Page 11 of Yours to Conquer

“Thanks for having me over, Mrs… I mean, Claire. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Of course, we’re so pleased to have you join us for dinner. Anthony, tell your father Emma is here,” she says. Claire is wearing a blue chambray shirtdress and sensible loafers. She could’ve escaped straight out of the television showLeave It To Beaver. She’s like an updated June Cleaver.

I look at Anthony; my eyes are pleading with him not to leave me alone. As he steps behind his mother, I watch him break out into a silent laugh.Oh… I’m going to make him pay for this.

“Anthony says that you live with him now.” She walks over and sits down beside me. “You know, in my day, you didn’t try it before you buy it. You just signed on the dotted line, and you committed for life. Society is much more forgiving today than it was years ago.”

What am I supposed to say to that?I opt to ignore her statement and move along. “How long have you and Mr. Haywood been married?” That should buy me some time.

“Let’s see... we met when I was eighteen, and we married when I was twenty. I’m fifty-eight, so that would make thirty-eight years.”

“That’s marvelous. Congratulations.”

“David is older than me by eight years. I like an older man; I assume you do as well. Isn’t my Anthony older than you?” She smiles at me, and I can see Anthony gets his smile from her. She has beautiful straight white teeth and full lips that break into a full grin.

“Yes, he’s ten years older than me.” Claire reaches under the table and brings out what looks like a photo album.

“I think an older man is good. They take a while to mature. Come closer. I want to show you, Anthony, when he was a boy.” I move in, so we are side by side. Looking over the three-inch-thick album, I realize it’s going to be a long evening. “Why don’t you look at these while I check on dinner? Can I bring you something to drink?” She rises from the sofa and walks across the room.

“I’ve got it, Mom,” Anthony says as he returns from who knowswhere. Walking a few steps behind him is his dad. He enters the living room with a glass of red wine in each hand. Anthony is the spitting image of his father; he’ll be an incredibly handsome older man. I’ll have to tell him later when we talk about his age again.

“Emma, this is my dad, David. Dad, this is my Emma.” Anthony sits beside me and passes me a glass of wine.

He called mehisEmma. I’d fall over and faint if I had panties on. I can’t risk my dress floating up, so I guess I’ll have to settle for the warm fuzzy feeling I have in my chest. His hand travels down my back and comes to rest against my bottom. His touch sends a chill up my spine.

“It’s nice to meet you, Emma. Anthony has been telling us how he’s met an extraordinary girl. All I have to say is, it’s about time.” His dad takes a seat across from me. “I see Claire has given you the album of shame. She loves to show that book off to Anthony’s girlfriends; unfortunately, he’s only brought one home before you.” Anthony gives his dad a sideways glance.

I open the book to the first page and see the cutest baby I’ve ever seen. Looking up at Anthony, he almost looks embarrassed. “You were so cute.”

“What do you meanwere?” He gives me the evil eye.

“Now you’re the most handsome man, but you were a darling baby.” I lean over and kiss his cheek. Claire enters the room and sits on the other side of me. I’m officially the center of a Haywood sandwich.

“Wasn’t he the cutest thing? We tried for four years to conceive, but nothing. I enrolled in secretarial school, and bang—I was pregnant.”

I look toward Anthony and watch as he mouths the word “oops.”

I flip through the pages and see him as a boy growing up. He was a very active kid; there are pictures of him playing soccer, baseball, and football—the photos chronicle his life. He ages every few pages. The high school pictures are so funny. “Wow, you had braces? Whatgrade were you in when this was taken?” I ask, pointing at the image on the right.

“I was in ninth grade, I think.” The picture staring back at me is a pimply-faced kid with a tin grin.

“Well, I’d have been getting ready to enter kindergarten the year after they took this.” I giggle as I try to keep a straight face. He gives me a pinch on my bottom, making me jump a little in my seat. The next page shows him in a tux. As I look at the picture, I see he had red Chucks peeking out from the bottom of his black tuxedo pants. Next to him is a pretty blonde girl. “Junior Prom?” I ask.

“Yes, and before you ask, my date’s name was Sabrina. We had a couple of dates, and that’s it.”

“I wasn’t going to ask.” I turn the page and find a picture of him with shoulder-length hair and a surfboard tucked under his arm. “Oh, my God, you were a surfer dude. Now I understand your love of the ocean.”

“He’s been in the ocean since he could swim. He used to compete in surfing competitions when he was younger. He gave that up when he gave Rose up. He’ll have to show you his collection of trophies,” Claire says.

“Rose? This is the first time I’ve heard of Rose.” I look up at Anthony with a questioning look. I watch as his body stiffens. Why does this Rose girl cause such a reaction?

“She’s no one. We dated for a while, and then we didn’t.” He tries to roll over the subject as if it never existed.

I turn to the last page and find another formal picture. This time he had purple Chucks to match his purple bowtie and cummerbund. It reminds me of the tux he wore for the opening of Ahz, only he wore nice Italian leather shoes instead. Next to him is a leggy blonde. “Looks like you had a thing for blondes.”

“That was before I found out that redheads were so much more fun. When do I get to see pictures of your prom dates?” he asks.

“Never. I didn’t go to prom.” There is a gasp throughout theroom. Everyone looks stunned that I didn’t partake in the whole prom experience.

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