2. #3
He says it like nothing’s changed – as if we can fall back into the rhythm we once had all those years ago, when that is completely impossible.
Kasim Noble was my whole world back then.
We grew up together at the age of eight – two kids trying to find their way in life and discovering things about ourselves.
Honestly, I was infatuated with him. I’d never had a real friend before him.
Them church girls my mom tried to force me to be friends with don’t count.
Plus, being a tomboy made those girls shy away from me.
They said I was weird, and I was cool with that.
I suppose if I was into makeup and ballet,I would’ve fit in.
But perhaps if I were, I would’ve never met Kasim.
“Alright, folks. Here’s your grilled chicken, madam, and your steak, sir.”
“Appreciate it,” Kasim says.
“Thank you.”
“Bon appétit,” he says before leaving us.
Kasim cuts into the steak and says, “Tell me something new,” then stabs the meat with the fork and brings it to his mouth with the fork turned backward, the way you would expect someone to eat a five-hundred-dollar steak.
I shrug as I eat chicken and say, “I have nothing.”
“Impossible. We’ve been apart long enough. Everything is new.”
“Well, I can’t think of anything specific. What about you? How are you adjusting to running the company and all that?”
“It wasn’t a difficult transition. My father taught me everything he knew. I think that, along with my business degree, is all I needed.”
I nod and cut a piece of chicken, dip it in gravy and allow the flavors to converge in my mouth. I ain’t gon’ lie – this chicken is delicious. It still shouldn’t be that much money, though.
“How’s the steak?” I ask as he cuts another piece.
He secures it on the fork, holds it in front of my mouth, and says, “Here. Try it.”
“Oh, no. I didn’t mean I wanted to taste it. I was just—”
“Try it,” he presses.
Feeling like I don’t have much choice in the matter, I open my mouth and slide the piece of meat off the fork with my teeth while he stares directly into my mouth like he wants to jump inside.
The moment I chew, the flavor explodes in my mouth.
It’s tender. It’s juicy. I take my time savoring this one-hundred-dollar little slice.
“Oh, wow,” I say, holding my hand in front of my mouth so he can’t see me drooling. “This steak is phenomenal!”
“Yeah. You really get what you pay for at this place. It makes the prices not seem high now, right?”
“If you say so.”
He grins and keeps on eating.
The evening progresses . I don’t have much else to say which is strange because I know him.
However, the last time I knew him, we were fourteen.
We haven’t known each other during our adult lives, and we may never will.
We’re on the same earth, but we’re from different universes.
Still, some things remain the same – like the way he looks at me, or maybe after a glass and a half of wine, my eyes are playing tricks on me.
“That was delicious,” he says after pulling the napkin from his lap and placing it on the table. “I hope your meal was just as good.”
“It was.”
“Room for dessert?”
“Not at all. I’m surprised I was able to finish the chicken,” I tell him.
Yeah, I crammed that chicken down because I wanted the whole experience of eating some meat that cost a few hundred dollars right here in the restaurant – not as leftovers at home.
“I feel you. I couldn’t eat another bite,” he says. “But I am going to finish this wine.”
He takes a sip and audibly sighs, sounding full and satisfied. He asks, “So, where are you going from here?”
“Home. You?”
“Back to the crib. I have some accounting things to look over.”
“On the weekend, huh?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“Where is home for you?”
“You know where my home is.”
“I mean, I didn’t know if you still lived there. For all I know, you could’ve sold it and moved somewhere else.”
“Nah. That’s the family home and it always will be.”
I nod in agreement. That house is so elaborate, so well-maintained, why not keep it in the family? And then all the acres it sits on – what a treasure to pass down from one generation to the next.
“Do you ever get a weekend to yourself?” I inquired since he said he had plans to go home and work.
He shrugs. “Why would I need one? There’s no one there but me and sometimes the housekeeper. I don’t have a vibrant social life.”
“No?”
“No. The most social I’ve been was when I was with you, but then we know that didn’t last, did it?”
No, it didn’t last. I don’t think it was supposed to, especially with how he viewed me, but it is what it is.
He adds, “I do have to attend business functions every now and then, but other than that, I’m just chillin’ at home.”
“Working?”
“Not all the time. I exercise, play sports, swim, watch TV—normal stuff.”
“What about a personal life?”
“That is my personal life.”
“So, you’re not involved with anyone?”
“Of course not. You think a spouse would want me to be in a bachelor auction?”
“I guess not—but then again, it is for the children .”
“I don’t care who it’s for. If I was with someone, I wouldn’t have done it.” He sips more wine and asks, “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
“Oh, no.”
He laughs low and warm, stirring something in me to remember those times we shared together all those years ago when things were good between us. He says, “You said ‘ oh no’ like it was out of the question.”
“Well, it is. My life is too complicated to be sharing it with someone.”
“What’s complicated about it, Giada?”
I glance up at him. Something about the way he said my name uncoils something deep within me.
A memory. A buried feeling, perhaps. No, it’s more than that.
It could be the wine, but it’s not that either.
He says my name like he’s testing it. Tasting it.
Getting accustomed to saying it again. Aloud.
