Straight No Chaser- The Beginning

by Devin Nishea

  “Alright, guys, the day is here, so let’s get down to business,” I said excitedly.

  I glanced over at Isaiah and he looked a little perplexed. I ignored it for the moment, but if he continued to look like that, I would need to make sure he was okay before our meeting.

  We looked over everything and organized the flow of the presentation. We were set and we had an hour before the meeting began.

  I excused myself from the office to be sure the conference room was set up to my liking. I knew I didn’t have to check behind Amy, she had been working with me long enough to know how I liked things.

  When I came back into the office, I saw Sarah had made copies of the materials needed for the meeting. I glanced over them once more and had her place them in the conference room on the table.

  “It looks like everything is going smoothly so far. All we have to do is answer all of the hard questions and we’ll be in the clear,” I exclaimed.

  After sitting and shooting the breeze for a few minutes to take our minds off the meeting, we walked towards the conference room where everyone was already in place. My nerves started up again.

  Somehow I think Isaiah could tell.

  He whispered in my ear, “It’s okay, I got you.”

  He didn’t know what that did to me. A nice looking man whispering anything in my ear…yeah, not good!

  I looked back at him and smiled and walked into the conference room. I introduced Glen and Isaiah to everyone in the room. The presentation was a blur! I don’t remember one word I said during that hour. I don’t remember one word Isaiah said during that hour. All I know is, the acquisition was approved and I got praises from the Management team.

  Thank you Jesus!!

  After shaking hands with my bosses, we all agreed on going out to lunch to celebrate that afternoon. Isaiah and Glen had to pass on lunch, as they were working on another project for their firm.

  “So, Xenia, I will see you later,” Isaiah asked as we walked back to my office.

  I turned my head slightly towards him and said, “Yes, you shall. Maybe I should invite Sarah, since she helped out a little.”

  I looked at him to see if I could read the facial expression on his face. He looked a little disappointed.

  “Sarah, would you like to meet for drinks after work with Isaiah and myself?” I asked.

  Sarah glanced at Isaiah as I was eyeing her.

  “You know what, I can’t. I have a date tonight,” she said.

  Thanks a lot, Sarah!

  “Oh, okay, well, have a good time on your date!” I said. We’ll talk about that later.”

  She gave me a bashful look and started working again.

  I glanced at Isaiah who now had a smirk on his face. This felt like another set up! How did I keep falling for these today?

  “Sarah, I’m going to lunch with the Management Team and I will be back afterwards. I will walk these two down.” I told her.

  “Gotcha,” she said.

  “You actually can take off an hour early today for helping us out,” I told her.

  I knew she’d be happy, especially since she had a “date” later. I bet anything she didn’t have a date.

  “Really!? Awesome!” she said.

  “After you,” Isaiah said, pointing to the elevator.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  After walking them both to the lobby, I was eager to get to my car, because I was famished and I was ready for lunch with my team!

  Glen parted ways first and that left me and Isaiah in the parking lot…alone. What is it with everyone today not being on my side? I’m trying to be strong and not give in to this man, but everyone is getting out of my way to do just that! UGH!!!

  I looked at Isaiah and smiled.

  “Well, I better get going so I can meet my team for lunch, I’m starving,” I said. I guess we’ll see each other for Happy Hour right?”

  Isaiah looked at me and smiled.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Oh, nothing, Xenia. I’m just taking you all in,” he said.

  “Taking me all in?” I asked.

  “Yep, don’t act coy with me. I’m just feeling you out that’s all,” he said. And, yes, Happy Hour, I will definitely see you then.”

  He walked away and got into his car. I stood there watching him drive him away. Don’t ask me why. I know he was watching me, watch him! UGH!!!!

  I walked over to my car and got in. While I was opening the door, my phone rang. I looked down and it was Mama. I hadn’t spoken with her in forever because of this project, so I picked up the phone.

  “Hey, Mama!” I said excited to hear from her.

  “Hey, Zen, girl!! I know today was supposed to be the end of your project and I was just calling to see how it went. But I’m sure it went well with you working on it,” she said.

  “Yes ma’am, we presented it today and everyone was pleased. I’m actually on my way to lunch with my Management Team and the Management Team from the company we just helped,” I replied.

  “Oh, well, look at you!! I’m proud of you, Suga! Keep up the good work. I tried to stay out of your way the past few weeks because I knew you had your plate full and all,” she said.

  “Awe, thanks, Ma! I appreciate it. Now, I can breathe a little until the next assignment comes up. But, until then, I am going to enjoy my freedom. I’m going shopping with Amy this weekend. I get back on my gym schedule and, more importantly, I can get back to church.”

  “Yes, chile! We’ve missed you these past few Sundays. Pastor Anderson asked about you last Sunday. I told him all of what you had going on,” she said.

  “Okay, well, tell Pastor Anderson ‘hello’ and I’ll see him soon. Okay, Mama, I just pulled up to the restaurant, let me call you back later.”

  “Okay, baby, bye-bye,” she said.

  “Bye, Mama.”

  We disconnected the phone and I realized just how blessed I was. I had a job that was going well, my parents were in good health, my friends were doing well and we were there for each other and I had my health! Life was pretty darn good.

