Straight No Chaser- The Beginning

by Devin Nishea

  I placed my phone back into its cubby and drove home. I picked up my phone again and sent Amy the text Robert sent.

  Hey I’m so sorry I was a no show this morning, but something came up last minute. I will call you later this evening if that’s ok? I know you’re probably upset with me. I’d like to make it up to you.

  After I got home, I devoured half of my sweet treat and dozed off watching movies.

  Chapter 7

  After an exhausting day of work, I decided to treat myself to dinner. I liked this getting back to me thing. I loved just spending time with me and loving on me for once.

  “Table for 1 please, or, if I could just sit at the bar, that would be great,” I told the hostess.

  She escorted me to the bar area to be seated.

  “Here you go ma’am,” she said politely as I sat down.

  I melted into the seat as the bartender came to take my drink order.

  “Hey beautiful what ya drinking tonight?” he asked. He had the most gorgeous smile.

  “Yeah, umm, whiskey sour please, light on the ice.” I told him. As he made my drink I sat there with my eyes closed for a few seconds, just taking in the sound of the bar. There was some kind of game playing on the television—not sure which sport and, at that point, I couldn’t care less.

  The bartender brought my drink back and sat it down in front of me.

  “Are we eating tonight or just drinking?” he asked.

  “Oh man I hadn’t even looked at the menu yet, I’m sorry.” I said.

  “Oh no, take your time and I’ll be back,” he winked at me before walking away.

  This low key “play flirting” is what I needed as I smiled at him.

  After talking with the bartender I found out his name was Brad. Brad had been working at the bar for almost a year part-time to save up to buy his girlfriend an engagement ring. He told me all about their whirlwind affair of how they met to present day.

  “Here’s your dinner love, enjoy.” he said as he turned to check on the other patrons at the bar.

  This was my first time at this bar and the food was great. Not the typical food you’d expect in a bar. I had the best Duck Confit and it was cooked perfectly. This place reminded me of one of the places you would see on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network. I raved so much about the Duck, the bartender brought the chef out to meet me.

  “Thank you so much ma’am, it’s my pleasure,” he said.

  “Well, this is my first time here but it will definitely not be my last!” I assured them.

  This was honestly going to be one of my happy hour spots and I couldn’t wait to tell Amy!

  To my surprise, the chef sent out one of his specialty desserts. Although I didn’t know the name of it, it was light tasting; he sealed the deal with this chocolate decadence.

  After my exquisite meal, I dragged myself to the car for my drive home.

  Chapter 8

  I volunteered to bring pastries for my team to the morning team meeting. Of course, I was running late today. Good thing Black Bean was five minutes from work. I parked and rushed in and, yeah, of course, they were busy!

  I ordered a coffee jug for the team and their homemade treats, which are to die for. I also ordered myself a white chocolate mocha to take the edge off of the morning madness.

  While I waited for my order, I took in the busy sights of the morning. I decided at that moment I was going to slow down enough to enjoy the scenery.

  Just then, I heard someone say, “Ma’am I have your order and I’ll help you to your car.”

  “Oh, thanks so much,” I replied.

  I grabbed my mocha and he followed me out to my car. He made sure everything was secure and walked away.

  As I was getting in the car, I heard someone call my name again.

  “Hey, Xenia! Xenia, wait up!” the voice yelled.

  I turned in all directions to see who was calling me. It was Mr. Tall, Chocolate and Handsome! Mr. Isaiah. My…my…my…his smile! I could look at this man all day and not say a word. I was giggling and grinning from ear to ear like a teenaged girl.

  “Isaiah! Hey…you.” I said shyly.

  When he got to my car it was a little awkward. Should we hug? Handshake? Kiss on the cheek? Nothing? So, we opted to talk. No touching.

  “I thought this was your car when I pulled up and to my surprise, I saw you walking out of Black Bean. Do you come here often?” he asked.