He’s discovering – searching for the girl in me he used to know, that’s hiding inside the body of the woman who sits before him.
I clear my throat and ask, “What’s complicated about life, you ask? What’s not complicated about it?”
“You’re deflecting.”
“And you’re being nosy.”
He smiles – slow, unhurried – his white teeth flashing beneath the warm lighting. “I’m sorry if I’m being meddlesome,” he says. “I’m just trying to familiarize myself with the adult version of you, so indulge me.”
I don’t have nothing to lose spilling my guts to a man who, I’m almost positive, I won’t see again after tonight, so I say, “I don’t particularly like my job.
I always told myself I wasn’t going to be like my mother.
I didn’t want to be at a job for the majority of my life just to have money to pay the bills.
I wanted to have a job I enjoyed. One that brought me satisfaction.
Not one that made me feel tired and worn out all the time.
But that’s exactly what I ended up with, and I shouldn’t have been surprised.
After all, we repeat what our parents do, right? ”
“Not necessarily.”
I shake my head. “Really, because you’re running your parents’ company now, correct?”
“I am, but there are a lot of things you don’t know about—things I keep to myself about all of this. It’s not as satisfying as you might think it is. Money comes with problems, Giada.”
“Yeah…problems you can easily pay for.”
He narrows his eyes and asks, “What problems do you have that you can’t pay for?”
I glance up at him and say, “You know what…this isn’t the way this was supposed to go down this evening. This was supposed to be a quick, enjoyable evening—”
“And it is,” he cut in to say. “I’m having a great time getting reacquainted with you. The evening is going just fine. Now, back to what I was asking, what problems do you have that you can’t pay for?”
“Problems that everyone has. Bills, car repairs, paying $22,000 a year for a one-bedroom apartment, and still having to make sure I have enough to cover my mother’s bills—normal stuff.”
“Hmm,” he says, then finishes off his wine. He places the glass on the table while still clutching the stem between his index finger and thumb, spinning the glass. “Maybe I can help with that.”
“Nope. Absolutely not. I only told you that stuff because you kept asking. I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it all this time and—”
“Wait…hear me out. What if I told you I’d pay you a million dollars to help me get out of an unfortunate dilemma I’ve found myself in?”
I laugh, and then that laughter grows louder. However, when I notice the serious look on his face, I stop immediately and say, “Wait—you’re not serious, are you?”
“Actually, I am.”
“And what exactly is your dilemma ?”
“My parents left me the business, but I cannot access any of the money they left me until I’m married. Once I have a marriage license, the money flows into my account and life proceeds as normal. I only need someone to do the deed with me.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I kid you not.”
“If this is true, how is it that you’re able to keep up the maintenance on the property?”
“Those tasks were pre-arranged.”
“And how are you able to pay for this dinner?”
“I get paid from my job, and it’s a good amount, but access to my inheritance is being withheld.”
“And you want me to do what exactly?”
“Marry me.”
“Are you—?” I stopped talking when I realized how loud I was screaming, garnering the attention of those closest to our table. In a much milder tone with an edge to my voice, I ask, “Are you out of your mind?”
“No, but I am desperate.”
“Then go find somebody with that same energy,” I say, pushing away from the table. “I’m not the one.”
“I don’t want just anybody. I want you.”
“Why?”
“Why not? You know me. You know my character.”
“No, I don’t, Kasim. I knew you when we were children. I don’t know you now. You’re trying to get me to commit…fraud. As if my life is not in enough turmoil.”
“It’s not fraud.”
“Then what is it?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“It’s a way around the system.”
“Like I said—fraud.”
“Giada—”
“I’m not—” I lower my raised voice again and say more tempered, “I’m not going to jail for you.”
“Nobody’s going to jail. Just marry me.”
“No.”
“Giada—”
“Oh my goodness…is that why you signed up for this auction? You were going to ask the woman who bid on you to marry you. It just so happened to be me.”
“Not exactly. Look—a million is a million. My offer is generous.”
I shake my head. Ain’t this something…
He takes after his people all right! One thing I remember my mom telling me about The Nobles was how they could buy their way out of anything.
Everybody with money could. The rich don’t go to jail.
They don’t worry about things normal people worry about.
That’s proof that money rules the world and everything in it.
But it doesn’t rule my world. I’ll be broke before I get caught up in some crazy scandal, because when the doodoo hits the fan, it’s me going down for a crime – not him.
I say, “Um, the answer is no, and I’m appalled you would even ask me something like this.”
I stand up, take my purse, and say, “Thank you for dinner. I would say it was nice seeing you again, but I’m not sure about that now.”
“I’ll keep the offer open for a week,” he says.
“Don’t bother.”
“You’re not thinking rationally.”
“Whatever,” I say and walk quickly to get out of there.
Dinner started off so promising, but ended like this – with this man trying to buy me.
Do I give off vibes that I’m for sale, because I’m not?
Now I know for a fact that I shouldn’t have come to this bachelor auction after all.
The next time, the children are getting a direct donation – something that doesn’t require me to be wrapped up in some nonsense with someone I thought I knew who turned out to be nothing but a disappointment.