9. Roman Blake #2
I hit Truce up.
You know what lounge Charlee be at downtown?
He took a minute, then text came through.
Truce: Booker’s Lounge Downtown.
Me:Bet.
Truce: Don’t start yo crazy shit, bro
Me: Too late.
Bookers was only fifteen, twenty minutes from Club 4 Play. I could’ve had somebody slide for me to check the vibe, and text me updates.
I didn’t want updates.
I wanted my eyes on her.
I told my floor manager I’d be back, grabbed my keys, and walked out the side door, lettin’ the bass from the club fade behind me.
The drive over, my mind was loud.
Her tellin’ me, “You don’t gotta know my every move, I’m grown.”
Me thinkin’, And I don’t gotta care this much, but here we are.
By the time I pulled up, the front of the lounge was packed with a line down the block, girls takin’ pictures, niggas postin’ on the sidewalk like props.
I parked opposite the entrance, didn’t care if it was a real spot or not, killed the engine, and stepped out.
Security at the door glanced up.
“Ay, big man, line start back.”
The taller one squinted, then straightened. “Oh, my bad. You good, fam. Go head.”
People in line started lookin’, tryna see who I was.
I ignored ‘em and walked in.
Inside was dark, lights low and switchin’ colors, DJ talkin’ over the track. Hookah smoke, perfume, liquor, same shit, different building.
I scanned the room once, but didn’t see her causing my jaw to clench.
I moved toward the bar slow, lettin’ my eyes run over every section, little VIP areas, the dance floor.
Then I caught a flash of something familiar… Her legs… Her hair… Her laugh.
She was posted near the middle section of the bar with Charlee and April, back to the crowd, glass in her hand. Some nigga was standin’ too close to them, talkin’ animated, laughin’ like he the funniest thing walkin’.
I stopped for half a second, watchin’.
Melissa tilted her head, smirked at somethin’ he said, did that little light touch to his arm when she laughed.
My whole body went hot.
That was the same laugh she hit me with in Saint Lucia.
Same look in her eyes.
Nothin’ about that sat right.
I moved, closer so I can get a better view.
By the time I got close enough to hear him, he was sayin’, “I’m just sayin’, if y’all was smart, you’d let me get the next round,” like he was auditionin’.
Charlee laughed. “Boy, you broke.”
April snorted. “Look at your watch.”
He laughed with ‘em, still focused on Melissa though.
I stepped right up behind her, close enough for my chest to almost brush her back.
“You forgot to send me the name, huh?” I said in her ear.
She jumped, damn near dropped her drink.
She whipped around, eyes wide. “Roman?”
Charlee’s eyes went even bigger. “Ohhh, this ‘bout to be good.”
April bit her lip, hid her smile in her cup. “Hey, Roman.”
The nigga looked from me to Melissa. “You know him?”
I kept my eyes on her. “You good?”
She blinked. “Yes, I’m good. What are you doin’ here?”
“Vibes,” I said. “Same as you, right?”
The nigga scoffed. “Nigga, we talkin’. You slidin’ in kinda rude.”
I finally looked at him. “You Ray or somethin’?”
He frowned. “Do I look like a Ray?”
“I don’t care what you look like,” I said, bored. “I’m just lettin’ you know conversation over.”
“Roman, chill,” Melissa snapped. “You really doin’ too much.”
“Am I?” I asked, eyes never leavin’ homie. “You tryna keep talkin’ to my woman like I’m not standin’ right here.”
Her head snapped toward me. “I am not your woman.”
Ray’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “Yeah, nah. I’m not gettin’ in the middle of all that.” He looked at her. “No disrespect.”
“None taken,” she mumbled, glaring at me.
He slid off into the crowd quick.
Soon as he was gone, she turned on me fully.
“The fuck is wrong with you?” she hissed. “You really lost your mind.”
I stared down at her, feelin’ my temper hum just under my skin. “You answer your phone?”
“I told you I was gettin’ ready,” she snapped. “We drove over here. I didn’t see it.”
“You saw my text, though,” I said. “You just ain’t answer.”