  “Well, yeah maybe 3 times a week.” I replied. I had to pick up some things for a meeting I’m running late for.” I said as I looked at my watch.

  At that moment my phone rang, when I looked down I saw it was Sarah, so I answered.

  “Okay, great because as you see, I’m running late. Okay, well, I will see you guys and I still got the coffee and pastries,” I told her.

  We ended the call and I had a look of relief on my face.

  “Whew good thing the meeting was postponed. The meeting Gods were looking out for me today,” as we both laughed.

  “I just wanted to say it was great meeting you the other day. And after you left I kicked myself for not asking for your number,” he said smiling.

  On the inside I was doing the running man and jumping up and down.

  “Wow, really? I’m flattered,” I said smiling.

  “Yes, I would love to get to know you better,” he said.

  I wanted to rattle off my number to him but I didn’t want to appear to be too pressed.

  “Okay, I don’t see anything wrong with that. You don’t seem to be crazy,” I said jokingly.

  He laughed, “Are you sure, you sound a little hesitant there.”

  “Yes, a little, I can’t lie. I’m always hesitant when giving out my number,” I shyly said.

  “It’s no pressure, I understand totally, you don’t know me from Adam; yeah I understand,” he said.

  “I tell you what, I’ll give you my number and when you’re ready, give me a call?”

  I agreed and he gave me his business card.

  We parted ways and I headed to work with a permanent smile on my face.

  After we finally had our meeting that afternoon, I rushed back to my office to call Amy to let her know about Jake’s phone call.

  I sent her a text first before calling.

  Hey girl, are you super busy? Jake called.

  After 30 seconds my phone went off.

  WHAT!? Call me!

  I picked up the phone and, after dialing, the phone hardly rang once. I laughed because she didn’t even say ‘hello’ when she answered.

  “Okay, start talking, what did he want?” she asked.

  “Okay, after I got in the other night, I decided to check my voicemail on my house phone,” I said.

  “But you hardly use your house phone,” she interrupted.

  “Right. I hadn’t checked it in weeks, so I decided to check it that night,” I replied. To get to the point, he says that I had been on his mind a lot and asked if I would call him.”

  “Call him? Yeah whatever. Wait, you didn’t call him did you?” she asked.

  I took a deep a breath and said, “NOPE, at least not yet. Not too sure if I want to right now.”

  “Girl, don’t call him. That girl he left you for is probably not all he thought she was cracked up to be. This is crazy,” she said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I know, crazy indeed,” I said.

  “Well, if you decide to call him don’t call him back right away. Get your mind together before you talk to him,” she advised.

  “That’s the plan. I’m not ready to talk to him yet. I do miss him, it was good hearing his voice, if only for 30 seconds,” I reflected.

  I almost forgot to tell her about Mr. Handsome.

  “Oh yeah, the other day after brunch and shopping, I stopped by my bakery for cheesecake. I saw this guy sitting in there chillin’ out, right? Fine, girl! Well, he came to introduce himself and we parted ways. Fast forward to this morning, I saw him again at Black Bean; he s
aw me across the parking lot when I was trying to leave. Girl, he asked for my number!” I belted out, talking fast.

  Amy interrupted, “Let me guess, you gave him the shy role like you didn’t really want his number, right?” she said sarcastically.

  I laughed, “Shut up and let me tell my story, please, ma’am, thank you.”

  She laughed and said, “Mmmm-hmmm, go ahead.”

  “I mean, really, I didn’t want to come off as being too pressed. But he gave me his business card and now the ball’s in my court to call him,” I said.

  “Hey, well, good for you for stepping out of your box, I’m proud of you,” Amy said. “Well, when you call him, just play it cool and don’t move too fast.”

  “Right, I’m definitely not in a rush for anything,” I assured her.

  We hung up the phone and I got busy on the mountain of work I needed to get done before leaving work. I knew I was going to be leaving work late, especially since I had a deadline coming up soon.

