by J. Nichole
When I check my rearview mirror I throw the car back into park and shake my head. I wait for Aiden to tap on my window and I roll it down. “Thanks for not running me over.” He smiles and I nod my head. “Are you in a hurry? Think we can talk for a minute?”
“I’m actually headed into the office.” I look at the clock then say, “But I have a few minutes.”
He walks around the passenger side of the car and climbs in. I was expecting to talk to him through the window. The barrier of the car door was exactly what I needed. I turn my head to look at him and he says, “Hope you don’t mind.” He bends his head back and forth. “I’ve been trying to contact you since I got back to Houston.” I know he has because I ignored all the texts and calls.
“I was going to contact you.” His eyebrows arch. “I know it sounds like bullshit. But as time went on I started thinking about why I was upset, and I couldn’t bring myself to call you.”
“Trust is huge for you, but can I tell you why I didn’t tell you about my company?” I nod my head. “You know what, is now a good time to get into this?” It’s Friday, but I should get into the office especially since I’m trying to sneak out early to get ready for the lounge tonight. But, what the hell? I shrug. “Alright.” He sighs. “I told you I had a girlfriend in college. We were close, and then when my dad passed away I took a break from school. She tried to maintain the relationship while I was here, back home, but it didn’t work.” I continue listening for the ah-ha moment that made him keep his background from me. “We broke up. Not necessarily amicably.”
He looks at me and I can see his eyes getting moist. “If this is too much to talk about, you don’t have to tell me.”
Shaking his head he says, “No, I should have told you a while ago.” He takes a sip of his coffee and clears his throat. “Long story short, my dad left us a decent sized life insurance policy. I took what he left me and started the company.”
“Okay, was that hard?” I ask feeling lost. “Did you feel like you couldn’t tell me that?”
With his hand lifted he says, “There’s more. When my company started making money my partner ran his mouth and people from our school found out. Word spread. And my ex came calling.” My mouth opens and I am starting to understand his concern about his money. “My mom warned me that chicks would be after me for my money, but I didn’t listen. I let my ex back in and realized the hard way that my mom was right.”
“The hard way,” I whisper.
“When we broke up, she started dating another dude from our school. When she came checking for me, they were still together.” His jaw clenches. “And I found them in her bed one night.”
“Damn,” I say. “I’m sorry you went through all of that.”
“I meant it when I said I understand you on your trust issues.” He places his hand over mine and says, “I didn’t tell you all that as an excuse, but I thought you should know.”
“Thanks for telling me. I appreciate it.” I bite my lip. “I feel like shit for not calling you back.” He shakes his head. “I should probably get going. Can I call you this weekend?”
He smiles. Retreating his hand from mine, he opens the car door and says, “I’ll answer,” before stepping out of the car.
Like I predicted, three cups of black tea later, I’m sneaking out of the office to get ready for tonight. I wave at Bri before making my way to the elevator. “Bye,” she whispers. I invited her out with us tonight, but she’d rather stay at home and binge watch a reality TV show.
Standing in front of my bathroom mirror, I slick my kinky curls into a ponytail. Erica is a sun baby, who loves to sit outside at any chance, and for that reason alone I have to be prepared to sweat my ass off. Sundress and a ponytail is a must.
Tonight was supposed to be just another night out, but now that it’s turned into a celebration, I’m taking a Moovn to the spot. Then I’ll be free to have as many celebratory drinks as I need.
Erica doesn’t waste any time. As soon as I see her she hands me a shot. “Drink up.” With her shot in the air she yells over the music, “My girl is moving to Dallas!” I smile before taking my shot. “Get ready ‘cause we have more where that came from.” She grabs her clutch and signals me to follow her.
“How long have you been here,” I ask. She could easily be a few drinks ahead of me.
She takes a seat at a table and says, “Not too long.” I laugh and she asks, “Are you ready for this?”
