Arthur Sakho

"I can't believe the tuxedo you wore in the tenth grade fits me," I said. I stood in front of Trevon's full length mirror.

"It looks good on you," Trevon said as he came up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and put his head on my shoulder. He looked fantastic in his own tux.

"Are your friends going to come tonight?" I asked. I already knew the answer, but part of me hoped that what I knew changed.

"No," he said and pulled away. "Tonight is the employee party my family hosts every year."

"So your sisters will be there," I stated. I still wasn't sure how I felt about his sisters. They weren't mean to me, but they and their fiances had a tendency to take teasing Trevon too far. At least Kylie's and Leo's puppy hadn't peed on anymore beds. They had been good about taking her out every hour so she didn't have any kind of accidents.

"Yeah," he said. "And Jasmine. You haven't met her yet. She's nice. You'll like her."

I smiled when he mentioned his cousin. He often spoke more fondly of her than of his sisters.

"We'll see my friends New Years Eve," he said, "at the downtown party."

That event sounded fun. That was going to be my January cheat day even though it was still technically the last day of December. Then I'd have to focus on my diet and dance again.

My phone beeped with a message and I quickly took it out of the tux pocket. I received a text from Gareth.

New Best Friend: How's the boyfriend's family?

Me: Good so far. His sisters are weird, but they aren't mean or anything.

New Best Friend: When's your birthday?

Me: May. Why?

New Best Friend: That's too far out. When's Trevon's birthday?

Me: February.

New Best Friend: Closer. I'm going to get him condoms for a birthday present. What size?

Me: the largest size you can find.

New Best Friend: Lucky you. Except how he uses it is more important than how large.

Me: He uses it fantastically. Wait. Why are you assuming he is the one using it and not me?

New Best Friend: You just literally said he uses it.

Me: Well, I guess you got me there. He could be on the receiving end sometimes too.

New Best Friend: If you want the condoms for you just say the word.

Me: No. Condoms for him works out for the both of us.

"What kind of weird conversation are you having?" Trevon asked as he peeked over my shoulder. "And who is 'New Best Friend'?" I pushed him away from me.

"Don't eavesdrop on my important conversation here. It's Gareth."

"Gareth? He isn't even my friend. He is Chet's and Mateo's. How did you two even exchange numbers?"

"Nevermind that," I said. "I have my ways."

The door opened and Brittany and Mark entered. "Don't you two look handsome," Brittany said.

"Thanks," I said and did a little twirl although it wasn't easy in these shoes. I still managed to make it look beautiful. I knew because I saw myself in the mirror as I was spinning.

"Grandpa wants you to come down before the employees start arriving," Brittany said. "And Jasmine is here. She wants to meet Arthur."

Trevon smiled widely. "Let's go," he said and took my hand. He practically skipped down the stairs he was that excited to introduce me to Jasmine. At the bottom of the stairs was a young woman who did resemble Trevon and his sisters. She was holding the hand of a young man. She released his hand when she saw Trevon and rushed to him.

She threw her arms around Trevon's neck and said, "Trevy. And you must be Arthur," she said as she stepped back from Trevon and looked at me. "You are handsome." And then she had her arms around my neck in a warm hug. I liked her. I hugged her back.

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"This is my boyfriend, Aiden," she said. She took a step back from me and indicated the young man.

"Nice to meet you," Aiden said and extended a hand to me. I almost took it before I realized who he really was.

"You're Vincent's brother. Your family kicked him out just for loving Chet," I said and crossed my arms over my chest. I tried to look mean, but that rarely succeeded. And the smile on Trevon's face was the one that said he found me adorable so I doubted I succeeded.

Aiden retracted his hand. Jasmine took his arm in hers and looked up at him sadly. "Yeah," he said. "That wasn't my choice. I don't like how my parents handled it."

"I don't see you protesting," I said. "March right back home and tell them how you truly feel." Trevon's smile grew wider. Aiden looked to Jasmine for help. She looked up at him worriedly and patted his arm as if to say not to worry.

"It's complicated," she said to me. "He works for them. He can't lose everything too."

"Excuses," I said. "For now, I don't like you," I said to Aiden. "That might change if you are nicer to your brother." I turned to Jasmine with my back slightly turned to Aiden dismissively. "I love you," I said to her. "You are a gem."

She smiled. "Thank you," but it sounded tentative and her eyes drifted back to her boyfriend.