  As I guessed, I didn’t leave work until after 7 PM. Since I left so late and the day left me stressed, I needed to go for a run. As I got into my car, I sat there for a minute to de-stress before starting the car. I sat in the quiet for what seemed to be an hour with my eyes closed and my head laid on the head rest, until my quietness was broken by a knock on the window.

  I jumped and gasped, of course. As I looked up, I saw it was my boss.

  “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said as I was rolling down my window.

  “Don’t worry about it, George. I thought you had left for the day already,” I inquired.

  “Oh no, I’m doing the same as you, working on this big account. Are you running into any problems?” he asked.

  Now the last thing I wanted to do was talk about work after I had left the building.

  “No problems, I’m just trying to make sure all the numbers make sense,” I said.

  “Yeah, that’s the tedious part, but I have faith in you. Well, you get home safely,” he said while walking to his car. He stopped and turned around and said, “Xenia, the management team has been noticing your hard work, especially on this project. Keep up the good work, a promotion may be in the near future.”

  “Really, I didn’t know you were looking to promote,” I said excitedly.

  “Well, we weren’t, but, like I said, Management has been noticing your work, even before you were assigned this project,” he said.

  “Wow, George, that’s awesome! Please don’t worry, I will go above and beyond, as always, on this project,” I assured him.

  I watched as he walked away to his car.

  Wow! Being on the Management team with George would be amazing—the perks, the expense account.

  I was on cloud nine. That bit of news put me in a good place. I started the car and darted out of the parking lot. I was feeling adventurous, so the first stop light I got to, I picked up my phone and called Mr. Handsome. Great, his voicemail picked up. I was kind of glad because I was nervous about calling him.

  “Hi, Mister! This is Zen. Surprise!! I don’t think you thought I’d call this soon and I have to admit I didn’t either. You now have my number, give me a call back.”

  I hung up the phone and let out a sigh of relief and said out loud, “Okay, Zen, you did it. Hi-five, girl!”

  After getting home I started to cook dinner. I had been spending way too much going out every night. Since it was late, I kept it simple and made shrimp alfredo. While the food was simmering, I hopped in the shower to unwind and get the “day” off of me.

  I fixed my plate and a glass of wine and watched TV. I tried to watch one of the news stations but after five minutes of bad news, I changed the channel. Then, I heard my phone ring; I had to look for it because I couldn’t remember where I placed it after coming home. I finally found it before whomever went to voicemail.

  “Hello?” I said out of breath.

  A man’s voice answered back, “Well, hello there. Ms. Xenia, how are you?”

  “I’m okay, who’s this?” I asked.

  “You don’t know who this is? Awe, man I’m hurt,” he joked.

  “I’m sorry, who’s this?” I asked again. Now, I was laughing.

  “This is Isaiah,” he finally said.

  Oh, my Lord, this man sounds even better over the phone.

  “Oh, well, hello sir, how are YOU?” I asked.

  “I’m doing okay, better now that I hear your voice,” he slyly said.

  “Okay, Isaiah, one thing about me. I cannot take the lines that men spit out. Just talk to me, no need for anything extra,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Oh no, no games here. I’m sincere in all things but I understand, and no worries,” he said apologetically.

  We both laughed until there was a moment of silence.

  Then I spoke up, “So, how was your day after seeing you at Black Bean?”

  “My day was hectic and flew by, thank God. How was yours?” he asked.

  “Oh my God, the same. I’m working on a big project at work and the deadline is nearing, so, of course, everything is uber-chaotic right now. So what kind of work do you do,” I asked.

  “Well, I’m a lawyer. I mainly deal with mergers. Right now, my firm is working on one of the biggest mergers by far for the year,” he said.

  “Sounds exhausting,” I replied.

  “Yep, pretty much. Long days, long nights. I’m actually taking a break now to call you back. So, what have you been up to this evening?” he asked.

  “Well, I just got home not too long ago from work myself. I made dinner and now I’m relaxing with a glass of wine,” I replied.

  “Sounds very relaxing. So, you cook?” he asked sounding surprised.

