62. The invitation 2

I recognized her right away, thanks to their wedding photos which were plastered all over social media. I remained flabbergasted at the door with the bottle of wine I brought as a gift unable to move or say a word, who knew that I would meet Walters's wife in such a manner? She was half naked in front of me, "Uhm...I-", I stuttered not knowing what to say. 

She smiled broadly, "Oh my God, you must be Thandie!" her high-pitched voice was enough to snap me back to my shameful reality. 

Her energy level was that of a child after eating too much sugar, she pulled me into the apartment with unmatched excitement, "Walter has told me so much about you, please wait here while I get dressed..", without waiting for my response she disappeared to the main bedroom. I found my seat at the kitchen counter and began running my eyes around the apartment but there was no sign of Walter.

Within a few minutes, she came back dressed in a sexy short red dress revealing her long smooth legs while her bob black wavy hair revealed her thin neck, she looked like a model for sure, pretty much like Rachel. I found myself thinking, 'Walter does have good taste in women'.

She headed straight to the liquor cabinet, took out two glasses, and began mixing two martinis. For a person who just met the woman who was sleeping with her husband, she appeared very calm and friendly, her face wore one of the most inviting smiles I have ever seen, still with the same excitement, "Geez! Thandie, I didn't think I would meet you so soon...".

I was still utterly dumbfounded by this whole situation, I was not prepared to meet her, and I felt greatly ashamed to show up in front of her. I was greatly disappointed in Walter for putting me in such a shameful position, unable to respond, I averted my attention from her to the corners of the apartment hoping to lay eyes on the man of the moment, I sure had a lot to unload. Seeing my lack of attention, she paused for a moment, and pushed a glass of martini to me, "You must be looking for Walter...huh?"

'Well, he was the person who invited me, it was only fair that I got to thank him in person', that was my response in my head, but this was his wife, the lady of the house, she deserved some form of respect, I took a sip of the martini," No, I am just admiring the apartment -"

Seeing straight through my bullshit, she gave a soft laugh, "Pssh, don't lie, I know you have been in here before", she took a sip and finally sat opposite me, "I know because the first room your eyes jumped to was the bedroom, and if you have never been in here, you would have probably looked at that room first.", she said pointing the dressing room, For a goofy person, she sure was observant. She took another sip, "2. You would have been taken away by this decor but you looked unfazed and lastly, Walter told me, there are no secrets between us-". She was cut short by the opening door, "Speak of the devil, he's here". She grinned as she waved at him.

Walter froze at the door holding a bag of groceries, he wore the same look I had when the door opened for me as if he'd seen a ghost but he quickly composed himself. Without making eye contact with me, he headed straight for the kitchen counter where Angela was sitting and with a stern voice, "Angela, aren't you supposed to be in Willowood? With your special friend-", he tore a paper towel to wipe the drops of martinis that were spilled on the counter, "How many times did I tell you to never step foot in my kitchen, and to give me a heads up when are coming over..."

Her face darkened, "Geez, I am leaving, I came because my parents suddenly showed up and wanted to have breakfast with us tomorrow, besides, I needed to take a shower-", 

"You could've called!", he said sounding furious

"I did, but it went to voicemail", he took out his phone, which was now dark, "Dammit, my battery died", he spat

"it's okay, I-",

"Wait, did you say shower?", he sighed, "Did you use my sh-"

Looking guilty, she gulped down her martini, then smiled awkwardly as she checked her phone, "Hey, look at that, I have to leave now, my ride has arrived. See you tomorrow at the apartment-", 

She grabbed her shoes and ran towards the door leaving Walter looking visibly upset, I had never seen him that irritated before, that scene was so funny that it made me chuckle, she winked at me before shutting the door behind her. Their interaction was more of a sibling relationship, even Walter scolded her like his naughty annoying younger sister and she shocked me more by leaving me alone with him, her husband, 'Did she not care at all about him?'. After my experience with Khalinda, I made it a point to tread carefully when dealing with any woman involved with him, they might appear nice but turn out to be deranged and so I trusted nothing, my guard was up.

Feeling awkward, I decided to leave, I finished my glass, then stood up, "Uhm, It seems I have to leav-"

"I am sorry Thandie, I didn't know she'd be here", he suddenly apologized.

Initially, I was angry, but as his friend, I knew getting mad over his wife being at his place was no longer my place nor was it reasonable, besides, if I was determined to make our friendship work, I had to get used to seeing her.

I sighed, and with a soft tone, "Well, it was bound to happen eventually. She's your wife and I am just your friend, we are both in your life; sooner or later, our paths were going to cross. Anyway, I see your friends are not coming, and it's passed 6:00 pm- I will get going..."

His voice stopped me in my tracks, "Actually- I invited you early to help me cook and get the place together, they will be arriving between 8 and 9, which gives us about two hours to get everything ready.", 

I chuckled in disbelief, "What? You want me to cook?"

"Yes, please.", he pleaded quietly.

"Why me?"

His eyes lit up, "Because as of yesterday, you became my best friend"

I laughed and gave in to his plea. I took off my coat, and he passed me the apron, he made me a second glass of martini because I didn't want to mix my alcohol besides knowing the effect gin had on me, I had no choice but to stick with it. After the second glass, I could feel my knees starting to wobble a bit, thankfully we were just about done setting everything up. Based on the table setup, he was hosting 8 people, and the first two had already arrived. Unable to shake the fast-approaching effects of the gin, I staggered to his bedroom, "Walter, I am going to lie down for a few minutes, please wake me up when everyone has arrived.", he nodded with a gentle smile.

In my deep sleep, I felt a gentle shake accompanied by a soft voice, "Thandie-Thandie everyone has arrived".

Believing it was still a dream, I smiled and mumbled, "Hmm, Walter, you have to stop coming to my dreams, we are friends now".