“It was. Text me and let me know when you get home.”
“I will. Drive safely and thank you again.”
We said our goodbyes and I sang all the way home.
I parked in a spot not too far away from where I liked to park. When I picked up my phone again, I noticed all the missed calls and text messages. But I naturally gravitated to one of them in particular.
Saint Anderson: Are you busy on Friday night?
Just seeing his name made me smile. Reading his message gave me butterflies.
Zola Patterson: Depends on who’s asking and for what purpose.
Saint Anderson: I’m asking. And the purpose is to get to know you better.
As cool as I tried to be, I squealed and bounced my shoulders excitedly as I typed.
Zola Patterson: I suppose that could be arranged.
*****
Chapter 3
“How many times have you talked to him this week?” Kia asked as we sat across from each other at Black Lotus. She pushed her glasses up on her nose. “Also, I love the way you just lit up.”
I stifled a giggle and put my hands to my cheeks. I could feel the heat radiating from my face. “He called Monday, but I was finalizing some stuff with the new position with The Herald. It’s a remote position but I had to go through all the human resources B.S., so I didn’t get out for a few hours. By the time I called him back, he was on his way to see a patient. Our only real conversation was the quick one earlier today to confirm our plans”—I grinned— “for tomorrow.”
She clapped her hands and whisper screamed. “Finally! It’s about damn time that Saint got his shit together.”
“I know, right!” I shook my head and then dropped my hands. “I’ve never had to wait so long for a man that I know is interested to ask me out.”
Kia pursed her lips. “Well it’s not like you were sitting around waiting for him to call.” She tilted her head to the side. “Didn’t you have a lunch date yesterday?”
“I sure did.” I wiggled my eyebrows as I took a sip of my Amaretto sour. “Lunch with Jordan was nice.”
“Did you go out or were you on campus?”
“We were on campus… in his office.” I looked out into the crowd and let my mind drift back to the sexual tension in the room. “And there was something so sexy about the professor talking about Us and Get Out from behind that big…wooden…desk.”
Kia burst out laughing. “Why did you say it like that?”
“Because girl, he was sitting there in that big leather chair and as he talked, I thought about climbing into his lap and letting him teach me a thing or two.”
We dissolved into a fit of giggles.
“You are living a very blessed life, my friend,” Kia sighed.
I grinned. “I’m blessed to have what I have and whatever is for me is for me.”
“Coming to the stage next is a regular who needs no introduction. The one, the only Sapphire.”
We turned and watched the woman we’d seen regularly for at least a year sing a song about having a sexy secret. I didn’t follow the lyrics, but it sounded amazing. As she was scatting at the end of the song and everyone was hanging on to every note, a voice cut through the beauty coming from the stage.
“Are you Kia?” the woman asked, pulling both of our attention to her.
“Yes,” Kia answered before she looked the woman up and down, fully taking in the petite woman with the round belly.
“I’m Shelly,” she snapped, putting a hand on her hip and putting the phone to her ear. “And I just wanted to put a name to a face.”
“Like I told you on the phone, I knew nothing about you,” Kia explained.
“Oh, my problem isn’t with you. My problem is with—Owen!” she abruptly barked into the phone. “I’m here with your girlfriend. You were cheating on me with a bitch who can’t see?”
Kia made a face and adjusted her glasses. “Well, that was uncalled for.”
I tried to keep it together, but the moment Kia looked at me, I cracked. Putting my head down, my shoulders bounced as I chuckled silently. I swayed in my seat and almost fell off as I failed to hold it together.
“What are you laughing about?” Shelly growled. “You think it’s funny that my husband cheated on his pregnant wife with this blind bitch”—she raised her voice and put her mouth close to the phone— “and is now trying to leave me?!”
That wasn’t at all why I was laughing, but the tears in my eyes and the laugh caught in my throat wouldn’t let me say that.
“I get why you’re mad but there’s not going to be too many more times you’re going to call me a bitch,” Kia warned.
“Excuse me,” Rhonda, the owner, interrupted, stepping between my best friend and the pregnant woman. “You are disrupting the show. Do we have a problem?”
“She’s laughing at me!” Shelly screamed, quieting the entire room.
My eyebrows flew up and I jumped at the sound. I made eye contact with Kia and covered my mouth with my hand to try to stop laughing. It didn’t help.
“I’m not laughing at you,” I managed to choke out. “I’m laughing because you said, ‘you were cheating on me”—I wiped the tears from my eyes— “with a bitch who can’t see!’ And then Kia made a face.” My voice was cracking as I was trying to explain.
Shelly’s angry face contorted and then her lips quivered. A short, amused sound barked out begrudgingly. With one hand on her belly and one pinching the bridge of her nose, she laughed again.
Her laughter triggered ours and we were cracking up all over again.
“I’m sorry, but if you can’t quiet down, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Rhonda told us. “You know the rules. Even for you, matchmaker.”
The band on stage had been waiting to perform but our spectacle kept them from starting.
“You’re right,” I agreed, trying to control myself. “I’m sorry, Rhonda. Truly.” I lifted my hand and waved at the band. “We’re going to leave.”
“Now we can get back to the music,” the host called out and everyone cheered. “But Zola, Kia, you’ll be back next week, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Kia called back over her shoulder.
And the crowd cheered again.
“Sorry to get you two kicked out,” Shelly apologized when we were outside on the sidewalk. “I really didn’t come to cause a scene. I just… lost it after the argument with Owen.” She shook her head. “I heard him leaving you a message telling you that he wanted to get you back and I just… I had to see you and talk to you face-to-face.”
“I get it,” Kia empathized, slipping on her jacket. “And honestly, I’ve blocked him on everything, so I didn’t get a message from him. Like I told you when you called, I didn’t know anything about you, and I don’t deal with married men. He’s dead to me.”
Her lip started quivering. “You don’t even want him, but he’s ready to end our marriage to try to get you back.”