Chapter 3
I chewed the steak and moaned at how seasoned it was. I was a sucker for a medium, well-seasoned steak. That was why I was so thankful when Danita called and invited me to dinner at a new steakhouse.
“This is probably the best steak I’ve had in a long time.”
Danita smiled and nodded. “Facts. I might even get myself one to go!”
“Thank you for inviting me tonight. I really needed this,” I expressed, sipping my wine.
“You know what else you need?”
I rolled my eyes because I knew exactly where Danita was going with this. She always brought it up, even when it wasn’t warranted.
“And what is it I need, Danita?”
“A man, a fuck buddy, or a one-night stand. You need to have some male companionship, whether or not it’s serious.”
“Danita, please. Not tonight. I just want to enjoy my steak without worrying about a man, dick, or getting my socks rocked off.”
Even after I told Danita this, I knew it fell on deaf ears.
Danita was combative, and her opinion was stated whether a person would like to hear it or not.
It was a blessing and a curse for me. I loved my big sister’s strong personality.
She always took up for me because of her protective spirit, but sometimes it was overkill.
Despite all of that, she was still loving, and her intentions were good.
Even after the passing of our mother, she grieved, but she was a lot stronger than my brother and me.
To this day, I still don’t know how she did it.
“Nita, I’m too busy to entertain any man right now, and you know that. My biggest concern is my career and?—”
“Ugh!” She dramatically threw her head back, and I laughed. “You sound like Gio’s lonely ass. You’d better be careful before you end up like him—old, lonely, and miserable.”
I laughed. “Gio just wants to make sure we are successful. You know he felt like he had to take on the parent role once Mama died.”
“By choice. No one appointed him. Shit, we’re grown now and were then. He takes that big brother, ‘my sisters must stay away from men and be nuns’ shit too far.”
I laughed. “It’s ’cause he loves us.”
“That’s nice and all, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get my fill of dick.”
“Please change the subject.” I laughed, reaching for my wine.
“I guess we can shift. But speaking of work, how is everything going? Patrick still giving you a hard time? With his trash ass,” she mumbled.
I nodded. “Yep. I still don’t get how he got that role.”
“You should switch departments. You can work in any unit and be just as successful and strong.”
“I know that, but I’m so connected to the patients down there, it would kill me to leave them. I don’t want to leave them just because Patrick sucks.”
“Girl, seriously?”
I nodded. “I’m so serious. I love my patients too much. As a matter of fact, guess who I saw the other day?”
“Who?”
“Ms. Gloria!”
“Oh, where at? The grocery store?”
I’d told Danita about Gloria long ago. I disclosed a little of her diagnosis, but I would always tell her how Gloria reminded me so much of our mother and how much we talked.
She listened to many stories of some conversations I had with Gloria during her time of chemo.
Now that she was no longer in remission, I couldn’t help the sadness I felt.
“No, she’s... um... doctors are thinking her cancer might be back. Right now, doctors are running tests and everything.”
“Damn,” Danita hissed. “I pray it’s not. How is her spirit?”
“Bright! She’s not going down without a fight, she said. She said she’s got more life to live.”
“She’s my spirit animal.”
“Mine too. Can you believe she is still trying to hook me up with her son?”
“And what’s wrong with that? She clearly sees you as someone who would be good for her son. Maybe you should take her up on her offer. It would be harmless.”
I huffed. “Girl, you’re just as bad as Ms. Gloria.”
“And that’s fine. At the very least, consider it. It wouldn’t hurt to go out on a date with him. What does he look like?”
I shrugged. “I’ve never seen him before.”
Danita raised her eyebrow. “Really? That’s strange, but I’m sure there’s a reason for that.”
“I wouldn’t know, and I don’t care. Now, can we get back to our dinner, please?”
“Hmm, whatever. I’ll change the subject, but you still should probably consider it. He might be the man to change your outlook on things.”
I didn’t bother responding. Instead, I switched the subject to the latest Housewives episode for the rest of the dinner, dissecting every argument and conversation.
By the time we finished recapping all the Housewives’ episodes, we were headed out of the restaurant with full stomachs.
“This place was so good. I’m so glad the city is bringing in more restaurants. We can add this to our list of restaurants to revisit,” Danita noted.
“I agree. Even the service was top-tier.”
“This is a nice place to bring a boo.” Danita looked at me and winked.
I huffed. “Girl, don’t start. I enjoy going to these restaurants with you. It gives us time to bond and catch up.”
She sucked her teeth. “Amina, please. You’d rather be getting spoiled by a man and ordering whatever it is you want off the menu.”
Danita was right. I was a sucker for a good date, especially if it involved food, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of clocking my tea.
“Let me get on the road so I can prep for tomorrow. Thank you for inviting me to dinner. I’ll let you know when I make it home,” I stated.
She twisted her lips. “Don’t ignore me, but I’ll let you go. Love you, sis!”
“Love you more.”
I climbed into my car to head home. Tonight, the radio was taking caller requests for listeners to dedicate a song to someone. I turned the radio up when the soothing radio host’s voice introduced a new caller.
“Thanks for calling Z-90 Jamz. It’s Quiet Storm tonight, and who am I speaking with?” she asked.
“This Josiah,” a deep voice replied.
“Aite, Josiah, who are you dedicating to tonight?”
“My beautiful girlfriend, Madison. I want to dedicate this song to her because it describes our love. I want her to know how grateful I am to have her in my life. I love you, Madi, baby.”
“I know that’s right! Let me know that song, and we’ll get that played for your girlfriend, Madison.”
The gentleman fired off the song, and instantly, the soft R&B song played through the speakers.
I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that romance still existed in the world.
I longed to experience it, but I knew that in today’s world it was rare.
My thoughts went back to Danita’s comments about dating Gloria’s son.
It would be nice to have someone I could call and talk to about my day.
It would be even better to have someone to come home to and wrap my body around as we cuddle the entire night.
It had been a while since I had experienced what love felt like.
A year ago, my boyfriend, Jakeem, ended things out of nowhere.
His reason was that I had lost myself while dealing with my mother’s cancer battle.
There were nights I would sit up and cry or not eat.
I thought little of it because Jakeem knew what was going on, and I never would’ve imagined that I would lose my relationship when I had lost my mom.
I begged for Jakeem to understand what had happened to me, but he wasn’t trying to hear any of that.
After the breakup, I lost who I truly was.
My only comforts came from food and work.
I gained so much weight and lost all the confidence that I had. I was stuck in a rut.
Because of my longing for male attention, Gloria’s offer sat in the back of my mind. It would be nice to know him. No mother out there just wants any and everybody to date their son. I took her offer as an offer and nothing short of it.
I finally pulled into the driveway of my townhome and headed inside.
I imagined what it would be like to come home and have someone greet me at the door with hugs and kisses.
The lover girl in me mourned for the experience.
However, the heartbroken girl I was could only wish upon a star.
I wanted my normal routine to be interrupted and not consistent every day—spontaneous dates, binge-watching a series together, or even the random arguments that ended in us having mind-blowing sex to make up.
The more I thought about my wants, the more I thought about Gloria’s offer.
It couldn’t possibly hurt to step out there.
It’d been a long time. Even if it didn’t go anywhere, a night out with a man would be nice.
However, even though the idea sounded nice, I had to remember my circumstances, and bringing a man into it might not be the best idea.