“She hates me, Dad. She’s never going to tell me those things.”
“I said find out; I didn’t say she had to tell you. Think, son. You’re smarter than that; I know you are. Hell, you have to be. You’re my son.”
With that, he tapped him on the shoulder and headed back up the stairs, “Oh,” he said before he went into the house, “make sure you get a picture of her. I agree with your mother, if this does happen to work out, we don’t want any ugly grandchildren!” Alex huffed and got inside the car as Shaun drove away. Think outside the box; he said to himself as the vehicle moved beyond the gates. He sunk back into his seat, pondering what that meant and not having a clue how to make it happen.
Chapter 9: Benefit of the doubt
“Hello?”
“Hi.”
“Yes, may I speak with Nicole?”
“Speaking.”
“Hello, Nicole. This is Hank, Hank Lawson. Charlotte’s friend.”
“Oh, yes, Hank. I’m glad you called.”
His deep, sonorous voice made her melt as they sat on the phone with each other for hours that night. Taylor came in the room a few times asking her for things, but all she did was shake her head yes. Before the end of the night, she agreed to order Pizza, allowing him to eat ice cream all night and staying up hours past his bedtime. She was so immersed in the conversation and hypnotized by his voice that she could barely recognize what was going on around her. Taylor knew she was on the phone, but as long as he could get away with murder, he wanted her on the phone every night. They agreed to meet up a few days later at a restaurant downtown, and she could hardly wait.
Charlotte came to her house to watch Taylor for her because she had planned to be out a little later than usual. Nicole got dressed and for once, she wore something other than suits and other casual wear that she had strictly for work. “Ooh wee, girl, look at that big ole’ booty!” Charlotte said as she sat on Nicole’s bed, talking to her as she got dressed. Nicole pulled her skirt down, “Girl, do you think it’s too much?”
Charlotte grabbed a few chips out of her bag and munched down on them, “No girl, not at all. I mean, honestly, you couldn’t hide that big old thang if you wanted to!”
“Oh my goodness, shut up before you make me change again.”
“No honey, you look good, though. Umm-hmmm, if I were a dude, I would holla at you.”
She stopped and looked towards Charlotte curiously, “What?” she said, “I would. I'm just honest. You are fine, girl!”
She smiled awkwardly, “Well, thank you, I guess.”
“It’s a compliment! And you’re welcome!”
Nicole finished applying the rest of her makeup and gave herself one final look over and waited for Charlotte’s approval. “You are ready, girl. He is going to love-love-love-love you! Now hurry up! You’re going to be late!” She grabbed her purse and walked out of her room, headed to Taylor’s as he had his eyes glued to his video game. “Now, Taylor, you behave yourself, alright? You will probably be asleep when Mommy gets back.” He stood up and kissed her on the cheek, not removing his eyes from his video game, “Ok, Mama. I love you. Be careful.”
She smiled, “I will. You sure you don’t want me to stay? You know Mama doesn’t have to go if you don’t want me to.” Moments later, Charlotte interrupted her, “Girl, he is going to be fine, damn! You’re acting like you’re going away to the army or something! He will be alright, now scoot!” She huffed, leaning in to kiss her son one more time before she left.
She arrived at the restaurant just after 7 pm. The place had a live band that didn’t kick off until that time, so they wanted to wait until then so they could catch some light music while they ate. She had only heard about this place before, and she always wanted to visit, she just didn’t have anybody that could take her. She would have gone alone before she ever decided to go with someone like Michael but she wouldn’t be caught dead at this place alone, so taking him was out of the question.
She got out of her car and waited for Hank in the lobby. He sent her a text, “almost there,” it said as her heartbeat sped up inside her chest. She was excited to meet him. He had sent her a few pictures, and she could see how he favored Idris, but the pictures weren’t as clear as she would have liked them to be. Even with that, she gave him the benefit of the doubt because Charlotte vouched for him. As she patiently waited for him, the time had finally come. “I’m here,” he sent a text message as she sat in the lobby. Just then, she looked up and through the door walked a tall, chocolate handsome young man. He didn’t favor his pictures but, in fact, he looked much better than them.
Her heart felt as if it was going to jump its way up her throat and out of her mouth as she stared at him relentlessly. She stood up, noticing how much taller he was than her, even with heels on. Another plus about him that she didn’t see from the pictures. A smile that couldn’t be contained spread on her face as she reached her hand out to him. He looked down at her with a look of confusion, but she was too beautiful to ignore. “It’s good to put a face finally with the voice,” she said, doing all she could to tone down her smile but it was of no use. He smiled back, “I’m sorry, but do I know you?” Suddenly, her smile faded, “You’re not Hank Lawson?” she asked curiously. Just then, a man behind him spoke up, “No, that’s me,” he said as she released the man’s hand in front of her.
Behind him stood a man who was just about her height with a round, pudgy stomach and chubby cheeks. Her smile stiffened into one of horror as she blinked her eyes, hoping it was a dream. He walked up to her and grabbed the hand that the previous man released, “I’m Hank Lawson,” he said, confidently and it was then that she knew that this was the man that she had spoken to for the past few days. “Wow,” he said, “You are much more beautiful than what Charlotte said. Your pictures don’t do you any justice!”
