7. Kasia Mosley
SEVEN
kasia mosley
THE NEXT EVENING . . .
“Hey, boss, it’s time for Heidi to go on her break.” One of my waitresses, Lily, peeked her head into the back.
“Okay. I’m coming now.” I smiled before she exited.
Tonight was kind of slow at the bar since most people were just having dinner dates or celebrating something within their family.
That was usually always the case on Sunday evenings.
We had big rushes for our brunch, but by this time, it was scarce.
Because of that, I didn’t book two bartenders on Sundays and therefore had to work the bar whenever Heidi needed a break or backup.
“Thank you,” Heidi said as I approached the bar to relieve her.
“Of course. Enjoy.” I began straightening up just as a man around my age group came to sit down at the bar. “Welcome to Russell’s. Can I get you anything?” I set a drink napkin in front of him.
“Uh . . .” He picked up one of the cocktail menus we left atop the bar for people who didn’t have their own custom orders. “Just whiskey neat please.”
“Ooh.” I smiled, grabbing a glass, but when I saw him hike his brows with a fake smile, I realized he was in a bad mood, hence this drink order.
Knowing when to shut up, I poured his drink and set the glass on top of the napkin.
“Leave it open.” He put down his card.
“Sure.”
I did as he’d told me and then went on to take a few more orders from two other people who’d sat at the bar. Done with serving, I got back to straightening up the area and cleaning.
“You ever stood anybody up?” the man who’d ordered the whiskey called from behind me.
“Umm—” I thought on it—“no, I haven’t. Then again, I haven’t dated much. I’ve had like two boyfriends total.” I shrugged. “Why?”
As soon as I said that, I thought about the man I tried to date briefly, recently, but Josias had convinced my stupid ass he wanted me back and was gonna do right.
“That’s it?”
“Yes.” I chuckled. “Why are you shocked?”
“Very beautiful women typically have long rosters or long résumés in the dating department.” He put the glass to his lips.
He was handsome with caramel brown skin, light brown eyes, low-cut fade, and strong arms which I liked. The way the vein in his forearm showed every time he gripped the glass was enticing.
“Well, not me, but I’m only twenty-four, so I have time to step my game up.” I winked, making him laugh.
“Darron.” He reached his hand out, rings decorating his fingers which I didn’t too much care for, but he was cute enough to do what he wanted.
Stepping up to shake his hand, I could smell his nice cologne.
“Kasia.” I pointed to my name tag.
“A manager at only twenty-four?” He finished off the whiskey and pushed the glass toward me to signal that he wanted more.
“Yes. When I got hired, I put my all into this job, and thankfully, this company appreciates hard work, so now here I am.”
“Hard working and beautiful, yet no ring on your finger? You crazy?”
“I can be,” I joked. “No, I’m not. I just haven’t met the right man.” I shrugged, starting to recognize that solemn feeling every time I thought of Josias Godfrey.
I met him three and a half years ago, and he was so amazing. I was freshly twenty-one, out with my friends, and he paid our tab for anything we wanted before grabbing my number.
From there, he and I were attached at the hip.
My days were filled with enthralling phone conversations, romantic dates and gestures, and plenty of expensive gifts.
I was living the dream, especially since my previous boyfriend had been a pizza delivery boy who could barely buy me a combo meal from a fast-food place.
Then, I got pregnant because I was in love, and according to Josias, so was he, and I was his only, and therefore, condoms weren’t necessary.
Looking back, I was so stupid, somehow even stupider than I felt now.
My pregnancy was great, though, and to my surprise, Josias didn’t change one bit during like my mama swore he would.
But when I hit my seventh month, I found out about Tarin’s connection with him that was still very much alive.
Josias had never hid his son from me and had even brought JJ on a few movie and dinner dates with us, but he’d always said his baby mama was cool and had moved on.
Well, someone had gotten the word about Josias and me back to her, and she made herself very much known after that.
I was devastated, but when Josias came clean then promised he was finished with her, I forgave him.
I didn’t find out he was fucking her still until she showed up on my doorstep to reveal she was pregnant again.
Like the fool in love that I was, when Josias told me he was done that time, I pardoned him yet again.
Until she gave birth and he was spending too much time over there, and I knew why.
He tried his same shit, but I told him I was done with his ass.
