The Height Of Happiness

            Sighing deeply as she drove along, all the emotions reminded Serena that the man next to her wanted to do just that. The arousal she’d felt seeing him lift boxes and get dirt under his refined fingernails swept away in the afternoon wind. When it came time for dinner, Serena hardly noticed that he was still behind her. Pulling up to her house, she looked to see he was still there in her cart’s passenger seat.

            Serena said in a matter-of-fact tone, “I never dropped you off.”

            Shaking his head, he replied, “No, you didn’t.”

            “Would you like me to do that?”

            “I could walk.”

            Looking at the house and back at him, she asked, “Do you want to just come in for dinner?”

            He smiled, “I would like that.”

            Taking off their shoes in the foyer, Edward looked around with wonder as Serena went to fix dinner. She had a pasta sauce already prepared, and she began to boil the angel hair noodles in a large stock pot as Edward disappeared and reappeared.

            “This is your home?” he asked with genuine curiosity.

            “Um, yeah. It was my grandparents. Now, it’s mine.”

            “I’m guessing this is why you won’t sell?”

            She nodded with a small smile as she stirred her pasta, saying, “You’ve guessed right.”

            He nodded back in understanding as he added, “It’s beautiful. I really like that bathroom under the stairs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen wallpaper like that.”

            “I had it custom made to match the tea set my grandmother had as a girl,” Serena explained. “You won’t see those flowers anywhere else.”

            Offering him a glass of water, it wasn’t long before their simple dinner of bolognese, garlic bread, and a simple salad was ready. They sat at the end of the long table in the dining room. Serena pulled out a bottle of port wine she loved, and they began their meal together. At first Serena didn’t know what to say, but finally Edward began to ask about her home once more.

“Did you grow up here with a bunch of siblings or cousins?” Edward asked before taking a bite of his salad.

Serena shook her head as she poured herself some more wine, “No, I was actually the only one. My grandmother had trouble getting pregnant, so they only ever had my father. My parents I guess were too busy to have more kids. I don’t know because I’ve never asked.”

“Really? Not even from your mother’s side?”

Serena shook her head as she answered, “My mother’s parents divorced when she was young, and her father died when she was a teenager. Her mother had got remarried and Mom got a baby sister. They both passed on when I was young, so all that is left is my Aunt and her family. She’s married with a son and daughter and some step-sons. We see them maybe two or three times a year at the very best. I was never close with the guys, but I do love my cousin Rebecca. I know people expect southern black families to be big, but not us. My grandmother and mother both had some… issues with pregnancies. The medicine wasn’t there for Grandma, and it was just a little too late for my mother. I was kind of a last minute surprise for them.”

He smiled, “My mother never married, and she tried to keep me from the drama that came with my father’s passing. In that way, I get what you mean. It seems a shame though. A home like this deserves a big chaotic family filling it up and taking up all its space. It’s the kind of place that should be bursting at the seams.”

Serena stabbed her fork into a piece of lettuce as her mind turned his words over and over in her head before she replied, “I agree.”

“Or at the very least you can get a bunch of animals to run around the house.”

Serena laughed, “I’m not sure Charlemagne would appreciate a threat to his throne.”

“It’s understandable with a name like Charlemagne. How did you even come about that name?”

“I saw him sitting in the shelter all covered in scruffy ginger fur, and I just thought the way he sat made him look like he wanted to be somebody. He was regal. Charlemagne was a kitten born for greatness. I had to give him a name fitting of his station, and I’d just watched a public broadcasting documentary on French kings.”

Teddy laughed, dimples forming in his cheeks as he reached for a garlic knot in the center of the table.

“Before I forget to say it,” he said pulling apart the soft buttery herbaceous bread. “I had a really good time tonight.”

“Thanks… me too.”

Serena felt her body relax as she returned his smile. His expression was so warm and open it reminded her of the man who’d made her laugh in that hotel what felt like ages before. Her heart began to thaw after the humiliation and horror that had iced it over. Serena had never asked for his surname, and she probably would have found out at some point. It seemed unfair to hold these things against him any longer. He hadn’t done anything to intentionally hurt her.

Finishing their meal, Serena new she wanted something sweet to get rid of the garlic flavor in her mouth. Taking their plates to the sink, she called out to him as she pulled out a pink box from the local bakery tucked inside her fridge.

“Would you like a piece of cake? I have this chocolate cake a local woman sent me.”

“Was it your birthday?” Edward asked as she returned with the dessert china plates and new utensils.

“That was in August actually. This was just… because? I don’t know. I ran into her when I bothered to go to church, and she wanted me to have it.”

“How nice,” Edward said warmly as he took his slice. “I don’t know if anyone has ever given me a cake just because.”

Serena shrugged, “I guess when you can buy and sell whole national bakeries with your money, people don’t think you need cake.”

Laughing, Edward looked the cake over, “Cake should always be brown. I don’t want strawberry or lavender or whatever fancy thing is popular. I liked chocolate cake as a kid, and I still like it now.”