The horrific smile was still plastered on her face as she searched for the words to say, “Oh, uh… why thank you,” she said, unable to locate a compliment to shoot back at him. “Shall we?” he asked, his hand leading towards the seats inside of the restaurant. She had the urge to tell him she had to run to her car and then leave and never look back, changing her number in the process but she resisted it. After all, that wouldn’t do anything but show that she was a shallow woman that was only concerned about looks, and that wasn’t the case at all, but she did feel as if she was being misled. “We shall,” she said, forcing the words out of her mouth. As they walked into the restaurant behind the host, all she could think about was how many ways she could kill Charlotte.
She decided to give him a chance, forcing the images of Idris Alba out of her mind as they conversed through the evening. He ordered Moscato and poured her glass, forcing her to engage in a “cheers” before they drank. He held up the glass, “Cheers to meeting the most beautiful woman in California, and to an even better night ahead of us.” She smiled with wide eyes, trying to decipher what he meant by the last part as they drank the wine together.
“So,” she said, “how did you meet Charlotte?”
“Charlotte? Oh, I’ve been knowing her since High School.”
She damn near spits her wine out of her mouth after she took another swallow, “High School?” she asked curiously.
“Yes. Actually, that was the last time I’ve seen her. I gave her a call to let her know I was back in town, you know? And I told her I was looking for someone to take out and she mentioned you.”
“High School?”
“Yes.”
“She hasn’t seen you since High School?”
He laughed, “Yes. Is that a surprise?
“Slightly. I mean, the way she spoke about you made me believe that you two were good friends.”
“Oh, we were. We were very good friends in High School. Best of friends. This is what I used to look like back then.”
From that point on, all he did was reminisce about his former days and make excuses as to why he didn’t look like he used to. From what he told h
er, he was an all-city running back from his sophomore year to his senior year, and the only reason he didn’t go pro is that he had surgery on his ACL, and he couldn’t return to form. He showed her a plethora of photos in his phone, pictures of pictures he had taken from a photo album of his senior year in High School. “See, this is what I used to look like,” he said as he proudly showed her his pictures from over ten years ago.
She could hardly stomach anymore when he got to the pictures of his junior and senior prom. “You know what,” she said abruptly, “I need to go to the restroom. I’ll be back, alright?” She got up, taking her purse with her. She was happy that she didn’t bring a coat because then, what she was about to do would have been too obvious.
Despite his appearance, the date was actually decent until the reminiscing of his past became overbearing. In the bathroom, she stood looking into the mirror, shaking her head. Part of her felt bad that she was preparing to walk out on him, but the other part didn’t care one bit. She knew she could be cold at times, and there were times that men deserved it, but she wasn’t sure if she could stomach any more of this night.
With that, she took a deep breath and did the unthinkable. She walked back into the restaurant and sat down with him as the Jazz music played low in the background. He smiled when she sat down, “You were making me nervous,” he said, “I thought you weren’t coming back.” She smiled, taking another sip of wine and was thankful that he couldn’t read her thoughts.
“No, I wouldn’t have done that to you, even if I wanted to,” she said, placing the glass back onto the table. He could read in-between the lines, though, and he was just grateful that she didn’t walk out on him, he had felt that embarrassment time and time before. For the duration of the night, they sat and listened to the music, not saying much to each other. He enjoyed her presence, and she appreciated the fact that he stopped with the barrage of nostalgic memories. It was a night that she couldn’t wait to forget.
When she arrived home, Charlotte was sleeping on the couch the same way Michael did the times he stayed over at her house. She took a pillow and woke her up the same way, “Charlotte! Charlotte! Why did you hook me up with a man you haven’t met since,” she swung the pillow again, “High School!”
“What? What, Nicole? He still looks the same, don’t he?”
“Looks the same!?” she said, winding up the pillow and smacking her in the head once again, “He looks like he ate the man he used to be!”
Charlotte sat up, “Now, come on, Nicole! Big people need love, too! You know that!”
She hit her with the pillow a few more times as Charlotte laughed in the background, “I’m sorry, girl! I didn’t know he would have changed that much! I should have said he used to look like Idris Alba! Stop hitting me, girl, it’s starting to hurt!”
Nicole herself began to laugh as she swung the pillow down at Charlotte. She only had herself to blame; maybe she was just too anxious to fill a void and because of that, she didn’t think to question everything further. Either way, that was the last time she was going to see Hank Lawson, let alone go on another blind date. If she was going to find love, it was going to be strictly by chance and nothing else.
Chapter 10: You need patience
Monday rolled around and the work week was back in full swing again. It had been a few days since she had gotten any emails from Alex and even though she felt she was hard on him, she knew it was the right thing to do. Just when she thought he was done sending them, an email popped up as soon as she opened her browser. She looked at the sender, Alex Rawlings.
“Good Monday,
I was just hoping that you had a great weekend. Maybe one day we can talk about how it went, just as friends, you know? If not, I understand. You don’t need to reply; I just hope that your day is as beautiful as you are.
