Page 46 of Love Delayed
“Oh shit, my cell phone is in my office, and I guess the music was too loud to hear the shop phone,” I said, moving toward the back. “Come on. I’m in the kitchen working on charcuterie boards for my event today.”
“Ooooh, sis, it smells good back here. Can yo’ big sis get a little sample?”
“I got you. Have a seat,” I said.
I fixed her a plate filled with wings, macaroni salad, crackers, meatballs, deviled eggs, cold cuts, and cheese. She took a seat on a nearby stool and dug in.
“So, tell me the latest. What’s going on with you and Marcus?”
I gave her a knowing look with a headshake. Zaria had no filter, and she didn’t hesitate to ask if there was something she wanted to know.
I felt giddy at the thought of me and Marcus, but I responded honestly.
“Nothing. We see each other a lot in passing because he’s at the hotel a lot, but we’re just working on being friends.”
Zaria dropped a chicken bone and licked her fingers.
“You’re kidding me, right? He didn’t drop that zero once he knew you were unhinged from the Grinch who stole Zamora’s good years?” she joked.
“Ha, ha, ha, and no. Why would he leave his fiancée to get back with me, Zaria? That would be horrible, and I’d never want him to do Eliana that way,” I replied, giving her a half-truth.
If he came through that door at that moment and asked me to take him back, I wouldn’t care how things ended with them.
“Yeah, that’s what your mouth says, but I know you better. Marcus was your everything, Zee, and I know you miss him. Don’t you think running into him at the airport because of a delayed flight you both were scheduled to be on is fate?” she said, shoving a meatball into her mouth.
I paused to process what she said before answering.
“No, I don’t. I think it was a setup by the Father to help me with my living situation because He knew I’d need this. If it were fate, Marcus wouldn’t have a fiancée,” I told her as I walked over to grab the roll of plastic wrap from off the counter. “Now, enough about me. Please tell me about you and your new married/dating life,” I asked. After she told me that Josh agreed to let her try dating other people, I almost hit the floor. I wasn’t sure if it was an atheist thing with them or was it just people nowadays just did whatever the hell they wanted.
“Well, I will say that it’s not as exciting or exhilarating as I thought it would be. I mean, it was fun the first couple of dates, but then these men want to kiss and fondle you. I fold like a damn chair when they try to be affectionate. I like the time out, attention, and fun of it, but I don’t want to share kisses and sit like that with other men. I mean, at first, that’s what I thought I wanted, but it turns out I don’t.”
“Well, are you going to continue seeing other guys or shut it down?”
“I’m going to just hang out with guys and keep them in the friend zone. I mean girl, because the last guy I went out with was trying too damn hard to get more than a handshake goodnight. He kept telling me about his head game, and if I let him lick my pussy just once, I’d keep running back for more while licking his black ass lips. I almost threw up in my mouth, girl,” she said, and we both burst into laughter. “Girl, you should have seen this clown. I peeped the tarter build-up on his bottom row,” she added, and I laughed harder.
“How did you end up on a date with him, Zar?” I asked as I moved to the shelf to grab my insolated transportation bags. I had to start loading up so I could head to my gig.
She paused to shove some more food into her mouth, and as soon as she was done chewing, she continued. “So, I was out in the city on 80th and Cottage at Lil’s, and I was sitting at the table with a couple of sorority sisters, and you know I be low key. I’m not trying to show my wild side. Just chilling, sipping on wine, and vibing. I keep seeing this guy look my way, but I’m keeping my eye contact discreet.
“Now, sis, from afar, brotha looking nice. Yes, dark lips, but I know most dudes smoke, so hey, it is what it is. He dressed nice, the body looks nice and right, you know, but I’m staying as low-key as possible. So, cuz walked in, and she was doing security that night, so I got up to hug her, and she moved on to get to work. He still eyeing me, and you know what’s crazy? I’d seen him a couple of times before, but he had never caught my eye.
“So, long story short, his friends come in, and then next thing I know, they went to the back. So when I was leaving, cuz was outside and offered to walk me to my ride. We get there and she was like, “Cuzzo, I stay out of people’s business, but dude asked me to give this to you,” and slid me a card. I took the card, glanced at it, and I was like, oh he had a detailing shop. She was like, “yep, but I think he wanna wax more than your Mercedes,” and laughed.
“I was like, “whatever, cuz.” I hugged her and left. I called him, of course. Conversation was good and the date was nice. His eagerness to lick my cat was a turn off, and the more he kept saying it, the blacker his damn lips got,” she said, sending me into another fit of laughter. It suddenly dawned on me that my employee still hadn’t shown up. Only Tasha was due to come in since the event was small, but she should’ve been at the shop by now. I excused myself to go and grab my phone. When I saw my alerts, there was––a call almost three hours ago. I blew out a breath and put a hand on my forehead.
“Fuck!” I yelled.
It wasn’t a large event, but doing it solo would be difficult.
“Hey, you okay in there?” my sister called out.
I walked back into the kitchen. “No. Tasha called out, and I have an event in under two hours that I can’t handle alone.”
“Boom, baby! Your sis got you. I mean, how hard could it be.”
“It’s not hard, but I’m building my clientele, Zar, which means no room for error. I need to keep the great reviews coming for referrals, sis.”
“Look, just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it. I may not know how to do your job, but I follow instructions well, sis. I won’t let you down. Trust me sis, I won’t let you down.”