“Because I knew you was gon’ be on this crazy shit,” she shot back. “Poppin’ up like I told you to pull up. You not my man, Roman. You don’t run where I go.”
I leaned in a little, voice low. “I don’t run where you go. I just decide where I show up. Two different things.”
She sucked her teeth. “That don’t even make sense.”
“It make all the sense,” I said. “You want your control? Keep it. Go out. Laugh. Dance. Do your thing. But understand, if I feel like bein’ where you at, I’ma be there. You gon’ have to learn how to move with that instead of actin’ brand-new every time.”
“Y’all need a room?” Charlee cut in, smirkin’. “‘Cause the tension is loud as fuck.”
“Charlee, shut up,” Melissa snapped.
April snickered. “I’m just sayin’… he here, so.”
I glanced at both of them, then back at Melissa. “Y’all good?”
“We were,” she said. “Till you walked in here on bullshit.”
I smiled a little, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “Cool. I’ll be over there, then.” I jerked my chin toward an open wall area with a clear view of the bar. “Y’all can keep doin’ what y’all do. I just needed to see with my own eyes.”
“See what?” she demanded.
“That you alive,” I said. “That you upright. That whoever in your face know where not to play.”
She laughed, frustrated. “You sound crazy.”
“I know,” I said. “Get used to it.”
I stepped back, givin’ her space like she swear she wanted, and posted up on the wall across from the bar, where I could see everything.
Drink in my hand, one shoulder on the wall, eyes on her.
I wasn’t over there breathin’ down her neck.
I wasn’t snatchin’ her up off the floor.
I was just there.
And she felt it.
Every couple minutes she’d look around like she was makin’ sure I really stayed where I said I’d be.
Every time she danced, every time a nigga walked past too slow, her gaze would slide my way.
I ain’t do much.
Sometimes I just looked back, let my eyes say what my mouth didn’t.
You not out here by yourself, so act like it.
By the end of the night, she wasn’t laughin’ as loose.
She wasn’t checkin’ her phone every two seconds either.
She just… let it be what it was.
Her with her girls.
Me watchin’ from the cut.
Not in a corner ‘cause I couldn’t take it.
‘Cause I wouldn’t.
When the lights came up and the DJ started talkin’ about last call, people poured out slow. The air outside was cooler, less loud.
Melissa, Charlee, and April came out together, talkin’ low. Soon as they hit the sidewalk, I slid off the wall inside and followed.
“Where y’all parked?” I asked once I stepped out behind ‘em.
Melissa groaned. “Here we go.”
Charlee pointed toward one side of the lot. “We over there. Melissa drove by herself.”
I nodded, lookin’ right at her. “I’ll be behind you.”
“I’m fine,” she said, tired. “I can drive myself home, Roman.”
“I ain’t say you couldn’t,” I answered. “I said I’ll be behind you.”
She looked up at me, eyes a mix of pissed and annoyed.
“You not gon’ stop, huh?” she asked.
I shook my head once. “Nope.”
She sucked her teeth, turned to Charlee and April. “Text me when y’all in the house.”
“We will,” April said. “And girl… just let him trail you. I’m sleepy.”
Charlee laughed. “Right. I don’t got the energy to watch you argue in a parkin’ lot all night.”
Melissa cut her eyes at them, then looked back at me.
“Whatever,” she mumbled. “Just don’t ride my ass. I hate that.”
I almost smiled. “Drive right, and I won’t have to.”
She clutched her keys tighter, turned, and headed toward her car.
I watched her the whole way.
Didn’t say nothin’ else.
She got in, started the engine, pulled out.
I went to my truck, slid in, and fell in line a few cars back as she hit the street.
Was it extra? Yeah. Was it overkill? Maybe, but I didn’t give a fuck.
When said and done she was gonna know one thing for sure, even when she tried to move like she was the only one in control, I was still there watchin’.
Hoverin’ that line between protectin’ and possessive.
If she wanted to call it crazy, that was fine.
I’d call it exactly what it was.
Me refusin’ to be another ghost in her life.
And the deeper I got, the less I cared how it looked.
‘Cause no matter how far she tried to push me, I already knew,
I wasn’t lettin’ Melissa go without a fight.