your bedroom again.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever told you no,” Elion responded, his arms wrapping around her waist. “And I’m not going to start now.”
He picked her up, and she peppered kisses along his neck as he carried her to his bedroom. They had some making up to do, and if they still needed to talk after that, then fine, but at the moment, she wanted to let their bodies speak for them.