“I’m as ready as I’m going to be.” Erica has been talking about moving out of Houston for a while now. “Are you going to come and visit?”
“Girl, am I?” Her smile grows wider. “I started putting in for positions there.” I reach out and hug her. “Don’t get excited yet, but hopefully one of these positions will work out.”
“That would be amazing,” I say. She goes on about how many dudes she could meet in Houston. Not sure what her strategy will be to meet more there than she did here, but I don’t want to kill her vibe.
“And we could run the city together.” Although the idea of having a familiar face in Dallas with me is exciting, a part of me wonders what would have happened with Aiden and me if I stayed in Houston.
Erica calls the server over and before I know it I have my second shot of the night. I cover my chest and say, “That one wasn’t as smooth as the first.”
Erica laughs and says, “That just means we need more.” She looks around to the surrounding tables before making eye contact with someone. She taps my knee and points. “Isn’t that your African king, the one from DateNight?” Then as if she spoke against Jesus himself, she covers her mouth. “Sorry,” she whispers between her fingers.
I avoid trying to look at the man I met at the DateNight event. It’s bad enough that we didn’t connect then, but it’d be even worse now to see him. “I don’t want to look.” I look the opposite direction and say, “Maybe we should—”
Erica cuts me off saying, “He’s coming this way.” There goes my plan to escape into the cut of the lounge where I could go unnoticed. Instead of turning to face my fears, I continue scoping out my exit plan.
“Haven’t we met?” he asks, more to Erica than me I assume, since I’m still not looking in his direction. I hear her responding with all the charm she can muster.
When she says, “Sure, you all can join us,” although she sounds like a Southern Belle, I snap my neck around with my eyebrows scrunched. “You remember Jennifer, right?” She adds insult to injury.
“I do. Somehow we didn’t match at that event that night,” he says matter-of-factly. Somehow? Easy. He didn’t choose me. I wave to him, but can’t find words that wouldn’t be laced with sarcasm or bitterness, so I heed the advice of all elders and I keep my words to myself. “Let me grab my boys and we’ll be over.” He walks away and I stare, long and hard, at Erica who seems unbothered by the interaction.
“What?” she finally asks. “We need more drinks, and my pockets are only so deep.” She laughs, adjusting her dress just enough for her cleavage to be noticeable. My eyes divert from her titties to the modern day New Edition walking towards us. “God is delivering today. Do you see them?” she says to me under her breath.
“Another round?” one of the guys asks looking at each of us. Erica nods her head. “Shots?” he adds.
“Sure, we are celebrating tonight! My girl is moving to Dallas,” Erica yells. Right then, I realize maybe Erica doesn’t need to move to Dallas. I need to leave her trifling ass right here in Houston. Telling all my business to the guy who rejected me.
I shake my head and say, “Maybe we should do introductions first.” The African god sits beside me and introduces his two friends, who are equally as attractive. “And I’m Jennifer, the one moving to Dallas.” I point to Erica. “And this is my friend, Erica.” I wanted to add in all of the superlatives she earned for the night but I thought drunken, triffling, sell-out, would confirm to them that I was bitter.
“Now we can drink,” Erica says lifting her e
mpty glass in the air. Drinks are ordered for each of us, and after shot number three I think I should slow my roll.
“Why is it that we didn’t connect that night?” he leans over whispering in my ear.
“I think the way it works is, we both,” I emphasize the word both, “have to select each other.”
“Damn,” he says putting his hand over his heart. “That was a kill shot.”
I squint my eyes, both from his reaction and to the feeling of the liquor connecting in my, however it works. “The kill shot was not seeing you select me after I thought we had a decent conversation that night.” He gawks. “But maybe it wasn’t meant to be.”
“I selected you,” he continues on about how he remembers our conversation. Which I can’t say I remember what was said. “But here we are. Fate is correcting history.” I’m relieved when his friend shouts it’s time for another round of shots. I look at Erica who is all smiles, and googly-eyed. “Fortunately, we don’t need an app to exchange numbers this time.”
