Chapter 6
At Nina’s insistence, I entertained conversations with some other men on TenderFish, too, but Donte had my attention. After we spent almost all day on Sunday texting each other through the app, I was quite smitten with his personality. Because of work, the conversation slowed during the week. But every night, we exchanged messages for a couple of hours before bed. And by the time Friday rolled around, my stomach was in knots.
“What do you think about the yellow dress?” I asked Jazmyn over the phone. “I just sent you a picture. It’s hot today, and I think it’s the perfect time to wear it.”
“Oh, that looks cute on you,” she approved. “Wear it.”
“The only shoes I have to go with it are the gold, strappy ones. Do you think that’s doing too much?”
“No, this is a meetup with a man you’ve been getting to know. First impressions matter.” She let out a short, soft giggle. “I don’t know why, but this reminds me of our days back at HU, getting ready for our first double date freshman year.”
“Ahh, good ol’ Hamilton University days.” I smiled, thinking back to the carefree days of dating on campus. “The only thing missing is Nina loudly singing and dancing around the dorm.”
“Wow, we’ve been talking each other through first-date jitters for almost twelve years.”
“Yeah, we have. And one of these days, we’ll talk each other through our last first-date pre-date jitters.” I lifted my hand in the air. “Amen!”
“Oh, what did you decide to do with your hair?” she asked.
“I have my hair pinned up to show off my dangly earrings.”
“Good. Don’t forget to put the gold pins in your hair to give your ’fro some extra shimmer.”
I didn’t even think about that.
“Good call. Thanks.”
I was quiet for a moment as I headed to the bathroom to add the pins. Jazmyn and I hadn’t talked much since Sunday afternoon when I told her about my date. That night, her aunt took a turn for the worse. She didn’t want me or Nina to come down, but we sent flowers. I knew she was just looking for a break from talking about everything with her aunt, so I answered all her pre-date questions. And even though she seemed in good spirits and at peace, I was worried about her.
“How are you?” I asked gently. “How is… everything? Are you sure you don’t want us to come down?”
“Thank you again for offering, but no. It’s already too much going on down here. And I’m fine. I’m sad, but I’m fine. There’s so much stuff to do.” She let out a sigh. “It’s just a lot going on. Just have to take it one day at a time and everything will be fine.”
“I’m sorry. And you’re not alone. If you need help with anything or if you just want to talk about it? I’m always here to listen.”
“I know. And I thank you. But I’m all talked out. I just needed a little distraction. What time is your date?”
“Eight.”
“What time are you heading over?”
“Seven thirty. I want to make sure I get seats at the bar to start. If things go well, maybe we can grab a table or something.”
“I like this plan. But it’s seven, so you need to finish up and head over there.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Jazz.”
“Text me and let me know what happens. Even if I can’t get back to you until Sunday, keep me updated. Good luck!”
“Thank you. You keep me updated, too. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“I won’t,” she promised. “Thanks, Aaliyah.”
“I wish I could be there with you, so you don’t have to do everything alone.”
“But if you were here, you wouldn’t be able to go on hot dates in preparation for your birthday boyfriend. We’ll talk soon.”
I smiled as we concluded the conversation. My heart went out to her as she dealt with her favorite aunt’s downward turn. She’d been sick for a while, so the fact that she only had a couple of months to live wasn’t a surprise for Jazz. But it was still unexpected. Since Jazz was a teacher and she had the summer off, her five-day visit home turned indefinite.
With a final once-over and twirl in front of the mirror, I strolled out of my apartment with more confidence than I actually felt.
I’d underestimated how quickly I would make it across the street and walked through the door of Onyx forty-five minutes early for my date.
I briefly stopped in my tracks. Music flowed through the space, and there were about twenty people in the bar. I made a beeline for the spot I’d claimed last week.
“Welcome to Onyx,” a woman with cute Afro puffs greeted me. “Can I get you anything?”
“Hi.” I looked around. “Is Ahmad here?”
Her smile grew. “He is…” She hooked her thumb toward the office. “Would you like me to get him?”
“Yes, please.”
“No problem. Let me take care of them”—she gestured to the couple on the other end of the bar with her head—“and then I’ll go get him.”
“Okay, thank you,” I told her as I hoisted myself onto the stool.
Staring at myself in the mirror, I took a deep breath.
There’s nothing to be worried about. It’s a meeting with a man who seems perfect for me. That’s it. Nothing to stress out about.
But I could see it all over my face.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ahmad’s deep voice cut through my thoughts and snatched my attention away from my image in the mirror.
“What? Me? Nothing!” I answered a little too quickly.
He made a face. “Well, smile or something.”
