Page 75 of Desire
“You’re kind of a big thing in this city,” Desire commented.
“You didn’t know, baby? Your man is the man.”
Suddenly, her sisters approached us, squealing like teenagers.
“I had no idea this was such a big event!” Dream exclaimed.
"Yes! This is dope. Thank you for inviting us, brother-in-law.” Destinee beamed.
“You’re welcome. I’m happy you were able to attend. Where are your husbands?”
“As soon as they saw it was open bar, they abandoned us,” Destinee shared.
“So far, this is nothing like I expected. First of all, there are hardly any white people here, and secondly, there’s a DJ instead of a band. It’s about to be a party y’all,” Dream said, mimicking Keith Murray.
“Dream, don’t embarrass me,” Desire jokingly warned.
“Nah, she’ll be fine. We get loose at my events. I show my donors a good time, and they return with their rich friends. It’s a win-win.”
“I see. Can we steal her for a few minutes? They have a photo booth, and I want to get pictures before the line gets too long,” Destinee requested.
“Of course. I need to shake a few hands anyway. We’re at tables one and two, right up front. I’ll meet you there when dinner starts.”
When I leaned in to kiss her lips this time, she obliged. Before walking away, I sent a smirk and wink her way. I’d barely taken two steps before I was stopped by one of my largest donors. He held me up for the next twenty minutes, limiting my availability to work the room like I wanted. After speaking to a few more people, dinner was starting.
Usually, Tammy was the host and emcee, but I made a great choice with one of my other staff members, Kenneth. He was a natural and had found himself an additional duty. For dinner, Desire and I were seated at table one with our siblings and their spouses, while my parents were at table two with Desire’s parents and some of my older family members.
On the menu was soul food because why would we serve anything else? We had fried and baked chicken, fried and baked turkey, ham, dressing, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, garlic mashed potatoes, and yams. Dessert had equally excellent choices, such as banana pudding, sweet potato pie, buttermilk pie, pound cake, and more. It was a Black person’s feast.
“Is every fundraiser like this?” Nolan, Dream’s husband, asked.
“We change up the menu and the talking points to limit redundancy, but everything else is pretty much the same.”
He shook his head as he stuffed a forkful of yams in his mouth. “Listen, if you run out of free tickets for the next one, I’d happily pay.”
“I second that,” Hudson, Destinee’s husband, agreed, holding up a glass of brown liquor.
I chuckled but was happy they were having a good time.
“Our final speaker of the evening before we let you all loose to dance the night away is none other than the best mayor Onyx City has ever had, Mayor Aziel Harris.”
A round of applause erupted as I stood and approached the stage and podium. I adjusted the microphone as the excitement died down.
“Thank you for that amazing introduction and welcome. Most of you know I’m not longwinded because words mean nothing if you’re not about action. I’m a man of action, so I won’t hold you too long. Before I get to the part when you all tune me out, I want to acknowledge my beautiful wife. Stand up, baby.”
Desire nervously stood, smiling and waving at the crowd.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I love you.” I paused while another wave of applause filled the room. “By now, everyone should know how our union began, so let me give a shout-out to Nathan and Savannah, the creators and CEOs of Arranged Hearts. If you’re looking for love and starting to lose hope, they’ll hook you up.”
For the next twenty minutes, I spoke about some things I’d accomplished since I’d been in office and a little of what I hoped to achieve if I won again. It was short, sweet, and to the point, earning me a standing ovation.
Listening to my husband address his supporters gave me so much pride. Mentally, I’d minimized his role as the mayor, but I was wrong. It was a big deal, and I needed to give credit where it was deserved.
He returned to the table as we gave him a standing ovation. Our eyes were connected from the moment after he thanked his guests until he made it back to me. When we were within arm’s length of each other, he wrapped me in his arms.
“How’d I do, baby?” he whispered after kissing my neck.
“You were amazing, baby. I’m so proud of you.”