The DateNight app, the one created by Aiden himself. Maybe fate isn’t righting past wrongs, maybe it’s reminding me of what I had. I look at his phone in front of me, awaiting me to put in my number, and I tell him, “Remember, I’m moving to Dallas.” He looks down at his phone and without a word he puts it back in his pocket.
Erica looks between M’Baku and me and says, “I think we all need more shots.” I shake my head, knowing more shots is not what I want and definitely not what she needs. “No?” She smacks her lips and says, “But why?”
“Are you ready to get out of here?” I say, looking at her with my eyebrow raised. She grabs her bag and gives me an evil eye before bidding farewell to the group of guys. The few shots I did have started to wear off, sobering me up to the reality of the night. I’m moving. No more Aiden. Could have had M’Baku, but no M’Baku. Dallas. A new city, with chances for a new boo.
Erica complains as we walk out of the lounge, “Girl, what is wrong with you?” I keep walking, leading us out of the lounge. “I didn’t even get a chance to give my number to either of those dudes.”
I stop before opening the door. “I’m going to call a Moovn.” With her hand on her hip she looks at me with disgust. “Go back then, slip your number to one of them.” She does an about face and walks back to the table, hips swaying. I pull out my phone to call a Moovn to make sure we both get home safely, and two notifications display on my screen. Texts from Aiden.
Aiden: Is it officially the weekend?
Aiden: Was waiting for my call if so
Chapter Nineteen
Staring at boxes in my living room, I decide packing this apartment is going to make me dread this move even more. I change into a pair of sweats and sit on the couch staring at Aiden’s text message. With my finger over his name, I decide to call instead of texting him back.
“Jennifer,” he answers, his voice sounding husky and sensual. “I didn’t think you were going to call me.”
“I said I would.” I hold my breath before revealing, “And now that we are living in our full truth, I didn’t think it would be a good time to start lying.”
He laughs. Like a full belly laugh, and I imagine his face. How his eyes would close and all of his teeth would be on display. “Can we start over?” he asks.
“Before that, can I ask you something?” I adjust on the couch with a pillow behind my back, ready to hear what he has to say. “Remember I told you before we met, I was at a DateNight event.” He mumbles and I continue. “And I told you I selected one of the guys, but was surprised we didn’t match.”
“Yeah, I remember that,” he says quietly into the phone.
“That guy, I saw him again tonight. And he said he selected me too.” I don’t know what I expect Aiden to say. Maybe that he has no idea what I’m talking about. Or that there is an unknown bug in the app that doesn’t connect folks like it should. I don’t even know why I care, but imagine having an issue with your phone and being able to talk to Tim Cook himself.
“Are you thinking I intercepted the connection?” he asks.
“Actually, that didn’t cross my mind.” I’m not the conspiracy theorist type. Never believed in UFOs or believed that Tupac was on an island somewhere chillin’. But now that he mentions intercepting the connection, it’s like all the conspiracies could make sense. “You didn’t, did you?”
“Absolutely not. I’d have no reason to degrade the integrity of the app. After all, people trust us with their privacy. I’ll have the QA team check it out.” He geeks out for a minute before returning back to words that make sense to me. “But since you had the chance to connect again, did you exchange numbers?” His question was innocent, but apprehensive.
“He asked.”
“But.”
“I had to tell him I’m moving.” Relieved to tell him I didn’t give my number to another guy, but telling him that I’m moving, before I had a chance to tell him I’m moving felt bad. Felt like I was throwing it in his face. “Aiden.”
“You’re moving?” he asks before I’m able to explain.
“When I came back from the wedding Karen talked to me about the move to Dallas. I didn’t think I would actually be selected to move there to lead the accounting team. But I was, and I said yes.”
“Congratulations.” My heart sinks listening to the word come through the phone. Congratulations may have well been goodbye. It sounded just as final.