My lip curled in disgust. “I hate for a man to tell me to smile.”
“It was just a friendly suggestion.” He grabbed a couple of bottles and started pouring them into a shaker. “You’re sitting here looking like you’re shitting yourself. I thought a smile might help. But you could also frown. That seems to be your default setting anyway.”
“Ha ha,” I replied sarcastically. “You got a good little crowd in here, and now you don’t know how to act.”
His lips quivered as if he were holding in his amusement. “That’s how you feel?”
I lifted my shoulders innocently. “You started it.”
“You always have something to say, huh?” He shook the shaker and then poured the contents into a glass. “Just squawk, squawk, squawk.”
His imitation of a bird was hilarious, but I refused to give him the satisfaction. Covering my mouth with my hand, I shook my head.
He pushed the drink in front of me. “This is for you, Tweety.”
“Tweety?”
“Yes. Looking and squawking like a mean-ass yellow canary.”
I looked down at myself. “You’re such an asshole.” I giggled.
“If I’m an asshole, you’re an asshole.”
“I guess it is what it is, then.”
He smirked. “So, I take it since you’re here, you have a date tonight.”
I nodded. “I do.”
“What’s his name?”
“Donte.”
“Nah, he’s not the one. Dante? Journey-through-the-pits-of-hell Dante?”
I burst out laughing. “It’s spelled differently, but yeah.”
“Aaliyah and Donte.” He shook his head. “I don’t see it.”
“Based on his name? Really?”
He grinned. “I’m just fucking with you. I hope it goes well. What made you pick Donte?”
“Stop saying his name like that!”
“My bad.”
“Donte is really cool. Of all the guys I’ve been chatting with this week, he and I had the most in common, and we’re looking for the same things in a partner.”
“Top three things you’re looking for?”
I held up one finger. “Intelligence.” I held up a second finger. “Ambition.” I held up a third finger. “Romance.”
“Okay, so if he says some dumb shit, I’ll kick his ass out.” He pointed to the door. “If he slips up and we find out he doesn’t have a job, he’s out. And I don’t know what you consider romantic, but if he gives me the vibe that he isn’t romancing the fuck out of you, he’s out.”
“Thanks,” I snickered. “Maybe a little aggressive, but thanks.”
“I got your back,” he assured me. “By any means necessary.”
“When you were on the app, what did you look for?”
His brows crinkled and his brown eyes searched mine momentarily. “I like my women badass. Confident, sexy, intelligent, outgoing—”
“Ahmad!” the woman with the Afro puffs called out.
“Duty calls,” he told me before heading over to the woman. “Yes, Asia?”
“Someone is here to see you,” Asia replied, pointing to a pretty woman.
I took a sip of the Malibu sunrise and smiled. It was the same thing I’d ordered the week before. Glancing over in his direction, I smiled.
“Hey, Ahmad,” the pretty woman greeted him. “You’re looking mighty good behind that bar.”
“Oh, shit, Shanita! What’s up?”
“You tell me!” She cocked her head to the side. “And while you’re at it, I’ll take what you made for the girl you were flirting with over there,” Shanita stated, pulling my attention from my thoughts. “She’s cute.”
I followed the voice and happened to make eye contact with Ahmad in the process.
“Nah, that’s the homie right there,” Ahmad corrected her. Pointing to me, he continued, “Aaliyah is drinking a Malibu sunrise.”
“Well, I want what she has.” She smirked. “But you already know that.”
He chuckled to himself and shook his head.
I looked away immediately.
They were extremely comfortable around each other. She was flirting, and he was eating it up. There was something about the way they engaged with each other that made me feel like I was watching something more. The familiarity felt intimate.
Is that his wife?
The thought stopped me mid-sip.
As he made her the drink, I pretended I wasn’t trying to listen to their conversation.
“You were on my mind, so I wanted to pop in and check on you,” she said.
“I’m cool. How was your day?” he asked in return.
“Great. Busy,” she told him before a wave of people came to the bar for drinks.
By the time the people had dispersed, I’d missed part of what they were saying to one another.
“I’m not ready. I’m good off that.” Ahmad held up his left hand with his wedding band prominently displayed. “Drop it.”
My head quirked curiously as I eavesdropped.
“Ahmad,” she said gently. “All I’m saying is that—”
“Shanita,” he interrupted. “I love you. But I’m working. Let’s talk later, okay?” He moved to the other end of the bar to take an order.
I snuck another glance at the woman and saw her looking at me with a knowing smile.
I quickly shifted my gaze and took another sip.
Definitely must be his wife.
The fruity cocktail was delicious, and when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I noticed the stress and anxiety had melted from my face.
