The Invitation

The sun was shining brightly through the window of the master bedroom early Monday morning as Ben and Selene got ready for the day. Selene was at the dresser selecting her jewelry, when Ben came up behind her and asked, "Are you sure you're ready to go back to the lab full-time?"

"Will you stop asking me that," Selene answered with a smile without turning around. "I'm ready. The therapist even agreed."

Ben put his arms around her waist for a hug as he kissed her cheek from behind. "I just worry, you know," he said in his defense. Then he noticed her open jewelry box and the sapphire ring he had given her all those years ago. "Why don't you wear that ring?," he asked as he pointed to it. "It matches your blue outfit." She was wearing a blue wrap-around dress with white chevron patterns.

She picked up the ring and turned around, leaning back against the dresser as he still held on to her waist. "Oh, um, I don't usually wear this I guess," she said hesitantly.

"I know you mentioned only wearing it on your birthdays since we broke up, but we're not broken up anymore," Ben quietly responded to her unspoken question of whether he remembered what she had told him. He embraced her and continued, "I think it would be nice to see it worn again, what do you think?"

Selene smiled as she hugged him back and agreed, "I think so too." She put the ring on when Ben let her go. He kissed the top of her head and said, "Let's get breakfast on the way in instead of eating here. Celebrate your return."

"Sounds great," she replied. "Let me just finish this and I'll meet you out front."

They had breakfast at a café near UniTech and then Ben walked her to the lab (surrounded by the usual security entourage, of course). The sight of them was met by whispers in the lobby but as soon as Ben would stare at any one individual or group of people, the whispers would stop, and people would go about their business as usual.

Everyone in the lab was happy to see her back to her regular schedule there and the day progressed smoothly. Ben had suggested they have lunch together but was running behind at a meeting in the conference room, so he texted Selene to meet him in his office. Elise let Selene into the office and offered her the choice of coffee or tea while she waited. She declined and when Elise left, she wasn't sure what to do alone.

She'd never been in Ben's office alone, so she decided to take a look around at the various art on the wall and books here and there. After several minutes of that, she made her way to Ben's desk and sat in his chair to see how it would feel, smiling at herself for her own silliness. As she was admiring how tidy Ben's desk was compared to her own organized clutter, she noticed what appeared to be a very ornate invitation on top of a stack of mail. Selene didn't think it would be right to look at it since it wasn't her mail, so she decided to distract herself by looking at her social media on her phone. After about five minutes of that, she couldn't take the curiosity anymore. Justifying to herself that the invitation was right on top of the mail, and anyone could see it, she picked it up. Just then Ben happened to enter and catch her.

"What caught your attention?," he asked in a teasing tone as he walked over to her.

Selene turned a particularly bright shade of red as she answered, "Sorry, I wasn't going through your mail, I promise. It was just sitting there on top."

"It's okay," Ben laughed. "I promised I wouldn't hide anything from you so don't worry about it. But how are you enjoying the captain's chair?"

As if she couldn't be any redder, Selene blushed some more and got up quickly. She had forgotten where she was seated. "Oh God," she exclaimed.

Ben laughed some more and put her out of her misery with, "I'm kidding! Sit down. It's no big deal. He came up next to her and gave her a peck on the lips. Then he took the invitation and said, "Oh this. I wasn't planning on going this year with everything that's happened."

"What do you mean?," Selene asked, looking up at him with a confused expression. "What is it?"

He threw the invitation in the trash can near his desk and replied, "It's an annual charity gala. My family goes every year."

"That sounds like fun," she said, still not understanding why he wouldn't want to go. Then she lit up, "Oh! Do you mean because your family will be there? And because of me?"

"There's that," he answered. "I don't want you to feel awkward since we haven't seen them yet. But the Drakos family will also likely be there."

"Oh," Selene stated flatly.

She became quiet and Ben said, "That's why I didn't mention it. Don't worry about it."

"But won't it be bad if you don't go? Shouldn't you represent UniTech or your family or something?," she asked.

Ben gently pulled Selene up out of the chair and into an embrace. "It's not a big deal," he replied.

"And I don't want your parents to hold this against me," Selene continued as if not hearing his response.

He lifted her chin up so she could look directly at him as he said, "I don't care what they think about us anymore. Okay?"

"Okay," she answered with a small smile.

"Now. Where do you want to eat lunch?," he asked, changing the subject.

They went out to lunch, but Selene was mostly quiet the whole time. Ben could tell she was still thinking about their conversation so halfway through the meal he asked, "Are you still thinking about the gala?"

"Sorry. I know I shouldn't care, but I do care what your parents think," Selene answered. "I think we should go."

Ben shook his head as he cautioned, "But Victor will be there too in all likelihood. I don't want to risk it. His father hasn't made an appearance over the last few years but if he does come this year, what about that?"

"I forgot about my father," Selene groaned. She took a deep breath so she could think clearly and then after a moment shrugged, "I can handle it."

"And can you handle Victor too?," Ben asked with a tone that meant he'd already made up his mind.

"With you by my side, I know I can," Selene retorted, starting to get annoyed. Her stubborn streak was coming out. "I mean, it's not like Victor can just grab me out of there, right? I'll stick to you like glue. I'll have to do that anyway since I'll have to protect my turf from the other ladies there who will be eyeing you." She crossed her arms in mock-anger but couldn't hide her smile.

That disarmed Ben and he waved his hands in defeat, "You win, you win. Fine, we'll go."

"When is it?," Selene asked.

"This Saturday night," he responded.

"Oh wow, and they just sent the invitation today? That's weird," Selene thought out loud.

Ben shook his head slightly in response, "No, there was a save-the-date sent a month ago and this came last week. I just didn't open it until today since it wasn't important." He smiled, "Or so I thought." Then he looked at Selene questioningly as he asked, "Why do you want to go so badly by the way?"

Selene stopped to consider the question with a "Hmm" and then replied, "It's not that I really want to go but I think it seems like an important social occasion for you and you shouldn't miss it. There will probably be all the big wigs in business there, right? If you don't go, it will look weird, and you might miss some opportunities and I don't want that to be because of me."

After giving her a reassuring rook, Ben said, "I told you it would not be a big deal to miss it and it won't. I get invited to these types of things a lot and don't go."

"But you said you do go to this one and so does your family," Selene countered. "We're going and that's that." She gave him a mock-stern look as she pointed her fork at him. Then she put her fork down and smiled, "It will be fun."

"Yes, Professor," Ben smiled back.