“I’m glad too. I needed some sister time.” I said as I nudged her. Although she’s my best friend, we call each other sisters. It’s been a habit that we picked up somewhere along the way and just never stopped.
I have a small group of four friends, and we’ve all been friends since elementary school. Though Tyra and I are the closest. Sometimes it almost feels as though we’re the same person.
Of my friends, Tyra is the one who knows most of my secrets. I say most because sometimes I do have the capacity to do a little bit too much, and while I don’t think she would judge me, there are some things that you just have to take to the grave.
We made it to the mall and walked from store to store. We arrived a little earlier in the day before it was swamped with people and teenagers, and I was thankful for a peaceful shopping experience.
She helped me pick out the perfect outfit for my date tonight. It was a pink lace strappy top, with wide-legged denim pants. My date said to be comfortable. What she had chosen was simple enough for the occasion but still sexy.
When we were done shopping, we decided to go get some pretzels from the food court.
“You know Psycho is coming home soon, right?” She asked as she turned her phone and showed me a status on social media of his sister doing a countdown until he was released. I rolled my eyes at it.
“Don’t remind me.” I scoffed as I took a bite of my pretzel stick.
“That man has been giving you hell for over a decade. Remember when you broke up with him and started dating that boy, and he saw y’all together, walked up to you and kissed you on your lips.” She laughed.
“Oh my God, I forgot about that!”
I shook my head and then laughed at the memory. Those were my college days. Psycho had pissed me off, and I told him I was moving on. The guy I was dating at the time wanted to take me to the movies. We were walking, holding hands, when Psycho appeared at the opposite end of the sidewalk and came straight toward us. He stopped right in front of me, kissed me on my lips before I could register what was going on, and kept walking.
I was so mad that I didn’t even go inside the theater. I didn’t talk to Psycho for months after that, and I broke up with the guy too. I didn’t expect him to escalate the situation or fight about it, but he was petrified. So scared that he nearly turned his head to give us a little privacy.
Thinking back over all the years of his antics, I could only imagine the bullshit that would happen once he got out and realized that I didn’t want anything to do with him for real this time. I could only hope that he had matured or at least had a little time to reflect. But with his track record, I was not hopeful.
Once we finished eating, we made a beeline for the door. There were way too many bags to have only come for a single outfit. Still, we stopped at a perfume kiosk on the way out the door.
We completed our purchase and handed the bags to Big A to carry before we waited for him to go retrieve the truck from valet.
When he was out of earshot, Tyra whispered, “That man likes you. It’s all in the way he looks at you. A blind man can see it, and he’s fine sister. I don’t know why you won’t give him a chance.”
I shrugged but didn’t respond to her. Because again, I didn’t really entertain the thought of my staff like that. As scandalousas I may seem, I still have a couple of ground rules that I stick to. No married men, unless I’m invited by the wife directly; friends’ current and exes are off limits, and anything to jeopardize my career is a hard no. That includes fucking my staff.
She didn’t push the issue and changed the subject. We talked from the time we left the mall until we pulled up to her house to drop her off. I know that Big A was so glad she got out of the truck because we cackled the entire ride.
When we made it to my house, I stepped out and waited for A to open the trunk so I could grab my things.
“Go ahead and go in; I got it.” He offered.
I didn’t argue, just turned on my heels so I could rest a little bit before it was time to get dressed for my date. The hours passed fast, and before I knew it, it was time to get ready. I stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself once I got dressed. Maybe Tyra did know what she was doing. The soft pink looked great against my skin, but had it not been for her, I probably would have chosen something black. I sent a message to Big A so he could bring the truck to the front and take me to my date.
“Dating” with my career was risky. Although I did see multiple men, I didn’t have the luxury of being out with them in public for fear it would become the next big story. I didn’t need a collage of me on seven hundred dates floating around. That would be a PR nightmare.
Instead, when I was communicating with a guy and they asked me to go on a date, I told them they had to plan something and be creative because we couldn’t be in public together. Usually, they understood and adjusted.
The guy that I saw tonight is a restaurateur. I met him at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for his newest location in the city. He and I talked multiple times throughout the day, and before I left, he stopped me and asked me for my phone number.
We went out twice, and he was always thoughtful when it came to planning our dates. The last time I saw him was a couple of months back when he took me to an art gallery, and we had dinner inside. Our communication afterward has been slight, because we’re both busy people. But this week at work has been tough, so when he reached out to extend the invitation, I accepted.
By the time that I made it out front, Big A was already waiting for me outside the back door of the truck.
I had already given him the address to the restaurant we were going to, so he pulled away from my place and headed in that direction.
We never talked on our drives. I was always polite but kept it brief with my detail. The only noise in the truck was the low melody of the R&B playing on the truck’s radio.
“We’re here, ma’am.” He finally said, about thirty minutes later, as he pulled up to the curb and put the truck in park.
He came around and opened the door.