Sincerely,
Alex Rawlings.”
She smiled as she read it. It wasn’t wordy or abnormal like his emails usually were, it was straight forward and even had a touch of sweetness on the end of it. That wasn’t like him, she said to herself. It wasn’t enough to change her feelings about him, but it was enough to get her Monday started off right. On the other end of the email, Jerry stood right behind Alex. He coached him on everything he needed to say in the email. He heard what his Dad said, but he had no plans of following it because he wasn’t sure what to do himself. He took it straight to Jerry. Jerry seemed to know the things to say to women when his back was against the wall. He had turned many women around from hating him to liking him in the next moment. He said it was just his gift like he was some sort of x-man or something.
“Do you think she is going to respond?” He asked Jerry anxiously.
“I don’t know. Probably not but the thing is, don’t be pushy. She’s not the type of woman that likes those things. She wants to receive things unexpectedly.”
“Should I send her more flowers?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because if she says she doesn’t like you, flowers won’t change that. You just have to relax and-”
“Damn it, Jerry! I don’t know how to relax! Precious time is passing away, and before I know it, somebody else is going to take her from me!”
“Sheesh, Alex, bro, just calm down, alright? Women like that don’t just get taken off the dating scene that quickly. You have time; you can’t rush this. Just relax.”
Alex stood up, pacing back and forth in his office. Every time he heard his email notification go off, he ran back to his desk to check who is was sent from. His heart sunk in his chest when he saw that it wasn’t from Nicole. “Forget this, man! I’m going down there right now and-” Jerry grabbed him, “and what? Piss her off? You’ve gotta trust me on this one, Alex! C’mon, man, just trust me!”
Alex plopped back down into his chair and clenched the stress ball in his hand tightly until his hand turned red. He couldn’t wait. Waiting was something that he never had to do, and he didn’t understand why he had to do it now. Whenever he saw something or someone that he wanted, he went for it and waiting was never a part of the plan. “Now look,” Jerry said, “do I have to stand guard by your door all day to make sure you don’t go down to her office and make a fool of yourself?” He folded his arms across his chest,
“No. You don’t.”
“That’s my man,” he said as he turned to walk out of the office. “Oh, before I go,” he said, “have you heard back from Currie Anderson? You know, I would love to be able to lead him to the promise land and get him a good contract.”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, I did.”
Jerry’s eyes lit up as he spun around and stood right in front of Alex’s desk.
“So, what’s going on? Are you going to pass him to me? That would really help me out, Alex.”
Alex tossed his stress ball into the air with a conniving smile stretched across his face, “I will give him to you.”
“You will?!”
“On one condition. You help me get a date with Nicole.”
“What?” Jerry said, “That impossi-” he stopped himself as Alex peered back at him, “That’s impossible not to make happen, man! I got it! Yup, get you a date with Nicole, consider it done!”
“That’s good to hear! As soon as we go out, you can consider him yours.”
“My man!” Jerry said with a smile glued to his face, “you won’t regret it!”
Jerry walked out of his office and closed the door behind him and immediately, he began to worry, “how in the hell am I going to get this man a date with Nicole!? She fucking hates him, and I know it!” he said as the worry in his eyes began to seep out. He looked around for a few moments before darting down the hallway. He went straight to Charlotte’s room on the 6th floor of the building. He knocked on the door impatiently for a few seconds before she flung the door open, “Fool! What is your problem knocking on my door like that?!”
He rushed past her and went inside her office, “Look, I need help, Charlotte! This
is life or death!”
She sat down in her chair, “Well, what is it? I don’t have all day to be foolin’ around with you, Jerry!”
He paced back and forth in her office, “I need some information about Nicole.”
‘Boy, sit down, you’re making me nervous,” she said, “Information like what?”
He finally took a seat, “Like, stuff she likes, you know? Food, music, cars, teddy bears, anything! Please, I’m begging you!”
“What is all this for, Jerry?”
“I just need to know it, ok? It’s for… research. Yeah, the company is conducting research on things that we can ummm…. Give female athletes for them to choose our agency over others.”
“Liar.”
“What?”
“Liar.”
“I am not lying!”
“You are lying through your crooked teeth, Jerry! Now, tell me why and maybe I will tell you what you want to know!”
“Fine! It’s for Alex! He wants to go out with Nicole, and he said if I get him a date he will let me be Currie Anderson’s agent.”
“That boy that is going to be the top pick in the NBA draft?”
He scooted to the edge of his seat, “Yes, him. Now, will you help me or not?”
“Ohh, well if that’s the case…. NO.”
He stood up, “What!? Why not, Charlotte?!”
“Because, I just tried to hook her up with somebody and it backfired and I don’t want her getting mad at me again! You’re on your own with this one, Jerry!”
“Please Charlotte, please!”
“No and no. Sorry, Jerry. Now, will you please leave my office? I’ve got to finish this work before lunch!”
“Fine!” he said as he stormed to the door, “But next time you want my last piece of pound cake, you just remember this! Because I’m going to tell you yes and then when you reach for it, I’m going to SHOVE IT DOWN MY THROAT!”
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