“Thanks,” I whisper.
“How soon?” he asks.
“In June.” I tell him about the job offer. The details that when I heard them sounded like the best offer I could ask for, but now sound unworthy compared to what I’m losing. “I’m sitting here now amongst boxes ready and waiting for me to pack them.”
“If I didn’t chase you down today, and you never answered my calls, you would have just moved to Dallas without telling me?” Moving to Dallas without talking to him, without seeing him, would have made things easier.
“Honestly, I can’t say. I don’t know what I would have done before moving.”
“As much as I need honesty, I can’t say it doesn’t hurt almost as much as a lie. Just when I was hoping, all day, that we could get back to where we were. I feel like we are further from that ever happening now.”
“We’ve crossed the first hurdle. I have a few months before I leave your favorite city. How about we see what happens?” After Aiden told me about his ex, and the reason why he kept his business from me, I understood where he was coming from. I didn’t like the fact he kept it from me, but I can get over it. “But before we do, are there any other secrets you should tell me?”
He laughs, and I smile, my heart smiles, because his laugh is the hello after the goodbye that I felt earlier. “No other secrets. But if there is something that comes up later that I failed to remember, I reserve the right to tell you without you freaking out.” I agree that he can reserve that right, and if or when it happens, I’ll have to remind myself of that. “Now, what do you say we do what grown folks do and have a proper make-up,” he says, his voice husky and sensual again.
“You’re sending me flowers,” I ask sarcastically.
“I can make that happen, but first, how about you come to my house.” His house. In the months we were dating, I should have known something was up since I had never been invited to his house. But he drives a fifteen-year-old Maxima, so I just assumed his apartment was a bachelor pad he wished to not share. “I’ll send you my address,” he says before adding, “and bring a bag.”
“Okay,” I say calmly. But my entire insides are bubbling over with excitement. “I’ll see you soon.”
Rolling through the gate of Aiden’s community, I look around. It’s nothing like my gated community. The landscaping alone looks well-kept and, I look around again before finding the visitor’s garage, lush. The grass is greener and the flowers are bright, in full bloom.
After his address, Aiden texted me an elevator code. After telling the security guard I
was going to visit Aiden, he let me into the building directing me to the elevator where I entered the code. When the elevator opened on the thirtieth floor, I walked across the marble floors, down the hallway with my duffle bag in hand.
“Welcome to my home,” Aiden says when he opens the door. “Come in.” He grabs my bag from me and takes me by the hand, guiding me through the house. “Before we get to those flowers, can I show you around?”
I nod my head as he walks me through the house. When he shows me his kitchen, the marble countertop, stove fit for a five-star restaurant, I laugh. “And you’ve spent all this time at my apartment. Had me thinking your spot had to be some basic bachelor pad. But you’re over here living large.” I run my hand across the countertop. “My entire apartment can fit in your living area.”
“I like your place.” I side-eye him. “I’m not caught up in all of this.” He waves his hand in the air. “Don’t get me wrong, I like my place. But I’m as comfortable at your place as I am here.” He tugs my hand and says, “Let me give you your flowers.”
We pass the expansive windows in the living room and I can’t help but stop in front of them. “Wow,” I gasp at the sight of the glowing city lights. “This view is breathtaking.” Aiden stands behind me and I hear my bag drop beside us. The feel of his lips on my neck, soft and warm.
“You’re right. This sight is breathtaking.” He wraps his arms around my waist. “I missed you.”
“You know”—I turn around to face him—“I missed you too.”
His lips crash into mine and we kiss, our tongues racing to make-up for loss time. My hands begin to explore his chest, and make their way up to cusp his face as moans escape my mouth.
Aiden breaks our kiss saying, “Wait.” He joins our hands and leads me to the bedroom. In the middle of a room that’s as large as the living area, sits a king sized bed. The bed is covered in petals, yellow petals. I guess when you have disposable income, last minute flower petals aren’t hard to acquire.