  After lunch, I rushed back to the office stuffed! Lunch was amazing and the restaurant we went to, I’d never gone there before, but I will surely be back.

  As I was heading into my office, Sarah called my name.

  “Xeniaaaaa,” she sang my name. “How was lunch? And, more importantly, you are keeping your Happy Hour date, right?”

  I looked at her with piercing eyes.

  “Yeah, about that,” I said. She followed me into my office.

  “I know you lied about that date thing tonight,” I said. “You are not slick, miss girl.”

  She laughed.

  “It’s not funny,” I said. “Now I have to be there with him by myself!”

  “Zen, it will be okay,” Sarah said.

  “Yeah, okay. I’m not staying long and I’m only having one drink,” I said.

  “Zen he’s not going to bite,” she said.

  “Sarah, he’s married. Regardless of how he feels, how I feel, nothing changes that fact,” I told her.

  “Well, okay, you’re right,” she said.

  I knew better, she wasn’t going to just give up that easily on this topic.

  I finished up my work for the day and as it got closer to the time for me to leave for the day, I felt my stomach turn into knots.

  Sarah came to the door smiling.

  “Whatever…” I said laughing.

  She burst out laughing.

  “Hey, I didn’t say anything. I just came to let you know I’m heading out since you said I could head out early today,” she said.

  “Have a good date, missy,” I said, laughing.

  “Oh, I definitely will,” she said walking toward the elevator.

  I had an hour to get myself together to meet Isaiah for Happy Hour. I was still uneasy and unsure about meeting him. But I guess it was too late. I could come up with an excuse like I always do.

  To call or not to call;
it’s now or never.

  Chapter 19

  I walked into the bar, nervous, stomach still in knots. I looked around to see if I saw Isaiah sitting at the bar. I saw no signs of him, so I took the first available two seats I saw and waited.

  The bartender came over and I ordered a Whiskey Sour, my one drink, while I waited. After twenty minutes, I looked at my phone to see what time it was. This wasn’t like him to be late. I sent him a text to make sure everything was okay.

  Hey it’s Zen, I wanted to be sure we did say celebratory drinks this evening. If so, I’m here….waiting.

  I began to grow a little anxious. I never liked the feeling of being stood up, but by someone who has hounded you for a while about going out…

  I sat there for fifteen more minutes in hopes I didn’t indeed look as if I were being stood up.

  That was it. I paid for my drink and left.

  I couldn’t help but feel a little upset about it. At least when I decided not to go out when he asked, I did call to let him know! But for you to invite me out to celebrate and not show!? Almost unforgivable.

  I had to calm myself down; I was jumping to conclusions. Maybe something came up with work. He did say he had to pass on lunch earlier due to having to work on another project. Maybe he was in an accident. Either way, he had some explaining to do. I don’t like looking stupid at anyone’s expense.

  I got in my car and decided to drive home and make dinner, instead of grabbing something on the way. When I pulled into my driveway, my phone rang. I answered without looking to see who it was.

  “Hello?” I said.

  “Hey, Zen…” the male voice responded.

  I paused, and then let out a sigh when I realized who it was.

  “Hi Jake. What’s up?” I said. Part of me was hoping it were Isaiah with his explanation on standing me up.

  “Don’t sound so enthused. I was just calling to check up on you,” he said.

  “I’m sorry. I answered without looking to see who it was,” I said. I’m fine, just getting home from work.”

  “Working late tonight?” he asked.

  “Well, not really. I was out celebrating the completion of my project being in my new role,” I said.

  “Oh. Well, congratulations on that, I know you’re excited!” he said.

  “Yes, I am actually! I can’t wait for more opportunities in the future,” I told him. Listen Jake, I’m on my way into the house to fix dinner. Can I call you later?”

  “Well, another reason I called was to ask if I could come over? I didn’t want to just show up,” he said.

  “Oh, like you did the last time?” I said, sarcastically.

  We both laughed a little.

  There was brief silence on the line. What was I going to say?

  “Sure,” I said.

  OH, MY GOSH!!!! What the heck did I just say!? I said it before I even thought about it!

  “Wow, really?” he said shockingly.

  It was too late to take it back now.

  “Yes, you can come over.” I said reluctantly. I had to give myself the side eye on this one!

  “Ok, well did you need anything?” he asked.

  “Now that you ask, you can bring a bottle of wine,” I said.

  “I know just the bottle.” he said and hung up the phone.

  Dang it! I wonder why he was asking to come over again and what he felt the need to talk about. I didn’t even know what I was going to cook.

  I walked into the house and looked around to be sure it was as neat as possible. Regardless of who was coming over, I didn’t want them to think I lived in a pigsty.

  I walked over to the coffee table and straightened the magazines. I then walked into the kitchen and took out the salmon and asparagus, my favorite.

  I had to get out of my work clothes—my feet were killing me from the heels I decided to wear all day and I was more than glad to get out of them.

  I changed into some sweat pants and t-shirt. Although I loved the way they fit and looked on me, I rarely wore sweats. But I was home and needed to be comfortable.