Everything is going to be fine. Donte is going to be fine. The date is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine.
“You look better,” Ahmad commented when he made his way back to me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His brows furrowed. “What?”
“You keep commenting on the way I look? You told me I need to smile, that I look like a bird, that I look better.” I took another sip of my drink. “Are you trying to psych me out or something? I thought you had my back!”
He stepped forward and put his hands on the bar. “I suggested a smile because you looked like you were being held at gunpoint. I said you look better because now you look like you’re here of your own free will.”
I pursed my lips. “You still called me Tweety Bird.”
“Because you have on a canary-yellow dress.” He gestured to me. “I never said you didn’t look absolutely beautiful in it.”
A chill ran down my spine.
I tried to hide my smile, but my cheeks heated. “Oh, okay, then.”
“See… look at you. You’re always so ready to give me shit, but you can’t handle it when I call you Tweety? You chose that color. You knew what it was.”
“You’re wearing a pair of jeans and a dirty shirt, so don’t comment on how I look.”
He laughed. “I just spent ten minutes using a bleach pen trying to get that cranberry juice stain out.” He pulled his shirt up a bit, and I caught a glimpse of his abs as he inspected the stain. “I knew I should’ve double-checked to make sure that top was on. How bad is it?”
My eyes jerked up to his face. “It’s not that bad. It just looks like something spilled on you. It doesn’t look dirty. It looks like… maybe you shouldn’t wear a white shirt behind the bar. But you don’t look unclean.”
“Yeah, but I came straight from work, so I didn’t get a chance to change today.” He pulled his shirt down and shrugged. “Ain’t shit I can do about it, so I’m not going to worry about it.”
“I like that attitude.” I paused. “But do you see how someone can point something out and get in your head?”
“I’m not worried about this stain just like you’re not worried about me calling you Tweety.” He leaned forward and got into my eyeline. “You’re just mad because you thought it was funny.”
“You’re not funny, Ahmad.”
“You think I’m hilarious. And I don’t blame you. I’m a funny dude.”
“You’re a Leo, aren’t you?”
“I’m not telling you shit.” He backed away. “Why would I give you more ammunition?”
I laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
He grinned as he walked off to help the wave of people who’d just entered the bar.
As I finished the rest of my drink, it dawned on me to check my phone.
Donte:I’m here. I’m just looking for a place to park.
The message had just come through two minutes prior. I knew parking downtown could take a few minutes, so I used that time to calm my nerves. I needed a distraction.
“What do you do besides work here?” I asked Ahmad as he tossed cherries into the four glasses in front of him.
He served the drinks and took their money. When they walked away, he looked at me. “I work in IT,” he answered just as a woman bounded up to the bar to get his attention.
“Really?” I mused as he conversed with the woman.
“Aaliyah?” a voice called from behind me.
I glanced in the mirror in front of me before turning to the side. A swarm of strangers entered, and the bar was getting kind of packed. But the man staring at me looked familiar.
Light brown skin. Light brown eyes. Bald head. Strong build.
“Donte?” I said cautiously, relieved he looked like his photos.
“Hi.” He extended his arm, shaking my hand before bringing it to his lips. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you as well.”
He took a seat next to me and smiled. “You look beautiful. Yellow is your color.”
“Thank you. You also look nice.”
“Thank you.” He looked around. “I’ve never heard of this place before. How did you find it?”
“I’m in the area a lot,” I replied, not wanting to tell him that I lived across the street.
“What’s good here?” He pointed at my drink. “What are you drinking?”
“Malibu sunrise. It’s delicious.”
“It looks good, but I can’t be seen drinking that.”
I blinked rapidly. “Oh?”
“Yeah, I think I’ll order a rum and Coke. I’m not trying to give you a reason to think I’m less manly than I am. I already let you catch me slipping when I told you I watched that reality TV dating show InstaLove.”
I smiled. “I liked that you told me that. I’ve told you some of my TV guilty pleasures, too.”
“Hey, can I get you anything?” Ahmad asked, catching me by surprise.
“Yeah, I’ll take a rum and Coke,” Donte ordered before pointing at my glass. “And another one of those for the lady.”
Ahmad glanced at me, so I gave him a brief nod. “Okay,” he responded with a grin. “Coming right up.”
When he walked away, Donte turned toward me. “How was your day?”
“It was good! I’ve been excited about meeting you, so I’m sure that had something to do with the day flying by.”
“Did you finish your project?”
“Yeah, I did. I didn’t think I was going to, and I refused to work on it at home. So it all worked out, and I get to roll into my weekend without it hanging over my head.” I pursed my lips. “Did you get all of your stuff finished?”