This last time he pulled that same bullshit, I didn’t know why I thought it was different, but as I learned quickly, it was the same old fallacies and fantasies.
Josias would never change, and he would never stop fucking Tarin.
I honestly didn’t get why he didn’t just make shit official with the bitch.
“I definitely haven’t met the right woman either, so I feel you.” Darron’s voice pulled me from my journey down memory lane. “I was supposed to be on a date tonight, but she never came.” He shook his head, filled with obvious annoyance.
“Damn. Did she at least say why?” I frowned.
“Told me she just wasn’t ready to move on.”
Damn.
“I know you wish she’d figured that out before tonight.”
“Or more like four months ago when we started talking. I think I have bad luck because the last few women I’ve dated have all gone back to their exes.”
“Maybe you were born to be like a really good rebound,” I cracked, causing us to snicker in the quiet restaurant.
“I must be, but I do want my own thing. People don’t consider the rebound’s feelings enough.” He peered down into the liquor swimming in his glass.
“That’s true.” I kind of felt bad for him.
“Do you have an ex you hung up on?” He squinted his eyes to give me a cynical look, and I chuckled.
“No, no I don’t,” I half lied.
I was over Josias at this point. I think I would always love him because he was the first man to really open me up to being in a serious relationship, but that was it.
I wanted a man who was all about me and wasn’t in some toxic tango with his ex.
Josias was fine as fuck, had amazing dick, fat pockets, and was six feet, three inches—he would always be an issue for me because bitches always wanted him, and he always seemed to oblige.
Not to mention he wore gold locs, and locs weren’t a typical style niggas born and raised in LA wore, so he stuck out even more. You’d catch a street nigga with a silk press before you would see one with locs out here. So when a man had some, the girls could pick him out of a thousand-person crowd.
So yeah, not only was the nigga fucking his baby mama while with me, he was fucking other girls, too, which I only knew because Tarin took it upon herself to let me know anytime she felt Josias and I were getting close again.
Unlike her, I had a career and other shit going on outside of Josias, so I didn’t have time to scour social media and play detective over my baby daddy’s love life like Tarin did.
“Then can I get your number?” Darron smiled brightly.
I almost said no but had to remember I needed to get out there. Josias had ruined the last thing I tried to start up, but I wouldn’t allow that shit again.
If I kept to myself, I would keep falling for Josias’s bullshit, especially if he came over on a night I was horny; he always got me then. I hated myself every time I let him fuck this past year, knowing we weren’t together and he was still up to no good.
“Sure.” I waited while he fetched his iPhone from his jean’s pocket.
I read it off, and then he let me know he sent a text to my phone to which I then revealed that it was still in my office at the moment.
“Maybe we can go on a date or something within the next week. When are you off?” he queried.
“Sure. I have to look at my schedule and see,” I lied. I didn’t have a variable schedule, but he was moving too fast for me, asking for a date on the spot.
“Perfect.” He threw back the remaining liquor in his glass as he rose up off the stool, showing me this full height which was comparable to my baby daddy’s.
Nice. I snapped out of it and closed his tab before handing his card back.
“Talk to you soon.” He winked, putting down a fifty-dollar bill for my tip and walking off.
“I’m back!” Heidi beamed, smelling like her body spray, so I knew she’d smoked her usual cigarette. She never smelled of smoke, though, so I never had to say anything to her about it. I just knew when she had smoked because her perfume or body spray would be a little more prevalent than usual.
Patting her shoulder, I left back to my office, hating that I always felt so weird about possibly going out with another man when I should’ve felt exhilarated.
SOME HOURS LATER . . .
On my way home, I dialed Daylin, praying I wasn’t interrupting her time in Vegas with her man.
I didn’t really have friends, because the ones I did make in school fell off, and when I got with Josias, I stupidly spent all my time with him and put no effort into the friendships I’d procured in adulthood if it would take me away from him.
Now, I would never in life cancel plans with a friend because Josias was stopping by to see me for twenty minutes.
“Hey!” Daylin answered, sounding happy and a wee bit soused.
“Hey!” I mimicked her. “You sound like you’re feeling good. No wonder my phone case order hasn’t shipped.”
We chortled.
“I am feeling good—had a few cosmopolitans—and my staff is still hard at work, but let me know if something is amiss.”
“No, I’m kidding. I got my shit yesterday. Quick shipping, and the quality is amazing.”