  I walked back into the kitchen to get started on dinner. I turned on my cooking playlist so I could get in my groove. About twenty minutes into cooking, the doorbell rang. I looked up to see what time it was; he was early.

  As I looked through the peephole, I could not believe my eyes. It was Isaiah! What in the world? How did he know where I lived? Do I answer the door? I had my music turned up loud, so he knew for sure I was home.

  Here goes nothing! I opened the door with a stern look on my face.

  “I’m so sorry about earlier, Zen,” he said, apologetically. Something came up that I had to put my focus on and when I got the situation under control, it was way late.”

  “So, instead of answering my text, you decided to leave me hanging?” I asked.

  “Zen, it wasn’t like that. Something came up with one of my kids back home that I had to deal with,” he said.

  I couldn’t argue when it came to people’s kids. So, I had no choice but to let up a little. Just a little.

  “Well, I hope your kid is okay now. But, you still could have responded to the text. It only takes a few seconds,” I said.

  “I know, I apologize,” he said. “Do you mind if I come in so we can finish talking?”

  “Actually, I do mind. I have company coming over shortly,” I said.

  His face changed immediately.

  “Besides sir, how did you know where I lived? I don’t recall ever telling you,” I said.

  “Yeah, your mom gave it to me one Sunday after church and told me to stop by to see you. But, I didn’t that day because I don’t like stopping by people’s homes unannounced. But, today I had to see you because of the circumstances,” he explained.

  Thanks a lot mom! Now, I was going to have to have a conversation with her about giving out my personal information.

  “My mom? Nice…” I said.

  At this time, Jake was pulling up in the drive way. Isaiah turned around and saw the car pulling in.

  “Well, since your company is here, I guess I’ll go,” he said.

  I couldn’t believe this guy was trying to sound pitiful. He stood me up! Yes, it was because of the kids, but still; let’s be considerate.

  “Okay, have a nice night,” I said.

  Jake made his way to the front door and the look on his face was priceless. He wanted to say something, but yet he looked as though he just wanted to leave the situation alone.

  “Hey, Jake, you can come in and put that in the kitchen,” I said.

  “Okay. Did I interrupt something?” he asked.

  “Not really,” I replied.

  “What’s up man, I’m Isaiah,” he said. “I was just leaving. Jake, right? We met at the grocery store a few weeks back. Good to see you,” he said.

  This situation probably should’ve been awkward for me, but surprisingly it wasn’t. I stood there looking at Isaiah, while Jake walked into the house and made himself at home.

  “Well, I’ll go. Umm, can I give you a call later?” he asked.

  “Sure. Talk to you later,” I said.

  I closed the door and pressed my head against it and closed my eyes. First, how dare he come to my house unannounced? Second, you show up with a sob story. I don’t know if the story was true or not, but come on!!

  I walked into the kitchen to find my salmon almost done. It smelled great!

  “Thanks for the wine,” I said.

  “You’re welcome.” Jake said. You sure I didn’t interrupt anything a few minutes ago? It kinda looked as if I did.”

  “Maybe you interrupted to him, but it’s cool,” I said, not missing a beat.

  I needed to finish preparing dinner because I was starving at this point.

  Jake fixed us both a glass of wine and it was a great pick. I had to give it to him, he picked a great one. This was indeed one of the things I missed about him.

  “Well, what’s for dinner?” he asked.

>   “My favorite. Salmon and asparagus!” I said.

  “Actually, I’ve had a taste for salmon for like two weeks now.”

  “Great. It’s a win, then,” I said, taking another sip of wine.

  Jake sat at the bar looking at me finish dinner. I decided to make dessert as well. Like I needed it, but I made red velvet cupcakes as well.

  “You’re going all out and making dessert, on a school night?” he said jokingly.

  I laughed, “Well, yes. I had a taste for these, too. I’ll work it off tomorrow when I go to the gym.”

  “I can’t tell you the last time I went to the gym,” he said.

  “Really? I’m surprised to hear that, especially when you got me on the routine of going,” I said.

  “Yeah, well, after we broke up, I stopped doing a lot of things,” he said.

  Here we go. I knew it. I just wanted to get through this dinner without talking about the break up. I looked up at him and just gave him a blank look. What was I supposed to say after him telling me that?

  “Wow.” I said as I nodded my head. I turned around to check the salmon. The asparagus was almost done.

  “Yep,” he said.

  There was silence. Nothing but the music playing.

  The cupcakes were finally done. I only made a few since it was just the two of us. I sat them on the counter to cool before icing them.

  We fixed our plates and finally sat down at the table to eat. Jake did something he never really took charge of before. He blessed our food. After he blessed the food, I gave him this strange look.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “You never really took charge of blessing our food. I always had to ask, borderline beg you do it,” I said.

  “Well, just like I stopped doing some things when we broke up, I started evaluating and doing other things differently,” he said.

  Who was this man sitting across from me?

  “So, are we going to do this? Are we going to take a walk down memory lane tonight? Is this why you wanted to have dinner?” I asked.

  “Not really, Zen. I honestly just wanted to see you. And technically, you brought up dinner, not me,” he smiled.