Griffin arrived in the afternoon. He was staying at a hotel in Midtown. When I offered to get him a room closer to me and the restaurant, he responded, “I will leave this Bohemian paradise you call your neighborhood to you. But I have an extra bed in case you want to crash.” Griffin had logged too much time now in Buckhead, and it showed. Griffin’s arrival made me nervous. More nervous than I wanted to admit. I needed him to be blown away by the restaurant. I wanted him to see me. See my talent. But I also wondered, had we moved on? Really moved on? I mean, did Griffin expect me to stay with him tonight? Did I want to stay with him? And what about Elliott?

Griffin picked me up, and we rode to the restaurant together. Our conversation mainly centered on the restaurant and how Henry was relishing his “second act.” Again, I was grateful that the three of us had survived intact.

When we arrived at the restaurant, it was already in motion. The sound of happiness surrounded us. People everywhere were having a great time. I saw Elle and Reggie and their boyfriends, Robbie and David. A large and glorious arrangement of flowers greeted us as we approached the hostess stand. I learned they were sent by Griffin. I turned to him and smiled and noticed that they matched the walls. I was pleased. He stood at the mouth of the restaurant and just observed. Elliott came up and introductions were made.

“Thanks for the flowers, mate. What do you think about my restaurant?” Elliott was eager to hear Griffin’s opinion. So was I.

“I think it looks great, man. You can really tell Bailey brought her A game. Every little detail. That is going to make this place really sizzle. You got all the details right, Bae.” He turned to me and mouthed “fantastic.”

“We know it looks good, but what do you think about the food?” Elliott shot back defensively. More defensively than he should have been.

“Haven’t gotten that far, man.”

“I reserved a table. It’s … ” But I couldn’t find the open table I had reserved.

“My mistake,” Elliott interjected. “I thought you had reserved that for us, Bailey. I gave it to someone else.”

Something caught my eye. I looked down where the menus were stacked, and I saw a small arrangement of flowers—just what Elliott had given me on New Year’s Eve. It was sweet. I smiled. Griffin’s large arrangement made this one look paltry. And I instantly knew the real reason Elliott had taken it off the reserved table. He did not want to be dwarfed by Griffin’s largesse.

“No worries. I can just eat at the bar. Bailey has told me what an outstanding chef you are, Elliott. I’m eager to sample the menu. Anything you would highly recommend?”

“Everything. Anything. Anything you want. It’s on me.”

I hated that Griffin was going to have to squeeze between people to sit at the bar, but he was low maintenance and made his way over. I was hoping that instead of having him order off the menu, Elliott had given it some thought and was going to have things sent to Griffin so he would be astonished like I was the first time Elliott cooked for me.