Soon employees and their significant others started showing up and I was introduced to everyone from managers, to marketers, brewers, bartenders down to the cleaning staff. Everyone was dressed in their finest. For most of them that didn't mean tuxes or fancy, sparkly dresses. I knew the Carters had breweries all over the country though the one in town was the first one. I had assumed only the employees in town would show up, but there were employees from all across the country. Trevon's family treated them all equally. Even Trevon's sisters shined as they attended to their employees. Brittany and Kylie knew everyone's names whether they were from the local brewery or not. They were a lot different with them than they were with Trevon. Everyone in the family proudly introduced me as Trevon's boyfriend. A few employees looked at me strangely, but most were kind.

After the party had been underway for a few hours, Brittany and Kylie looped their arms through mine and started to pull me away from Trevon.

"Hey," Trevon tried to stop them, but Mark and Leo were quickly leading Trevon in the opposite direction.

"Don't worry," I said to him although by this point we were far enough away from each other that he couldn't hear me. His expression clearly said he was worried. They sat me on a couch and sat on either side of me.

"How much do you love our brother?" Kylie asked.

"More than I've ever loved anyone," I said. A smile crept to my lips as I watched Mark and Leo continue to guide him away.

"You are serious about your relationship?" Brittany asked. "You've only been dating a few months."

"We've spent everyday together though," I said. "It's not like we only meet up on the weekends. I am serious. I went to spend my entire life with him."

Brittany and Kylie smiled and for once those smiles didn't hold a teasing edge to them.

"So," Brittany said, "you could go somewhere else to dance instead of New York?"

"No. My dream has always been New York. Why would I go anywhere else?"

"Because Trevon's dream has always been to work for NASA," Kylie said, "and while they have multiple locations, he'll probably end up in Virginia or Washington, D.C."

"But he said he wants to see me dance in New York," I said.

The two of them exchanged a long, knowing glance. It was at that moment when Trevon broke free of Mark's and Leo's grasp and walked quickly across the room, through the crowds of people to get back to me. He took my hand and pulled me off the couch and away from his sisters.

Brittany and Kylie immediately stood.

"Sorry," Leo said as they came up. "He's stronger than us."

"It's alright," Brittany assured him. To Trevon she said, "We were just talking. We didn't say or do anything mean. We just want to find out about him."

"He might be our future brother-in-law someday," Kylie added.

I liked the sound of that.

"You don't need to grill him with questions," Trevon said firmly.

"It really was fine," I said.

"See," Brittany said.

"Hey," Mark said to Trevon, "when are you going to grill us with questions? Aren't you concerned we might emotionally hurt your sisters?"

"No," Trevon said easily. All four of them acted hurt until Trevon said, "They can stick up for themselves." They obviously liked the sounds of that. He pulled me away from them and further into the crowds.

"I just told them you said you would watch me dance in New York," I said. It wasn't a big deal.

His head swiveled back to his sisters. "What did they say?"

"Nothing. You interrupted us."

"Oh. Good."

"Is there something going on?"

"No. What do you mean?" He smiled and nodded at some of the party members as they passed by.

"I mean, you interrupted your grandfather the other day when he started to talk about this too."

Trevon's handsome eyes met mine. He didn't say anything as he looked at me. He gently caressed my cheeks. "I love you, my beautiful Art. I will do everything I can to make sure that never changes."

And how could I not smile at that. He kissed my chastely not caring that we were surrounded by his family and people he knew. Or maybe he did. Maybe he would have kissed me less chastely if we weren't around other people.

My phone chose that moment to buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out. The text was from that stranger who commented on my dance before.

I look forward to your next performance.

"It's starting to get creepy now," Trevon said as he looked over my shoulder. "We should block the number. Or do you want me to respond to them that I'm a jealous boyfriend and don't like them contacting you like this?"

"No," I said. "I'll handle it."

Me: I'm glad you like my performances, but this isn't appropriate. Please don't contact me like this again.

Trevon nodded satisfied with my answer. He swung an arm around my shoulder and whispered into my ear. "We could go up to my room and have our own little party while everyone is distracted down here."

"Let's do it," I said. He started to lead me back to the stairs, but we were effectively cut off by a too knowing Brittany and her fiance, Mark. That was how the night progressed. When we thought we had a chance to sneak away, Brittany or Kylie would show up. In the end, Trevon gave up worried that even if his sisters did give him the opportunity to go upstairs, they would walk in on us. I thought that was a high probability so I didn't argue with him.