5. Merci
MERCI
I’d forgotten my brothers wanted to take me shopping this afternoon, so I ended up pushing lunch with Alia back until after that.
I knew I’d be ravenous after spending hours hopping from one store to the next, spending their money.
It surprised me to learn Ariel wasn’t at home after the shopping trip because she’d been spending a lot of time cooped up in her room at my parents’ home.
I wouldn’t say she was depressed, but she was definitely isolating, and I could understand and respect that.
Since I didn’t know what time she’d be coming back, I set the gift I’d gotten her on the bed and headed out to meet Alia at the Korean barbecue restaurant that we often frequented.
On my drive to the restaurant, I called David a second time, and for a second time, the call went straight to voicemail.
The man hardly ever had his phone off, and that was alarming to me.
It would have been different if it was just ringing and going straight to voicemail.
I knew he was with his brothers last night, but that was the last time I’d heard from him.
A low growl escaped me as I pulled into the parking lot.
David had waited until I’d saved his name in my phone and gave him access to my pussy to start doing shit I didn’t like. That was fine, though.
Once I made sure he was alive and well, I’d likely call things off with him.
I didn’t like the way he communicated. Or, I guess I should say, I didn’t like the lack of communication.
It was like he was starting to get too comfortable and didn’t think he had to be as present anymore, and that certainly wasn’t the case.
I had never been the kind of woman who held on to men if I wasn’t satisfied, and David was about to quickly learn that lesson.
As I cut my car off, I received a text from Hammer. I smiled before I even read it. I’d changed him out from hearts to a hammer, which was an indication that I already liked him more than I should have.
: I’m not much of a texter except to finalize plans and check in. Let me know when it’s a good time to call Ms. Merci.
I’m about to have lunch with my sister. Maybe in like an hour?
: Okay sweetheart. I may be in a conference meeting but I’ll hit you up after.
I reacted to the message with a heart, then tossed my phone into my purse and headed inside the restaurant. Not to my surprise, Alia was at our usual table on the left side of the restaurant. She’d already ordered our drinks, and I was sure she’d probably ordered our first round of meat as well.
“Hey, pookie,” she said with a warm smile as she stood.
“Hey, pookie,” I replied, pulling her in for a hug. “How are you?”
“I’m well. How are you?”
“Same, actually. You already ordered the meat?”
“Yeah, so all you have to get is your kimchi and that nasty-ass rice with peanut sauce.”
I laughed as she sat back down. “Not too much. You don’t know what’s good.”
“I do know what’s good, and that shit is horrible.”
“Mhm. You just make sure you don’t ask me for any.”
“Oh, you will never have to worry about that.”
I giggled as I walked over to the small buffet area to get my kimchi and rice. Once I was done, I went back over to the table and got settled. We made small talk for a while before her tone firmed as she asked, “Alright, so what’s up with ya girl?”
“First, what do you know?” I checked because the posts had been deleted from social media.
“Well, she came to me asking for a job, which was red flag number one. I asked her why she was no longer working for you, and she said you fired her but didn’t want to tell me why.
Eventually, she said it was because of Shyanne, and once she said that name, I decided to come straight to you because I knew she wasn’t going to tell the truth. ”
Alia was an event planner like me, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear that Emmy had gone to her looking for work.
What surprised me was her thinking Alia would want to have anything to do with her disloyal ass.
By the time I was done telling Alia everything that had gone down, our meat had arrived, and she was playing grill master.
“Now, why in the hell did she think I’d give her a job after she’d done all that?” Alia asked through her laughter.
“Chile, I don’t know. Maybe she thought you’d hire her without checking with me first.”
Sucking her teeth, Alia shook her head. “Damn fool. I’m sorry she did you like that, especially after you forgave her for her last stunt. Hopefully, this is truly the end of your friendship with her.”
“Yeah, it is. If you wanted to hire her—”
“Oh, absolutely not. I have one assistant, and that’s more than enough for me.
Even if I did need help, it wouldn’t be her.
I would never trust someone who did you wrong.
Not only am I loyal, but that would be unwise of me.
That’s a sign of her character that can’t be ignored.
As cool as y’all were, and as much as you’d done for her over the years, un unh.
If she could do you like that, I could only imagine what she’d do to me. ”
Silence found us for a while, but Alia didn’t let me sit in my hurt for too long. We started talking about a cross-promotional event idea she had. Alia would plan, and I would host. It was always a good time when I got to work with my girl, so I was all for it.
After lunch, I checked my phone and saw that David still hadn’t called.
I decided to check in with his mom just for my peace of mind.
They’d put me in their family group chat to plan their fall family vacation, so I had all of his immediate family members’ numbers, even though I didn’t talk to them individually.
“Hello?” she answered after a few rings.
“Hey, Mrs. Diana. I was just calling to see if you’d heard from David. His phone is off, and I’m trying not to worry.”
Diana chuckled softly. “That boy. I told him to charge his phone before he left here. He and his brothers passed out over here last night. They drank too much. He rushed out of here late for work this morning. He’s fine, baby.
Just didn’t charge his phone. I’m sure he’ll call you on his lunch break. ”
As much as I wanted to be relieved by what she’d shared with me, I was still a little irritated.
A part of me knew there was a chance something had happened while he was with his brothers last night.
Those niggas had no true responsibilities, no women to answer to, and they acted like they were sixteen instead of in their late thirties and early forties.
“Okay, thank you. I guess I can relax now.”
“Of course, baby. If I hear from him before you do, I’ll make sure to tell him to call you. He might stop by here for lunch. I’ll give him my charger.”
After thanking her again, I ended the call. Now that I knew he was okay, my concern was turning into irritation. This man had no regard for how his actions affected me and my mental state, and I was officially tired of his shit.