“Hell no.” Shaking his head, he chuckled. “I’ll be working a little tomorrow to finish. But it was crazy for them to think I was going to be able to get it all done in two weeks.”
“I agree. I hope you talk to your supervisor on Monday. They get back on Monday, right?”
“Yes, thank God. I’m tired of doing his work and not getting paid his salary.”
“Amen to that.” I grinned. “How was your day overall, though?”
“My day was cool. I didn’t push myself to finish the work. I ended up putting everything I needed together and left early since I’m planning on coming in tomorrow, too.”
“Oh? That’s automatically a good day when you leave work early.”
“Yeah. I went to drop off some stuff to my older kids.”
The record in my head scratched. What?
“Kids?” I questioned, confusion crumpling my face. “Y-you have kids?”
“Yeah, four.”
“Four kids?”
“Here are your drinks,” Ahmad interrupted slowly, placing the glasses in front of us.
When our eyes met, I could tell he’d heard the conversation.
“Thanks, man,” Donte said, handing him a credit card.
I shifted my gaze back to the man sitting next to me. “Your profile said you didn’t have any kids.”
“Yeah, I like to let women get to know me before bringing up my kids.”
I took a sip of my drink, trying to think of how I was going to approach the situation without being rude. “You lied on your profile, though,” I blurted out.
“I didn’t lie. I just want a fair shot.”
I shook my head. “No, if you didn’t say anything about your kids on your profile, I could see your point. But you straight up said you didn’t have any children, but in reality, you have four.”
He took a long gulp of his rum and Coke. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”
“Well, yeah.”
He shook his head and let out an aggressive puff of air. “Great. You and I hit it off, didn’t we?”
“Yeah. We did.”
“So, why does this change anything? You hate kids or something?”
“Donte…” I couldn’t hide my exasperation if I wanted to. “We’ve been talking all week, and you never said anything. How did you not bring up the fact that you have four kids?”
“Here’s your card back,” Ahmad said slowly, looking between us.
“Thanks.” Snatching the card, Donte tipped his head back and finished his drink. “Are you really not going to give me a chance because I have kids? Really, Aaliyah?”
I was going to explain that he lied. I was going to tell him not to flip the script and make it my fault. I was going to respond with a lot of things, but I didn’t have the energy.
“Yeah,” I said flatly.
“Wow!” Donte exclaimed. “That’s kind of shallow, don’t you think? I didn’t think you would have an issue with kids. But okay. It was nice meeting you, I guess.”
“Yeah, you, too,” I muttered as he left.
I was in shock.
It was such an unbelievable turn of events that I couldn’t even get up from my seat.
“You good?” Ahmad asked as he was in the middle of mixing drinks.
I nodded but remained quiet.
“Brush it off,” he told me before sliding the drinks to the waiting customers.
“I’m fine,” I assured him quietly. “He wasn’t it.”
“Tell me something…” He returned to his position in front of me, placing his hands on the bar. “And I want you to say the first thing that comes to mind.”
I gave him a suspicious look. “Okay…?”
“How are you going to know when he is it?”
“Um—”
He shook his head. “Off the top of your head. Don’t think about it,” he demanded quickly. “How are you going to know?”
“Because he’s going to look at me, know what I want, and take care of it,” I answered honestly.
My stomach swirled as I imagined how it would feel to be seen in that way.
Ahmad held my gaze.
I inhaled and exhaled in time with him as we stared at each other over the bar. I felt him assessing me and my answer. His silence met my vulnerability, and even though it made me a little uncomfortable, I couldn’t look away.
The sound of his name being called pulled us from the moment. He licked his lips and leaned toward me. “Ohhh, okay”—he nodded—“you want a mind reader.”
Rolling my eyes, I held in a laugh. “You’re such an ass! I’m not looking for a mind reader. I’m looking for a man who can read me.”
Snickering, he glanced to some people flagging him down. “Don’t leave yet,” he ordered, moving down to take some more orders.
I waited a couple of minutes, and then my phone vibrated.
Mom.
Sliding off the stool, I tried to catch Ahmad’s eye. He was busy, so I jotted down a note on the napkin that was near my drink.
See you next Friday. Thank you.
Turning on my heel, I answered my mother’s call. “Hey, Mom, I’m walking out of a bar. Everything okay?”
“Everything is perfectly fine! I just called to say hi. I just got in from Bible study with Liz. She told me the funniest thing! Marcus called her earlier this week and told her that he’s taking classes this fall—at Hamilton University!”
“Oh, wow, that’s what’s up.”
“That’s your alma mater!”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Yes, I know…”