  I laughed and said, “I’m not a gourmet chef, but, yes, I do cook. Although tonight’s the first night I’ve cooked in a while. You sound surprised at the fact that I cook,” I said.

  “Yes, most women I know don’t really cook. Why don’t you cook a lot?” he asked.

  “It’s just me and I’ve never gotten it down, how to cook for one person. I don’t really do leftovers after one day. So, I started to opt out of cooking and into picking up something on my way home.”

  “That’s cool, I understand that. I love it when a woman cooks.” he said.

  Here we go.

  “Really, you like that? Well, just FYI, I only cook for my man,” I said.

  He lets out a laugh, “I wasn’t trying to imply…”

  I interrupted him mid-sentence laughing, “Yeah, yeah, yeah sure.”

  “No seriously, I wasn’t trying to imply anything, but it’s nice to know you’re not a stranger to the kitchen.” he said.

  “Nope, not at all,” I assured him. So what’s your story Isaiah? I know you’re a lawyer, but, are you dating—girlfriend, wife?”

  I could hear him chuckle. “Wow, right out of the gate huh? Straight, no chaser?”

  “Yes, sir. I don’t believe in having my time wasted. I try to avoid it at all costs” I said.

  I paused, waiting for him to give me an answer. All while praying he was not attached to anyone. But, his pause made me pause!

  “Well, no, I don’t have a girlfriend. Man. Can you hold on for a sec, it’s my other line,” he asked.

  He placed me on hold and I took another bite of food and sip of wine. I hated being placed on hold, and just as I was about to hang up, he appeared back on the line.

  “Hey, still there?” he asked.

  “Almost wasn’t! I was just about to hang up,” I laughed.

  “Oh, really?” he sounded surprised.

  “Yep, I don’t like to be put on hold for a certain amount of time,” I told him.

  “Okay, okay. Well, I apologize.” “So where were we? Are you attached to anyone?” he inquired.

  Mr. Handsome think he’s slick. He didn’t finish answering my question, but I’ll come back to it.

  “Me, no, I’m not attached. If I were, we wouldn’t be on the phone
right now,” I said.

  “Really?” he asked.

  “Yes, really. I don’t do the double, triple time with people. I don’t have the energy for it,” I said.

  “To do what?” he asked.

  “Cheat or spread myself thin,” I replied.

  “I hear you, yeah, I understand,” he said.

  This conversation was going downhill fast. Red flags everywhere!

  I had to come up with an excuse to get off the phone because now I wasn’t comfortable talking to him anymore, especially since he was avoiding my question about his relationship status.

  “Oh, my gosh, I have to call you back, I completely forgot to call my mom before it got too late,” I said.

  “Oh…yeah. Maybe we can link up and get coffee or something?” he asked.

  “Ok let me look at my schedule and I’ll let you know,” I said quickly, hanging up the phone.

  How stupid does he think I am?

  Chapter 9

  I was sitting at my desk when my assistant came in with a huge smile on her face. I looked up perplexed.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I asked.

  “Oh, my goodness, I don’t know what you’re doing but, once again, you have a bouquet of the most gorgeous flowers!” she exclaimed.

  I immediately rolled my eyes and shook my head because I thought they were from Jake.

  “Hold on. I’ll bring them in,” she said.

  “Oh my, they are definitely beautiful,” I admitted, surprisingly.

  This was definitely not Jake’s style.

  “You can sit them down over there?” I instructed.

  Sarah disappeared behind the door.

  I walked over to this gorgeous display and read the card.

  I’ve waited long enough, have coffee with me?

  Isaiah

  How in the world did he know where I worked? I didn’t recall telling him where I worked during our brief conversations. Oh, Lord! He’s a stalker.

  A few weeks had since passed by and I hadn’t had the opportunity to speak to him again, mainly due to my deadline at work. I sat at my desk staring at the arrangement contemplating calling him. I decided not to call at that moment and got back to work.